NRL Fantasy 2021 Part 39 - You get an injury, and you get an injury, and you get a suspension!

Liverpool_Bulldog wrote:

Huh? Why are you trading Roberts? Apart from being rubbish lol

That Doeh guy does my head in, pass Jimmy the ball!!!

Mac Attack wrote:
That Doeh guy does my head in, pass Jimmy the ball!!!

Trade Roberts to Douehi

Mac Attack wrote:

Hmmm do I just save a trade and keep Roberts?

He is only back up to Opacic and Bird

I wouldn’t be wasting the trade. Park Roberts in you EMG as cover.

Papadontbleach wrote:

I wouldn’t be wasting the trade. Park Roberts in you EMG as cover.

Yeah fair call mate, cheers Slug

I will be playing the Jet again this week (and next week by the looks of things).

I have told him he is on the bench this week so hopefully he bags a couple of tries to spite me.

....that's called reverse psychology in case anyone is interested

Aardvark wrote:

Fox late mail is that Hampton is battling a rib complaint....pretty ambiguous and could be just recycling the other story mentioned earlier

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2021-early-mail-round-7-dylan-edwards-api-koroisau-panthers-ben-hunt-dragons-teams-updates/news-story/c172937b5e7c0bbf6a05fc215b885df9

This makes things a bit difficult. even if Clifford does play today, he could still be the 18th man tomorrow no?

Trent Robinson has said Verrills is good to go for Sunday

Aardvark wrote:I will be playing the Jet again this week (and next week by the looks of things).

I have told him he is on the bench this week so hopefully he bags a couple of tries to spite me.

....that's called reverse psychology in case anyone is interested

I’ve dropped Roberts to the equivalent of reserve grade - #21 in my team

I might trade Simo over Niu to Hampton. Cost me 100K and a EMG player though for next week though but saves trading Hampton in and for some reason he doesn't play.

wolfking wrote:I might trade Simo over Niu to Hampton.  Cost me 100K and a EMG player though for next week though but saves trading Hampton in and for some reason he doesn't play.

It's difficult and normally I wouldn't put any faith in Fox to be right but I reckon most people are trading Nui for Hampton and do need the cover for at least the next two weeks......I am going a different route

wolfking wrote:I might trade Simo over Niu to Hampton.  Cost me 100K and a EMG player though for next week though but saves trading Hampton in and for some reason he doesn't play.

I'm doing something similar. Can always move niu on for Verrills etc next week

Aardvark wrote:


It's difficult and normally I wouldn't put any faith in Fox to be right but I reckon most people are trading Nui for Hampton and do need the cover for at least the next two weeks......I am going a different route

Tell me!

WT2K wrote:

I'm doing something similar. Can always move niu on for Verrills etc next week

Yeah exactly.  If Hampton doesn't play then dunno who I'll get.  Maybe Hoppa.

Bah, Hoppa plays before!

Benji playing centre (named anyway)

Jumping Marlin wrote:Random thought for the day, prompted by a comment attributed to Knights coach Adam O'Brien in todays paper.

O'Brien essentially said:  Panthers are so well drilled in attack they can form their patterns so quickly and run them play after play.  We (Knights) need to aim to get there.  Lots of work to get so well drilled.

Likewise, Trent Robinson often talks about his defensive system as a like a living breathing organism, that take a truckload of training to get right.

So, when someone like Josh McGuire moves to the Dragons and gets picked with 4 days of arriving, does it mean:

a) Hook is crazy.  He should have McGuire learning the St George systems for weeks before setting foot on the ground playing first grade; or
b) Hook is crazy. All those guys who trained and bonded all pre-season get shown it was for nothing.  An outsider can come in and get a game at me or my mates expense; or
c) O'Brien and Robinson are crazy. They sprout stuff to the press to make them sound good - anyone can fit in quickly and systems not so important as long; or
d) I'm crazy and shouldn't pollute the site with meaningless random thoughts.

Thought this post deserved a bit of detail in response.

Contrary to popular believe, when Gus originally took over at Penrith his 5 year plan involved creating a sustainable model that didn't require major recruitment instead relying on the largest junior nursery in rugby league. Sounds easy in theory, but the execution is what made it successful. To start with, the goal was to ensure a level of consistency in preparation from under 15s right up to first grade. This is where the centre of excellence, halfback academy and strong leadership was important. Taking over the junior development of the area, Penrith was able to hand pick 150 of the best junior prospects each year and run them through the system to see who could possibly make it and who couldn't. This is also where those combinations start to develop. Having the Harold Matts, SG Ball, 20s, reserve grade and first grade all training with the same systems, in the same facilities means they have incredible consistency in day to day routine. The same principles of football are drilled into these youngsters by experienced coaches that have been there at the top level and done the same before.

Put simply, this consistency allows Penrith to simply "plug and play" the fringe pieces, while the engine was built in the halfback academy for 5 years run by the likes of Greg Alexander. Penrith can bring up a guy like Mitch Kenny who has been in the system and knows his role without the team skipping a beat. Sure it lowers the ceiling, but the floor remains incredible high plugging in guys that know their job and can go do it. This means that as soon as there is "good ball" off the back of a quick ruck, every player knows their role and they can get straight into their patterns. If play 1 fails they can reload and hit play 2, then play 3, then play 4 because they have been doing it in juniors for 5+ years. This also allows Penrith to let go of established first graders commanding bigger money (CHN, Blake, Carty, DWZ, RCG, Hetherington, Peachey, Moylan, Hiku, Mansour) because they know they have a crop of juniors ready to step in that can replace 90% of the production at 30% of the price. Incredible to see in action and a large part of the reason Penrith will be there abouts for the next 15 years.


Defensive structures are a different beast and as most have alluded to are similar across most clubs and divisions. Watching reserve grade, under 20s or even 1st grade local league teams try to play the same structures it's mainly execution that is the difference.. Principles are simple (put your body between the defender and the try line) but structures can slightly differ. When you are at the opponents end of the field and they are in a "yardage" set you want to play as tight as possible to limit any gaps in the line. The closer you are to their try line, the more compressed you want the line to be. The differentiate is when you are defending "good ball". Most teams use one of two structures that essentially boil down to "up and in" or "up and slide" with both options used in the more complex systems (NRL teams) so you don't become predictable. Up and in relies on getting off your line as quickly as possible, with the aim being to get in the face of the ball players so they don't have time to think. If executed well this is a great way to shut down an overlap which will normally have your centre or winger jamming the sweeping fullback ball and all, while they have unmarked players outside. Up and slide tends to work best against inexperienced halves or teams that rely on structured play. Try this repeatedly against Melbourne, Panthers, Roosters, Rabbitohs, Raiders or Eels and they will bury you. But against teams like the Bulldogs, Cowboys, Broncos you can have success. These defensive structures make up 80-90% of your defensive activity and with most of these guys having been working on them since under 10s it's largely transferable.

The position you play within the system has makes a huge difference as well. If you play fullback you are responsible for understanding what system is being run, counting numbers in attack and defense, pushing players into correct position and also being the last line of defense. If you are a half you are responsible for defending your man (the 3 man) as well as holding before sliding onto the sweeping fullback. Centre you are responsible for your man, but also supporting your half knowing when to jam in and bring your winger with you. Playing in the middle is largely the same with one or two little tweaks. The Roosters as an example will routinely rotate middles out to the edge for a breather with the edge forwards defending in the middle for a few tackles or even full sets. These complex systems are harder to learn so would require more training

TL;DR for a rep quality forward like McGuire he has been working in these systems for most of his career so is able to slot in well. If he was playing on the edge it would make a difference.

If there was ever a time for Haas to get lower mins it would be tonight

30 degrees in Darwin while going through Ramadan and can’t eat/drink during day

To be fair though he is insanely fit

wolfking wrote:

Yeah exactly.  If Hampton doesn't play then dunno who I'll get.  Maybe Hoppa.

Bah, Hoppa plays before!

Keep an eye on northern pride team list at 4:30pm for Clifford news

WT2K wrote:

Keep an eye on northern pride team list at 4:30pm for Clifford news

Ok nice. After Hoppa there's no one left worth spending a trade on.

Erin Moleman wrote:Benji playing centre (named anyway)

As reported earlier in the week will play more like Walker to FB, Benji 6

Mac Attack wrote:
As reported earlier in the week will play more like Walker to FB, Benji 6

BINGO