Rate My Team

Random wrote:

I bet I will do both at the same time at some point.

Beast From The Big East wrote:

Welcome mate.

Hooker- You have two guys here who are perfectly fine to run as your 2nd hooker, but you need that reliable scorer as your big gun. Yes they are cheaper options than others, but you don't get the consistency and guaranteed minutes you get elsewhere. Luke has some question marks around whether he will play 80, as well as adjusting to a new team, while Granville is likely to not see 80 mins and is an up and down scorer. Would be better to run with one of them, Granville probably the better option given his price, and pairing him with a more reliable high scorer like Smith, or Macca/Peats or Friend/Farah for a bit of a POD move.

Front Row- Surgess is a great pick but not Hannant. Sure he scores all right but there is no reason to think he will see an increase in point this year which is how you are wanting to pick really. He needs an injury to get his way into the starting lineup and even then I'm not sure you would see too much increase in minutes anyway. If you are really wanting someone from that price range then possibly the best bet to improve their scores this year is JTurbo/Ah Mau, but otherwise look at seeing if you can find the cash and upgrading to an underprice gun like Woods/Graham/McGuire/De Belin/Matulino

2nd Row-Mannering is an interesting pick. Sure he should still put up big numbers, but with losing the captaincy he could see a reduction in minutes as he doesn't necessarily have to be out there the whole team anymore. Nevertheless he should still put up elite level scores, but this could be somewhere you can look at downgrading in order to fix your hookers. Look at guys like Merrin/Graham as the two just below elite level 2rfs, or guys like Taupau, De Belin, MCooper as guys who could increase in a new role. Lowe is a similar guy in some ways to Hannant. He should score pretty similar to his average and be a nice POD but there just doesn't seem to be too much potential for growth in my opinion. He had a real step up year last year, but with no changes to the Cowboys pack it is hard for me to find ways for him to consistently score more points. Once again look at the guys like Taupau, Cooper or De Belin, Matulino, Guerra as guys who could surpass their average. Cartwright is a good pick, as are your bench but I would worry about not having a 4th option. Henry is still only a possible bench option at the Warriors and none of your 3 reserves will score enough and be regular scorers to cover you if you have to sub them in. Try look for some cheap options here if you are trying to save some cash but try to get at least one reliable scorer rather than just potential cash cows.

Halves- DCE is good, as is Taylor but I'm not sure on MBye and Mann. You need to fit in Hastings there at least as he is arguably the best cash cow to start the season with. If you downgrade Mann to him that frees up some decent cash. That leaves you deciding what to do with MBye. It is has been brought up here before that of the two, Reynolds is the best pick out of the two of them as he is the one who tends to score more when they are paired together. Other than him, you could look at downgrading to another cheapie like JNiko or TMM and running with DCE and 3 cheapies which many on here are running with. If you prefer a decent scorer alongside DCE however then maybe look at someone like Austin/Widdop as PODs, or use the cash gained from downgrading Mann, and upgrading to AReynolds or Sezer. But if you prefer MBye he should still put up solid scores

Centres- Here is where you are spending unnecessary money in my opinion. For years and years, centres have always been kind of the dud position fantasy wise. It used to be that there were a lot of DPP 2rfs here and the scoring discrepancy was so big that you just selected them and left it. But in recent times this has always been the best area to save some cash and look at possible cash cows. There aren't as many obvious ones this year but there at least enough options that you shouldn't have to have a reserve from this position, or at least one that isn't a cheapie. Linnett is once again someone who I would question just on the basis of a lack of obvious growth. Around the same price your best bet would be Aubusson, but you are better to go cheaper here. If you shift Lawrence into your number 1 centre slot, you can downgrade Linnett to Auva'a who looks the most likely cheapie option. Hurrell will always be polarizing as he is so hit and miss, both in terms of scores but also whether he plays or not. If you want to gamble on him then go ahead and there are certainly benefits, but just look at TLT to see some likely cheap options you could run with, or even as cheapies on the bench and start with Auva'a.

WFBs- Ferguson is really the only decent pick here of your starters. Not to say Gutherson isn't good but just that he is a gamble on his scoring so despite featuring in many teams his scoring isn't set in stone. Oates needs to go. Doesn't score well, plays on the wing half usually whenever he starts and doesn't feature in the attack except being on the end of passes. Around his price you could bring in Mann if you really rate his chances this year, you could pay the extra and get the likes of Gordon/Mansour, or you look at a cheaper option in Barba if he gets the FB spot but even then he is a gamble as no guarantee he keeps it.

You've got the makings of a nice team, and a fair few POD options which can be both good and bad. But in order to make the most of the starting salary cap you really need to pick guys who are either elite level in their position, or likely to improve on their priced average and there are too many in my opinion who are just steady picks with nowhere really to go price and average wise

Simon Templar wrote:


In my 6-7 years on Sportal this is the most detailed response I have ever seen to someone's request to have their team reviewed.

Kudos to you Beasty.

Random wrote:Why not both? Though personally I would lean towards L. Ah Mau over Z. Taia.

Fraser wrote:OK, after another look i think i like this side a lot more. I said from day 1 that I wanted Croker this year but downgrading him to BJ makes the team look a lot stronger overall. Thoughts?

Smith (c) (Hodgson)
Fifita Evans (BLawrence Leuluai)
Surgess Cartwright LAM (Whitehead Bhana JSaifiti)
DCE Milford (Hastings Taylor)
Leilua Aubs (Auva'a Chee-Kam)
Mansour Barba Feeney (Mitchell Gutherson)

Beast From The Big East wrote:

Hookers- No problem here. Hodgson has been thrown around a fair bit lately and for good reason. One of the more likely hookers to have a decent increase in scoring, he really needs 80 minutes though to make him worthwhile. Hard to tell that just from team sheets as Sticky will probably name Baptiste as 19th man or something and mindfuck from you here into next week. Will be a gamble to start with but with his current price and scoring it is a reasonably good gamble as pretty easy to fix.

Front Row- I've been an advocate for always having a reliable front row so I'm not a fan of starting Evans but won't really complain too much about it as it seems you have used that saved cash to upgrade your centres which is good. Haven't seen too much of Fifita so he should be a decent POD around here and that should give you a fair indication of POD within serious players as well. Evans should score well in JWH absence but like I said, I prefer a more reliable 2nd option and with Napa there, there is no guarantee Evans starts every match. BLaw is very much minutes dependent in my mind as he has never been an explosive player, more a steady base stats type so that could be his issue. Leuluai is a TLT decision.

2nd Row- Quality starters. You got your big gun in Surgess as well as two very nice mid rangers. Whitehead is one whose name has been thrown around a fair bit this offseason with none of us really knowing what his minutes/role will be. A very stacked pack, especially back row down in Canberra so that is a bit of a worry, but as Welshy has reminded us on alost daily alerts Whitehead is a very good player who played very well in the Super League and should be a very good acquisition for Canberra, so you know what you are getting yourself into there. Bhana and Saifiti are once again TLT decisions and as cheapies they should go alright and hopefully at least one of them will get decent scores and price rises. Just be a bit worried that Bhana is used as a bench hooker though as some have suggested and he only sees 10 or so mins most weeks like Niko did last year at the Broncos and you end up with a dud position early on.

Halves- DCE, Hastings and Taylor, nothing to say there. Milford is a nice POD and another year on in adapting to the halves should mean he is more consistent and possibly gets given a bit more control this year. Still very much a hit and miss player though and because he is likely to not be a keeper there is some concern you end up selling during a dud patch and don't get to experience consistent high scores which is what you would aim to do with other inconsistent scorers like JT and SJ who you keep for the season average. JReynolds offers similar prospects for cheaper while Austin is also in the same boat but tends to get himself involved a bit more in general halves play so should have a better floor.

Centres- 2 mid rangers here is something that is different from many sides. Leilua is a gamble as he is a similar prospect to the likes of Hurrell in that he can have those 70 point games but there is a tendency to have too many dud ones and even not be named. Aubs if given the start in the 2nd row will be a great pick up for you and should help to offset any poor scores from Leilua.

WFBs- Mansour has gone out of favour here lately so should be a reasonable POD. Barba is obviously TLT dependent and even then there are big question marks around how long he will keep his spot for so it's a risky move going with him as your 2nd option here. Good choice of cheapies here, also look at Abbey/Phillips if one of them gets named as with Morris out for an extended period of time they could be in for a decent run at the back

Fraser wrote:

Thanks mate, really appreciate such a detailed review!

Cruise Elroy wrote:Hey guys, just signed up, so thought I may as well start by posting my current team here. Still playing around with it a bit obviously and have $54k in the bank Cheers for any critique I get.

jstands wrote:Posted in the wrong thread :/

$75k left and not sure where to spend it.

Smith, Lichaa
Bromwich, Woods, Evans, Packer
Surgess, Merrin, LAM, Rochow, Turner, Saifiti
DCE, Hastings, Taylor, Nikko
Green, Henry, Gutherson, Auva'a
Ferguson, Barba, Feeney, Mitchell, Nuffie

Random wrote:Well it is good to have you aboard Cruise, also you should find a place in our ranked team.

What are you doing with your team regarding Auva'a and Littlejohn?