2023 Mrbrownstone - New and Improved 2024 Edition

With a pure edge on the bench this week (Billy Burns), I'd take a wait and see with McInnis.

I see why you might have reservations on Fini and Mann. I think I'd go Fini as he's been clear back up for Luki whereas I think the Dogs is a lot less clear what's going on.

I’d get rid of McInnes

Don’t think he’s a keeper or got cash to make. If it helps get a cow or someone you like I’d do it. I’d grab Cotter first for the higher score. Extra cash will get you Lussick next week from Wong.

Don’t think you really need the third hooker which is why I’d deprioritise Lussick.

The extra MID in Cotter seems more useful for your squad given your get rid of Tups and McInnes.

Cap'n Ranta wrote:I’d get rid of McInnes

Don’t think he’s a keeper or got cash to make. If it helps get a cow or someone you like I’d do it. I’d grab Cotter first for the higher score. Extra cash will get you Lussick next week from Wong.

Don’t think you really need the third hooker which is why I’d deprioritise Lussick.

The extra MID in Cotter seems more useful for your squad given your get rid of Tups and McInnes.

Yeah you're right, I hadn't really thought about it from a squad cover POV, was just looking at points/value. But I have to use Cheese at hooker next week to cover Grant's bye, and if I also want to sell McInnes and Sitili that leaves me short on MIDs. If I follow through on getting May + Cotter, then from a coverage POV:

Hooker:

Grant, Cheese

MID

Tatola, May, Cotter, Cheese, Salmon, Hughes

EDG

Piakura, Sitili, Salmon, Chan, Wong

HLF

Cleary, Moses, Galvin, Hutch, Flanagan

CTR

Strange, Burbo, Kiraz

WFB

Rapana, Pap, Kiraz


Next week Cheese covers hooker and Salmon may need to cover EDG, so another MID would be handy if I don't want to have to play Shoes.

Then next week Wong becomes a WFB (hopefully Campbell) to cover Pap an Sitili/someone else becomes an edge (Finefuiaki if he looks decent).


The risk with this strategy is that by not trading Wong I'm guaranteed to have 4 red dots next week with the Storm bye (Wong, Pap, Chan, Grant). Another injury/suspension and that adds up fast, and suddenly I can't field 17 even with max trading...

I think I like it though, scared to miss the boat on Cotter.

Final trades for the round=

Wong -> May
Luki -> Finefeuiaki

Fairly straight bat. Bypassing Cotter for now and hoping McInnes benefits from Williams to the edge.

Much better round in R3, with a score of 889 propelling me from 82k -> 16k. Overall round rank of 130. Think that must be my single highest round rank rise. Kiraz and Rapana the highlights.

Anyway, onto the carnage. I've copped the following red dots this round:

Moses
Piakura
Cleary
Grant
Pap
Chan

Lucky in some ways that I can still field 17.

Spoiler:

Moses and Piakura seem to be the most obvious sells given their recovery timelines. I definitely need a WFB to cover Pap, so the options I've been tinkering with are:

a) Ponga + KPP + 72k
b) Campbell + Koro/Brown (gut says Brown) + 170ishk (probably to use on Sitili next week)

I'm leaning towards B at this stage. Would have started the season with Campbell if he was available and I think Brown kills it without Moses.

Also interested in Guth, Talagi, and the Titans situation (who gets Tino's mins), but those are all wait and see prospects.

In terms of captaincy, options are McInnes, May, and Brown/Koro if I go that route, with McInnes surely the safest in terms of floor. If he scores less than 50 with that bench I give up.

Locking in trade 1 as Piakura -> Campbell.

I need a WFB, I would have started with him at fit, and I don't see how anything's really changed. Titans were shit with or without Tino and he still scores well. Should be 10-12 points under priced.

Just leaves the decision of what to do with Moses. Shortlist being:

Fog
Koro
Brown
KPP

I think I like KPP and Brown most of those two, in which case BEs would suggest getting KPP this week and saving 300k to upgrade to Brown next week if he looks good.

Bit of a meh week overall, neither great nor terrible. Scored 708 which was more or less bang on par according to YAFSS, and my rank didn't really go anywhere.

Trading in KPP and captaining McInness both worked out nicely, trading in Campbell less so but it's early days.

This week things seem pretty straightforward to me:

Sitili -> Brown
Chan -> Talagi

Leaves me with this:

Grant (c)
Cheese May Tatola
KPP Finefeuiaki
Brown Hutch
Strange Kiraz
Pap Rapana Campbell

Flanagan Salmon Talai Burbo

Hughes Galvin McInnes Cleary

Will probably lock those in unless anyone has a better suggestion?

Bigger question will be who to captain, with the only options I trust being Grant, May, or Brown. Most likely Grant has the highest floor.

Not using McInnes as a looper between Hughes and Burbo?

ForanAgainst wrote:Not using McInnes as a looper between Hughes and Burbo?

Oh yeah, I likely will, good point.

Another pretty average round for me, 673 saw me drop from 16k -> 26k. What goes up must come down I suppose.

Very unclear on trades this week, lining up like this pre-trades:

Grant (c)
McInnes May Tatola
KPP Finefeuiaki
Brown Hutch
Burbo Strange
Pap Campbell Kiraz

Cheese Salmon Flanagan Hughes

Rapana Talagi Galvin Cleary

Rapana is an easy trade, just not sure who to. I think I might hold Talagi just for now and hope he shows back up in the centres. The options I'm toying with are:

a) Rapana -> Crichton. I don't trust Robbo or Crichton as far as I can thrown them, but he's so cheap that it's bloody tempting.

b) Rapana -> Stewart/Iro. Get a cheapie and bank cash for Hynes next week. I don't think I trust Iro's JS and I'd rather look at Stewart for a week first.

c) Rapana & Cheese -> Hynes & Stewart. Gun cow. Get Hynes. Get a captain. I'd rather save a trade and I don't think Cheese is necessarily a trade, but gee it's tempting...

What do we reckon? Any suggestions welcome. I think I'm going to stupidly put my faith in Robbo again and get Angus.

mrbrownstone wrote:Another pretty average round for me, 673 saw me drop from 16k -> 26k. What goes up must come down I suppose.

Very unclear on trades this week, lining up like this pre-trades:

Grant (c)
McInnes May Tatola
KPP Finefeuiaki
Brown Hutch
Burbo Strange
Pap Campbell Kiraz

Cheese Salmon Flanagan Hughes

Rapana Talagi Galvin Cleary

Rapana is an easy trade, just not sure who to. I think I might hold Talagi just for now and hope he shows back up in the centres. The options I'm toying with are:

a) Rapana -> Crichton. I don't trust Robbo or Crichton as far as I can thrown them, but he's so cheap that it's bloody tempting.

b) Rapana -> Stewart/Iro. Get a cheapie and bank cash for Hynes next week. I don't think I trust Iro's JS and I'd rather look at Stewart for a week first.

c) Rapana & Cheese -> Hynes & Stewart. Gun cow. Get Hynes. Get a captain. I'd rather save a trade and I don't think Cheese is necessarily a trade, but gee it's tempting...

What do we reckon? Any suggestions welcome. I think I'm going to stupidly put my faith in Robbo again and get Angus.

I would go Rapana to Crichton in a flash. Yeah we might get Robbo'd again, but as you say he's cheap for the potential. Even if he doesn't get 80 he'll hopefully score well enough to make some money in the interim. This way you can have a look at Stewart and see what you think next week.

I'm not overly keen on the two cows either, but I've currently gone Iro mostly because I have too many Raiders as it is, even by trading Rapana. I'm actually most interested in Chester tbh but that extra 80k (or whatever it is) is the stumbling block for me.

Have neglected this for a few weeks, largely as my team has been going nowhere. Since last updating I've gone from 26k to 29k thanks to a lack of Hynes and Grant being meh as captain.

Current state of the team:

Grant
McInnes Tohu Salmon
Crichton KPP
Cleary Brown
Kiraz Iro
Garrick Pap Weekes

Bateman Piakura Galvin Cheese

Finefeuiaki Hughes Strange Chester


21 trades remaining.

Pap and Cheese both on the shitlist this week. I need two WFBs with Pap & Chester injured and Weekes and Strange on the bye. Poor planning from me. Thinking Armstrong and Fa'alogo makes the most sense, though I've also considered:

- Teddy
- Isaako
- Marzhew
- Atkinson
- T May

If I stick with those two trades, it leaves approx 450k bank. Question is then whether to make an upgrade like Finefeuiaki to Haas this close to Origin, or get someone like Matterson and bank the cash?

Thoughts always welcome.

I'm not sure you need to bin Cheese - think of him as cheap HK cover. He's where you bought him, and is highly owned. Easy hold when you've got cash.

Pap and Chester would be my first outs, and Armstrong/Fa'alogo make sense (but won't score hugely - those are cash gen plays)

Maybe add in a scoring buy as well? I don't like Salmon being there, as he's only coverage - not points or cash. Haas is tricky close to Origin, likewise Teddy. RyMatt for Salmon is scoring upgrade, and a coverage upgrade. Likewise Plath, or TEisenhuth.

L-Jimmy wrote:I'm not sure you need to bin Cheese - think of him as cheap HK cover. He's where you bought him, and is highly owned. Easy hold when you've got cash.

Pap and Chester would be my first outs, and Armstrong/Fa'alogo make sense (but won't score hugely - those are cash gen plays)

Maybe add in a scoring buy as well?  I don't like Salmon being there, as he's only coverage - not points or cash. Haas is tricky close to Origin, likewise Teddy. RyMatt for Salmon is scoring upgrade, and a coverage upgrade. Likewise Plath, or TEisenhuth.

This is tempting, thanks for the thoughts!

So much cash floating around this week that it's almost impossible to decide on trades.

Cleary, Bateman, Finefeuiaki OUT. These are the options I've considered:

a) Hynes, Brailey, Matto. Too risky buying Hynes this week?

b) Hynes, Fainu, [insert midranger here: Nikora, Matto, S Walker]

c) Hynes, Hopgood, Atkinson - If there wasn't uncertainty around Hynes playing this would be the clear winner.

d) Haas, Hopgood, best buy up to 533k [Fainu/Brailey/Matto]

e) Haas, DiFi, Atkinson - Fuck it to bye planning, may as well gun up with so much spare cash.

Team for context, open to any other suggestions:

Grant
Jolliffe Tohu McInnes
Angus KPP
Brown Galvin
Iro Strange
Garrick Kiraz Weekes

Salmon Cleary Bateman Finefeuiaki

Hughes Armstrong Fa'alogo Piakura

Real mindfuck of a week with so much cash available.

Think I’m pretty locked into grabbing Haas for a good captaincy score and also seems the most likely to backup from Origin. Weekes locked in as the second trade for a R13 WFB/HLF who should make some good money.

The 3rd trade is completely up in the air. Looked at guys like Yeo, Hopgood, Fifita, Hynes at the top end.
Koula, Fainu, Cole at the lower end and then there are guys like Cook, Aitken, Joiliffe who are appealing for different reasons.

Getting FOMO on Koula but probably going to be either Yeo or Hoppy

Liverpool_Bulldog wrote:Real mindfuck of a week with so much cash available.

Think I’m pretty locked into grabbing Haas for a good captaincy score and also seems the most likely to backup from Origin. Weekes locked in as the second trade for a R13 WFB/HLF who should make some good money.

The 3rd trade is completely up in the air. Looked at guys like Yeo, Hopgood, Fifita, Hynes at the top end.
Koula, Fainu, Cole at the lower end and then there are guys like Cook, Aitken, Joiliffe who are appealing for different reasons.

Getting FOMO on Koula but probably going to be either Yeo or Hoppy

Koula obviously the other one I've considered, but I think I'll give him a week or two. If he looks good he's an easy swap for Kiraz.

I hadn't really considered Cole, but if I wanted to I could also get Hynes, Haas, Cole which I rather like. Guess it's best to wait for a firm update on Hynes and go from there before locking anything in.

mrbrownstone wrote:

Koula obviously the other one I've considered, but I think I'll give him a week or two. If he looks good he's an easy swap for Kiraz.

I hadn't really considered Cole, but if I wanted to I could also get Hynes, Haas, Cole which I rather like. Guess it's best to wait for a firm update on Hynes and go from there before locking anything in.

Hynes and Atkinson keep popping into the odd trade draft but I’ve already got enough headaches in my team it just feels like im compounding the issue.

Koula one I’m trying to fit and feels like a now or never kind of trade, I’ve had an absolute nightmare with WFB trades, already have Chevy and Faalogo stinking things up so a bit shy on WFBs

Well, confirmation of Hynes being in narrows it down a bit.

Cleary to Hynes will be one trade.

Then it's between Mato/Fainu + Walker or Hopgood + Atkinson.

Decision this week is what to do with Jolliffe.

Looking at iPap, Plath, Matto, Mahoney or JMK as options.

Planning to get Brailey next week so probably not the latter two. And now I wonder if iPap is too risky with the Panthers news. Is Plath the play?

It brings back the R14 issue as I'd have 5, but I have Strange to Koula pencilled in for that round so shouldn't be too big and issue?

I could also just hold this week and trade him once we know origin teams for certain. Can still field 17 without trading him but it's ugly:

Grant
McInnes Hughes Salmon
Angus Fainu
Hynes Brown
Iro Strange
Garrick Kiraz Weekes

Walker Galvin Faalogo Piakura

KPP Tohu Armstrong Jolliffe