Shizzle My Nizzle 2023

Super unlucky that your planning hasn’t worked out as well as you’d hoped. Really like your logic.

I’d trade IKatoa over Crossland. Crosslands role is better and has value in rd 16 with dual HOK a possibility.

Love the Tohu call and I think if you don’t like Ponga then skipping is the right call. I’m trading him in and hoping for the best with a return to fullback hopefully minimising his injury risk and he’s great to watch (my enjoyable player list).

Ponga and Tohu I think make a lot of sense as trade ins via Burbo and Matto but if you want to stick to three trades I’m thinking

Matto -> Hopgood
Katoa -> Tohu

Leaves 50k bank. Not enough to turn Burbo to Te Whare if he starts. Don’t think there’s any other good cash out players either that are worth the trade. You could trade Crossland to be able to afford it and just rely on hands in rd 16 with Boyd and Oloapu at HLF. Think if Te Whare starts that’s the right play.

Hosking and Preston are both gun rd16 players so I’m loathe to suggest sideways trading them for a number this round given you want to ideally save trades.

Miller to Ponga is something to consider if you change your mind on Ponga. Know it doesn’t help numbers but maybe the cash gives more flexibility to make another move in the next weeks?

Good luck this week!

Thanks for the great response, I really appreciate the time put in.

I guess Ponga is cheap enough that it's worth the punt. I'm just overly paranoid perhaps! Matto due back R16 is annoyingly far away, so you're probably right that he's the one to make way.

I'm not against using all 4 trades if it means strengthening the team for the long run, but holding both Hosking and Preston is interesting.

Good luck to you too

Matto, IKat and Miller out for Tohu, Hoppy and Ponga is currently where I'm at.

Miller to Ponga obviously doesn't give me an extra number, but after the advice here and in the main forum I think Ponga is worth the risk. That's what I told myself last time too though

I also have enough remaining to go Burbo to VTW if he gets promoted

StuDogg101 wrote:Matto, IKat and Miller out for Tohu, Hoppy and Ponga is currently where I'm at.

Miller to Ponga obviously doesn't give me an extra number, but after the advice here and in the main forum I think Ponga is worth the risk. That's what I told myself last time too though

I also have enough remaining to go Burbo to VTW if he gets promoted

Rate these mate, Very solid

Well last week just summed up the rest of the season so far. Underwhelming, far below even my lowest expectations. Failing to crack 500 is a big oof. Yes, some were my own doing (captaining SJ, not trading in a hooker), and actually the other 8 players didn't do too badly, but just not well enough to make any ground at all.

The team
Hands - got what I think was his highest score since R7. Since I was bracing for a single digit effort, I was happy with 29. He's now done the job I needed him to.

Horse was great again, I regret not captaining him, but I really thought SJ would tear the Broncos up. At least a couple of times anyway. Harris was his usual solid self, 54 is the low end of his range but welcome to the team mate, glad to have you here.

Lemmy another great game, put him at EDG just cuz I could for a week. Hopgood also fantastic, first time I've brought back in a player I've traded out for non-Origin reasons, and not hated myself for it!

SJ underwhelming as mentioned. Didn't take the line on, didn't kick enough and the kicks he did do were pretty shit. Not blaming Metcalf for it, but maybe the combination needs some time. Crossland hit 50, I'll take that for sure.

Bird was good till he wasn't. I'm in the trade out camp for this one.

Ponga was an able replacement for Miller, who I'm glad I traded.

And that was that. No immediate plans for this week, but I need a CTR or WFB to field a full team, plus whatever replacement I get in for Bird, AND hope everyone backs up from Origin. Haven't done the maths to see if I can get Hynes, but might go for one if the Tigers instead. Probably prefer the scoring potential of Bateman, but Ipap is more reliable. I don't need another EDG though is the other issue.

Trade out possibilities this week, Bird, Hands, Crossland, Burbo and maybe even Boyd if I need to.

Team for this week, pre-trades

Boyd
Haas Horse Harris
Su'a Preston
Cleary SJ
Lemmy Manu
Bula Walsh (...)

Hosking Hedwards Oloapu

(Ponga, Hopgood, Crossland, Burbo, Hands, Bird)

Trades 10(4)
Bank $184k
Rank 12069

Cheers everyone, good luck for this week!

StuDogg101 wrote:Well last week just summed up the rest of the season so far. Underwhelming, far below even my lowest expectations. Failing to crack 500 is a big oof. Yes, some were my own doing (captaining SJ, not trading in a hooker), and actually the other 8 players didn't do too badly, but just not well enough to make any ground at all.

The team
Hands - got what I think was his highest score since R7. Since I was bracing for a single digit effort, I was happy with 29. He's now done the job I needed him to.

Horse was great again, I regret not captaining him, but I really thought SJ would tear the Broncos up. At least a couple of times anyway. Harris was his usual solid self, 54 is the low end of his range but welcome to the team mate, glad to have you here.  

Lemmy another great game, put him at EDG just cuz I could for a week. Hopgood also fantastic, first time I've brought back in a player I've traded out for non-Origin reasons, and not hated myself for it!

SJ underwhelming as mentioned. Didn't take the line on, didn't kick enough and the kicks he did do were pretty shit. Not blaming Metcalf for it, but maybe the combination needs some time. Crossland hit 50, I'll take that for sure.

Bird was good till he wasn't. I'm in the trade out camp for this one.

Ponga was an able replacement for Miller, who I'm glad I traded.

And that was that. No immediate plans for this week, but I need a CTR or WFB to field a full team, plus whatever replacement I get in for Bird, AND hope everyone backs up from Origin. Haven't done the maths to see if I can get Hynes, but might go for one if the Tigers instead. Probably prefer the scoring potential of Bateman, but Ipap is more reliable. I don't need another EDG though is the other issue.

Trade out possibilities this week, Bird, Hands, Crossland, Burbo and maybe even Boyd if I need to.

Team for this week, pre-trades

Boyd
Haas Horse Harris
Su'a Preston
Cleary SJ
Lemmy Manu
Bula Walsh (...)

Hosking Hedwards Oloapu

(Ponga, Hopgood, Crossland, Burbo, Hands, Bird)

Trades 10(4)
Bank $184k
Rank 12069

Cheers everyone, good luck for this week!

I feel your pain as a fellow SJ captainer.

One of Burbo/Hands to Turpin seems like a no-brainer this week. I'd also say Bird -> iPap/Bateman is a good shout, although it depends on your risk tolerance running without centre cover. Although, given you need a WFB this week, maybe Bird -> Dedwards is a better shout? If not maybe the Burbo/Hands to Coates as a good JS cashout? I guess you could also grab another centre and move Manu to WFB but not sure anyone really appeals.

mrbrownstone wrote:

I feel your pain as a fellow SJ captainer.

One of Burbo/Hands to Turpin seems like a no-brainer this week. I'd also say Bird -> iPap/Bateman is a good shout, although it depends on your risk tolerance running without centre cover. Although, given you need a WFB this week, maybe Bird -> Dedwards is a better shout? If not maybe the Burbo/Hands to Coates as a good JS cashout? I guess you could also grab another centre and move Manu to WFB but not sure anyone really appeals.

Turpin definitely on the radar. Cheap and should make some money at least.

Edwards is a great shout actually, was some interesting discussion on him in the main forum about whether he sustains his average or regresses to the low 40s again. That's about my only concern though. I'd be keeping him all season so it would be a punt, but no moreso than Ponga is/was.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll do some playing around and see what I can come up with

Looking at your team make up then agree with the above Edwards and Turpin in. I think you're in a good position to hold some trades over the next few weeks whilst still posting good RD16 numbers.

Oh Cleary. What could have been. Pretty average week all in all, compounded by Cleary's hammies. Only got 781, which was fortunately enough for a minor rank rise after the debacle of last week. New recruit Edwards was underwhelming, but other new recruit Turps posted a nice 50+.

Team recap

Boyd, probably gonna hold him all season tbh. Seems like that kind of useful player who could sit on the bench or in the emergencies in later rounds. 46 wasn't amazing, but in shit rounds you take what you can get!

Haas did ok considering he was backing up, Horse didn't quite hit 50 and Tohu hobbles every 5 minutes but at least he hit 50.

Preston was great again, another player I'll be sad to let go should I ever trade him. Hosking just summed up the Panthers scores, below average. If R17 wasn't a thing I'd be trading him over Preston I think. I still might!

SJ was fantastic, wish it was the week before but it definitely saved my round somewhat. Cleary...nuff said.

Manu and Lemmy both had a bad week. Dolphins just got walked over, so I can excuse Lemmy. But Manu just isn't bringing the magic with the ball like we all expected. Obviously still a hold, just annoyed he's not doing more.

Edwards was like most of the Panthers and did below average. Gotta play for the average though so not too down on him. Bula and Walsh had a great week. Bula looking more and more like a keeper with every week.

Su'a and Turpin hovering around the 50 mark which is good, Oloapu can sit on emergencies for now but I won't be playing him if I can avoid it. Hedwards I need more from but I'm not trading him just yet.

This week it's nice to get all the recruits back. If Cleary didn't get injured I would have had a full squad available. Luckily I have many HLF options to take his place for now. Just have to decide which combo I want to play out of Boyd/Ponga/Turpin/Crossland/Oloapu.

Thinking about holding trades this week and reevaluating a Cleary replacement next week. Murphy's Law says whoever I trade in will play Origin so I think I want to wait. Especially on Moses, who is obviously the most tempting and common sense option. Thinking about Fainu though, haven't worked out my bye numbers just yet so might news to do that first. Tempted by Bateman/Ipap again, same as last week though. Cleary to one of them is definitely an option since I have a plethora of halves this week. The other reason to trade him this week is to get a bit of bank after I blew my load on Edwards last week.

Anyway, will see what happens I guess. Have a day to think about it. Have at it guys, definitely feel more positive as the season goes on so thanks for the input and whatnot.

Team pre-trades

Boyd
Haas Horse Harris
Hosking Preston
SJ Ponga
Manu Lemmy
Bula Walsh Edwards

Su'a Turpin Hopgood Hedwards

Crossland Oloapu Hands (Cleary)

Trades 8(4)
Bank $12k
Rank 11593

One trade, Hands to Fainu. Did the numbers and Hands is superfluous to requirements next week, whereas Fainu adds a 3rd MID (hopefully). Worth the risk I think.

Holding Cleary for a week at least.

Another round where the team finally put it together. 1074 and rank in to 9532. If I hadn't promoted Hands over Oloapu at the last minute when I saw he was starting, I would have nudged 1100, but it is what it is. Couldn't have predicted Olo's one big play to get him out of his usual mid-30s score. He got the cash going regardless, which is a plus on its own. Also, I had reversed my Hands to Fainu trade earlier in the round so ended up making no trades. Sitting at 8 going into this week.

Speaking of, R16 has been relatively kind. Very glad I decided to hold Cleary one extra week just to see what happened with Moses. SJ and Ponga did the job anyway.

Recap

Boyd with ANOTHER great game. I should be less surprised by now I guess, but I still think he stays for the rest of the season. Being a Titan makes this even more realistic with their byes done after this round. He has been a blessing recently.

Captain Haas was huge. Was the default choice for me with so many outs, and I was rewarded by my luck for once. If it wasn't for his reduced minutes backing up then he'd probably be over $900k now so I'm glad I held him this long. Horse and Harris both did great too, just pales in comparison to Haas. Think I'll hold these guys as long as I can.

Hoppy got promoted to the starting lineup with Hosking's withdrawal. Under 50 isn't great, but these weeks we take what we can get so no complaints really. Preston just keeps doing Preston things, will probably be a keeper for me going forward. Handy, as he was never intended to be.

SJ and Ponga immense as mentioned. Almost captained SJ again, which wouldn't have been that bad until I had seen Haas' score. Ponga looks right in the thick of it, glad he's playing so well considering every tackle risks his career to some extent. Ruling himself out of Origin has helped too I think, noone to impress in that regard so just playing his natural game.

Lemmy and Manu. Both underwhelming again, but both still probably keepers in that position. I can see a world where one becomes Bird in the future, but for now they plug up the worst position. And in reality high 30s are acceptable for regular CTR scores so shouldn't have such high expectations I guess!

Bula and Walsh awesome again. Dunno where I'll fit in all the gun WFB if Teddy and Turbo continue to turn it on. Might have to run 4 (or more) of them too. Edwards has been below average since I brought him in though, so will probably chop him at some point over the next few rounds. I guess the no Cleary thing affects him? Haven't paid close attention to the Panthers games though so could just be a blip.

Turpin was a spontaneous trade in when I got him in and it's come up trumps so far. Su'a has been great for the Dragons and great for my team. Will probably end up being sacrificed down the line unless Preston goes tits up in his scoring, but a good number to have for now.  Hedwards with a mid-30 score not really doing what I needed, but still better than a 0, and he was actually in the loop until Hosking was out so I promoted him to start. And Hands I would have been happy with if Oloapu hadn't scored so well.


This week I currently have 12 green dots, but only 11 scorers since Hands is a superfluous player in both his positions (although I could loop him with Olo or Crossland).

Turpin
Hoppy Hedwards ---
Hosking Preston
Crossland Oloapu
Manu ---
Ponga Bula DEdwards

Hands
(Su'a Harris SJ Lemmy Haas Boyd Horse Walsh Cleary)

Bank $12k
Trades 8 (4)
Rank 9532

Considering Hynes isn't in Origin seems silly not to bring him in for Cleary, but I don't *need* him for numbers so it would be a score mitigation trade as I'm sure everyone will be captaining him if they do have him/are bringing him in to do so. Don't think it's worth burning a trade on anyone else though, not a NAS fan really and no centres scream "pick me" this week. So probably OK with running out 11 players and hoping for the best. Happy to take suggestions though!

R17 numbers look like this, for any relevant trades. Currently 16 if everyone backs up.
*indicates backing up

Boyd
Horse Harris Haas*
Hosking Su'a
SJ Crossland
Lemmy Manu
Ponga Dedwards Walsh*

Hopgood Hands Turpin ---
(Cleary Bula Oloapu Preston Hedwards)

Best of luck for the round guys!

Tough decision for you regarding Hynes because you are really well set up for the next two bye rounds.

I personally think I'd pull the trigger on Cleary to Hynes. Cleary is going to be a red dot this week and next week regardless so might as well get on Hynes and captain him. I wouldn't trust any of your current crop for captain and a big Hynes score is going to see your rank plummet.

Then you can trade HEdwards next week to get 17 providing all of the Origin guys back up.

Yeah I think Hynes is almost a must-own this round. It's annoying making one of Oloapu/Crossland redundant, but there's a gulf between Hynes and the next best captaincy option imo - a big Hynes score is more or less equivalent to having an extra player.

Put it this way, I'd sooner have 11 players with Hynes (C) than 13 with a different captain and a couple of questionable scorers like Fainu and Alamoti.

And then you're still in a strong position for next round with HEdwards and Oloapu both sellable if necessary.

Thanks for the responses guys. Hynes is definitely the way to go, you're both right. If I really thought he wasn't gonna make Origin 2 I probably could have organised things better, but it is what it is

Nice write up stu and huge score!

Considering the last minute withdrawals left me with 10 players, I scored a reasonable 700 on the nose and my rank improved another 1k to 8302. Having too many halves and hookers was a pain, but I didn't want to sideways trade them, nor lose out on any potential cash still to be made.

Breakdown
Turpin was my starting hooker of choice for the round and repaid the faith. Boring or not, if he's making that many tackles a game he can hang around until Cheese is back at least.

Hoppy ended up being my sole mid and had a great game. Will be interesting to see what role he plays going forward in that Eels outfit. Hoping for not much change at all! Didn't end up going for Fainu or anyone.

Preston with another standard score. With Hosking they put on 100 combined, which I was happy with. Hosking being out this week is annoying.

New recruit Hynes did great, and I'm super glad he is in my team now. I looped Crossland and Hands, but unlike last week where I got stung looping Hands IN, I took Crossland's 39 and Hands blew right past him. You win some, you lose some.

Manu with the 99. He's so good at FB it's a shame he doesn't get to play there more often. The extra time and space just had him all over the place, it was great to see.  

Bula had a quiet week. Dedwards was basically a waste of money but I don't want to sell him just yet. Crystallising that loss is what I don't want to do at this part of the season. Just going to hope he kicks into gear at some point. Ponga with 71 was awesome. So glad I took the risk on him as he has been great over these bye rounds so far.

Also had Hands and Oloapu as NPRs.

Onto this week, I don't really have a plan at all. With Hosking out I have 15 but that includes a benched Lemmy. I have plenty of trade fodder with lots of people on the bye etc so it's just a matter of picking the right gun and right cheapie to get the best bang for my buck. Easier said than done. I can do something along the lines of Hosking and Hedwards to Fifita and someone sub-$261k, or go for someone a bit less and allow for more expensive cheapie. Feel like Fifita might play low minutes again too so might be best to wait.

Positionally it doesn't HAVE to be an EDG, but that would allow me to keep Hoppy on the bench so is probably preferable.

Team for this week, pre-trades, including Origin backups
Turpin
Haas Horse Harris
Su'a Hoppy
SJ Boyd
Lemmy Manu
Ponga Walsh Dedwards

Crossland Hands
(Hedwards Hosking Preston Hynes Bula Oloapu)

Bank $42k
Trades 7(4)
Rank 8302

As usual, thanks for taking the time to read and thanks in advance for the advice/commentary. Greatly appreciated!

Well what started off looking like a week of big gains, not owning players like Drinky, compounded with scores like Walsh and Ponga, ended up with me scoring a mediocre 824. This dropped me back 12 ranks, which is more annoying than anything else. Considering at one stage I was up maybe 3k ranks I thought I might settle with at least a small gain, but alas it was not to be.

Team review

Turpin with a 45, pretty happy with that to be honest. This is more the type of score I figured he'd be getting, so the over-50s were more of a bonus than anything else. His lifespan in my team is almost up, but hopefully I can squeeze a few more dollars out of him first.

HHH were back together, Haas with a 51 backing up I can't complain about. Harris in a drubbing got 43, a bit below expectations, but I'm sure he'll have more to do vs the Bunnies this weekend. Horse was just huge on Sunday. Wonder how many actually captained him because I lost ranks with every point he scored. If he gets picked for Origin it will ne well deserved, but I'll definitely miss the points.

Hosking being called in late was lucky, and any points he scored was saving me a trade so I'll take the 40 and say thanks for your service in my team. Su'a had a lowly 28, which wasn't surprising considering they got smashed. Will be keeping an eye on him, definitely an upgrade target at some point but plays R19 so will hold for now.

Captain SJ did the business, very happy with the result there.
Boyd had a low scoring game too, but also plays 19 so will be holding.

Lemmy I thought did pretty well considering he was coming off the bench. VTW found the tryline and was a worthy replacement for Oloapu (bonus that he is out this week also).

WFB is where it really fell apart. After back to back big scores, Ponga showed his floor with a disappointing 17 including a try. Walsh scored a paltry 7 and looked like a petulant child while doing so. Edwards finally got a score for my team, it was just unfortunate the other two didn't also contribute.

Hoppy and Manu were the highlights on the bench this week. Crossland and Hands did their best, but obviously aren't a long term solution. That money though...

So for this week I'm ready to finally make use of some of the trades I have left and get some upgrades going. I'll have half an eye on the remaining byes, but really I'm in the position where I just need to gun up a bit and hope injuries don't just tear the team apart. Modest bank makes the options limited, but with many sacrificial lambs at the ready, I'm confident I can get a couple of gun guys in this week. Also depending on the length of Walsh's ban (if any), he will be a trade target also.

Team pre-trades

Boyd
Haas Harris Horse
Su'a Preston
Hynes SJ
VTW Manu
Bula Ponga Dedwards

Lemmy Crossland Turpin Hedwards
Walsh (Hosking Hoppy Hands)

Trades 6(4)
Bank $106k
Rank 8341

Thanks guys and good luck for this week!

nice write up stu, unlucky to cop both walsh and ponga shitting the bed,

I like your mids, and you look like you have good covergae for r19

with 6 trades i think you'll be in good position to grab some of the cheaper guns,

hosking, hedwards and crossland look like obvious outs,

are you interested in piakura as a cash down? I'd like him but think he will have gone up a fair bit by the time i get him,

not sure on your bank presume there is a way to trade two of them for piakura and any of the guns you want

I'm targetting AFB and fifita as my must gets and like the look of murrays price, DCe price, though all my upgrades will come in rd 20

GarethEllisismyDad wrote:nice write up stu, unlucky to cop both walsh and ponga shitting the bed,

I like your mids, and you look like you have good covergae for r19

with 6 trades i think you'll be in good position to grab some of the cheaper guns,

hosking, hedwards and crossland look like obvious outs,

are you interested in piakura as a cash down? I'd like him but think he will have gone up a fair bit by the time i get him,

not sure on your bank presume there is a way to trade two of them for piakura and any of the guns you want

I'm targetting AFB and fifita as my must gets and like the look of murrays price, DCe price, though all my upgrades will come in rd 20

Yeah I like Piakura on the back of the Riki news. Should give enough for something like Bateman/Ipap and Grant or something similar. Then same as you I'll be hitting up Fifi in r20 for Su'a probably.

Strangely enough AFB was never one I considered, which is silly since his form is so good. Under 10% owned too so probably quite POD-y.

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment

Got a few options I'm tossing up.

Hosking, Walsh, Hedwards to Bateman, Grant and Piakura
or AFB, Ipap and Piakura


Can add in Crossland to Simpkin just for cash and then I can get any 2 players. But Simpkin would 100% be redundant going forward.

Would be Hosking, Walsh, Hedwards and Crossland to Piakura, Simpkin and two of Fifi/Yeo/AFB/Tino etc..

This is one of those situations where I have so many options that it's doing my head in