Jele 2024

Round 10

Scored 730, basically held rank at 19,263 overall. A quick look at the FOG shows I’m 500 points behind rank 567 (Winfield), 300 points behind rank 3,965 (Ando), 100 points behind rank 12,959 (B/L). So, some targets to aim for

Round 10 team was:

Brailey
May Waddell Matto
Angus KPP
Hynes (c) Cleary (vc)
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Armstrong

Piakura Galvin Hughes Strange
Lussick Salmon Chan Atkinson

bank: $309k

Two trades this week were Murray + Papy -> Matto + Drinky. In the end, I could held Papy and played or looped in Atkinson for another 35 points. Matto wasn't the best either, but not the worst. Probably should have sticked to my original plan of a keeper MID like AFB.

The Good
- Grand Angus keeps on delivering.
- Keeping the faith – not sure I would have scored better out of Waddell, May, or Lussick – all of whom were close to getting the chop

The Bad
- Hynes and Cleary – like many, copped the quinella.

The Ugly
- Piakura – he’s crap and he’s got to go. The fact that I’m listing him before Salmon says it all.

Conclusion
Again my trade outs present themselves. Cleary + Piakura + Salmon out. Weekes will be one trade in, plus a gun for Cleary (Yeo? Haas? AFB?) and then around $740k for a last trade in. Have to go quite far down the list before finding a non-Origin keeper. Will have a closer look tomorrow.

Hopefully you catch me by murdering it and not because I've fallen in a hole

I think you've saved 3 more trades than me (and had more forced), so that should translate to a couple hundred points.. possibly more if the late season carnage is anything like last year.

I'm trading Salmon to Weekes and will try to hold the rest, unless KPP is benched and I go for a captain like Yeo or Haas.

One good round while I tank and we're pretty close. Hopefully 3 or 4 good rounds while I score par though

Team tracker updated

Watch and embezzle if you are foolish like me

WT Winfield wrote:Hopefully you catch me by murdering it and not because I've fallen in a hole

I think you've saved 3 more trades than me (and had more forced), so that should translate to a couple hundred points.. possibly more if the late season carnage is anything like last year.

I'm trading Salmon to Weekes and will try to hold the rest, unless KPP is benched and I go for a captain like Yeo or Haas.

One good round while I tank and we're pretty close. Hopefully 3 or 4 good rounds while I score par though

You're going great guns @WT Winfield , no doubt you'll keep it up.

Cleary out and Weekes in plus $309k in the bank leaves me with a lot of moolah for a second and third trade if I want it. Can't quite work out how to spend it this week though.

One of Piakura or Salmon can become a gun mid (Haas/Yeo/AFB?).

The other means I can grab anyone $762k or below. Currently it’s a long list of not particularly inspiring non-origin options: Brown (Moses back soon though), Tapine (minutes trending down), Aitken (feels like I’ve missed the boat), JMK (don’t need hooker cover for round 13, but otherwise solid), Nikora (forum flavour of the week, but not sold) … all the way down to Koula (like others, finding it hard to ignore his FB stats, his DPP and round 16 availability).

Team could look like:

Brailey
Yeo (vc) May Hughes
Angus Matterson
Hynes (c) Weekes
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Koula

Galvin Lussick Atkinson Chan
KPP Waddell Strange Armstrong

After 21 trades, looks a lot like a round one team A bit worried that there's a lot of spuds/guys that are going to need an upgrade and I'm running out of trades to get it done. Is Koula a potential final 17 player? Otherwise I might just be adding another one. Decent chances any trade in from here on (absent injury) ends up in my final squad.

TLDR: Who would you pick out of Yeo, Haas or AFB?

I'm thinking I'll wait until Rd 13 for Nikora if needed. Although I'm wary of grabbing too many keepers from Sharks and Eels with their Rd 20 bye after game III. Hopgood if missing origin would be a priority target for me too, but I already have Hynes, Iro, DBrown, Matto and then Atkinson to be cashed out.

I think DBrown is priced accordingly or possibly overs unless Moses gets injured again. Should be able to cover half for Rd 13 with Strange and Weekes. Hopefully Atko in there somewhere too.

I liked AFB a few weeks ago, but as his price got closer to Yeo and Haas, I've leaned more towards Yeo. Thinking I'll just wait the 2 games and see how things look Rd 14. IPap and Cook on the radar then too. Not confident Yeo or Haas back-up, but at least you can be pretty confident in AFB throughout and could use his points in the meantime. Not sure if he steps up, down or the same without SJ though.. Yeo I think steps up and has until Sunday after origin to back up, but may not matter to Ivan. Haas was kind of a pain in the ass last year.. injuries and restings. Kinda cold on him.

Tapine/JMK/Aitken with the Rd 14 bye putting me off too. I think you're at 5 with Weekes coming in and May probably leaving. May could jag a bench origin spot too making him a sell a week early..

Koula is someone I'd take a punt on if I didn't have enough backs. Just grabbing Weekes at this stage, but also Tago on the menu next week or the following.

Things might be simpler if KPP just starts, for both of us I'd feel better about letting guys like Yeo, Hop and AFB go through to the keeper then.

Round 11

A bit late with my round review this week. I scored 972, which feels a bit above par. Up to 16,706 overall. Still in the load more section of the FOG however…

Round 11 team was:

Brailey
Yeo (vc) May Hughes
Angus KPP
Hynes (c) Galvin
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Weekes

Koula Lussick Matterson Chan
Strange Armstrong Waddell Atkinson

bank: $304k

Three trades this week were Cleary -> Yeo, Piakura->Weekes, and Salmon->Koula. Feels like three good upgrades – both for immediate points and cash gen.

The Good
- Sometimes its better to be lucky than good – was quietly devastated when Armstrong was stuck in 19th spot, but Matto’s late scratching opened for the door for a nice 87 point upgrade.
- Strength in depth – although it inevitably means making the wrong call on my bench, my depth is looking OK. Trading out Salmon and Piakura means I only have two spuds left to deal with, ok maybe five…

The Bad
- Not too much to complain about this week, maybe a few too many 30s in the team offsetting Armstrong, Yeo, Hynes, Galvin, Kiraz all topping 60.-

The Ugly
- Lussick – hard to watch his score slowly creep up and then come crashing down with missed tackles every week. With the Knights on the bye, he’s currently my round 12 hooker, however.

Conclusion
This week’s a bit trickier trade-wise – Chan is not making money not playing, so he could easily go for Wishart. The other option is to upgrade Lussick to Cook. Or I could not trade at all and bank them for a change…

Three options this week:

1. Hold trades – I’ve got 17 green dots so might as well conserve some trades
2. One trade – either Chan -> Wishart or Lussick -> Cook. Even with Hughes back, Munster’s long term absence makes Wishart a no-brainer. And Cook will help with my round 16 and 19 numbers, assuming he doesn’t get picked for Origin…
3. Two trades – Chan->Wishart and Lussick->Cook. Both trades feel like upgrades, although I’m a bit leery of trading in a player who’s on a bye next week.

Team could look like:

Lussick/Cook
Yeo May Hughes
Angus Matterson
Hynes (c) Galvin
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Weekes

Koula Brailey Armstrong KPP
Chan/Wishart Strange Waddell Atkinson

Just depends on whether its worth the trades. Down to 15 left, so need to ration them a bit over the next nine rounds.

At this stage, leaning towards taking Lussick's score for one more round but upgrading Chan to Wishart as a potential solid bench player through the bye period.

Currently just down one MID or EDG for round 13 (assuming Angus plays Origin), but only 16 for round 14 (assuming Yeo and Hynes back up). Round 16 is looking ugly with only 9 players currently, but I think that’s future me’s problem.

Jele wrote:Three options this week:

1. Hold trades – I’ve got 17 green dots so might as well conserve some trades
2. One trade – either Chan -> Wishart or Lussick -> Cook. Even with Hughes back, Munster’s long term absence makes Wishart a no-brainer. And Cook will help with my round 16 and 19 numbers, assuming he doesn’t get picked for Origin…
3. Two trades – Chan->Wishart and Lussick->Cook. Both trades feel like upgrades, although I’m a bit leery of trading in a player who’s on a bye next week.

Team could look like:

Lussick/Cook
Yeo May Hughes
Angus Matterson
Hynes (c) Galvin
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Weekes

Koula Brailey Armstrong KPP
Chan/Wishart Strange Waddell Atkinson

Just depends on whether its worth the trades. Down to 15 left, so need to ration them a bit over the next nine rounds.

At this stage, leaning towards taking Lussick's score for one more round but upgrading Chan to Wishart as a potential solid bench player through the bye period.

Currently just down one MID or EDG for round 13 (assuming Angus plays Origin), but only 16 for round 14 (assuming Yeo and Hynes back up). Round 16 is looking ugly with only 9 players currently, but I think that’s future me’s problem.

Similar boat to me with Round 16 at the moment. 9 players for it as it stands but the guys I want to get rid of in 14 (May, Strange, Salmon, Hughes) all play 16 so bit of a deck chair shuffling scenario unless there are legitimate hun/cow options to move them too

Round 12

Not a great round this week, 725 and back out to 20,554th. Just can’t seem to make a permanent dent in my ranking, hopefully the bye period will bear some fruit.

Round 12 team was:

Lussick
Yeo (vc) May Hughes
Angus Sorensen
Hynes (c) Galvin
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Weekes

Wishart  Strange Waddell Atkinson
Armstrong KPP Brailey Koula

bank: $237k

I went through with two trades: Chan -> Wishart as planned, but then I kneejerked Matto out for Sorensen, in order to field 17 after Koula and Matto were both late outs (and Galvin and Hynes were doubtful). Time will tell I guess whether it was worth it.

The Good
- 69+ pointers from Teddy, Galvin and Kiraz. Teddy’s non-selection for Origin came as a bit of a surprise, but after stinking it up for a while, looks like a no-brainer keeper now for the rest of the year.

The Bad
- Late withdrawals, or late rumours of withdrawals, unnecessarily complicating things. I miss the days before rolling lockout.

The Ugly
- Lussick – I listed Lussick here last week, not sure why I’m not even willing to listen to myself… in hindsight I suspect I would have better off keeping Matto than holding Joey for the 14 extra points.

Conclusion
Last week I was pleased with my depth. This week I got found out. Holding Salmon and Piakura (and probably Matto) over the last two weeks might have actually been the right play, but I need to move on. If team lists do not throw out any curve balls, I’ll have 12 (plus Strange as 14th man) for next week. Will therefore look at one trade in for Lussick – any MID or EDG under $700k.

Ideally someone who plays 13 and 14, which means someone from Sharks, Panthers, Dogs, Eels, Dragons, Knights, or Cowboys. Shortlist includes Ming, Curran, Preston (if named to start), Eisenhuth, Carty, Matto (if named to start), Frizell, Wilton, or Nikora.

Just looking at one trade this week to make 13 - Lussick to Preston or Ming. The question is which one.

Round 13

One of those weeks where almost everything went right. 777, 561st for the round and up 11,000 places to 9,831st. And 5th place in the Lord of the Byes league. Hopefully the bye rounds are where we can make a difference.

Round 13 team was:

Brailey
May (c) Sorensen Hughes
Preston KPP
Galvin Weekes
Kiraz Koula
Teddy (vc) Drinky Armstrong

Hynes Wishart Waddell Iro
Atkinson Yeo Angus Strange

bank: $63k

One trade – Lussick -> Preston. Nice.

Almost outsmarted myself (and might still have) with a not very complicated loop. Was worried when Teddy became a red dot that Strange would be left stranded on my bench, but (for now) looks like the subs have all kicked in.

The Good
- Captain May – pipped by RFM as the highest scorere of the round, so let me just say it’s nice to have picked the highest scoring captain pick.
- Preston – always good to back your gut, and to be right for a change. Makes up for any number of dud calls this year – almost…

The Bad
- Teddy’s late withdrawal for Dedwards turns him from a bye round superstar to a potential dud. Having bought him at his peak, I’m loathe to trade him out, but he could be out for 14 and 16 as well as 13.

The Ugly
- Hughes and Armstrong – rookies are always going to have up and down games, but Hughes’ goose in particular looks pretty cooked.

Conclusion
Good week. Aim is to build on this by going hard during the bye period. 12 trades left is probably a bit above average too. This week, looking at Angus -> Fifita, Hughes -> Twal and Armstrong (or Strange) -> Hands. That would give me 17/18 if Hynes, Yeo, and Teddy all back up.

Great stuff mate First thing I checked after seeing Preston's score was that you jumped on too

Captain May repaying the faith after weathering the storm the past month+.

Disappointed I didn't grab Drinky at the death with Teddy out, but glad you and Ando cashed in.

Teddy's on the bye this week, so looking at 17 if trading Angus and Hynes/Yeo back up. I'm grabbing Fifita too and will have to look at Twal, Wighton, Samuela and Cook. Hopefully get away with 2-3 trades, but might be making 4

Cheers Winfield, glad I stuck with my gut on Preston, but it helped that you were doing the same given your hot hand this year!

Glad to see you had another good week - in your great position you of course shouldn’t change much but i wouldn’t want to die wondering either.

15 players this week before trades assuming Yeo backs up and Armstrong plays. After Origin, now inclined to hold Hynes and Teddy on the basis they don’t get picked for game 2. Tempted to be a bit aggressive with trades otherwise though and use all four:

Crichton -> Fifita
Hughes -> Twal
Strange -> Wighton
Armstrong -> Hands

The tougher decision was who to trade out than in. Probably a bit dangerous to trade out two green dots (Hughes and Armstrong)…

Hynes in particular is borderline with his injury status (less worried about his high BE). But he is a keeper so probably worth riding out. Teddy too. Angus at least is a lock for Origin 2. I guess Weekes and May are the other two options but both are part of my round 16 plans.
Will need to play around with trade order to see if I can give myself max flexibility. With the Armstrong news likely to come late, I may have to lock that in well beforehand.

Would leave me with 17 this week:

Brailey
Yeo (vc) Sorensen Twal
Preston Fifita (c)
Galvin Atkinson
Kiraz Iro
Wishart Drinky Koula

KPP Waddell Wighton Hands
Hynes May Teddy Weekes

Round 14

Another good week, only soured by Preston’s late, late injury. 845 for the round and up another 3,000 places to 6,925th. Up to 4th place in Lord of the Byes. Hopefully the bye rounds are where we can make a difference.

Round 14 team was:

Brailey
Yeo (vc) Sorensen Twal
Preston Fifita (c)
Galvin Atkinson
Kiraz Iro
Wishart Drinky Latrell

KPP Waddell Koula Hands
Strange May Teddy Weekes

bank: $329k

Four trades this week:
Crichton -> Fifita
Hynes -> Twal
Armstrong -> Latrell
Hughes -> Hands.

Probably could have held the Hughes to Hands trade but otherwise pretty good. I pivoted to selling Hynes for Latrell at the last minute, instead of Strange to Wighton.

The Good
- Latrell – he may get picked for Origin, but he was in everything and looking every bit a keeper WFB.
- Wishart – had a blinder. Won’t get that every week but happy enough to bank a big score.

The Bad
- Selling Hynes and Angus – slight feeling that might come back to bite me on the ass. I’ll look at picking Hynes up again after the Sharks round 16 bye if he doesn’t get picked for Origin.

The Ugly
- Koula – has been a dud pick. Just like Matto and even Sorensen - picking players for bye coverage never seems to work out well.
- Preston – from last week’s high to this week’s low. At least it happened in the 70th minute after he’d scored 51.

Conclusion
Second good week in a row. Nice, aggressive trades – and still got 8 to play with. Four starters to come back in this week. If Brailey gets benched again he can go to JMK. Depending on the Preston news, I could trade him out to, say, Plath (to fill a round 16 and 19 MID gap), or even upgrade Atkinson if he doesn’t get picked.

Looking at JMK and Plath in to help this week and plug two gaps in round 16. The question is who to trade out. One out is definitely Atkinson. The other is a choice between Brailey, Preston and KPP (rumoured to be out). Will need to decide before the first game as both trade-ins are Dolphins.

Leaning slightly towards Brailey, but with Twal also in doubt it might make more sense to trade out a red dot (Preston) or potential red dot (KPP).

With Brailey out, team would look like:

JMK
Yeo (c) Twal Plath
Fifita (vc) KPP
Weekes Wishart
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Latrell

May Waddell Sorensen Koula
Hands Galvin Preston Strange

Round 15

Like many, got burnt by late, short term injuries, and despite making three trades, only played with 16. 740 for the round was a bit of a bust, dropping a bit over 1,000 places to 8,033rd.

Round 15 team was:

JMK
Yeo May Tapine
Sorensen Fifita (c)
Weekes (vc) Plath
Strange Iro
Teddy Drinky Latrell

Wishart Waddell Koula Hands
Galvin KPP Twal Kiraz

bank: $19k

Three trades this week, means five left:
Brailey -> JMK
Atkinson -> Plath
Preston -> Tapione

I didn’t listen to my own advice, and sold Brailey instead of KPP. In isolation, that cost me a 17th player (and 39 points), but we’ll see what it means in the longer term (especially in round 19 with Brailey surplus to requirements at this stage). Was pretty bummed to trade out Preston, but when confirmation of Fifita and Twal’s outs came through, I felt I had no choice.

The Good
- Pending team lists, I’m lining up OK for Round 16. In fact, I’ve potentially got 14 players, although that depends on Waddell, Twal, Galvin and Fifita being named.

The Bad
- Timing – the timing of trades and team news got me this week. Forced to make a call on my first two trades on Thursday was not ideal, with the Dolphins playing first up. At that stage, there was no clarity on KPP, uncertainty about Twal, and nothing about Fifita. Probably should have waited a week on JMK just to be on the safe side.

The Ugly
- Vice captaincy – putting the VC on Weekes was a mistake that cost me 24 points (vs Yeo). Not the end of the world, but stupid nonetheless. The early VC play makes sense for the first game, but after that, I’m sticking it on my second best scorer from now on

Conclusion
Took a hit this week – to my ranking and my confidence. Two mistakes – trading out Brailey (a green dot) instead of KPP (a red dot) and VC’ing Weekes. Hopefully I’ll be able to hold trades this week (down to five) and still field 13 players. Looking ahead, next week will be tough with four players on the bye (Fifita, Latrell, Waddell, Koula) plus Origin restings. Currently down three WFBs (or 2 WFBs and 1 CTR) for round 19 too.

Twal not fronting is a bugger, but I can still manage 13 this week (for now). Assuming no late withdrawals, no trades for me this week.

JMK
May (c) Plath Tapine
Fifita (vc) Waddell
Galvin Weekes
Kiraz Strange
Teddy Koula Wishart

Hands Latrell Drinky Yeo
Twal KPP Iro Sorensen

Meaning the only question is captaincy - May vs Fifita (or even Tapine or Teddy). Leaning May given Fifita's injury last week.

Round 16

818, which was 546th for the round and up to 4,369th overall. Other than the Twal resting, one of those weeks where almost everything went right. This year, have traditionally followed a good week with a dud one, so apologies in advance to my lone Fantasy Fantasy holder…

Round 16 team was:

JMK
May (c) Plath Tapine
Fifita (vc) Waddell
Galvin Weekes
Kiraz Strange
Teddy Koula Wishart

Hands Latrell Drinky Yeo
Twal KPP Iro Sorensen

bank: $19k

No trades means I’ve still got five left.

The Good
- Amazing how often a no trade week results in a good score. Not nearly as much fun, but probably means no fires needing to be put out.
- Captain May delivers again on a bye round

The Bad
- Hard to find a bad word to say about this round. Even Koula managed to find some points. My lowest scorer was Strange, and he was awful in real life too. Although Ricky is not one to knee jerk, I’m a little worried about his job security.

The Ugly
- Nothing to see here. Other than the likely shitshow round 17 is likely to produce once byes and restings kick in.

Conclusion
Four on the bye, Yeo backing up from Origin, and injury question marks over KPP and Twal. If I have to trade this week (and no doubt I will need to), I’ll try and find someone who plays round 19 too given I’ve currently got 10 green dots.