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

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

Camo123 wrote: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

Camo123 wrote:Trent Robinson has said Verrills is good to go for Sunday

wolfking wrote:

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

Rabbits21 wrote:Who goes first:

TU: Niu
TD: Simonsson

multiple.scoregasms wrote:

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.

multiple.scoregasms wrote:

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.

rhinoceroo wrote:

I reckon Fox should employ you instead of Blocker.

my tv broke wrote:

Its not that big of a deal tbh. He eats before sunrise and eats again at sunset. The game is at night. Hes an elite athlete. I get that for some people it has "wow" factor, but it wont really be an issue.

robelgordo wrote:

James Roberts?

Rapture_NRL wrote:
Surely the water thing would be an issue though?

Kane wrote:Ahh.. no players in this next game.. Not even worth watching then haha

wolfking wrote:

Need WFB.  But want DPP.

Rapture_NRL wrote:
Surely the water thing would be an issue though?