NRLFF community managed fantasy team

With Watson back on the bench, I'm keen to move him on for Cook still.

Brooks with a season low is a bit of a kick in the guts.

Question marks over SST with HIA concerns and SJ carrying some injury too. Not sure if I'm game to use the 2nd trade though and leave only 1.

If SJ's a late out, we can start Burns at WFB and Ponga into HLF.

I still like Nikora at CTR over Burns. Averaging 47 despite the form dip and can't see a true CTR going close to that.

Yeah , I think the move is Watson to Cook

Rippin and Tearin wrote:Yeah , I think the move is Watson to Cook

Agree

Another disappointing game from Brooks

I did like that idea of RnT's to upgrade him to like DCE, but with trades dwindling and SJ/SST under a cloud, it felt too risky.

Actually the idea was Staggs + Watson to DCE + Cook, but a few thou short for this week. Brooks was one that crossed my mind though.

Staggs smashing his BE probably means we can upgrade him next week though. DCE with a 50 BE this week, so hopefully just scores around there.

Our lead at the top of the celebrity ladder is nice, but not insurmountable

Getting Brooks out of our starting team probably the main goal this week.

We are $3k Short of Staggs to Munster, but can do Staggs to DCE or ARey - so that is my first thought on trade for the week.

That keeps Brooks around as AE/Loop option, but if we trade Brooks out, then we can afford anyone

I like the way you think. Also thinking something along those lines.

Shame we're short on Munster for Staggs as a poll option, but having owned him before, he was a bit disappointing as a HLF (45 avg last year). Going great this year, but I prefer DCE, then ARey, then Munster in order of preference.

Would rather keep Brooks around over Staggs anyway, so my vote would be Staggs to DCE.

I think it would be a massive mistake to trade Staggs to DCE and burn all our cash.

I'll be voting for Brooks out and DCE in.

on DCE vs Munster I think the risk of Munster missing more games (being rested) is a genuine concern. While Manly will just need to keep winning so DCE will remain on the park unless injury forces him off.

On the Brooks out part, we need to make sure we have money in the bank for our last trade.

We are missing guys like the Trbo brothers and we need to make sure we turn the likes of SST/AFB into anyone.

I would be opposed to making a move this week that limited our potential to upgrade our team with our last remaining trade.

EDIT: I can however see the merits of increasing squad depth by going Staggs to DCE. I just think on balance the ability to preserve the value of that last trade is more important.

I know there's good depth but surely that last trade is being saved for if we lose a gun?

Krump wrote:I know there's good depth but surely that last trade is being saved for if we lose a gun?

Yeah of course, but what if we lose someone like AFB next week for the season? Surely we want to preserve the ability to improve our squad in such a circumstance?

Alternatively, if we get lucky on injuries and head into the final 3 weeks with a full squad, wouldnt we want to be able to improve our squad for those last few games? I.e grab a TTrbo/JTrbo type player?

I don't trust Tom as much as Jake and I think our WFB is pretty set without him. Tom might keep gunning it, but injury history and previous averages entice me to let him pass now.

If going Brooks to DCE and having the bank and trade left for the purpose of upgrading SST (our cheapest benchy and one I'm most worried about) to Jake, then I feel every week we wait to make the upgrade is giving up points, so would feel inclined to do it ASAP.

That leaves 0 trades though, so how long do we wait, if waiting at all?

If opting for Staggs to DCE, we'll only have 13k left, so would make it hard to turn our two cheapest benchies (SST and AFB) into someone equivalent, but we'd still have Brooks and Burns on the loop or take a punt on someone like Shane Wright and get him in on the loop too.

Anyone else getting injured I think we can replace with some other gun, so the 13k doesn't hinder too much.

I like the make-up of the team with Staggs gone, DCE into HLF and Brooks/Burns as 18/19 or loop over SST/AFB. Should be able to jag a 50+ from one of them. Then figure out what to do with the last trade when something pops off.

Fair points and so I guess the two strategic options should be put up for the vote. I think we should avoid putting up just the players involved in the trade and highlight the pros and cons from a strategic perspective.

I.e. trade + cost + implications

Staggs to DCE - cash remaining 13k - EMGs: Brooks/Burns but no way to upgrade the likes of SST to JTrbo with last trade

Brooks to DCE/Munster - cash remaining 189k - EMGs: Burns/Staggs but potential to upgrade the likes of SST to anyone (except Moses)

On the, when to use the last trade? probably put that to a vote too, although my personal opinion is that barring any obvious time (i.e. if one of our 18 went down for an extended period of time) I would hold onto that until at least 4 rounds to go.

Also, I think its probably a fair option to post a no trade option in the polls today as well. DCE has a tough match up v the Storm this week, Brooks could go OK v Newc. Next week Tigers at home to NQ.

I agree with Winfield, in that if we are doing SST to JTurbo or similar, then sooner is better. I don't see a lot of value holding cash in the bank for a final trade we'd only use as injury cover.

3 options so far are

A) no trade, just run with what we have and save our last 2 for injuries

B) Staggs to half (DCE or ARey) 1 trade left but no bank balance, so final trade couldn't be an upgrade.

C) Brooks to gun half. Gives us good cash in bank for last trade but weaker 19th man
C) part 2. If we do this there is a case to spend our cash straight away upgrading SST to a Trbo or our bet at the best possible scorer for the run home.


Any other moves people want to consider

I’d be happy with the ‘all in’ strategy, I just felt it the general strategic consensus through the year was a little too conservative for that to be on the table. I personally would vote for it at present.

That said I’m not convinced the B strategy provides that much of a stronger week by week option than C. And if it did one might argue A should therefore be the preferred option.

In other words I don’t think we’d get that many more points out of looping Brooks and Burns compared to Staggs and Burns. And if Brooks really is considered in such high regard, why not just keep him.

Ultimately though I still think the best impact that last trade could have on our season is to bring in JTrbo!

Option A with no trades feels too conservative with our massive bank and can make a decent upgrade somewhere. Only 7 weeks left, so pushing for points looks good, on the other hand 7 weeks could get tough with 0 trades.

Would really like to get Brooks on the loop, but not keen enough to move Burns to FB and Ponga to HLF in order to loop Brooks with SST if not trading.

SST averaging 48 with an injury game, just shy of 51 without it, but minutes are a concern now. Upgrading to Jake is about a 4-7 point improvement with Jake's average almost 55.

Brooks averaging just over 46 now. Had a purple patch from Rd 5-13 where he only scored below 50 once, so is capable of hitting good scores. Seems to be our most viable loop option, but Burns not far behind if he can keep it going (or ahead perhaps, but even a 46 average for a CTR is tough to beat).

Just noticed Brooks averaged 40.5 last year, so that's a bit ugly if he keeps trending in that direction and Burns might actually be better  

Upgrading Brooks or Staggs (and benching Brooks) to DCE is around a 6-12 point improvement with DCE's average just under 58, but down to 52.2 last 5 games without goalkicking. Averaged 55 last year goalkicking and around 50 in years prior.

Staggs averaging just under 33 now from 11 full games at CTR. Doesn't really seem a viable loop option, despite the 65 last week, but scoring a double and not yielding too many more points than Burns in the end.

If using our last 2 trades to push for points, then I estimate around a 14-15 point improvement (10 on the low end, 19 on the high) per week for ~100 points overall. Burns and Staggs as our 18/19 and no trades looks a bit risky though and not sure if either will outscore AFB often if we're looping him.

I definitely see the merits of double gunning it, but the Staggs to DCE trade feels more balanced.

It gives us the 6-12 point upgrade still, which would be the same if only trading Brooks to DCE, but a less reliable loop option for SST if not upgrading him straight to Jake too.

I wasn't high on AFB prior to Rd 11 when talks of AFB vs. Taupau came up in the main thread, but has averaged 51.5 since then, so I'm fine locking him in as 16th man and basically having 3 cracks to match Jake's score via SST/Burns/Brooks.

Easier said than done depending on the schedule, but we won't have much else to discuss other than best loops soon.

Jake and Tom can still be on the radar with our last trade if we lose a main gun. Might have to settle for Wighton/Nofo if like RTS goes down or Ponga drops cash or could play Burns there and bring in a sub 700k gun forward. Jake still affordable via a bunch of our 17 if they're out longterm or the community should be able to find a good alternative if he's out of reach.

ARey might be the better option over DCE too if Garrick remains goalkicker. Or Munster if the community decides Brooks to him. Just used DCE in my scenarios since I was leaning him and easier to follow with less names thrown around.

Oh and we have Fifita out this week, so the situation is a bit different.

No trades means we're probably just trying to take the best 2 out of SST, Burns and Staggs.

Bringing in ARey/DCE for Brooks leaves us in the same situation.

Using our last trade on SST to Jake means we get a free look at Burns via Walters or play Staggs at 17.

Staggs to ARey/DCE leaves us trying to pick the best 2 of SST, Brooks and Burns.

I don't know all the loop stuff, but Walters doesn't lock until 6th. Fifita 1st and Brittain 3rd.

Brooks 2nd, Burns 3rd, Staggs 5th and SST 7th.

Nice posts WT.

Im still not convinced that it's the right move to lose the ability to upgrade with that last trade.

Do you really think Brooks/Burns/SST is that superior to Staggs/Burns/SST for the loop option. I really dont think it is, given the way Brooks is playing. I certainly dont see the upside as being worth more than upgrading our 17

If the goal is to finish as high as possible then I think we should be stacking that 17.

Might I suggest the following options in a poll:

• Staggs to DCE (last trade effectively held for injury cover - Brooks/Burns/SST on loop for 17th man)
  

• Staggs to ARey (last trade effectively held for injury cover - Brooks/Burns/SST on loop for 17th man)
  

• Brooks to DCE (last trade could be used to upgrade - Staggs/Burns/SST on loop for 17th - could upgrade SST to JTrbo any time).
  

• Brooks to Munster (last trade could be used to upgrade - Staggs/Burns/SST on loop for 17th - could upgrade SST to JTrbo any time).
  

Thats basically what its coming down to isnt it?