2017 NRL.com Fantasy Rate My Team Thread

Random wrote:

I was meant to do this during the morning, but anyway...

HOK: Milchcow made a very valid point that King will not only be needing 80 minutes to make decent money. He still may fall considerably short of making cash to step to the next gun and it could end up in a similar situation to Moore where people either got sick of Moore and forced a way to get rid of him, or ran it as a slow burn/dead position half the year. Not necessarily a bad thing considering the lackluster amount of cashcows. Just something to keep in mind. That you may not be using your 2nd hooker as a starting 17 player most of the year. He does have great byes though.

FRF: Kaufusi could pick up some alright minutes but he still isn't going to be starting most likely and doesn't look to be a great option. Last year he played 40 minutes or more 6 times and he scored above 30 points on 4 occasions. However 3 of those occasions also included tries. In fact his PPM when not scoring a try last season was 0.68 which isn't bad, but it is boosted by short stints where he is fresh and simply there to make an impact. If it takes a similar hit (As most players do) in larger stints (Due to either burning out, or conserving more) he is likely to struggle to hit a 30-35 point average. While that means he can make you money the improvement is so little that it will take him quite awhile to do it. Meanwhile you are investing an extra $60k (Over a rookie) for someone who barely struggles to make your side. Better investments elsewhere, or take a punt on a Rookie. - I know everyone is expecting big things from Fonua-Blake. Lussicks injury helps but they still have Lawrence, Myles, Trbojevic and potentially Taupau to help take up minutes in the Front Row. Though if he gets 40-50 minutes he is golden, and he definitely looks like a great pick. It comes down to where he is named come TLT. If he is starting he is worth the punt, if he is on the bench he may not get enough minutes to improve on his current price tag. (I may do up a write up on JWH and ZaneT, just pressed for time atm.)

2RF: Again pressed for time, I would write up about Klemmer at a later date. Taupau looks great with thin reserves at Manly this year and either himself or Trbojevic possibly forced up front.

HLF: Gutherson looks like he will rely heavily on his attacking stats. Not that he can't make them, it is just the consistency is something to worry about. However he will have French and Norman off him and in my opinion looks less lethal than them so that may end up playing in his favour. I just find it hard to select a HLF that may not kick much and already priced quite high, in comparison to someone like Elgey who will rely on more offensive plays but is priced much cheaper.

CTR: Latrell? Is he starting in the CTR's this year and thus getting DPP? The CTR position is less work involved than say FB where he scored 17 points after scoring a try last year. He relies heavily on attacking stats and is very inconsistent. Although he did look bulked up at the 9s so not sure how that plays into his favour.

WFB: You have Guth twice? I am so confused. Just saw your comment about why he is there.

Overall: You have gone super strong in the halves and have decent players mixed through the team. However there are certain weak points. i.e. No second HOK, Mid-Tier FRF, stock standard WFB. I am just not sure if the rest of your team makes up for it, and I feel you have maybe one two many mid-tier guys to rely on. I mean if it works out you are golden, but would love to see a FRF gun.

Thanks for the write-up, it's a...wirk in progress. I didn't mean to have Guth twice, the HLF Guth was supposed to be Maloney. Got confused because the one goid thing about that team was lots of DPP.

Latrell in the centre...yes IF he plays there and word from the Roosters suggests he does. Think he'll score great in the CTRs...extra defence points plus tackle-breaking freak whenever he gets hands on ball. Could all go wrong but would be gambling on him getting BJ-like stats from CTR.

Here's my 1st draft team

McInnes King
JBrom Wallace
Maguire Tetevano
JBD (C) ETaylor
JTrbo (VC)KBrom
Frizzell Stimson
Koroisau Hingano
Mortimer Nona
SMat BKelly
Idris CScott
RTS Ponga
Hayne RJennings
Slater

What do you guys think?

HOK: King can be a worry particularly if someone else is named on the bench. During the 9s he showed a lack of any real attacking stats and as Milchcow pointed out even at 80 minutes he doesn't seem to be the type or player who will rack up a keeper/gun like score. So he is looking more and more likely to be a slow burning cash cow. Which in a position like Hooker can be detrimental to a team as Moore has shown in years gone by. Essentially you turn one of the most consistent scoring positions into a slow burning cashcow and someone not in your 17 half the year, or you end up getting fed up with it and try and force a trade (More likely 2 to get the cash) and upgrade him. McInnes looks great if he gets the 80 minutes.

FRF: McGuire has shown he can score like a high tier gun with several 60+ scores throughout last season. Someone did a massive write up regarding the Broncos defence last season and showed that McGuire was already slotting in close to the ruck in defence. (Where Parker would in previous years.) I also don't see his minutes jumping up to 80 minutes, and continue to play around 60 minutes. Personally I think he will always have solid scores 40+ point scores but he won’t hit those 60 point scores consistently enough to make him a high-tier gun. He will probably average around 50-55 points. Which is more than what he is valued at, but not the returns to warrant all the hype he has had in the pre-season. (If he gets DPP status he is of a little more value.) How many minutes is J. Wallace going to get. Last season when he played more than 40 minutes (Discounting the game he scored a try) he averaged a PPM of 0.75ppm. This means he will need 40 minutes on average to keep up his current price tag. However 60 minutes will see him push around 45 points a game, which is a decent upgrade. My problem is I don't see him getting 60 minutes. The Titans have 3 backrowers capable of playing a large amount of minutes. (Though Pulu will earn himself a spot in the 2RF rotation.) He will have Ryan James starting alongside him. The person he is replacing averaged 40 minutes last season (Luke Douglas). I think at best he averages 50 minutes and outside of scoring tries it should bump his score by around 7 points. It makes it a hard pick to justify for mine. Although if you think he will average 60 minutes then he is definitely a solid buy. Also the Titans have confirmed they are in talks with Grevmuhl who could impact on the likelihood of Wallace playing more than 40 minutes.

2RF: Jack de Belin is coming off an incredibly impressive year. Both from a general playing stance and from a fantasy perspective. He had a massive end of year run with a string of 7 games straight above 60 points, which would make him a spot on Captain choice and great alternative over someone like Cameron Smith. The only concern would be him backing up an already impressive year, in 2015 he averaged 48 points. However I would say as long as he is the starting Lock playing 80 minutes or so he is definitely underpriced and could be a masterful pickup. The only other issue is how will someone like Tariq Sims joining the team affect the amount of minutes he will play. Tyson Frizell is in the same position in a way. His minutes look to be even more inconsistent than Jack de Belin and he has less upside as he requires more attacking stats than Jack to post those impressive scores. Again there is also the impact of Tariq Sims while they also have Joel Thompson impacting on their 2RF group. Elijah Taylor is another player that because of his utility to an extent it can hurt him. As long as the Tigers this year run with a Hooker and Utility that isn’t named Elijah Taylor then he should certainly continue his run of form. Last season in games where he played 60 minutes or more while starting in the lock position he averaged 51 points. (This doesn’t account for when he moved to Hooker during the match.) While he is priced at 42 points currently. He also posted up three 60 points or more games in around 70 minute performances. Not saying he reaches those levels consistently but 50 point average is not out of the question and pushes him to a keeper status at the very least and a decent chunk of coin to be made. Kevin Proctor was averaging 70 minutes last season. If Kenny Bromwich can transition from 40 minutes to 70 minutes that would be a sizable jump and enough for him to push into gun status. However that is almost double his playing time last season. I am not saying he can't do it, just that it is a leap of faith with a stacked backrow. Although for safety sake if he jumped to 55 minutes. Which is still a decent size bump to depend on he would improve his scores by around 10 points on average. Which wouldn’t push him to a true gun status, but would be a viable long-term keeper who will make you cash to make the trade up easier. He also shouldn’t lose cash. So you are hoping for a lot if you want him to be a gun, but he looks alright to be a mid-tier guy who you can make some money and be traded up. Just don’t expect 50 points games.

HLF: Outside of attacking stats I don't necessarily see Koro making a big amount of cash or stepping to the next level in terms of fantasy. He could end up averaging 5 or so points higher than what he is priced at but I think you are simply investing in a mid-tier guy at a mid-tier price. Just too much of a cost investment for essentially a small amount of a reward. Daniel Mortimer is priced at 31 points after last season. He should be a decent selection if starting as he will only need 50 minutes to score around 40 points from the Hooker position. The only question is if he starts, and if he starts slow how long until one of the treasure trove of youngsters take to jump him. But considering he has potential to average above 10 points than his price comfortably he can make some cash. Either way there is a slight risk, and you just have to have a backup option to start the year with.

CTR: Normally I would suggest moving S. Mata'Utia over to the 2RF but you already have a stacked pack so he is perfect where he is.

WFB: Pretty stock standard.

Overall: Running without C. Smith is a risk, but J. de Belin is certainly a potential (C) option that would not only make you up ground but perhaps even run better than C. Smith. However he does have question marks associated with him. The other benefits you seem to get are having stacked FRF/2RF options which is good, but if you could turn one of your Halves into a gun the side would come across more balanced. (I would turn Koro into a gun.)

Random - if you're up to it give us a write up on the team I've posted on the first page. It's literally the only draft I've made but every time I look at it I feel good about my choices

Spectre wrote:This ones a winner.

Smith, Macca
McGuire, JWH, AFB, Wallace
Surgess, ET, KBrom, Lane, nuffiex2
Norman, Hokko, Elgey, Hingano
Whare, Idris, PMat, Scott
RTS, Holmes, Hayne, Uate, Python

I am just quoting it here so it is easier to look at later. I will do a thorough review later. First glance though it is decently solid. I would rather Lamb over Hodko imo. Also unsettled on your FRF but like I said I will go into detail over it all later on today.

Random wrote:

I am just quoting it here so it is easier to look at later. I will do a thorough review later. First glance though it is decently solid. I would rather Lamb over Hodko imo. Also unsettled on your FRF but like I said I will go into detail over it all later on today.

I agree with in regards to Lamb, so replace Hokko with him.

Cheers dude, looking forward to the review

Spectre wrote:

Smith, Macca
McGuire, JWH, DSaifiti, --
Surgess, ET, KBrom, Hess, Lane, --
Norman, Lamb, Elgey, Hingano
Whare, Idris, Scott, --
RTS, Holmes, Hayne, Uate, --

Use this quote Random, couple changes for you.

Hey all,

Can I get a rate please.

Smith, Mortimer
McGuire, D.Saifiti, S.Matagi, Z.Tetevano
De Belin, Surgess, E.Taylor, S Mata'utia, K.Bromwich, J.Stimson
A.Taylor, Lamb, Hingano, Nona
Whare, Idris, B.Kelly, Chee-Kam
RTS, Hayne, Gutherson, R.Jennings, K.Glymin

Cheers

Spectre wrote:

Spectre wrote:

Smith, Macca
McGuire, JWH, DSaifiti, --
Surgess, ET, KBrom, Hess, Lane, --
Norman, Lamb, Elgey, Hingano
Whare, Idris, Scott, --
RTS, Holmes, Hayne, Uate, --

Use this quote Random, couple changes for you.

HOK: Andrew McCullough is a great second choice Hooker option as long as he is getting the 80 minutes. Last season it took until mid-year before that started to happen. However with Parker leaving and Bennett becoming more accustom with the interchanges from last season. Playing an 80 minute Hooker if you have someone capable of it is a great option so hopefully he chooses to run with that, or slide McCullough into Lock when Nikorima comes on. I wouldn't pick him straight up if I saw Nikorima or anyone similar in a Utility role. However after seeing how he is utilised I could be talked into it. So if you want to take the risk before hand then you could be in good shape. However you have guys like Peats and Farah in the same position. If either of those guys look set to play 80 minutes and a utility is on the Broncos bench, I would look at swapping.

FRF: McGuire has shown he can score like a high tier gun with several 60+ scores throughout last season. Someone did a massive write up regarding the Broncos defence last season and showed that McGuire was already slotting in close to the ruck in defence. (Where Parker would in previous years.) I also don't see his minutes jumping up to 80 minutes, and continue to play around 60 minutes. Personally I think he will always have solid scores 40+ point scores but he won’t hit those 60 point scores consistently enough to make him a high-tier gun. He will probably average around 50-55 points. Which is more than what he is valued at, but not the returns to warrant all the hype he has had in the pre-season. (If he gets DPP status he is of a little more value.) Jared Waerea-Hargreaves averaged 45 points in 2015 so he definitely could improve on his lackluster year of 35 points. He should play at least 60 minutes each game this season. I personally see him averaging between 40-45 points a game which is a decent bump on his current price of 35 points. However he does come at a serious investment price compared to other options. So I would shop around and see what else is available, and if any of them look to be better value for money jump on them. Otherwise he isn't a bad option at all. Daniel Safiti is interesting, if he can push for more minutes this season he is capable of scoring well. He had a PPM of 0.9 last season and only went over 1ppm 3 times and only 1 try in the game. So the guy looks to have solid base stats to keep up the PPM. The only issue is he does seem to miss tackles now and then. Almost 2 per game, but that is something after a full year he may have improved on. With all the changes to the Knights forward pack (Sims brothers departing, Pauli Pauli injury, Robbie Rochow leaving. It opens the door for him to play 50-60 minutes which could result on a score of 40 - 55 point average. (Note: I did what I think is the absolute worst he would score on average under those minutes and what is the best he can look to achieve consistently.) I also think there is no risk as it is likely he will get at least 50 minutes and it is very unlikely his PPM drops below 0.75PPM from his stellar 0.9PPM. Which even with a significant drop wouldn't make him lose cash.

2RF: Elijah Taylor is another player that because of his utility to an extent it can hurt him. As long as the Tigers this year run with a Hooker and Utility that isn’t named Elijah Taylor then he should certainly continue his run of form. Last season in games where he played 60 minutes or more while starting in the lock position he averaged 51 points. (This doesn’t account for when he moved to Hooker during the match.) While he is priced at 42 points currently. He also posted up three 60 points or more games in around 70 minute performances. Not saying he reaches those levels consistently but 50 point average is not out of the question and pushes him to a keeper status at the very least and a decent chunk of coin to be made. Kevin Proctor was averaging 70 minutes last season. If Kenny Bromwich can transition from 40 minutes to 70 minutes that would be a sizable jump and enough for him to push into gun status. However that is almost double his playing time last season. I am not saying he can't do it, just that it is a leap of faith with a stacked backrow. Although for safety sake if he jumped to 55 minutes. Which is still a decent size bump to depend on he would improve his scores by around 10 points on average. Which wouldn’t push him to a true gun status, but would be a viable long-term keeper who will make you cash to make the trade up easier. He also shouldn’t lose cash. So you are hoping for a lot if you want him to be a gun, but he looks alright to be a mid-tier guy who you can make some money and be traded up. Just don’t expect 50 points games. I personally don't like Hess due to his price. I just don't know how much I see his minutes increasing this year. He could get consistent minutes, but his scores from last season are all boosted by tries. In 8 games he scored a try in 4 of them. Not saying he can't keep that strike rate, but he just looks too risky for his price tag of $267k. He could end up making you cash, but it could take him half the season to get there. I would look for another mid-tier guy hoping to make the leap or look for a cheaper player elsewhere.

HLF: Taylor is a superstar and with Elgey beside him he will do the bulk of the kicking. While Peats and Hayne will play a role and take some kick meters away. They should also help accent Taylors attack. He has the potential to be a consistent 45-50 point scorer this year if not more. The only factor floating around is Tyrone Roberts. When Roberts plays it hampers Ash Taylors scores to a degree. Ashley Taylor only scored over 50 points once when Roberts played out of 17 games (Which involved a try), meanwhile he scored 50 points in 2 out of the 4 games when Tyrone Roberts was out. (None involving a try.) This is all because Tyrone Roberts does a lot of kicking, which Kane Elgey does a lot less of. If Tyrone Roberts is on the bench or not in the 17, then Ashley Taylor is your man. If Tyrone Roberts is starting in the halves, look elsewhere or expect mediocre scores. Lamb is iffy to be betting on. Hodkinson by all accounts had an incredibly poor season last year, if he returns to form or takes over more of the kicking it could impact against Lambs scores. With that said he does like to kick and he does that a lot so his base stats are through the roof making him a very solid kick. Mullen could also end up back in the team so may want to have a backup option in case.

CTR: Dean Whare is definitely underpriced, but I don't see him scoring more than 30 points on average as long as he makes the team. Which isn't necessarily a bad score, but something to keep in mind if you have cheaper options you could look at or similar options. Especially as he most likely wont be earning cash too quickly. Also quite some contention with Waqa and Hiku there as well. So having an alternate option may be a good idea.

WFB: Stock standard WFB basically.

Overall: For mine Macca may not be as effective of an option as someone like Farah or Peats if they don't have utilities to contest with. Otherwise there isn't too much wrong. I would look at Sione, he is a great option even in the 2RF position so you can move him later in the year. Definitely a possibility of being a keeper in the CTR position later in the year and someone with high ownership so they are worth looking at. I also think if you want a Cowboy forward you should look at one of the cheaper guys on the bench who are more likely to grab a whole heap of minutes.

You sir are a champ!

I haven't really considered Sione at all because quite frankly I just don't trust him to do well at all.

Okay folks lay it on me. Made some adjustments based on my awful HLF choices so attempted to rectify that.

HOK: Smith, King
FRF: Fifita, Gurgess, Hoare, F Pritchard
2RF: De Belin, Gillett, K Bromwich, Stimson, Arrow, J Kennedy
HLF: Cartwright/DCE, Elgey, Gutherson, Lamb
CTR: Idris, Sione, Whare, Kelly
WFB: Hayne, RTS, Slater, R Jennings, Ponga

Hey Gang

Longtime lurker, part time poster.

Been having a read through the threads trying to put together a decent first round team and this is what I have so far.

C.Smith(C) King(R)
A.Fifita(V) J.Wallace, AFB(R), P Kaufusi
Surgess, Klemmer, ET , KBrom(R). SMat (R), Stimson
DCE, Lamb Elgey, Hingano
D.Whare,J.Idris,B.Kelly,C.Scott
Hayne,RTS,Holmes,Phythian,R.Jennings

I am happy with the current setup (ignorance is bliss?) and hopeful that I won't have to make too many changes till TLT confirms Wallace at lock, AFB starting, cheapish hooker from eels, tigers or sharks and nuffies are locked in for RD1 and hopefully beyond. Currently have 18k to spare

From what I have seen posted so far (only Johnny?) there aren't many running with Smith and Fifita straight out the gate. I know its a allot of money feel like there is enough value elsewhere to make up for it.

Have been toying with the idea of getting Slater for Holmes (just read in the other thread that Slater might not be right for RD1 lol) and or downgrading Fifita for Graham to upgrade Klemmer or just extra cash for the piggy bank.

King isn't locked in 100%, others have posted that he will need to stay injury free and get plenty of minutes to be worthwhile. I am hopeful that Jayden Braily gets a run, from most accounts did well in the trial game but Flanno sounds pretty keen signing seggy which would put a stop to that.

Thoughts ?

Posted in the general fantasy thread as well but thought I'd chuck it in here for a rating as well

Smith McInnes
Fifita Wallace AFB Hoare
ET Surgess Mata'utia Aloiai Simpkins Stimson
Cleary Lamb Elgey Hingano
Idris Whare Kelly Scott
Gutherson Hayne RTS Rennings Drew

May look at dropping Fifita to McGuire if named at 13 and upgrading elsewhere.

Firstly make sure you lads register for the Fantasy Fanatic Leagues.

https://www.nrlfantasyfanatics.com/t402p60-2017-nrl-fantasy-leagues-registration-thread

I will review all 3 teams.

Johnny B Goode wrote:Okay folks lay it on me. Made some adjustments based on my awful HLF choices so attempted to rectify that.  

HOK: Smith, King
FRF: Fifita, Gurgess, Hoare, F Pritchard
2RF: De Belin, Gillett, K Bromwich, Stimson, Arrow, J Kennedy
HLF: Cartwright/DCE, Elgey, Gutherson, Lamb
CTR: Idris, Sione, Whare, Kelly
WFB: Hayne, RTS, Slater, R Jennings, Ponga

HOK: C. King could be a risk but he helps set up the team elsewhere. Even under 80 minutes he doesn't look like he is going to make the jump to Keeper status but could certainly end up making $100k+ throughout the year. It just may take him halfway through the year and may not warrant being a solid scorer in your 17. However with the lack of cashcows at the moment having a slow burning CC isn't necessarily a bad option as long as you fill out the rest of your 17.

FRF: It was stated earlier during the preseason that George Burgess is over the niggling injury he carried throughout last season. However there have been conflicting reports on this, so trail games are essential to gauge where he is at with his injury. If he continues to carry the niggle throughout another season who could very well stay priced exactly where he is at. On the other hand this is a guy who is capable of scoring 60 points off the bench comfortably as he breaks tackles at will. Now he has always been an up and down, somewhat inconsistent player, however it would average out over the year. Last season he averaged 31 points with a niggling injury and before that he averaged 50 points (2015) 49 points (2014) and 48 points (2013). So there is every reason to believe last season was an outlier in a Rabbitohs outfit that had a poor season as a whole. So without a niggling injury the only other concern would be his minutes, but he has capabilities to score large in short stints. Simply put, keep an eye on his trial form.

2RF: Jack de Belin is coming off an incredibly impressive year. Both from a general playing stance and from a fantasy perspective. He had a massive end of year run with a string of 7 games straight above 60 points, which would make him a spot on Captain choice and great alternative over someone like Cameron Smith. The only concern would be him backing up an already impressive year, in 2015 he averaged 48 points. However I would say as long as he is the starting Lock playing 80 minutes or so he is definitely underpriced and could be a masterful pickup. The only other issue is how will someone like Tariq Sims joining the team affect the amount of minutes he will play. I think there are better options than Gillett around that price. He certainly has the ability to score high, the only issue is he isn't consistent with it. He shouldn't lose you money, but he has always been capable of having 60+ point matches and then follow them up with a 30 point match. Kevin Proctor was averaging 70 minutes last season. If Kenny Bromwich can transition from 40 minutes to 70 minutes that would be a sizable jump and enough for him to push into gun status. However that is almost double his playing time last season. I am not saying he can't do it, just that it is a leap of faith with a stacked backrow. Although for safety sake if he jumped to 55 minutes. Which is still a decent size bump to depend on he would improve his scores by around 10 points on average. Which wouldn’t push him to a true gun status, but would be a viable long-term keeper who will make you cash to make the trade up easier. He also shouldn’t lose cash. So you are hoping for a lot if you want him to be a gun, but he looks alright to be a mid-tier guy who you can make some money and be traded up. Just don’t expect 50 points games.

HLF: I am not too much of a Gutherson fan as he will be relying on his attacking stats to get him to score consistently and with Norman/French there they could impact on that as the attacking play may run through them more at times. I see his value though and why people would select him. I wouldn't grab DCE as we haven't seen what sort of impact Green will have on him. (He had a negative impact on Cronk of about 5 points a game on average iirc.) I also don't see value in Cleary. Not saying he wont hold his price, just that you could perhaps save some coin and look for someone with some upside to them. Otherwise Cleary should continue to be a gun.

CTR: Normally advocate for Sione to 2RF and grabbing another CTR cash cow, which could work well for you if you aren't sold on Kennedy or Arrow for the start of this year.

WFB: Nothing of note really, there is some news re Slater possibly not being named come Round 1 you may have to look at someone else. Though no one else around his price I would be keen on starting.

Overall: You need to find a way to replace Slater and I am not 100% sold on your mid-tier picks as i have reservations regarding guys like Arrow. I also am not that much of a fan of the Gillett pick, but if he starts like last season you could easily swap him to a more consistent gun over the Origin period. Your team is reasonably balanced and there isn't anything glaringly wrong with the squad.

Hi everyone, just wanting some advice on my team please
Thank you for your time!

Hookers - R. Farah (Captain) | C. King (Reserve)
Front Row Forwards - J. Bromwich | J. Tamau | S. Hoare | P. Kaufusi (Reserve)
2nd Row Forwards - S. Burgess | Z. Taia | S. Mannering | J. Arrow (Reserve) | J. Stimson | L. Leilua
Halves - J. Thurston | B. Cartwright | K. Elgey (Reserve) | S. Nona
Centres - J. Croker | J. Kahu | B. Kelly | J. Idris
Winger / Fullback - R. Tulvasa-Sheck | J. Hayne | B. Slater | K. Ponga | R. Jennigs

$20k remaining salary.

TheSpiritOfRiverPhoenix wrote:Hey Gang

Longtime lurker, part time poster.

Been having a read through the threads trying to put together a decent first round team and this is what I have so far.

C.Smith(C) King(R)
A.Fifita(V) J.Wallace, AFB(R), P Kaufusi
Surgess, Klemmer, ET , KBrom(R). SMat (R), Stimson
DCE, Lamb Elgey, Hingano
D.Whare,J.Idris,B.Kelly,C.Scott
Hayne,RTS,Holmes,Phythian,R.Jennings

I am happy with the current setup (ignorance is bliss?) and hopeful that I won't have to make too many changes till TLT confirms Wallace at lock, AFB starting, cheapish hooker from eels, tigers or sharks and nuffies are locked in for RD1 and hopefully beyond. Currently have 18k to spare

From what I have seen posted so far (only Johnny?) there aren't many running with Smith and Fifita straight out the gate. I know its a allot of money feel like there is enough value elsewhere to make up for it.

Have been toying with the idea of getting Slater for Holmes (just read in the other thread that Slater might not be right for RD1 lol) and or downgrading Fifita for Graham to upgrade Klemmer or just extra cash for the piggy bank.

King isn't locked in 100%, others have posted that he will need to stay injury free and get plenty of minutes to be worthwhile. I am hopeful that Jayden Braily gets a run, from most accounts did well in the trial game but Flanno sounds pretty keen signing seggy which would put a stop to that.

Thoughts ?

HOK: C. King could be a risk but he helps set up the team elsewhere. Even under 80 minutes he doesn't look like he is going to make the jump to Keeper status but could certainly end up making $100k+ throughout the year. It just may take him halfway through the year and may not warrant being a solid scorer in your 17. However with the lack of cashcows at the moment having a slow burning CC isn't necessarily a bad option as long as you fill out the rest of your 17.

FRF: How many minutes is J. Wallace going to get. Last season when he played more than 40 minutes (Discounting the game he scored a try) he averaged a PPM of 0.75ppm. This means he will need 40 minutes on average to keep up his current price tag. However 60 minutes will see him push around 45 points a game, which is a decent upgrade. My problem is I don't see him getting 60 minutes. The Titans have 3 backrowers capable of playing a large amount of minutes. (Though Pulu will earn himself a spot in the 2RF rotation.) He will have Ryan James starting alongside him. The person he is replacing averaged 40 minutes last season (Luke Douglas). I think at best he averages 50 minutes and outside of scoring tries it should bump his score by around 7 points. It makes it a hard pick to justify for mine. Although if you think he will average 60 minutes then he is definitely a solid buy. Also the Titans have confirmed they are in talks with Grevmuhl who could impact on the likelihood of Wallace playing more than 40 minutes. I know everyone is expecting big things from Fonua-Blake. Lussicks injury helps but they still have Lawrence, Myles, Trbojevic and potentially Taupau to help take up minutes in the Front Row. Though if he gets 40-50 minutes he is golden, and he definitely looks like a great pick. It comes down to where he is named come TLT. If he is starting he is worth the punt, if he is on the bench he may not get enough minutes to improve on his current price tag. P. Kaufusi is difficult to say how he will work, he is one of the Cowboys forward pack that could pick up more minutes. Along with Hess, Hoare, Asiate and Spina are all guys who could benefit. However it is a real toss up as to which one will be making you cash to warrant picking up.

2RF: Kevin Proctor was averaging 70 minutes last season. If Kenny Bromwich can transition from 40 minutes to 70 minutes that would be a sizable jump and enough for him to push into gun status. However that is almost double his playing time last season. I am not saying he can't do it, just that it is a leap of faith with a stacked backrow. Although for safety sake if he jumped to 55 minutes. Which is still a decent size bump to depend on he would improve his scores by around 10 points on average. Which wouldn’t push him to a true gun status, but would be a viable long-term keeper who will make you cash to make the trade up easier. He also shouldn’t lose cash. So you are hoping for a lot if you want him to be a gun, but he looks alright to be a mid-tier guy who you can make some money and be traded up. Just don’t expect 50 points games. Elijah Taylor is another player that because of his utility to an extent it can hurt him. As long as the Tigers this year run with a Hooker and Utility that isn’t named Elijah Taylor then he should certainly continue his run of form. Last season in games where he played 60 minutes or more while starting in the lock position he averaged 51 points. (This doesn’t account for when he moved to Hooker during the match.) While he is priced at 42 points currently. He also posted up three 60 points or more games in around 70 minute performances. Not saying he reaches those levels consistently but 50 point average is not out of the question and pushes him to a keeper status at the very least and a decent chunk of coin to be made. Not really sold on Klemmer, he could pick up enough minutes to average 60 minutes this season but that would only really increase his average of 5 points a game. If there was a way you could see him getting guaranteed 80 minutes he would become a must pick. But for mine he is a Mid-Tier/Low level Gun who won't improve that much to warrant being picked up for his current price tag.

HLF: I wouldn't grab Daly Cherry-Evans at this stage. We haven't seen what sort of impact Green will have on him. (He had a negative impact on Cronk of about 5 points a game from his average before Green showed up.) Last season Daly Cherry-Evans had around 4 points less than he had in previous seasons. So he is underpriced incredibly slightly. Not enough to warrant making him a pick or enough to give him any incredible sort of upside. I am not saying he is a bad pick, he would be capable of those massive scoring games where he hits 70+ points. There just doesn’t seem to be any value in him for the duration of a season, and possibly a negative impact with Blake Green being there. Even if there isn’t the negative impact, it comes down to his price and looking at HLF’s capable of scoring 50-55 points. There are others that are cheaper and others with more potential upside, or without a negative of a new half partner joining them who could take up some minutes. Lamb is iffy to be betting on. Hodkinson by all accounts had an incredibly poor season last year, if he returns to form or takes over more of the kicking it could impact against Lambs scores. With that said he does like to kick and he does that a lot so his base stats are through the roof making him a very solid kick. Mullen could also end up back in the team so may want to have a backup option in case.

CTR:

WFB:

Overall: Firstly I didn't do a write up on guys in WFB/CTR as they are pretty stock standard. I highlighted problems I have personally with a few of your guys, but there isn't much of an issue with the your team as a whole and you have a few decent reserve options like Elgey and such in case other people under perform. I am actually following suit at the moment with running Smith/Fifita straight out of the gate which will hopefully give me a leg up on people. So it is definitely a worthy investment. I don't think I like the idea of downgrading Holmes or Fifita at this stage, but swapping Klemmer around for someone else would be nice. Though I don't think there are many options cheaper than him.

Goondalf wrote:Posted in the general fantasy thread as well but thought I'd chuck it in here for a rating as well

Smith McInnes
Fifita Wallace AFB Hoare
ET Surgess Mata'utia Aloiai Simpkins Stimson
Cleary Lamb Elgey Hingano
Idris Whare Kelly Scott
Gutherson Hayne RTS Rennings Drew

May look at dropping Fifita to McGuire if named at 13 and upgrading elsewhere.

HOK: What are you going to do if a Bench Hooker is named for the Dragons? Other than that concern if he plays the 80 minutes he scores like an absolute monster.

FRF: How many minutes is J. Wallace going to get. Last season when he played more than 40 minutes (Discounting the game he scored a try) he averaged a PPM of 0.75ppm. This means he will need 40 minutes on average to keep up his current price tag. However 60 minutes will see him push around 45 points a game, which is a decent upgrade. My problem is I don't see him getting 60 minutes. The Titans have 3 backrowers capable of playing a large amount of minutes. (Though Pulu will earn himself a spot in the 2RF rotation.) He will have Ryan James starting alongside him. The person he is replacing averaged 40 minutes last season (Luke Douglas). I think at best he averages 50 minutes and outside of scoring tries it should bump his score by around 7 points. It makes it a hard pick to justify for mine. Although if you think he will average 60 minutes then he is definitely a solid buy. Also the Titans have confirmed they are in talks with Grevmuhl who could impact on the likelihood of Wallace playing more than 40 minutes. I know everyone is expecting big things from Fonua-Blake. Lussicks injury helps but they still have Lawrence, Myles, Trbojevic and potentially Taupau to help take up minutes in the Front Row. Though if he gets 40-50 minutes he is golden, and he definitely looks like a great pick. It comes down to where he is named come TLT. If he is starting he is worth the punt, if he is on the bench he may not get enough minutes to improve on his current price tag. Hoare is in the same position as guys like P. Kaufusi, B. B. Spina, J. Asiata as they are all cheap options that could end up on the Cowboys bench. It is just a coin flip as to which one will benefit the most from more minutes in the Cowboys pack.

2RF: Elijah Taylor is another player that because of his utility to an extent it can hurt him. As long as the Tigers this year run with a Hooker and Utility that isn’t named Elijah Taylor then he should certainly continue his run of form. Last season in games where he played 60 minutes or more while starting in the lock position he averaged 51 points. (This doesn’t account for when he moved to Hooker during the match.) While he is priced at 42 points currently. He also posted up three 60 points or more games in around 70 minute performances. Not saying he reaches those levels consistently but 50 point average is not out of the question and pushes him to a keeper status at the very least and a decent chunk of coin to be made. Not feeling Josh Aloiai, he could be picking up some more minutes but for the most part I don't see him jumping up too much more than the 38 minute average he had last season. Even when jumping up he doesn't seem to be a big point scorer. When playing more than 50 minutes last season he averaged 35 points across 5 games. If you take away the one game he played 75 minutes and he scored a try.He averaged 28 points across 4 games between 50-60 minutes and that includes a try in one of them. So outside of predicting him playing 80 minutes, or scoring tries consistently I don't think he has any real upside about him at this point. That or you take a risk hoping his work rate improves substantially. If he plays 50 minutes he could push a 30 point average, which is only a 6 point bump from last season and you have to think E. Taylor and C. Lawrence will be playing 80 minutes this year. Not enough upside for mine.

HLF: Lamb is iffy to be betting on. Hodkinson by all accounts had an incredibly poor season last year, if he returns to form or takes over more of the kicking it could impact against Lambs scores. With that said Hodkinson has been reported to suffering an injury which may limit his kicking. So as long as Mullens results remain positive, you would think that Lamb who is priced lower than his lowest score last season has extreme potential to be a season keeper/a decent cashcow option to make a jump to higher tier guns. However the longer this pre-season goes on the more Lamb looks like an enticing prospect.

CTR:

WFB: I am not too much of a Gutherson fan as he will be relying on his attacking stats to get him to score consistently and with Norman/French there they could impact on that as the attacking play may run through them more at times. I see his value though and why people would select him. However I would look at someone with more consistency potentially. However it should be fine.

Overall: If you decided to downgrade Fifita to McGuire I would definitely try and upgrade Aloiai. Because other than that and my reservations on Gutherson you really don't have too much wrong with your team as it stands at the moment.

TaiaMeHaia wrote:Hi everyone, just wanting some advice on my team please
Thank you for your time!

Hookers - R. Farah (Captain) | C. King (Reserve)
Front Row Forwards - J. Bromwich | J. Tamau | S. Hoare | P. Kaufusi (Reserve)
2nd Row Forwards - S. Burgess | Z. Taia | S. Mannering | J. Arrow (Reserve) | J. Stimson | L. Leilua
Halves - J. Thurston | B. Cartwright | K. Elgey (Reserve) | S. Nona
Centres - J. Croker | J. Kahu | B. Kelly | J. Idris
Winger / Fullback - R. Tulvasa-Sheck | J. Hayne | B. Slater | K. Ponga | R. Jennigs

$20k remaining salary.

Bit of a change from the usual teams so you've got that POD factor going for you which could be helpful.

Hookers- Don't mind going with the Farah pick but you could be running the risk of leaving yourself a bit undervalued there. Especially with a lack of guaranteed 80 minute games with Cook lurking around. If he gets back to somewhere around what he used to do then he will be a great value pick but as his minutes are a bit questionable it's hard for me to be too happy with him as your starter with King backing him up who is also questionable for minutes. At the very least would not be captaining him.

FRF- JBrom will be a nice POD to start the season with who should put up 50 most games. Tamou is a smokey who could find himself bumped up a tier with some good go forward at the Panthers. Really like the pick up there as well as your backups.

2rf- Not too many teams with Mannering so bucking the trend a bit there and it's good to see you've used some of your Farah savings to also spend up on Surgess. Not sure that Taia has much more to develop points or cash wise for you but will still be a steady stream of consistent points. The bench is lacking here in my opinion with no real depth. Jai Arrow is a decent prospect but you need someone more reliable as your 4th 2rf. Stimson and Leilua are TLT dependent I assume but can't blame you for rolling them out at this stage.

Halves- Rate this quartet. JT and Carty haven't seen much mention around here but I think they are good value to start the season with. JT you know what you will get and with Carty moving back to 2rf you will pick up a few more points in offloads and typical forward stats while I think he will still be used as a ball playing backrower given his abilities. Elgey saves you some cash yet still offers points and Nona is a nice cheapie to stash when the season starts.

Centres- POD Crocker could be gold for you here if the Raiders can continue their free flowing attack and rack up some points. Kahu similarly given he is first in line to pick up the goal kicking duties at the Broncos.

WFB- Standard back 3 option, going Ponga now costs you a slight bit more than a basement price WFB but it does mean you don't use a trade like everyone else will if he gets a run at some stage

Great write ups. This is what I've landed with pre team lists. Lots of mid rangers but that's where the growth seems to be this year. Will try to switch some to guns if cash cows come up in the team lists.

Smith (c) King
Vaughan Dafiti Gurgess Wallace
Thompson Graham Kromwich
Norman Moses Kiroisau
Satau'tia Idris
Gutherson RTS Hayne