Jele 2024

Great week mate I thought you had me covered, but the big update to Koro and a few points to Pap bumped me up.

Hopefully Twal and KPP back on deck with Yeo backing up. Would be good to hold onto those trades, but with 4 on the bye, it could be tough.

Koula at CTR isn't ideal, but good job security and playing 19. Could be a good emergency for the run home.

Waddell would've been an easy trade, but could be worth holding onto a little longer. Aloiai due back next round from suspension and Jurbo from origin, so probably wouldn't miss him if upgrading to field 17.

Also there's 4 of us with you in Fantasy Fantasy - myself, both Aardvarks and Teeth

WT Winfield wrote:Great week mate I thought you had me covered, but the big update to Koro and a few points to Pap bumped me up.

Hopefully Twal and KPP back on deck with Yeo backing up. Would be good to hold onto those trades, but with 4 on the bye, it could be tough.

Koula at CTR isn't ideal, but good job security and playing 19. Could be a good emergency for the run home.

Waddell would've been an easy trade, but could be worth holding onto a little longer. Aloiai due back next round from suspension and Jurbo from origin, so probably wouldn't miss him if upgrading to field 17.

Also there's 4 of us with you in Fantasy Fantasy - myself, both Aardvarks and Teeth

Cheers WT, good to know there's four of you with questionable judgement...

Well done on Koro, nice pick up. Papy will come good too after a game or two under his belt. Shame the Storm doesn't play round 19, otherwise I'd be all over him. At this stage, Waddell and Koula can probably hang around to then too

Been on the road, so a bit slow with my plans this week.

No news on Twal, so I'm not going to bother holding. I figure I'd be more pissed if he ends up out for another couple of weeks, than if he turns up next week.

So the question is Twal to Carty or Matto? Matto is cheaper and has DPP, which could be handy in round 19. Carty probably has the starting role locked up (at least until Tuilagi is back).

JMK
May Yeo (c) Tapine (VC)
KPP Sorensen
Galvin Weekes
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Wishart

Hands Plath Strange Cartwright/Matterson
Koula Latrell Fifita Waddell

bank: $19k

The other decision is captaincy and vice-captaincy. Leaning toward to putting the (C) on Yeo, but want a decent vice captain in case he is a late scratching after the Weekes' debacle from a few weeks ago. Leaning towards Tapine - feels slightly safer than May as a backup...

Round 17

779, which feels a bit meh really. Basically stood still at 4,514th overall.

Round 17 team was:

JMK
May Yeo (c) Tapine (VC)
KPP Sorensen
Galvin Weekes
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Wishart

Hands Plath Strange Matterson
Koula Latrell Fifita Waddell

bank: $84k
trades: 4

One trade this week – Twal to Matterson. Didn’t want to wait until round 19 to find Twal still a red dot. Of course Matto’s concussion history might mean just as much uncertainty…

The Good
- Sunday scoring – for a change, Sunday delivered in spades. Teddy, May, Plath were my highest scorers for the round.

The Bad
- Too many 30s and low 40s. Almost the worst scoring band, not low enough to be a clear trade out but deeply underwhelming anyway.

The Ugly
- Hookers – JMK now out, Hands with job security questions. Should have kept Brailey...

Conclusion
Pre-TLT can field 17 (with two reserves), but that’s with Hands as my only hooker. If Arthur is named on the bench again, will be templed to find an upgrade for JMK who plays round 19. Can’t afford Cook in one trade and the rest of the pickings look pretty slim. Might have to swallow Hands this week and reassess next.

18 green dots so tempted to hold fire on trades.

Team would be:

Hands
May Yeo (c) Tapine (VC)
Fifita Matterson
Galvin Wishart
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Latrell

Sorensen Koula Weekes KPP
Strange Plath JMK Waddell

Obviously Hands at hooker is not ideal, but can't do JMK->Cook in one trade, so might wait a week and use my four remaining trades to go hard at Rd 19. At this stage, I've only got nine green dots.

Bit annoying Weekes, KPP, and Strange all play in the last match of the round, but maybe there is some advanced looping that can be done.

Round 18

1,007, always nice to break the 1,000 point barrier. Up a 1,000 places too, now 3,571st overall (41st in the FOG and 7th in LOTB). Going to struggle this week though

Round 18 team was:

Hands
May Yeo (c) Tapine (VC)
Fifita Sorensen
Galvin Wishart
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Drinky Latrell

Matterson Koula KPP Weekes
Strange JMK Waddell Plath

bank: $84k
trades: 4

No trades last week, which is good because I’m going to need all four this week.

The Good
- In a crowded field this week, game ball goes to Wishart. Easily my buy of the year. Bought him in round 12 for $382k, now $653k and still climbing. Would be nice to squeeze another price rise or two out of him before Munster returns.
- If Wishart was buy of the year, then Terrell has been my hold of the year

The Bad
- Hands continues to underwhelm. Not only has he under-performed, but as a green dot, he’s blocked my route to better players. Will stay away from Parra hookers next year.

The Ugly
- round 19 numbers – was looking good a couple of weeks ago, but injuries to JMK, Koula, Waddell etc have decimated my team.

Conclusion
Down to 7 or 8 (if Waddell is back), so might as well use my remaining four trades (as long as they move in the keeper direction). First look (pre-TLT) thinking:

Latrell -> Gray (cashout)
JMK -> Cook (keeper HOK)
Weekes -> Campbell (sort of keeper WFB until he gets injured again)
Koula -> Garrick (keeper CTR/WFB)

Pretty sure I was set for round 19 with my bye planning about three weeks ago. Now down to eight players.

Will blow my four remaining trades, but have pivoted from Garrick to Wighton. Wighton gives me some extra cash for a Cleary upgrade as soon as next week, and I don’t want to bring in a Rd 20 bye player, as it will be all hands on deck to field 17 next week. That rules out Garrick, Turbo, Atkinson, Trindall, Liddle, Simpkin..

Latrell -> Gray
JMK -> Cook
Weekes -> Campbell
Koula -> Wighton

Means my 12 for round 19 would be:

Cook (vc)
Matterson Plath Waddell
Fifita (c) KPP
Galvin Hands
Iro Wighton
Gray Campbell Drinky

Teddy May Kiraz Wishart
Strange Sorensen Tapine Yeo

bank: $382k
trades: 0

Jele wrote:Pretty sure I was set for round 19 with my bye planning about three weeks ago. Now down to eight players.

Will blow my four remaining trades, but have pivoted from Garrick to Wighton. Wighton gives me some extra cash for a Cleary upgrade as soon as next week, and I don’t want to bring in a Rd 20 bye player, as it will be all hands on deck to field 17 next week. That rules out Garrick, Turbo, Atkinson, Trindall, Liddle, Simpkin.

Latrell -> Gray
JMK -> Cook
Weekes -> Campbell
Koula -> Wighton

Means my 12 for round 19 would be:

Cook (vc)
Matterson Plath Waddell
Fifita (c) KPP
Galvin Hands
Iro Wighton
Gray Campbell Drinky

Teddy May Kiraz Wishart
Strange Sorensen Tapine Yeo

bank: $382k
trades: 0

Manly bye is in Round 22 mate. Should be manageable.

Thanks mate, not sure why I thought Manly was on the bye. Still probably leaning Wighton over Garrick but will have another look. With Kiraz and Iro as set and forget CTRs (touch wood), I'm loathe to spend up big for another one. And for some reason, I can't bring myself believe that a guy actually playing CTR is a premium keeper at CTR.

Round 19

Scored 602 with 11 green dots, which held me pretty steady at 3,478 overall (45th in the FOG and 7th in LOTB).

Round 19 team was:

Cook (vc)
Matterson Plath Waddell
Fifita (c) KPP
Galvin Hands
Iro Wighton
Gray Garrick Drinky

Teddy May Kiraz Wishart
Strange Sorensen Tapine Yeo

bank: $399
trades: 8

Ended up doing four trades:
Latrell -> Gray
JMK -> Cook
Weekes -> Garrick
Koula -> Wighton

Not much to report this week. Played with 11 after Waddell's late withdrawal, and everyone was solid. I even managed to captain my highest scorer (Fifita).

16 green dots this week, so need at least one trade.

Cook (vc)
May Plath Tapine
Fifita (c) KPP
Galvin Wishart
Kiraz Wighton
Teddy Garrick Drinky

Sorensen Gray Strange Iro
Yeo Waddell Hands Matterson

I'm definitely getting rid of Waddell, who (a bit like Twal, Matto and Koula) was a pickup with half an eye on the bye rounds, and then went AWOL when I needed him most.

Thinking Starling, although getting to the point with 8 trades left, where everyone who comes in is basically a keeper. Do I trust Ricky?

The other question is whether I burn a second trade to bring in Cleary? Would need to be Matto out, as I can't stretch to Hands.

At this stage, thinking I should be conservative. Give Cleary a week, see what happens with Matterson next week, try and keep trades up my sleeve for the inevitable carnage to come.

Round 20

858 points for the round, which bumped me up another 100 places to 3,351st overall (38th in the FOG and 9th in LOTB). At this rate, I should reach top spot in another 34 rounds…

Round 20 team was:

Cook (vc)
May Plath Tapine
Fifita (c) KPP
Galvin Wishart
Kiraz Wighton
Teddy Garrick Drinky

Sorensen Gray Starling Strange
Yeo Hands Matterson Iro

bank: $459k
trades: 7

Ended up doing just one trade – Waddell -> Starling

The Good
- Solid albeit unspectacular performance all round this week. Cook and Galvin with scores in the 70s balancing out Strange and Gray’s scores in the 20s.
- Shoutout to new buy Starling, was not expecting 80 minutes #inRickywetrust

The Bad
- Probably should have been more aggressive with my captain choice (was thinking Cook, but ended up “safe” with Fifita) and trades (could have done Matto -> Cleary for example).

The Ugly
- A few tradeouts emerging – Wishart (if Munster is back), Plath (lower scores at hooker), Strange (not a keeper), Hands, and possibly Matto (although Parra’s forward stocks look low). Really want to keep a few trades up my sleeve, but feel like my hand might be forced over the next couple of weeks.

Conclusion
A couple of steady rounds at a time when I should have been making bigger inroads. Not sure if top 1,000 is a realistic goal anymore with everyone getting 8 trades last week. At this stage the plan is to try and go steady for the next couple of weeks (one trade per week if possible), before blowing the rest of my trades in rounds 24/25 and holding on for grim death.

With $459k in the bank, and Cleary looking a must have, something like Hands or Strange or Gray (depending on any Latrell news) to Cleary makes sense this week. Probably means missing out on some other juicy scorers like Fogarty and Curran, but once you’ve seen it, its impossible to ignore the Chin.

Round 21

1,052 points for the round, up 425 places to 2,926th overall.

Round 21 team was:

Cook (vc)
May Yeo Tapine
Fifita Matterson
Cleary (c) Galvin
Kiraz Iro
Teddy Garrick Drinky

Sorensen Plath Starling Wighton
Strange Gray Hands KPP

bank: $284k
trades: 6

One trade this week – Wishart -> Cleary

The Good
- King Cleary - raising the bat as captain not bad for a new recruit.

The Bad
- Cook being shifted to centre again.

The Ugly
- Only really Garrick’s HIA marring a top week.

Conclusion
A decent score made into a great score by Captain Cleary. Team is starting to take its final shape, and with trades in short supply, will keep to one trade a week if I can for the next couple. Strange the most obvious trade out, having got rid of Waddell, Weekes and Wishart in recent weeks (clearly I have something against the letter ‘W’). As for trade-ins, Fogarty’s kick metres are looking hard to resist…

Round 22

1,014 points for the round meant back-to-back scores over 1,000. A decent move of 746 places up to 2,180th overall and 28th in the FOG.

Round 22 team was:

Cook
May Yeo (vc) Tapine
Fifita Matterson
Cleary (c) Galvin
Wighton Iro
Teddy Kiraz Drinky

Sorensen Plath Starling Fogarty
Garrick KPP Gray Hands

bank: $72k
trades: 5

Stuck with my one trade routine again this week – Strange -> Fogarty.

Feels like five trades left for five rounds is pretty good. Maybe one more week of profligacy, before letting rip.

The Good
- Cook has see-sawed this year, but when allowed to play hooker for 80 minutes he has been very, very good.
- Nice to have had Tapine for a while for a run of good scores, although I can see him sucking everyone in, only to deliver some average returns.

The Bad
- Not sure how Teddy only scored 29 when the Roosters scored 40 points.
- A bit of a shame to leave Hands’ 52 and Gray’s 77 points in my emergencies, but I didn’t pick either to go in the loop over May or KPP, let alone in my top 16 over Sorensen or new recruit Fogarty.

The Ugly
- Sorensen probably gets a stay of execution this week with May on the bye, but he’s on thin ice…

Conclusion
Back-to-back 1,000 pointers have seen me move up a 1,000 places. Would love to climb another 1,000 into the YAFSS zone, but we’ll need a lot of luck to get there. In the meantime, with only May and Teddy on the bye and no other red dots, I could sit still and play two of Hands, Soro, KPP and Gray this week. But I’m thinking May’s time is probably done, and Carrigan’s flowing locks (with Haas out) are looking pretty irresistible.

This week’s team is looking pretty set:

Cook (vc)
Plath Yeo Tapine
Fifita Matterson
Cleary (c) Galvin
Wighton Iro
Garrick Kiraz Drinky

Starling Fogarty May Teddy
Hands Sorensen KPP Gray

The question is do I just bite the bullet and go May->Carrigan? I can wait and have a look at Hands and Soro’s scores. If both do well, I potentially hold. If both bomb, then bring in Carrigan for May and loop KPP or Gray in for Teddy. And if one does well, hopefully I’ve picked the right one as 18th man - at the moment leaning to Hands.

Round 23

890 points looks like pretty much par for the round. A slight increase in my overall rank to 2,109th. Still 28th in the FOG, but another 11 points for the true believer fantasy fantasy owners.

Round 23 team was:

Cook (vc)
Plath Yeo Tapine
Fifita Matterson
Cleary (c) Galvin
Wighton Iro
Garrick Kiraz Drinky

DCE Starling Fogarty Teddy
Hands Sorensen KPP Gray

bank: $24k
trades: 4

Stuck with my one trade routine again this week – May -> DCE. I swivelled from Carrigan to DCE because of Patty’s round 24 bye. Might try and bring him in the following week.

The Good
- Plath’s 83 points was a standout in an otherwise consistent team of scorers this week. Up there with Tommy Talau as most improved player of the year.
- Galvin and Iro keep on delivering. Both have been great cash cows this year.

The Bad
- Didn’t’ see the Raiders-Sea Eagles match, but disappointed with Starling and Fogarty getting 34 and 33 respectively. Hopefully their combined 12 missed tackles was an anomaly.

The Ugly
- Blame the coach for forgetting to loop in KPP over Hands. Cost me 17 points, not the end of the world, but every point counts right now.

Conclusion
Season meandering to its inevitable conclusion. Trying to hold on to trades and only move out red dots in anticipation of the carnage to come. But just doing zero or one trade per round is pretty boring, actually... still, got to be careful what I wish for.

At this stage looking to hold firm for round 24 with this mob. Would leave me with four trades for the last three rounds:

Cook
Plath Yeo (vc) Tapine
Fifita KPP
Cleary (c) DCE
Wighton Iro
Kiraz Drinky Teddy

Garrick Galvin Starling Fogarty
Hands Sorensen Gray Matterson

Round 24

Late downdates robbed me of a tonne, ending up on 997 points. Which still saw a healthy jump of 500 places in my overall rank to 1,623rd. At this stage, aiming for a top 1,000 finish (and hopefully a return to L1). With four trades left, suspect I’m better placed than most ahead of me, so fingers crossed.

Round 24 team was:

Cook
Plath Yeo (vc) Tapine
Fifita KPP
Cleary (c) DCE
Wighton Garrick
Kiraz Drinky Teddy

Galvin Starling Fogarty Gray
Hands Iro Matterson Sorensen

bank: $24k
trades: 4

No trades this week proved the right call, with Cleary now out, despite Matto and Iro’s late withdrawals. Amazing how often your best rounds come when you stay put. At various stages, i was contemplating looping Starling, KPP, Gray, and even Hands. Was fortunate I ran the squad out more or less in order they played, giving me max flexibility to replace Iro (and avoid Hands) when he was ruled out.

The Good
- Another good, solid all round performance. Yeo auditioning for the captaincy role next week with an 82 was the top points scorer.
- Holding trades this week could be a masterstroke.

The Bad
- Raiders’ duo were disappointing again. Worse, I'm likely to be looking at their mediocre scores, and equally mediocre mugs, in my squad for the rest of the year.

The Ugly
- Prize this week goes to Cleary. Like many, by the time I trade him out this week I would have used five trades on him this year for ten games.

Conclusion
Some big calls to make this week. Cleary out is a no-brainer, the question at this point is whether to bring in Carrigan or Murray. Or, depending on the news about Sorensen and Matto, maybe both. Does mean relying on KPP as my second edge with potentially no EDG backup, which feels a bit risky, I’ll have a look at Preston, Angus, and Barnett too. With Drinky on the bye this week, I can probably loop Garrick and Gray as my third WFB.

Cleary out is one trade and I'm sorely tempted the get rid of Sorensen or Matterson with a second. Would leave me with two trades for the last two rounds.

Would love some news about either Soro or Matto to decide. On the Panthers website prior to last week's match, Soro is described as having sustained "a low-grade hamstring injury against the Eels". For Matto, silence... Matto is probably a better scorer, but has a bit more cash in him too, so absence any news I'm leaning towards trading him out.

If I did Cleary + Matterson -> Carrigan and Murray, my team would look like this:

Cook
Carrigan Yeo (c) Tapine
Fifita KPP
Galvin DCE (vc)
Wighton Iro
Kiraz Teddy Garrick

Murray Plath Fogarty Drinky
Sorensen Hands Starling Gray

bank: $136k
trades: 2

Means I could look at Hands, Starling and Gray in turn for 17th man.

Or I only use one trade this week, and play two of Hands , Starling and Gray.

Maybe that extra trade will be more valuable in the last two weeks, but my inclination is to pull the trigger now...

I'm inclined to believe the NRLPhysio post about Matto having broken ribs. Seems it would be tough to return from by Rd 27, so I'd go for the gun points now, especially with a couple of trades to spare.

Edge is a little light if getting Murray, but having the trades makes it less of an issue, and maybe Soro returns. I'm tempted to use my last trade to get Angus (just short of Preston to complete the mullet crew, but Angus is probably better fantasy-wise anyway), but I'd probably get Murray instead if it didn't leave me with only 3 edges and one's already playing busted.

Starling and Gray could be good 16th and 17th men, but think I'd rather have Murray in there and loop the others for 17th man.

Annoyingly Garrick and Kiraz are playing early this week (and next), so hopefully don't have another late CTR out if locking them at WFB again like me