Ando 2024

Ando wrote:@Boozecluez Decision made for me. Unfortunately I don't have a 3rd trade available otherwise I could just about afford Rapana > Lussick.

To be honest I would prefer to be trading Terrell and Lussick in this week but not sure how I can get to it without cutting Cook or Haas loose...

Just go for it, early days so now is the time and you sound like you are happy with these trades so no point living with regrets
Between the two Cook makes sense with a couple byes coming up and it helps fund the other trade and the way hookers are scoring.
But who knows how bad the Haas injury is, so maybe set it up so you can swap if need be with more news.

All the best

Boozecluez wrote:

Just go for it, early days so now is the time and you sound like you are happy with these trades so no point living with regrets
Between the two Cook makes sense with a couple byes coming up and it helps fund the other trade and the way hookers are scoring.
But who knows how bad the Haas injury is, so maybe set it up so you can swap if need be with more news.

All the best

Cook having his bye RD7 has helped sway me. Lussick also plays the first bye round. So currently on:

Cook > Lussick
Hutcho > Terrell

This also means I can use Wong to loop this week, an option I wouldn't have if I kept my original trades. And who knows, Wong could be back starting in an 80 minute role next week

Thanks mate, you've helped me see the light!

Ando wrote:

Cook having his bye RD7 has helped sway me. Lussick also plays the first bye round. So currently on:

Cook > Lussick
Hutcho > Terrell

This also means I can use Wong to loop this week, an option I wouldn't have if I kept my original trades. And who knows, Wong could be back starting in an 80 minute role next week

Thanks mate, you've helped me see the light!

Great trades mate

Like most people the Haas news has changed the plans slightly:

Cotric > Lussick
Haas > Terrell

Removes an unplayable shitter for a playable money maker and fingers crossed removes a gun keeper for a gun keeper.

These moves leave 85k in the bank and allow me to have another week to see how some of the guys with question marks go...

Wong - I'd hate to trade him out only for him to eventually get a 80 minute role
Hutcho - Got -15 in demerits this week, without those he scores into the 40's
Rapana - Just doesn't look convincing but likely needed with Papy on bye next week
Salmon - Making cash but don't really want him in the 17
Chan - Making cash but don't really want him in the 17
Levi - Making cash but don't really want him in the 17

Curran, Mann, Flegler, JCampbell, Finefeuiaki all potential trade in targets next week + whatever flavour of the week crops up.

Round 3

Round Score: 860
Overall Rank: 1,612th

Trades: Haas > Terrell May & Cotric > Lussick
ITB: 85k

Starting 17

Cook (46) - I was actually really happy he got a 46 after starting off the bench, looked ok in real life and hopefully back to 80 next week with South's looking poor
Terrell May (50) - He is a beast, shame pretty much everyone has him
Salmon (37) - Pretty much the same again, scores well first stint and then drops off but making cash at least
Smithies (33) - Really low score, got the minutes though, hopefully just a down day and turns it round
Brbo (15) - Really uninvolved and showed why he will need to be moved on sooner rather than later
Piakura (30) - Played a lot of the game at CTR so happy enough with his score
Cleary (c) (150) - Finally a good score but now he's injured...
Fogarty (62) - Mr. Consistent strikes again
Kiraz (89) - Holding him finally paid off, need him to keep those offloads coming!
May (28) - Meh, not the best but HIA didn't help. I plan to keep faith and hope he has a boom game soon like Kiraz
Rapana (61) - Warriors seemed to kick to him all day so saw plenty of kick returns was also a lot more involved
Teddy (71) - I feel like Teddy is repaying me for keeping the faith with him since the start of last season
Papy (51) - Solid score
Hutchinson (37) - The late Haas out meant I held and scored a respectable 37, really don't want him in my squad much longer
Galvin (60) - What a player, already made 100k but will be in my team all year if he keeps those performances up. Yet to miss a tackle!
Lussick (28) - Game flow led to a poor score, hoping that is his floor
Strange (12) - The late Chan out meant I copped this dud score, too many missed tackles but also had a high scoring Try disallowed.

EMG

Levi (25) - What a potato, cash gen not really moving and can't trust his scores in the 17
SHughes (17) - The slow burn got even slower
Chan (DNP) - Hopefully back in starting team after the bye but not sure I see it
Wong (DNP) - Held hoping he gets back in the team, a chance with the Collins injury but will have to see what TLT throws up


Summary

Finally a really solid week with Kiraz pretty much covering my two awful scores in Strange and Brbo. Really don't want to be playing these guys long term but I think most are in the same boat at the moment.

Looking at my starting 13 I'm really happy with it, however the INT and EMG is pretty awful and I need to strengthen it ASAP.

The Cleary out for a month is a bit of a spanner in the works as it's a forced trade I didn't really want to do, I will likely have to do Cleary > Hynes to stick with the crowd but this does pain me a little bit with Hynes being on the bye next week.

I have the cash ITB to go Wong > Pearce-Paul who I think is a great option after playing 2 80 minute games in a row.

This would then leave a second trade of Cleary > Hynes. This leaves the following team for RD4:

Cook
May Salmon Smithies
Piakura KPP
Hynes Fog
Kiraz Brbo
May Teddy Rapana
Lussick Galvin Hutcho Levi
Hughes Strange Chan Papenhuysen

Having to loop Levi/Hughes/Strange is pretty disgusting but it would be for just a week...

The only other option I can see is if Wong was miraculously named in TLT but I doubt it after the Roosters ran riot.

TLT was pretty kind minus the Piakura news which affects 99.9% of people, trades locked in:

Cleary > Carrigan
Wong > KPP

Cook
Carrigan Smithies May
KPP Salmon
Fog Galvin
Kiraz Brbo
Rapana Teddy May
Lussick Hutcho Levi Chan (loop)
Hughes Strange Piakura Papy

Captaincy options are Cook, Carrigan, May or Fog, have 2 days to decide which way to go.

1 vote carrigan from a broncs fan.

Think he’s good for 50 - 65 (averages 62 with over 70 minutes)

The others all have slightly lower floors and I don’t think any quite have enough ceiling to make up for that risk.

Also think you have your best loop in. Spent ages seeing if you could positionally loop Burbo and Strange but think it’s impossible.

You can maybe loop salmon by using Papy in your bench loop and having Chan as a starting edge but I’m not sure how badly he’d have to score for you to want Burbo edge and strange ctr ahead of him.

Cap'n Ranta wrote:1 vote carrigan from a broncs fan.

Think he’s good for 50 - 65 (averages 62 with over 70 minutes)

The others all have slightly lower floors and I don’t think any quite have enough ceiling to make up for that risk.

Also think you have your best loop in. Spent ages seeing if you could positionally loop Burbo and Strange but think it’s impossible.

You can maybe loop salmon by using Papy in your bench loop and having Chan as a starting edge but I’m not sure how badly he’d have to score for you to want Burbo edge and strange ctr ahead of him.

Thanks for the reply mate, yep Carrigan is my current captain with May vice.

I don't see any other way of looping either. I am hoping Hughes can grind out a 30 but I know how unlikely that is.

Love the KPP in for Wong I’m jealous of that.

I’m holding Cleary should be back round 7 and so hard to get him back in.

You’re flying mate miles ahead of me teams looks good lucky not as many fires as many others

@rabbits21 Yeah I've been pretty fortunate mate, but then again you make your own luck

I like the holding Cleary move but I feel it's best for me to use the spare cash to sort out my MID. Then in RD6/RD7 I will make a decision on whether to pick up Cleary or Hynes for the Origin period as I don't think I will be able to afford both without ruining the rest of my squad.

My current plan is to pick up Hynes up via Smithies + Hutcho in RD6 but obviously a lot could change between now and then.

Ando wrote:@rabbits21 Yeah I've been pretty fortunate mate, but then again you make your own luck

I like the holding Cleary move but I feel it's best for me to use the spare cash to sort out my MID. Then in RD6/RD7 I will make a decision on whether to pick up Cleary or Hynes for the Origin period as I don't think I will be able to afford both without ruining the rest of my squad.

My current plan is to pick up Hynes up via Smithies + Hutcho in RD6 but obviously a lot could change between now and then.

Sounds like a good plan mate you know more than me. Carrigan C I really like

Round 4

Round Score: 776
Overall Rank: 523rd

Trades: Cleary > Carrigan & Wong > KPP
ITB: 178k

Starting 17

Cook (84) - Keeping the faith paid off, pretty confident he can be the top scoring HOK this year
Carrigan (c) (124) - Can't complain with the trade in, solid captaincy and solidifies my MID position
Smithies (34) - I think as long as he keeps getting 60+ minutes we can average 40+, his last 2 games have been his floor
Terrell May (65) - Same as last week, absolute fantasy beast, kicking myself for not starting with him
Kpp (53) - Potential to be an EDG keeper, very happy with the trade
Salmon (21) - Shifting to the centres killed his scoring again, still cash to make so will persist
Fogarty (63) - Mr. Consistent strikes again
Galvin (44) - What a player, everyone will be on board now but glad I got on early
Strange (37) - Really happy with a 37 when I was down on troops and forced to play him
May (29) - Turned out being a really dud trade, think I will sell in order to provide funds for Cleary/Hynes
Rapana (34) - Keeps churning out acceptable scores but I feel like a really dud score is on the horizon
Teddy (32) - Roosters won't play the Panthers every week
Kiraz (23) - Shifted to the wing at half time, really needs those offloads when he isn't getting tackles as a base
Lussick (22) - Another dud trade in, hoping for a Handless bench this week as I don't want to trade before Cook's bye
Hutchinson (45) - His real life performances are pretty average but he's getting the fantasy points, hoping to upgrade to Hynes/Cleary once they are back
Levi (44) - What a difference a week makes, if he could get to 400k I would call that a big success
Brbo (22) - Losing minutes each week, thanks for the Vegas score but time for you to go!

EMG

SHughes ( - The slow burn got even slower yet again, starting this week which means he gets a stay of execution
Chan (DNP) - Will hold but really need him back in the Storm 17
Piakura (DNP) - Will be holding, should make a good amount of cash once he is back fit
Papy (DNP) - Don't really need to explain


Summary

Quite a low scoring round, but was able to continue the upwards trajectory and rank well inside the top 1000. Hopefully this will continue this week after being able to avoid a lot of the carnage once again.

Still haven't saved a trade but I want to have a 17 I am really happy with before I can start holding. To get to this point I think I need 4 more trades.

This will involve a plan to get one of Cleary or Hynes as a set and forget captain. At the moment I am thinking Hynes and hoping he misses Origin although I think Cleary will average more over the season. Any insight into which to target would be appreciated.

In terms of potential trades I am looking at the following:

Brbo > Angus - This is a big risk but it's a points upgrade as long as Angus stays in starting 13
Taylan > Talagi - Banking cash for the below upgrade
Hutchinson > Hynes or Cleary - no explanation needed really, it can wait a week or 2 depending on Hutch's BE
Rapana > JCampbell - I think these 2 will average around the same and Campbell just cheaper, my my only concern is how poor the Titans have looked

Carrigan locked in as captain, team before trades is:

Cook
(C)arrigan Smithies May
KPP Salmon
Fog Hutch
Brbo Kiraz
Papy Teddy Rapana
Lussick Taylan Levi Galvin (loop)
SHughes Strange Chan Piakura

Currently wanting to do the first 2 trades from the above list this week although BE's suggest to get JC before Angus, I just can't look past Angus' fixture and have too many doubts about JC. If anyone has any ideas please share!

Im in a similar position to you where I need to find the cash to upgrade Hutch to Hynes. I hate the thought of having to sell Taylan to fund this after chasing his rd 1 points and their fixtures after their bye.
If you sell Taylan and Burbo then Strange is basically cover for 2 ctrs and 3 wfbs so you might have to look at bringing some more cover

Ando wrote:Round 4

Round Score: 776
Overall Rank: 523rd

Trades: Cleary > Carrigan & Wong > KPP
ITB: 178k

Starting 17

Cook (84) - Keeping the faith paid off, pretty confident he can be the top scoring HOK this year
Carrigan (c) (124) - Can't complain with the trade in, solid captaincy and solidifies my MID position
Smithies (34) - I think as long as he keeps getting 60+ minutes we can average 40+, his last 2 games have been his floor
Terrell May (65) - Same as last week, absolute fantasy beast, kicking myself for not starting with him
Kpp (53) - Potential to be an EDG keeper, very happy with the trade
Salmon (21) - Shifting to the centres killed his scoring again, still cash to make so will persist
Fogarty (63) - Mr. Consistent strikes again
Galvin (44) - What a player, everyone will be on board now but glad I got on early
Strange (37) - Really happy with a 37 when I was down on troops and forced to play him
May (29) - Turned out being a really dud trade, think I will sell in order to provide funds for Cleary/Hynes
Rapana (34) - Keeps churning out acceptable scores but I feel like a really dud score is on the horizon
Teddy (32) - Roosters won't play the Panthers every week
Kiraz (23) - Shifted to the wing at half time, really needs those offloads when he isn't getting tackles as a base
Lussick (22) - Another dud trade in, hoping for a Handless bench this week as I don't want to trade before Cook's bye
Hutchinson (45) - His real life performances are pretty average but he's getting the fantasy points, hoping to upgrade to Hynes/Cleary once they are back
Levi (44) - What a difference a week makes, if he could get to 400k I would call that a big success
Brbo (22) - Losing minutes each week, thanks for the Vegas score but time for you to go!

EMG

SHughes ( - The slow burn got even slower yet again, starting this week which means he gets a stay of execution
Chan (DNP) - Will hold but really need him back in the Storm 17
Piakura (DNP) - Will be holding, should make a good amount of cash once he is back fit
Papy (DNP) - Don't really need to explain


Summary

Quite a low scoring round, but was able to continue the upwards trajectory and rank well inside the top 1000. Hopefully this will continue this week after being able to avoid a lot of the carnage once again.

Still haven't saved a trade but I want to have a 17 I am really happy with before I can start holding. To get to this point I think I need 4 more trades.

This will involve a plan to get one of Cleary or Hynes as a set and forget captain. At the moment I am thinking Hynes and hoping he misses Origin although I think Cleary will average more over the season. Any insight into which to target would be appreciated.

In terms of potential trades I am looking at the following:

Brbo > Angus - This is a big risk but it's a points upgrade as long as Angus stays in starting 13
Taylan > Talagi - Banking cash for the below upgrade
Hutchinson > Hynes or Cleary - no explanation needed really, it can wait a week or 2 depending on Hutch's BE
Rapana > JCampbell - I think these 2 will average around the same and Campbell just cheaper, my my only concern is how poor the Titans have looked

Carrigan locked in as captain, team before trades is:

Cook
(C)arrigan Smithies May
KPP Salmon
Fog Hutch
Brbo Kiraz
Papy Teddy Rapana
Lussick Taylan Levi Galvin (loop)
SHughes Strange Chan Piakura

Currently wanting to do the first 2 trades from the above list this week although BE's suggest to get JC before Angus, I just can't look past Angus' fixture and have too many doubts about JC. If anyone has any ideas please share!

I sneakily like the Angus play but I'm going Campbell this week myself. Wouldn't mind making double sure Angus plays 60+mins but I could also see him scoring a try this week and not even dropping cash.

Burbo to Campbell would make sense as it looks like you could use the WFB cover if planning to ditch Taylan too?

A lot to be said for going with the gut call if you think Angus goes well though.

Tempted by Cook captaincy at all?

@Honey Badger I am more than happy to sell Taylan, I am sick of getting annoyed every time Luai steps off his left foot back into traffic or drops Sorenson/To'o back on the inside. I noticed it's To'o who runs that play not Taylan so happy to bank the cash as it will be worth it being able to go Hutch > Hynes next week.

@BCT05 I was more tempted for the Cook captaincy last week against the Dogs. Not as keen this week, Carrigan's offloads were put away last week in the wet, hoping for a dry track in Melbourne tomorrow and his offloads come out in another 70+min game.

Angus vs. The Dogs is such a great match up, as a Hutch and Kiraz owner I know how much that right edge gives up TB's. I am just not 100% sold on JC purely because the Titans look so bad. I still have Kiraz at CTR so he can be used for WFB cover for now. I wonder if another Raiders loss this weekend would lead to a Chevy call up, that would be pretty perfect for my team right now.

Taylan to Campbell and Burbo to Talagi would be my moves. More cash freed up for your choice of Cleary/Hynes.

I can't lie and say Angus looks appealing. BE of 52 surely means to wait and watch this week But if he puts up 40 he only loses 20k for the week and saves a trade next week. That's the best case I see so save yourself 20k and make sure he has the role you want.

@Cap'n Ranta Thanks for the comment mate, I completely agree with your logic but I can't shake the Angus gut feel...

I can see him busting out a good score against the Dogs this weekend and then next week everyone will be wanting to get pick him up, whereas next week I want to have both trades allocated to picking up Hynes or if possible in a single trade.

Chaos in the Dogs vs Roosters with HIA galore means a slight change to this weeks trades:

Brbo >Angus already locked in
Taylan > Gutho as Teddy will be ruled out next week

That leaves 101k for a double trade of Hutch & Teddy out for Hynes and some shitto.

Round 5

Round Score: 714
Overall Rank: 1,598th

Trades: Brbo> Angus & Taylan > Gutho
ITB: 101k

Starting 17

Cook (55) - Another really solid score but a little frustrated he didn't get the 80 minutes
Carrigan (c) (122) - Another solid captain score although I am looking forward to bringing Hynes
Smithies (60) - Very happy, I think his scores the last two weeks were his absolute floor, back to his best
Terrell May (23) - Very strange drop in minutes, most teams have him so not too much damage caused
Kpp (47) - Great score considering the weather conditions
Crichton (59) - Very happy I gambled on bringing him early, looked really good so should keep his spot
Fogarty (42) - Finally a low game from him, will bounce back I am sure
Hutchinson (31) - The opposite to a fun pick, hoping to be able to trade him out to Hynes this week
Strange (46) - Getting more and more confident running him at CTR every week, another great real life performance
Kiraz (31) - Average score, just have to ride the lowish scores and wait for the big ones
Rapana (23) - To say he look finished on 2 points, pretty happy. Hope he suits up next weekend
Teddy (5) - Rough score, hopefully is back on the field soon, however I think I will be trading him out this week
Papenhuysen (24) - Pretty average score, wish he had goal kicking back
Lussick (45) - Benefitted from a Handless bench, hoping he gets picked again after a blowout loss
Salmon (34) - Should be able to stick with him with the number of outs the Dogs have
SHughes (47) - A big score to get his cash gen going again, like Salmon should hopefully keep getting minutes
Gutherson (20) - Very average start but should be ok moving forward, has the job security over Talagi who could lose his spot

EMG

Levi (31) - The slow burn got even slower yet again, starting this week which means he gets a stay of execution
Chan (DNP) - Will hold but really need him back in the Storm 17
Piakura (DNP) - Will be holding, should make a good amount of cash once he is back fit
Galvin (DNP) - Don't really need to explain


Summary

Bit of a shocking round but there will be many in the same boat. Unfortunately I was unable to continue to upwards trajectory

With Teddy being ruled out this week after the Cat 1 I think he will be getting traded to Hynes who will become the new perma-captain. To do this trade I need to find 149k.

Initial thoughts are to do Hutchinson > Jye Gray or Xavier Willison. I currently have no WFB/CTR cover though and this is something I don't really want to risk...

Obviously TLT could force my hand on what the 2nd trade is with Rapana potentially being injured. Team would be:

Cook
Carrigan Smithies May
Angus KPP
Hynes (c) Fogarty
Kiraz Strange
Papy Gutho Rapana
Lussick Salmon Piakura Galvin (double loop)
SHughes Gray Levi Chan

I feel that's a pretty gun side once Piakura and Galvin are both available so I can really start holding some trades, the only future trade I have lined up is Chan to some WTF/CTR cover.

As always thanks for reading and please share any thoughts you may have!

Ando wrote:@Cap'n Ranta Thanks for the comment mate, I completely agree with your logic but I can't shake the Angus gut feel...

I can see him busting out a good score against the Dogs this weekend and then next week everyone will be wanting to get pick him up, whereas next week I want to have both trades allocated to picking up Hynes or if possible in a single trade.

Love that your conviction paid off. I’ll come back after TLT but I’m not sure any “shitto” is worth it to get Hynes. Depth is pretty key with weekly byes (and the ever mounting injury/suspension toll) and a WFB playing for this years wooden spooners for 3-5 games over the next 10 ish weeks seems a heavy burden…. Especially when Carrigan (while not Hynes level) should be a good captain option at least until Haas is back.

Plus carrying Levi, Gray, Chan and Hughes feels like you are asking for trouble. Works this week on a panthers bye but rabbits (Cook), Bulldogs (Kiraz, Salmon and SHughes) and Eels (Gutho and Lussick) and Raiders (Fog, Smithies, Rapana, Strange, Levi) mean you’ll be playing a few too many shittos for my liking (enough that C Hynes won’t make up for the lack of depth).

Best of luck Hopefully TLT is kind.

I’d personally go to Campbell (either for Rapana- if injured or Hutch). Covers your WFB

I think Hynes with Trindall wont make origin so Cook to Hynes next week on Rabbits Bye will work well. Especially with Brailey being worth a pickup in 2 or so weeks.

Not 100% on who to sell Teddy to prior to TLT(Brown) but I think having some bank for future weeks and more overall depth will be key.