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

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

In terms of the H2H league top 4 are West end warriors, me, sam, and NHTFS (in that order)

I think we have all  but sewn up first place in the battle of the leagues.

That's NRL FF L1 and well done so far.
Some other leagues for players here.
NRL Fanatics (set up by Trajan I think) are 4th.
Bullbenders League are 8th and NRL FF L2 are 11th.

Concussed wrote:

Isaako to play surely, injury free, second game at fullback, goal kicker in a team that whist inconsistent COULD explode any given week

Normally I'd agree, but apparently he has a leg problem and as a result might not goal kick tonight. reminds me of cam smith when he was hobble a bit earlier in the season and it hurt his fantasy output. Fingers crossed for Isaako he's all good.

If its only the kicking that he's losing though, being able to play Isaako at C (when his actual position is FB) is still a good option. He's a pretty dynamic player so its a tricky one. little risky if he's on half a leg...

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Normally I'd agree, but apparently he has a leg problem and as a result might not goal kick tonight. reminds me of cam smith when he was hobble a bit earlier in the season and it hurt his fantasy output. Fingers crossed for Isaako he's all good.

If its only the kicking that he's losing though, being able to play Isaako at C (when his actual position is FB) is still a good option. He's a pretty dynamic player so its a tricky one.  little risky if he's on half a leg...

Oh I had no idea about the leg injury, so if correct then tred lightly. Seems to be a heap of leg injuries this time of the year and not a heap of information about it (unless I am just not digging deep enough, which is most likely it as I am pretty casual haha).

Has there been any update on how Arrow and Ponga are traveling with their shady legs as well?

Verbal Kint wrote:Gents, how does this one compare to Fantasy? I might switch next season. Sorry - a bit of a broad question...

Prices don't change every week. They are based on 3 weeks so you can get a look at players before you pull the trigger

Clack Bocks wrote:Also what happens when we get to page 51 here?

Seems like it's business as usual.

Don't tell anyone but the forum automatically creates another thread when it gets to 53 or 54. We do the fantasy thread manually to keep track with the numbers

Interesting move by opponent, and he must have a shit tonne of trades left-he traded Mann for Cleary. Cleary with gk duties again and more general play kicks again but still a big call after 1 good game.


Figured maybe he was tidying up his shitty AE's to loophole but still has Doohickey.

No Worries wrote:

Prices don't change every week. They are based on 3 weeks so you can get a look at players before you pull the trigger

And the forum is smaller and better! 98% of the chat in here is about the game, not like the absolute bore fest of the main fantasy forum.

You really just need to give it a go for a season and see if you like it or not. I personally have been playing fantasy games for years and started on the virtual sports games, so I have just stayed with them as I am used to the setup and how the games work. Plus there isn't any of this "who do I sub so I gain points from X player I didn't even play" utter nonsense in this game!! Haha

SI wrote:Interesting move by opponent, and he must have a tonne of trades left-he traded Mann for Cleary.  Cleary with gk duties again and more general play kicks again but still a big call after 1 good game.


Figured maybe he was tidying up his AE's to loophole but still has Doohickey.

Do you think you still have him covered mate? Are you making any trades based on the matchup at all?

No Worries wrote:

Prices don't change every week. They are based on 3 weeks so you can get a look at players before you pull the trigger

Just to clarify this, they do change every week, but they don't change until the p[layer has played their 3rd game.

So as No Worries says, for NRL players that get a starting spot during the season, for example Brimson, you can potentially watch him play twice and still be able to buy him for the rookie price. So the game is a bit more forgiving in that sense.

Perhaps more importantly though, none of the players prices change until round 3. So you pick you squad of 25 and then have 3 two weeks of trading to fix your mistakes without copping a financial hit. I.e. this year I believe I started with Croft but was able to trade him out before he lost value. Again, it just makes the game way more forgiving and IMO takes a bit of the luck out of it...

Also as Concussed says - there are no ignorant dick heads over here wanking over how cool they think they are, and insulting any number of minority groups and posters in the process.

Im thinking of changing things up this round and running with a WFB and a Half in my subs!

I.e. play all of Ponga, TTrbo, Teddy, RTS
and SJ, DCE, and Munster

It would mean I leave Tapine and Arrow out of my 17.

What do you guys think?

I guess the logic is in part a defensive strategy in that I want to play guns early in the round (i.e. Friday/Saturday) in case there are late withdrawals later. I.e. play Ponga tonight, TTrbo, DCE, Munster tomorrow, etc.

But also I think that SJ and RTS could go large in a daytime game v the Titans, so wanna play them too.

And I feel like its too risky not to play Teddy....

Thoughts?

I think do that next week, the uncertainty around ponga is too much this week.

Clack Bocks wrote:I think do that next week, the uncertainty around ponga is too much this week.

Next week the Warriors are away to SG, I'll likely stay well away from both SJ and RTS in that game.

The whole point of include those two this week is because they are playing a day game against the Titans.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:Im thinking of changing things up this round and running with a WFB and a Half in my subs!

I.e. play all of Ponga, TTrbo, Teddy, RTS
and SJ, DCE, and Munster

It would mean I leave Tapine and Arrow out of my 17.

What do you guys think?

I guess the logic is in part a defensive strategy in that I want to play guns early in the round (i.e. Friday/Saturday) in case there are late withdrawals later. I.e. play Ponga tonight, TTrbo, DCE, Munster tomorrow, etc.

But also I think that SJ and RTS could go large in a daytime game v the Titans, so wanna play them too.

And I feel like its too risky not to play Teddy....

Thoughts?

FWIW I decided to drop Arrow for Munster this week. Just a feeling

I have dumped Ponga to the bench for RTS.

Just concerned he won't be at 100%.

Also 2 weeks in a row I've had Lodge score 60+ in my NPRs. How long will he keep his try scoring going for?

Milchcow wrote:
I have dumped Ponga to the bench for RTS.

Just concerned he won't be at 100%.

Also 2 weeks in a row I've had Lodge score 60+ in my NPRs. How long will he keep his try scoring going for?

I traded Lodge out for Farah - don't start me.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Next week the Warriors are away to SG, I'll likely stay well away from both SJ and RTS in that game.

The whole point of include those two this week is because they are playing a day game against the Titans.

I think Clack was meaning to bench Ponga with the uncertainty around him this week? He can confirm, but that is what I am doing as well still...just a gut feel with what happened with Arrow last week (not that you can compare players, and Arrow has had a rough year with injury)...

It’s all a roll of the dice at the end of the day, but for me this week Ponga sits for Teddy Turbo and RTS, just what my gut is telling me to do. Also benching Arrow for Taumalolo this week as I did the opposite last week

For me, you play Ponga if he starts and assume him getting a starting spot means he is good enough to go well.

Just be wary of what happened 2 weeks ago? There was a string of players who withdrew and people got stung late and either couldn't field a 17 or had to filed one or two chumps.

Some well owned players could easily be withdrawals late this week IMO: Harris looks like he is all bu confirmed out, Arrow could easily get a rest, it would never surprise to see SJ get a week off on short notice, and Matterson's starting spot. And if it were to be a WFB, well in my case at least if I didnt play Ponga then good old Mann would get a start.

I get the logic of why you might leave Ponga out, but I'd prefer to take my chances and play him and make sure I have options come the end of the week should there be late withdrawals.

Verbal Kint wrote:Gents, how does this one compare to Fantasy? I might switch next season. Sorry - a bit of a broad question...

Bit of time this afternoon so here is a rundown.

VSDT Interface is exactly the same as Supercoach so if you know how to use that you can use VSDT.
Fantasy was the clear interface winner until this year, when they decided to even things up by removing drag+drop, rank history and a bunch of other functionality.
VSDT has improved over the years, but my number 1 complaint is that there are separate pages for looking at your current score, and for changing your reserve/captain selection during a round.


Gameplay - VSDT has the old fantasy system of 25 player squads with fixed positions. Old AE system of lowest positive scoring NPR comes in for any one who doesn't play. Position irrelevant and only 1 AE a week. For looping they have the old style captain's loophole where you can switch your captain to a non-player to get your VC's score doubled instead.
VSDT players need to play 3 games before they change in price, giving you 2 free looks at everyone before trading them in/out. Makes it a lot easier to get in all the good rookies and ditch any dud in your original team.
Personal preference as to which you prefer, but having played with ranked subs I'll find it hard to go back to the old AE system (even considering the current looping shenanigans) I also find the 2 free weeks without price changing to be a bit amateur given how easily it works to change them from the get go.


Scoring is pretty similar. VSDT is harsher on missed tackles and errors (but ignores penalties conceded altogether) You get more points for tries, try assists, line breaks and metres gained. Less points for tackle breaks and kick metres.
Its pretty similar though - the top 15 averaging players for each comp have 13 players in common. Differences are VSDT has Nathan Brown and Ryan James (who are 16th and 17th in Fantasy). Fantasy has Crichton and Ponga (17th and 38th in VSDT)
Certainly you don't need to make any major changes in research if switching

Posting that made me realise how much less of a gun Ponga is in VSDT compared to fantasy. Definitely ditching him for RTS given the injury concern