Rd 18 discussion

Another good week. 389 for the round, up to 4,194th overall.  8 trades left and $454k in the bank.  Seems above average on both counts.

Now we’ve still got Cleary I’d say he’d be hold at this point

Top 17 looks great, EMG not so much

Would be going Hynes to Fifita (should be fine for WFBs even with some restings)

I was wondering about something like CHN to iPap as well.  I kind of like Watson's HOK/MID DPP, but otherwise he'd be an option too.

May need a centre if Bird serves his suspension this round.
Papenhuyzen back would mean Hynes unplayable if he starts from the bench so would be first on the chopping block. As Camo said - Fifita is the obvious in.

Captain choices are Fifita, Moses, Lolo and Haas... remembering that three of those four will be backing up from origin with Fifita the most likely to see reduced minutes.
For the record I'm captaining Ipap in my own team but doubt we'll be bringing him in at this stage over Fifita.

Fifita all good, Filth.  Suspended from Origin.

Hynes to Fifita is Pappy is back is a great trade.

i think we need to pick a hooker to beat Brailey as well

Hunt, Cook are the main 2
Mahoney as well if he comes back from injury

Otherwise Koroisau or BSmith are a more risky pick
Ignore Harry Grant because I suspect he'll sahre too much with BSmith when he gets back, but otherwise he's a possible.

I think anyone else is too small an upgrade over Brailey to justify a trade.

Jele wrote:Fifita all good, Filth.  Suspended from Origin.

haha oh dear no wonder I'm coming 5,000 this year
Was just complaining about him showing as suspended for the next game in Fantasy knowing he'd be fine to play.

Best thing about the head injury is that I can just blame it for every time I do or say something stupid now

If Cleary comes back soon we'll have 18 playable players, plus Verrills in a pinch

Suaalii and Savage are there for emergency only and/or potential looping)

with 8 trades and $454k in the bank (and not having sold Cleary) we are in good position to make strong upgrades to the weaker members of our 17. I think we are set to make some decent improvement in the remaining weeks

Any other thoughts at this stage? tempted to wait until after origin before firming up trade options.

another possibility to throw in the mix if we want to keep Hynes as Turbo/Teddy insurance would be to trade out Cleary. For example, we could do Cleary + Verrills or Suaalii -> Fifita + Papali’i , with around $330-340k leftover.

Doesn’t solve our hooker problem (and potentially centre problem if Peachey tanks again or when Bird is suspended), and we’d also need a plan if we wanted Cleary back. But it would give us 20/21 green dots, and the space to do something like Hynes -> cashout and Matto/CHN/Watson -> Cleary in coming weeks.

On reflection, maybe too many cons and not enough pros…

I am a fan of Brailey to Fifita. Getting Brailey out is a big upgrade IMO

That locks us into Watson as hooker unless we trade up, so CHN/Matterson/Watson to Cook/Mahoney/Hunt

My personal preference is for Cook, but can see value in others. Potentially wait a week to see what happens after origin (or give Mahoney a chance to prove his fitness)
Watson has a low BE so we can give him a week if needed.

Barring failure to backup after origin, not sure anyone else needs trading now

I am happy giving Peachey a week, don't want to ditch one of the top CTRS after 1 bad score.

Also happy to keep Cleary after holding this long.
We do have trades to get him back in, so if there is nobody else we want to ditch it could be done

Don't think we need to trade Hynes out yet either