NRL Fantasy 2023 Part 1 - Just open up already

syn13 wrote:Anyone see the article about Tevaga monetising his stats for his sick friends charity? Dunno if that’ll be enough to wanna start with him, but I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on him, will be hard to resist jumping on if he spends the first round or 2 being a ball-hog that tackles anything that moves with decent minutes.

Initially he was going to do donations for any negative stats he got, then he changed it up because that didn't go down very well.

Read into that what you will.

Jazz getting stuck in has never been the problem. He always gives everything, the problem is he isn't that good, isn't very big, and isn't very sensible.

And the coach has said they brought Walker in to play the same 14 role he's been playing. Which makes a bit of a conundrum for Jazz who has also been that 14/interchange mid who is meant to be a bit more of a mobile and ball playing role.

But the Warriors are so weak in the middle that he might just end up getting good minutes in the prop rotation anyway.

The smokeys for the Warriors are the Kepu twins. First decent prop prospects they've had come along for years, and there should definitely be opportunities for them. But knowing the Warriors they'll find a way to fuck it up. Might still be a get there toes wet season though. Ale should see more opportunities this year too and certainly looked a good prospect when he was coming through.

They have zero consistent go forward in the middle when AFB isn't on the field. So, especially with a new coach, the door is open for those young middles

been tinkering with my draft, seems very hard to do without knowing which of, alamoti, te whare, perham, bailey hodgson etc are going to get picked in the TLT

defintely getting more inline with a definitive team,

still planning on going for hynes and cleary,

Regulator wrote:

Forgetting how to catch the ball was also a real hindrance in his development.

Absolutely this, the biggest though was not ever knowing how to pass a ball.

GarethEllisismyDad wrote:been tinkering with my draft, seems very hard to do without knowing  which of, alamoti, te whare, perham, bailey hodgson etc are going to get picked in the TLT

defintely getting more inline with a definitive team,

still planning on going for hynes and cleary,

You still can get a viable 17 with Cleary & Hynes but you could probably get 55-60 from someone like Doueihi/Burton for 200-250k less who might score 10 less than Hynes

Then that 200-250k could change a dodgy cow into viable middle or mid-ranger into potential keeper. It’s basically 1 ubergun vs 2 maybe guns

I like the E. Katoa pick if he starts on the Storm edge & Bellamy could bring out his potential & Katoa will have to work very hard in return. His time at the Warriors was underwelming he seemed to pick up injuries easily & last year after starting well he picked up injuries & then he couldn't get back in the team. Did he drop off in training, does he have a poor attitude or is he a sook. One thing we do know he will get thrashed in pre season & be super fit & he better behave & show 100% professionalism because there will be competition for the starting gig so he's going to have to earn it.

Speaking on byes, here's a chart with  everyone's byes in it, sorted by order of first bye

In general

Good to start with - Dogs, Parra, Cowboys, Brncos, Souths - all play every round leading up to origin


Manly, Knights, Parra, Cowboys all play the first 2 origin rounds (Have to be careful here because Manly, Knights, Parra all have a bye round 14, don't want to get a good scoring r13 just to screw yourself the next week)

Sharks, Tigers, Dogs, Parra play the last 2 origin rounds (Tigers, Dogs, Sharks all have a bye round 17)

Dragons, Raiders, Dolphins, Warriors, Parra, Souths play origin 1 and 3. Good for overall coverage but not good for timing trades.

What’s the general feeling about josh Hodgson? Underpriced? Past it? Guessing game?

GarethEllisismyDad wrote:What’s the general feeling about josh Hodgson? Underpriced? Past it? Guessing game?

If he looks on pace in the trials and Jakob Arthur is at 14 it'll be hard to look past him at that price. Alternatively if he looks fat and slow with Rein on the bench then he's probably a pass

The Dolphin Conspiracies wrote:

Titans forum suggests he is going to play HLF this season. NRL predicted team as well. Averaged around 50 at the end of last season

They might be right. Pretty brave call by Holbrook to run it that way if you ask me. If my coaching job was on the line I'd be running out the most experienced halves pairing I could, especially after last year.
Interestingly, Brimson had 14TA's in 15 games playing 5/8, and a better try involvement rate than Cam Munster.

End of the day, I don't know what TLT will show, but doubt they do either.
Probably worth keeping an eye on, but I'm probably going to avoid tenuous picks where the coach is a good chance to get fired.

GarethEllisismyDad wrote:What’s the general feeling about josh Hodgson? Underpriced? Past it? Guessing game?

i was surprised he's 33 years old which is old in nrl terms & he's had 2 acl injuries....can he play 80 minutes at his age

GarethEllisismyDad wrote:What’s the general feeling about josh Hodgson? Underpriced? Past it? Guessing game?

Sounds like he's fit and going well in preseason training.
Definitely underpriced historically, the big question is probably around his durability (given injuries in recent years).

With byes every week, it's probably worth considering being conservative around players that have a perceived higher risk of injury

White Lightning wrote:

i was surprised he's 33 years old which is old in nrl terms & he's had 2 acl injuries....can he play 80 minutes at his age    

I get the sense that Jake Arthur is transitioning towards a mobile forward role via a phase as a bench HOK. It certainly puts a dampener on Hodgson's potential as a fantasy pick. I am planning to go with Tanah Boyd as my second HOK to Cheese instead

easytiger wrote:

They might be right. Pretty brave call by Holbrook to run it that way if you ask me. If my coaching job was on the line I'd be running out the most experienced halves pairing I could, especially after last year.
Interestingly, Brimson had 14TA's in 15 games playing 5/8, and a better try involvement rate than Cam Munster.

End of the day, I don't know what TLT will show, but doubt they do either.
Probably worth keeping an eye on, but I'm probably going to avoid tenuous picks where the coach is a good chance to get fired.

Sounds like the coach confirmed this. Meaning he'll pair up with Fifita on the right.
Any half with Foran at 6 will get good kms, and the dual hlf/hk makes Boyd an attractive option

what do we think of nat butcher @ 691k mid/edg he'll start with tupouniua expected back mid season. he can also play in the middle so with the watson injury he could move to lock to give radley a breather. he scored a few tries last year even 4 in 1 game & he seems to be 1 of those players who have the knack of scoring tries...call it luck, anticipation, football skills but he always seems to pop up with a try just through sheer perseverance.

White Lightning wrote:what do we think of nat butcher @ 691k mid/edg he'll start with tupouniua expected back mid season. he can also play in the middle so with the watson injury he could move to lock to give radley a breather. he scored a few tries last year even 4 in 1 game & he seems to be 1 of those players who have the knack of scoring tries...call it luck, anticipation, football skills but he always seems to pop up with a try just through sheer perseverance.

I don’t see much value in him and I don’t see him at quite keeper level.

What are your thoughts on Reece Walsh mate?

Rabbits21 wrote:
I don’t see much value in him and I don’t see him at quite keeper level.

What are your thoughts on Reece Walsh mate?

new club will take time to gel with new team mates, new style of play, etc & he won't be gk & won't be kicking in general play so it's a wait & see for me.

Anyone got an opinion about which David Fifita we will get next year

1/ The Round 18 to 23 version from 2022
2/ The Round 24 to 25 version from 2022
3/ The 230k 2023 version, which if him would represent remarkable value

Pre-trial team list finalised

https://www.nrlfantasyfanatics.com/t2070-2023-dolphin-conspiracies#652193

Have a peek

Some Titans info from courier mail:

Spine to start the year will be: 1 brimson 6 Foran 7 Boyd 9 Verrills.

Boyd will play on the right side next to fellow Keebra Park product and close friend David Fifita, who he has a longstanding combination with.
Foran, 32, will start on his preferred left edge next to rising backrower Beau Fermor.