2018 NRL.com Fantasy Thread Part 7

Liverpool_Bulldog wrote:If you don't run with Smith, which I'm sure is being planned by some.

Who is the best captain who is also a value pick if that thing exists?

Fifita would be my main option

I don't have Smith either, so will be going with Tedesco captain round 1. Actually wow, looked up the Roosters first 4 rounds and they play the Tigers, Bulldogs, Knights and Warriors first 4 rounds. I'll captain him these 4 rounds, and in that time I'll get an idea of how NBrown & Merrin are going for minutes/scores - I'll then begin to captain whichever one of them is hitting closest to the 55-60 range.

Dttragic2016 wrote:

I don't have Smith either, so will be going with Tedesco captain round 1. Actually wow, looked up the Roosters first 4 rounds and they play the Tigers, Bulldogs, Knights and Warriors first 4 rounds. I'll captain him these 4 rounds, and in that time I'll get an idea of how NBrown & Merrin are going for minutes/scores - I'll then begin to captain whichever one of them is hitting closest to the 55-60 range.

I like your thinking

How do you quote a post on the App?

Lichaa SST Lui or JBrom

Dttragic2016 wrote:

I don't have Smith either, so will be going with Tedesco captain round 1. Actually wow, looked up the Roosters first 4 rounds and they play the Tigers, Bulldogs, Knights and Warriors first 4 rounds. I'll captain him these 4 rounds, and in that time I'll get an idea of how NBrown & Merrin are going for minutes/scores - I'll then begin to captain whichever one of them is hitting closest to the 55-60 range.

Sounds like a plan

THEGAME wrote:Lichaa SST Lui or JBrom

Lichaa for me

Bump as I didn't get a reply

This is my latest team and I have one reserve spot left on the bench and am unsure which way to go. I can afford anybody up to NBrown,help please?

Smith
Lodge Latu
Murray RFM Cartwright
JT Croft
Mitchell Takarangi
Tedesco Ponga Katoa

Lichaa
Cook
?
Croker

Havili/Garvey
Leilua
Kennar
Doueihi

Liverpool_Bulldog wrote:

I like your thinking

I was always planning to have Tedesco captain round 1, but seeing that draw made the first 4 weeks plan sound awesome (at least in my own mind!). I do a lot of try scorer betting, and it usually does take the first 1-2 months to see consistent patterns in minutes with the forwards, so I naturally will be following their minutes anyway!

THEGAME wrote:Lichaa SST Lui or JBrom

I've got Licha and JBrom locked in my team. I reviewed SST and Liu's stats last year and have Liu in my team over SST based on looking at their stats H2H in the 2018 Team Planner for the last couple of months of the season.
If Liu's named at lock and SST is in the prop rotation along with Napa, JWH and Tetevano - I'll keep Liu there.
A big thank you to whoever it was that mentioned FPN is just on a 60k contract with the Roosters and HOPEFULLY won't disrupt this rotation!

I'm thinking about Townsend again. Now I know I was poo-pooing him a short while ago. But goal kicking changes things. He's probably about two points undervalued from the previous two years and should be coming into his prime. Throw in about 3 points for the Moylan km's effect and about 6 points for GK and previously I'd forgotten to add about 2 points for forced dropouts which to be fair I'd factored into Thurston's score but not Townsend's. And voila! You have a cut-price, round 13 keeper. A truckload of IF's in there though.

danseels1985 wrote:Bump as I didn't get a reply

This is my latest team and I have one reserve spot left on the bench and am unsure which way to go. I can afford anybody up to NBrown,help please?

Smith
Lodge Latu
Murray RFM Cartwright
JT Croft
Mitchell Takarangi
Tedesco Ponga Katoa

Lichaa
Cook
?
Croker

Havili/Garvey
Leilua
Kennar
Doueihi

Merrin, Whitehead & NBrown are the 3 options that come to mind for me (which means they can be starting 2rf and Carty can go to the bench as DPP cover also).
Other options are Connor Watson, Slade Griffin, Isaac Liu and NAS as value DPP options.

mulvy wrote:I'm thinking about Townsend again. Now I know I was poo-pooing him a short while ago. But goal kicking changes things. He's probably about two points undervalued from the previous two years and should be coming into his prime. Throw in about 3 points for the Moylan km's effect and about 6 points for GK and previously I'd forgotten to add about 2 points for forced dropouts which to be fair I'd factored into Thurston's score but not Townsend's. And voila! You have a cut-price, round 13 keeper. A truckload of IF's in there though.

I've got Townsend in my team. Not quite locked in, but I have my doubts over Croft who is the high % ownership option.
Goal kicking is guaranteed (at least for now). Moylan is not a noted kicker (and neither are Brailey or Holmes, Wade Graham does do the odd short kick but that isn't a significant factor) so his KMs increasing seems reasonable to factor in. The hype article on NRL.com also mentioned how Flanno kept him on even as he took others off, which I think is a clear cut sign of him needing to own the team now that Maloney's left.

Forced dropouts shouldn't be a big deal as other halves will be in the same boat. The bit that sealed the deal for me is that I expect the Sharks to be top 4 team this year, which was the only reason I was considering Croft in the first place.

danseels1985 wrote:Bump as I didn't get a reply

This is my latest team and I have one reserve spot left on the bench and am unsure which way to go. I can afford anybody up to NBrown,help please?

Smith
Lodge Latu
Murray RFM Cartwright
JT Croft
Mitchell Takarangi
Tedesco Ponga Katoa

Lichaa
Cook
?
Croker

Havili/Garvey
Leilua
Kennar
Doueihi

Merrin.

Saw him on tv the other day and he looked fit.

Picking him to have a big year.

I know that players like cook and licha offer a bit of value.

But I am surprised I haven't heard many people talk about Friend. For nearly 200k cheaper than Smith. Fairly consistent scorer. From memory (I could be wrong here) had a few injury problems last year that brought his Avg down.

What impact do we think Cronk will have on his score? Friend never really relied on attacking points, Doesn't seem to have anyone pressuring his position? and is still bound to have plenty of defensive work ahead of him. Plus was always good for a forced drop out or two.

Thinking of running with a 6 cheapie bench. And no Smith.

Lichaa
Fifita, Lodge
Merrin, RFM, Cartwright
Thurston, Croft
Mitchell, Taka
Teddy, Dufty, Ponga

Cook, Liu, (C. Thompson, Kikau, Katoa, Croker, Leilua, Kennar) - order of the six in brackets based on matchups.

danseels1985 wrote:Bump as I didn't get a reply

This is my latest team and I have one reserve spot left on the bench and am unsure which way to go. I can afford anybody up to NBrown,help please?

Smith
Lodge Latu
Murray RFM Cartwright
JT Croft
Mitchell Takarangi
Tedesco Ponga Katoa

Lichaa
Cook
?
Croker

Havili/Garvey
Leilua
Kennar
Doueihi

Buy a prop so you don't have to rely on Lodge and Latu as your only options

Are there any stats for Mbye at Fullback?

Goondalf wrote:Are there any stats for Mbye at Fullback?

Has never started an NRL game at fullback

Fortitude wrote:I know that players like cook and licha offer a bit of value.

But I am surprised I haven't heard many people talk about Friend. For nearly 200k cheaper than Smith. Fairly consistent scorer. From memory (I could be wrong here) had a few injury problems last year that brought his Avg down.

What impact do we think Cronk will have on his score? Friend never really relied on attacking points, Doesn't seem to have anyone pressuring his position? and is still bound to have plenty of defensive work ahead of him. Plus was always good for a forced drop out or two.

All is true re: Friend, however as you've said yourself he never really relied on attacking points and if the Roosters are winning/scoring tries there might not be much defensive work?

I reckon there is enough value out there that it is quite silly to not have Smith in your side and as captain. He scores in every facet of the game so whatever is happening his score just keeps ticking over.

I have my eye on a Tigers backrower who if gets the position should be great value.

Lodge is a must based off price and trial form. Settling on a second prop is doing my head in. Have gone through Fifita/Vaughan/Taupau and value like Alvaro/JBrom/AFB etc along with Kikau/Nicholls (if DPP).

Good cut price options in second row with Merrin/Whitehead/Harris/Murray/RFM/Arrow/Cartwight looking great value.

Case for value in Thurston/CWalker/Croft/Townsend/Moses/JReynolds/Watson/LCroker - not sure where to go here either. Be good if AReynolds was injured and you could go Doueihi.

If Milne isn't named it's a bit of a kick in the guts. Kennar/Thompson/Katoa the obvious choices in the back 5. Hunt and Taka could be good value.

One fullback I haven't heard mentioned much is Tom Trbojevic. Great early draw along with Teddy and Ponga could be nice?

Dttragic2016 wrote:

I've got Townsend in my team. Not quite locked in, but I have my doubts over Croft who is the high % ownership option.
Goal kicking is guaranteed (at least for now). Moylan is not a noted kicker (and neither are Brailey or Holmes, Wade Graham does do the odd short kick but that isn't a significant factor) so his KMs increasing seems reasonable to factor in. The hype article on NRL.com also mentioned how Flanno kept him on even as he took others off, which I think is a clear cut sign of him needing to own the team now that Maloney's left.

Forced dropouts shouldn't be a big deal as other halves will be in the same boat. The bit that sealed the deal for me is that I expect the Sharks to be top 4 team this year, which was the only reason I was considering Croft in the first place.

I don't think that's entirely true. It's true if you are comparing Thurston, Croft, Townsend etc you can factor in another two points probably. It's unlikely to be true for other popular picks such as Watson, Cartwright, and even Cronk and Pearce are a lot further down the list of forced dropouts. Those two points are also worth considering if the comparison is not between two halves but a half and a different position depending on the make up of your bench.