2018 NRL Dream Team Virtual Sports/Sports Deck (VSDT) Part 1

If Fifita and Cartwright are both out, I have to choose between Cartwright and Thurston for last sub.

Also wondering whether Jack Bird is worth a trade in at CTR

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

OK, would Kikau have been in your 17 if Fifi was there?

I have Maloney in my squad so I have 2 options: 1 lock in JFH and Kikau into my starting 17 and then play Fifi or Maloney

Or if I don't want to take the risk on Maloney and would rather Rochow (who otherwise wouldn't be in my 17) I could put Rochow in and then play either Fifi or Kikau/JFH

Not sure what is better - I kinda think Maloney v a depleted Sharks outfit might go OK so I might go with the former cause I don't really wanna run the risk of having to drop off Kikau or JFH.

This is where NRLF has it over sportsdeck now with the ranked subs. With Fifi playing last this round it causes problems. Either way it does look like he will be back next week you'd think. So at least that makes the decision to hold him easy, I hope.

With no Brown I am having to play Maloney, so I am hoping for a 40 from him (really, really hoping!)

And if Fifita is out of the last game, the only way I can avoid an AE is by playing Leota (averaging 28.

This is all relying on Murray getting at least some game time, so really this week could go OK or really bad really fast for me

Milchcow wrote:If Fifita and Cartwright are both out, I have to choose between Cartwright and Thurston for last sub.

Also wondering whether Jack Bird is worth a trade in at CTR

My point with Fifita though is that you may not know he is out until Cartwright and Thurston have already played. BTW did you mean Murray?

I looked at Bird too. Could be a risk that pays off, and perhaps one I might consider taking if I needed to make up ground, but Im trying really hard to stick to my self-imposed rule of not messing with my Cs this year until all else is sorted! Also Im gonna target Gutherson for the 2nd C spot anyway.

Concussed wrote:

With no Brown I am having to play Maloney, so I am hoping for a 40 from him (really, really hoping!)

And if Fifita is out of the last game, the only way I can avoid an AE is by playing Leota (averaging 28.

This is all relying on Murray getting at least some game time, so really this week could go OK or really bad really fast for me

My gut says Murray won't play, and even if he does I can't see it being anything other than 20 odd min off the bench, in which case you probably don't want to play him. Gut feeling though bro, who knows really

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

My gut says Murray won't play, and even if he does I can't see it being anything other than 20 odd min off the bench, in which case you probably don't want to play him. Gut feeling though bro, who knows really

I hope you are wrong man, but it is very possible. At least they are first game up Saturday, so will at least be able to take a stab at a reserve rather than just wearing an AE

I just need to get through this week and I should be back on track again.

Hows your team shaping up for this weekend?

Concussed wrote:

I hope you are wrong man, but it is very possible. At least they are first game up Saturday, so will at least be able to take a stab at a reserve rather than just wearing an AE

I just need to get through this week and I should be back on track again.

Hows your team shaping up for this weekend?

Given all the injury dramas my team is not too bad I guess.

I traded out Murray last week so I don't have that to worry about. And my death is pretty good. If I knew for sure Fifita was out, then I would have a choice between Rochow, Maloney, and I guess Gosiewski as the last reserve spot. My team looks way more balanced now with Smith in (instead of Griffen at second hooker).

My projected score with Fifita playing is exactly 900 which I think is pretty realistic.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Given all the injury dramas my team is not too bad I guess.

I traded out Murray last week so I don't have that to worry about. And my death is pretty good. If I knew for sure Fifita was out, then I would have a choice between Rochow, Maloney, and I guess Gosiewski as the last reserve spot. My team looks way more balanced now with Smith in (instead of Griffen at second hooker).

My projected score with Fifita playing is exactly 900 which I think is pretty realistic.

You don't see Murray as a Final 17 player?

Oh so you had Griffen at HKR and now Smith, great trade that!

My projected score is 885 which I would take in a heartbeat, but that is with Fifita and Murray, and also Maloney could get -5 for all I know. Anything over 750 I will be really happy with honestly, could be carnage though

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

My point with Fifita though is that you may not know he is out until Cartwright and Thurston have already played. BTW did you mean Murray?

I looked at Bird too. Could be a risk that pays off, and perhaps one I might consider taking if I needed to make up ground, but Im trying really hard to stick to my self-imposed rule of not messing with my Cs this year until all else is sorted! Also Im gonna target Gutherson for the 2nd C spot anyway.

Yes I meant Murray not Cartwright . 

At the moment I have them both out of my 17.
If Fifita plays I'll swap him for Kikau. 

I won't have net access on Saturday afternoon, so unless Murray is confirmed earlier I'll just play Thurston for this week

Concussed wrote:

You don't see Murray as a Final 17 player?

Oh so you had Griffen at HKR and now Smith, great trade that!

My projected score is 885 which I would take in a heartbeat, but that is with Fifita and Murray, and also Maloney could get -5 for all I know. Anything over 750 I will be really happy with honestly, could be carnage though

To be honest, I was on the fence with him, actually my inkling was that he might be a couple points on average behind being a final 17 guy based on what I'd seen of him. The main thing was his injury and the lack of any news about it prior to that round kicking off. I imposed a rule on myself that if no info was put out about him I would ditch him. The concern was that a possible reoccurrence of a hammy problem which had already kept him out for a month and where he had returned off the bench for a 20 odd point game. I didn't want to take the risk.

The trouble is, even if he turns out to be a touch off a final 17 guy he has money to make which is invaluable when they are also a very solid starting 17 player. If he comes back and looks good, I'll probably trade him back in if the numbers make sense.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

To be honest, I was on the fence with him, actually my inkling was that he might be a couple points on average behind being a final 17 guy based on what I'd seen of him. The main thing was his injury and the lack of any news about it prior to that round kicking off. I imposed a rule on myself that if no info was put out about him I would ditch him. The concern was that a possible reoccurrence of a hammy problem which had already kept him out for a month and where he had returned off the bench for a 20 odd point game. I didn't want to take the risk.

The trouble is, even if he turns out to be a touch off a final 17 guy he has money to make which is invaluable when they are also a very solid starting 17 player. If he comes back and looks good, I'll probably trade him back in if the numbers make sense.

Yeah I figure he still has money to make and I am hoping he doesn't top out until Rnd13

Question for everyone in this game, what are we all thinking is the PERFECT TEAM to be aiming for?? If trades & cash weren't an issue, ideal world type stuff...

Perfect team 

Hooker - Smith + Cook
Halves - DCE + SJ
WFB - Teddy, Turbo, Ponga (maybe Guth?) 

Forwards and center not quite sure
Yet to be seen if guys like Arrow will step up enough, and how far guys like Lolo will fall.
I expect JTrbo and Fifita to be there. A host of others could all be viable

Matterson will probably be 1 CTR. Other could be 1 of several

Milchcow wrote:Perfect team 

Hooker - Smith + Cook
Halves - DCE + SJ
WFB - Teddy, Turbo, Ponga (maybe Guth?) 

Forwards and center not quite sure
Yet to be seen if guys like Arrow will step up enough, and how far guys like Lolo will fall.
I expect JTrbo and Fifita to be there. A host of others could all be viable

Matterson will probably be 1 CTR. Other could be 1 of several

Hooker = Done
Halves = Half done
WFB = Done

Got Matterson & Mitchell in at CTR, Guth may also be an option here correct?
I assume Fifita & Burgess would be the FRF?

2RF seems to be the hardest by far to sort. In the past this was easiest position in knowing exactly who you wanted (Mannering, Gallen, Merrin, Fensom etc...)

Forwards and when to pounce on them is proving to be the hardest thing to decide by far!

Concussed wrote:

Yeah I figure he still has money to make and I am hoping he doesn't top out until Rnd13

Question for everyone in this game, what are we all thinking is the PERFECT TEAM to be aiming for?? If trades & cash weren't an issue, ideal world type stuff...

Hey man, like Milch said, very hard to know right now, but in the interest of having a crack based on what I've seen my 17 would be as follows (ranked within each position):

Hookers: Cook, Smith
FRFs: Fifita, McGuire, Taupau
2RFs: JTrbo, Tolo, Arrow, Harris, Chrichton
Half: SJ, Cleary
C: Matterson, Gutherson
WFB: Ponga, TTrbo, Teddy

On top of the above, my final team, Im hoping, will have 2 DPP halves/WFBs as cover - currently thinking Mbye and Munster.

There's a whole host of other players though that I would have been reasonably comfortable putting in there too:

FRFs/2RFs: Surgess, Brown
Half: DCE
C: Aitken, Mitchell
WFB: Edwards

are some that stand out, but theres a lot more that would do a pretty good job as 50+ point players and my feeling is if you have all the key guys (bolded) above, then you could interchange the rest with players who are pretty close and end up having a team that would be a contender for top spot.

Pretty much every one will have Smith, Cook, Ponga and at least one of Teddy/Turbo by now.

Probably at least one of SJ/DCE as well.

FRF/2RF is where I think the comp will be won. Getting the right players in, as quickly as possible (around byes if you can manage it)

I have
Smith cook
Fifita
Jturbo
Dce sj
Matterson
Ponga teddy tturbo
So 7 more players needed

Milchcow wrote:
Pretty much every one will have Smith, Cook, Ponga and at least one of Teddy/Turbo by now.

Probably at least one of SJ/DCE as well.

FRF/2RF is where I think the comp will be won. Getting the right players in, as quickly as possible (around byes if you can manage it)

Yeah, though interestingly
1st has Cook/Griffin
2nd has Cook/Havilli (which I think is a massive trap in this game - doesn't score well enough to play and isn't making cash fast enough, but tough to trade out cause he is still making money) & is running Hiku in the WFBs
3rd also has Cook/Havilli & is running Sami in the WFBs

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Yeah, though interestingly
1st has Cook/Griffin
2nd has Cook/Havilli (which I think is a massive trap in this game - doesn't score well enough to play and isn't making cash fast enough, but tough to trade out cause he is still making money) & is running Hiku in the WFBs
3rd also has Cook/Havilli & is running Sami in the WFBs

Alot of guessing and luck is what it takes as well. A new NSW Origin coach could play a big part as well if he throws up some left field selections (also add in maybe Arrow for QLD)

A long season still to go yet, which means plenty of time for even the best laid plans to go that shape of a pear...

In case u haven’t been reading the other thread:
Murray Fifita both sound like they will be out.
SJ is out
Speculation Arrow is out

Also I read Levi is out of the 17 (speculation) which may mean Griffin back to 80 min role.

Food for thought of u haven’t pulled trigger on trades for this week

With SJ, Murray, Fifita and maybe Arrow out, I am scraping the bottom of the barrel this week.

Was only going to use 1 trade, but might have bring someone else in. Still have Doueihi so maybe Bird or Takarangi

Milchcow wrote:
With SJ, Murray, Fifita and maybe Arrow out, I am scraping the bottom of the barrel this week.

Was only going to use 1 trade, but might have bring someone else in. Still have Doueihi so maybe Bird or Takarangi

Yeah me too, i have all those four and don't wan't to trade them out. Two keepers and two guys who could make the jump to keeper status this year. I think it means a stay of execution for JT and Griffin. No point in trading out players who i need this week to make up a decent 17. It does mean I have to play Croker or Cartwright at half to replace SJ.