Feline wrote:Opening day team list.
Lots of cash cows in the front row. So no guns there. Stack the 2nd row instead and have two good hooking options. I think King will not be as good as the all round price gains in the front row, nor the options at the sharks. So here is the team. Thoughts? I am fairly happy with this team
Strong Bench of McCullough, Taylor, Hess and Kaufusi or Hingano
HOK --- McInnes / McCullough
FRF --- J Wallace / Fonua Blake / F Kaufusi / S Hoare
2RF --- S Burgess / B Thompson / Buhrer / E Taylor / Hess / Stimson
HLF --- Norman / Lamb / Hingano / Nona or J Field
CTR --- S Mata'uita / Idris / Kelly / Scott
WFB --- Gutherson / Tuivasa Sheck / Hayne / R Jennings / Phythian
HOK: Is McCullough an 80 minute player? He did it a lot after the midway point last season. But if McGuire plays Lock for 80 minutes (Unlike Parker was) would that mean Nikorima continues to pick up those minutes. Although he could be a good pick as the last 11 games he played the 80 minutes and averaged 51 points a game. Which is 6 more points than he is priced at. So just wondering how you see McGuires move/Nikorimas impact going to be this year. Otherwise if you think he pushes back to the gun status he can be. He is definitely underpriced. Also what do you do if a bench HOK is named with McInnes?
FRF: 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. It just worries me, you are right there if cash to be made here but you are running a risk, if 3 god forbid all 4 of these guys don't get enough of a time bump to improve their scores. Hell even if they get a minor one it may not be enough for them to earn cash fast enough for them to be upgraded. 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 and quick minutes. If it takes a similar hit (As most players do) in larger stints he is likely to struggle to hit a 30 point average. Which means yeah he will make you money, it will just take him half the year to make it without tries. Hoare I will add in the next part.
2RF: Picking up Hess is off. The way I see it one of Hess or Hoare are capable of benefiting from minutes this year but with Cooper, Taumalolo, Lowe locking down the second row and Scott and Bolton looking to start there are only so many minutes going to be left for the bench guys and you don't really want to spread your cash around to hedge your bets on which one it will be. If they were both at Rookie prices then yeah sure try it. However between them you are spending $418k between them. I think you should back the cheaper horse in the race, run with Hoare and look for another cheapie. The extra cash can be spent elsewhere. Because you could be spending $267k on a guy who isn't making very much. He is at the moment your 3rd/4th reserve and if a couple of rookies or other guys step up he could be sitting outside your 17 by Round 3 as a fair size of cash. That you don't want to trade because he isn't losing money. Really consider looking for another cheapie/mid tier guy. Stimson doubtful he gets a run but he is a rookie who can be replaced by any other rookie named at the start of the year.
HLF: Lamb is iffy to be betting on. Hodkinson by all accounts had an incredibly poor season last year. Although he does seem to like to kick. Mullen could also end up back in the team so may want to have a back up option in case. Not interested in Elgey. (Not that it is bad, just thoughts why.)
CTR: You have stacked Guns in the Second Row. I get that, but you have gone light in the FRF to make cash. You could also apply the same logic to your CTR's while S. Mata'Utia could become a keeper in the CTR position it looks like a better option to start him in the 2RF and look at guys like Hurrell, Whare, Lafai, Chambers and hell even Gagai potentially. This isn't a must do move, but it could be a way of replacing Hess and downgrading him to someone else who can make some cash.
WFB: Gutherson has potential to be a great option this year. It is just not yet decided as to how much Norman will impact on his scores. Now the lack of KM shouldn't be too much of an issue as he scored well without them. The only issue is if he can remain as consistent with his attacking stats to keep him scoring well. Although he does do some defending averaging around 20 tackles when playing Five-Eight. So that will definitely help out. The only other thing is the noticeable omission of Valentine Holmes who if named at FB round 1 over Bird will be in most teams.
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Who do you think will be the 3 best Rookies (Players priced at $138k) this year and why? 
