NRL Fantasy 2024 Part 2 - We've all been waiting for Weekes

multiple.scoregasms wrote:I think the link between captaincy and minutes is tenuous at best

Here are 2023 club captains

Club Captain(s)
Brisbane Broncos Adam Reynolds
Canberra Raiders Jarrod Croker
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Reed Mahoney and Matt Burton
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Wade Graham and Dale Finucane
Dolphins Jesse Bromwich
Gold Coast Titans Tino Fa'asuamaleaui
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Daly Cherry-Evans
Melbourne Storm Christian Welch
Newcastle Knights Kalyn Ponga and Jayden Brailey
North Queensland Cowboys Chad Townsend and Jason Taumalolo
Parramatta Eels Clinton Gutherson and Junior Paulo
Penrith Panthers Isaah Yeo and Nathan Cleary
South Sydney Rabbitohs Cameron Murray
St. George Illawarra Dragons Ben Hunt
Sydney Roosters James Tedesco
New Zealand Warriors Tohu Harris
Wests Tigers Api Koroisau

Did any of the forwards see increased minutes?

mattnz wrote:

His issue was his foot, then went out of favour, was forced to play MID, with Preston the bolter last season coming through, but has said he wants to play EDG.

If he starts EDG, would be foolish not to start with him. With Bird wanting to play CTR, and that EDG being weak otherwise last season, you would expect he should have the front running as the most experienced guy and a better player in that position than any of the other Dragons (certainly pre-injury at least).

In 70+ minutes at EDG he averages 50, priced at $426k.

rhinoceroo wrote:

It's co-captain though, isn't it? As in the other captain is a half (Dearden) who they know will be on for 80. Same as Lolo and Chad last year. Doubt it'll make the slightest difference either way.

Captaincy is hugely overrated in pretty much all sports except cricket anyway. They're just there to talk to the ref and front up to the media, really. It's not like they're calling the plays, and team leaders/motivators (eg Munster, Jurbo) are free to lead by voice or example whether they have the armband or not.

rhinoceroo wrote:

There are so bloody many edges. But his DPP is a bonus. Hope he goes better than the last Dragons DPP starting edge.

mattnz wrote:

Harris did, was one of the reasons I was hot on him at the start of last season, when named captain. Before getting injured, was playing 80 almost every week.

Yeo similar.

mattnz wrote:

Holy Moly wrote:Taumololo axed as captain. Could fire him up?

https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/cowboys-weapon-jason-taumalolo-axed-after-clubs-2023-season-flop/news-story/fa00babf0fd2f5e9152b3bcab7adc368

Hope it's legit news.

I don't see that as a positive for his minutes. Being named as captain for a forward is often a good sign for increased minutes.

multiple.scoregasms wrote:

Tohu 2022 - Take out the game he came back from injury off the bench he averaged 71 minutes. 2023 averaged 68 minutes. I traded him in twice last year on the back of 80 minute performances that stopped

Yeo 2022 - Averaged 75 minutes. 2023 averaged 77 minutes

Looking at some of the other forwards on the list

Junior Paulo - Went from 47 to 54 which is a decent jump
Cameron Murray - Went from 65 to 67
Tino - Went from 59 to 61
Bromwich - No point comparing his Storm data to his Dolphins data (although minutes decreased)
Wade Graham - Minutes dropped from 51 to 45
Dale Finucane - 46 up to 49

Aside from Junior Paulo it made almost no difference for any of them

rhinoceroo wrote:

Captaincy is hugely overrated in pretty much all sports except cricket anyway. They're just there to talk to the ref

Rabbits21 wrote:Kris has been denied to have the All Stars game count to his suspension he will be back round 2.

Rabbits21 wrote:Kris has been denied to have the All Stars game count to his suspension he will be back round 2.

Rabbits21 wrote:Kris has been denied to have the All Stars game count to his suspension he will be back round 2.

rhinoceroo wrote:

How come it counts for Wighton? Typical bunny stitch-up

Mulvy wrote:I wonder if we should be concerned about the departure of Matt Moylan from the Sharks, affecting Hynes scoring. Is Trindall the likely replacement? Hynes and Trindall played the last six games together last year which gives a bit to go on. KMs would be the main concern.

Earlier in the year Hynes was kicking 440 KMs per game, compared with 295KMs in the last six games when he was along side Trindall (a decrease of 145kms). In those last six games, Trindall averaged 233KMs compared to Moylan who averaged 74KMs (an increase of 159kms).

If these numbers ring true, Trindall at five-eighth could be the direct cause of about a five point decrease in scoring for Hynes. I can't quite remember, but Hynes might have been carrying a strain of some sort, so this may all be over blown.

But, that's just KMs. Would he affect playmaking more or less than Moylan? It might not affect Hynes that much, but it's a risk, and when you pay for the most expensive player in fantasy, you expect top of the range scores. I also don't expect Trindall to take the goal kicking away from Hynes, but if I remember correctly, Hynes had a pretty unhappy stretch for a while there with the boot, so it's always a risk as well.

I was tempted to run with both Cleary and Hynes, but it's a lot of cap, and with the above possible risks, thinking I'll just run Cleary.

Camo123 wrote:

NRL didn’t mention the denial of All Stars in latest article although saying he returns in R2. Given Kris has letter of support to say he’d be selected for All Stars I can’t see why they’d deny the exemption

rhinoceroo wrote:

How come it counts for Wighton? Typical bunny stitch-up

easytiger wrote:

I'm not sure Hynes lost the goal-kicking to Trindall - Hynes had a quad injury towards the end of the regular season which explains why he didn't goal kick (also missed R26 as a result) and that issue may have been in the mix with the reduction in general field kicking towards the end of the season.

Nevertheless, I think you'd expect Trindall should average more KM than Moylan, but I suspect the loss of KM is probably only going to be a few fantasy points.
It could be offset by Hynes running more which is where he can be pretty good at grabbing TBs & OLs

It feels like he has a bit more questions over him than Cleary, but I suspect he ends up being there or there-abouts with what we've come to expect the last couple of years.

Aardvark wrote:

I was more curious about the 'I'm locking in Hynes and Cleary to start' talk more than anything else (with the massive disclaimer being I haven't made a team). I suspect that Hynes won't be far from the top of the tree this year either but Trindall starting does give us something to think about if you're going with one or the other which I suspect will be the default position for many of us.