Stylebender lost his team tracker virginity

Landed on Miller, Preston & Couchman to Hynes, Luki & Oloapu. Don’t feel amazing about trading out Miller/Preston, however fantasy is a game for fun, and not owning one of my favourite players in Nicho Hynes simply isn’t fun. I want to cheer for the bloke, not pray he plays mediocre.

Stylebender wrote:Landed on Miller, Preston & Couchman to Hynes, Luki & Oloapu. Don’t feel amazing about trading out Miller/Preston, however fantasy is a game for fun, and not owning one of my favourite players in Nicho Hynes simply isn’t fun. I want to cheer for the bloke, not pray he plays mediocre.

You will enjoy Hynes this weekend as he rips up Dolphins on the big stage

Stylebender wrote:Landed on Miller, Preston & Couchman to Hynes, Luki & Oloapu. Don’t feel amazing about trading out Miller/Preston, however fantasy is a game for fun, and not owning one of my favourite players in Nicho Hynes simply isn’t fun. I want to cheer for the bloke, not pray he plays mediocre.

This 100%

Hope he tears it up for you today mate!

Round 10 score:
958
Overall Rank:
893

Trades:
1. Jacob Preston to Heilum Luki
2. Lachie Miller to Nicho Hynes
3. Toby Couchman to Karl Oloapu

R10 squad:
Grant
Haas Matterson JDB
Loiero Ford
Hynes (C) Cleary
Bird Lemuelu
Manu Walsh Bula

Boyd, Smith, Luki, Johnson
IKatoa, Alamoti, Oloapu, Hands

Pros:
- Ryan Matterson. With all the talk of the underpriced gun mids, I was a little worried I overpaid for Matto especially after he was moved to the bench. Coming out with a 67 in 52 minutes was very pleasing.
- Jack De Belin. Another one I was slightly worried about after he was named at prop, so I was stoked to see he still got huge minutes resulting in another great score. Think it's only a matter of time before Hook get Hook'd though, so I'll enjoy his scores while they last.
- Jahream Bula. I was nervous selling Miller as it meant Bula was my WFB3 (with no cover either). Averaging over 40 this year, seems to be as safe as almost any WFB so I'm happy with the decision.
- My centres. It's comforting owning the best centre pairing in the game in Lemmy & Bird (with Manu at WFB). Consistently good scores in a consistently shit position.

Cons:
- My trades definitely backfired for this week at least, if I had stuck with my team from last week, I would've scored 163 more points giving me a score of over 1100. Pain.
Not stressing too much though as I'm a H2H player, still won my matchups and I've now got the 2 best fantasy players going forward. Luki on the other hand is a bit of a worry, hoping his scores improve once he gets some match fitness.

Trade Out Options:
- Paul Alamoti. Wanted to give him the flick last week but unfortunately wasn't able to after I was set on getting Nicho. I have to play him this week with Lemuelu on a bye, so he's probably going to have to stay. Ideally Te Whare keeps his spot which would make a nice cash down from Alamoti in round 12.
- Brendan Hands. He's just sitting in position 21 so he's not an urgent sell by any means, but he's deadweight at this point and if a base priced player with a glimmer of potential comes through, Hands is gone.

Trade In Options:
- TBC post TLT

With only 17 trades remaining and a pretty solid squad overall, I'll most likely be holding trades this week. Leading both of my H2H cash leagues with records of 9-1 and 8-1-1.

As always, any feedback is much appreciated

Now that Ford is officially ruled out.. I'm toying with the idea of trading him to Teddy. As a H2H player I don't mind Teddy missing R13/16/19. He SHOULD back up the other rounds.

I'm running short on trades so I'd rather not just trade Ford to another midranger. I'd much prefer either a keeper or a money maker.

My other thought was Alamoti to Billy Smith. But owning Billy for the majority of last year still haunts me.

Thoughts?

Teddy is unlikely to get significantly cheaper, so if you want to get him and don't care about byes, now is a good as ever.

Milchcow wrote:
Teddy is unlikely to get significantly cheaper, so if you want to get him and don't care about byes, now is a good as ever.

That is my thinking. I'm fully anticipating Manu to eventually move back to the centres, meaning I'd have to pick up another WFB. And I'd much rather Teddy at sub 600k than anyone else.

Yeah nothing wrong with Ford to Teddy, imagine saying you could straight swap those two at the start of the season. I'd do that.

Round 11 score:
1058
Overall Rank:
286

Trades:
1. Jackson Ford to James Tedesco

R11 squad:
Grant
Haas Matterson JDB
Loiero Luki
Hynes (C) Cleary
Bird Alamoti
Teddy Walsh Bula

Boyd, Smith, Manu, Johnson
IKatoa, Lemuelu, Oloapu, Hands

Pros:
- Payne Haas. Far & away the best mid this year. Won't be leaving my side until H2H prelim final.
- JDB. Another great score from the fuckwit. Still don't enjoy cheering him on, so quietly hoping the new Dragons coach gives me a reason to swap him for another gun.
- Heilum Luki. Rewarded me for getting on early, I knew he had big games in him but wasn't expecting this.
- Hynes & Cleary. It's incredibly satisfying and stress-free owning the both of them. The only headache it gives me is deciding which one to captain.
- Alamoti! Probably held him for far too long but he finally repaid me. Hopefully he can string a few together and make some money again.
- Reece Walsh. Absolute joy to watch. One of my favourite players to own.

Cons:
- Tedesco. I've been watching him score 40's without doing fuck all, thought he'd be a great buy at 575k expecting him to eventually find some form. Comes out with a god damn 15.
- Joey Manu. Only 2 scores below 35 this week, and they were my 2 Roosters. Unfortunate to see Joey get hurt, hopefully it's nothing too serious.

Trade Out Options:
- Joey Manu. Dependent on any injury news update. My gut tells me he'll be back round 14. However, I'm not convinced it'll be in the 6 jersey. As I already have 2 gun centres in Bird & Lemuelu, I'm only really interested in Manu if he's playing 1/6. Will be my only real headache this week.
- James Tedesco. He seems like the obvious sell in an otherwise great week for my squad, however, at 550k I simply don't trust any WFB to score better than him. Sure I could trade him to a Drinkwater or Garrick type, but as a H2H guy I'm not confident they finish the season stronger than Ted. His H2H finals matchups are Manly, Dolphins, Parra & Tigers. Therefore I'm leaning towards holding all year.
- Brendan Hands. He'll be a trade out option every single week until a decent enough cheapie comes along.

Trade In Options:
- Harrison Edwards. Should make 150k+ as long as he keeps that 60 minute lock role.
- Ben Trbojevic. Don’t love his fantasy potential but at 220k he’s bound to make money providing he keeps the role.
- Jacob Liddle, Sitili Tupouniua & Kalyn Ponga on the watchlist for the coming weeks.

Great week for my squad, with no major issues to deal with this week. Initial thoughts are Hands & Alamoti to Burbo & H.Edwards. Burbo seems like a no brainer to get rid of Hands. Planned to keep Alamoti for another few weeks after that 50, but I rate Edwards money making potential a lot higher.

As always, any feedback is much appreciated

Hands & Alamoti to Burbo and Hedwards gets my vote.

Boyd and Loiero then easy trades to R13 guns next week as they peak.

mrbrownstone wrote:Hands & Alamoti to Burbo and Hedwards gets my vote.

Boyd and Loiero then easy trades to R13 guns next week as they peak.

That's the plan. Although I'm H2H so they don't strictly have to be R13 players.
I've penciled in Boyd to Tohu next week though.

your list of pros is awesome,

how good having cleary and hynes,

getting rid of some deadwood to capitalise on the cash cows

nicely played

Round 12 score:
893
Overall Rank:
527

Trades:
1. Tanah Boyd to Harrison Edwards

R12 squad:
Grant
Haas Matterson JDB
Loiero Luki
Hynes (C) Cleary
Lemuelu Alamoti
Teddy Walsh Bula

HEdwards, Smith, IKatoa, Oloapu
Manu, Bird, Johnson, Hands

Pros:
- Nathan & Nicho. Life without these two wouldn't be enjoyable.
- Teddy! He's back. Only owned him for 2 weeks so it was nice to see him return to some form.
- Bula. Looking like a WFB keeper at this point. Great fantasy player as well as IRL.
- My Boyd to H.Edwards trade. Originally planned Alamoti to Edwards, but with Bird being out I needed to keep Alamoti (or trade in Burbo who I didn't trust, thankfully). Then when I saw Cheese go down, I looked ahead to next week and couldn't see anyone I'd want to trade him to, so I traded Boyd to Edwards instead allowing me to upgrade Cheese this week.

Cons:
- Matto & Cheese injuries.
- IKatoa. Poor score and looks like he may lose minutes to Milford going forward.
- Luki. The future doesn't look bright for young Heilum. At least I got a 60k odd price rise out of him, would've been filthy if I bought him last week. Likely gone from my side R14.

Trade Out Options:
- Ryan Matterson. Looks like he'll be spending some time on the sidelines. Anything longer than 2 weeks and I'll be letting him go.
- Brandon Smith. Another casualty in my side. He's gone this week.
- Isaiya Katoa. As a H2H player, I'm not fussed about his 20 odd points in R13. Another sell for me this week.

Trade In Options:
- Tohu Harris. One of my favourite players to watch and rather undervalued presuming he stays fit. Welcome to the squad Tohu.
- J'Maine Hopgood. Missed origin selection, very handy dual & a great scorer when he gets the minutes. Slight concern about his role when RCG, Matto and Joe Ofa are all in the side? Although he seems to be the form forward at the club so I can't see him getting anything less than 60 minutes.
- Corey Horsburgh. The alternative to getting Hopgood is probably Horsburgh. I'm leaning towards Hopgood for his dual, not entirely convinced who's the better buy long term though.
- Kalyn Ponga. Sure, he's a large risk. He's already burnt me once this year. But that good of a footballer, with multiple tonnes in his past, for 420k? Count me in.

Not a great score for my side, but I still managed to win both my H2H cash league matchups which is all I wanted.
Initial thoughts are Matto, Cheese & IKatoa to Hopgood, Tohu & Ponga.

If anyone has any thoughts on Hopgood vs Horsburgh (long term, forget about the bye period), that would be lovely thank you.

If your H2H league doesn’t play in the bye rounds Hopgood misses 2 weeks in 14 and 18 and a full strength squad has his role leading to solid just below keeper scores. So you maybe get two weeks of good scores in 15 and 17/

Horse doesn’t have the same H2H bye issues but don’t think he’s an ideal final 17 player.

I’d be aiming for Fifita who has no H2H byes left. I also like your Tohu trade.

There’s no real wrong answer though. Just move to assembling your final 17 as fast as you can for H2H supremacy.

Cap'n Ranta wrote:If your H2H league doesn’t play in the bye rounds Hopgood misses 2 weeks in 14 and 18 and a full strength squad has his role leading to solid just below keeper scores. So you maybe get two weeks of good scores in 15 and 17/

Horse doesn’t have the same H2H bye issues but don’t think he’s an ideal final 17 player.

I’d be aiming for Fifita who has no H2H byes left. I also like your Tohu trade.

There’s no real wrong answer though. Just move to assembling your final 17 as fast as you can for H2H supremacy.

Thanks mate. I've since pivoted from my original plan. Would love Fifita but at current price I just can't make it work. Hoping he gets managed or at least has a couple lower scores over the origin period.

I'm now looking at:

Matto, Cheese & IKatoa to Tohu, Cook & Ponga.
This leaves me $299k in the bank for next week to do Luki & Loiero (Or Manu if he moves back to centre) to Nikora & IPap/Bateman.

That'll give me 14 of my final 17 players (15 if either Bula/Ponga end up WFB3 worthy).

They seem like great trades mate.

If you weren`t a H2H player I would suggest Hopgood and Robson instead of Cook and Tohu.

Just for the slightly better bye coverage but only marginally.

Overall very solid.

Round 13 score:
506
Overall Rank:
1613

Trades:
1. Ryan Matterson to Tohu Harris
2. Brandon Smith to Damien Cook
3. Isaiya Katoa to Kalyn Ponga

Trade Out Options:
- Trent Loiero. Happy to hold Trent as he's a pretty reliable 45ppg, however I have cash in the bank to upgrade him to a premium edge option.
- Jack Bird. Out for a minimum of 2 weeks and sounds like it’s an issue that could linger. Plus the move to edge, I’m happy to let him go, with the possibility of bringing him back for Manu if Manu ever returns to centre.

Trade In Options:
- Isaiah Papali'i. Down $180k for the year, still averaging 53.4. Proven gun. With the Tigers finding a bit of form, I expect iPap to increase his average a little with some more attacking opportunities.
- Briton Nikora. Has had a great start to the year, with more attacking opportunities than iPap. I don't really expect his attacking stats to slow down either as he runs a great line and gets good service from Nicho.
- John Bateman. Averages 55.7 in 80 minute games this year. Has been a top tier gun in the past. Offers great value at under $700k.

As I've mentioned, I'm a H2H player so R13 was a bye week for myself. It was nice being in the top 500 for most the season, here comes the rapid fall off

Early thoughts are Bird to Bateman. Could possibly make a second trade of Loiero to iPap/Nikora as well. Kind of like the two Tigers the most. Is it crazy to grab them both?

I'll probably end up holding the second trade, as I have a feeling I may need the cash to upgrade Luki/H.Edwards next week instead. Don't mind holding Loiero for a while. I might JUST have the cash for Luki & H.Edwards to iPap & JFH next week.

As always, any feedback is much appreciated

Round 14 score:
914
Overall Rank:
818

Trades:
1. Jack Bird to John Bateman

R14 squad:
Grant
Haas Tohu JDB
Loiero Luki
Hynes (C) Cleary
Lemuelu Manu
Teddy Walsh Bula

Cook, SJ, H.Edwards, Bateman
Oloapu, Alamoti, Ponga, Hands

Pros:
- King SJ. What a season he's having. Fantasy aside, the NRL is better to watch when Shaun Johnson is in this kind of form.
- My WFB. Teddy, Walsh & Bula all with 55+ scores. Looking like I timed my Teddy trade in to perfection.
- John Bateman. Tossed up between Bateman/iPap/Nikora during the week, with Bateman always being my preferred option, happy I went with my gut at this stage.

Cons:
- Cleary and JDB. Unfortunate. Cleary is gone for me and will look to pick him back up just in time for H2H finals (hopefully for 900k). Holding JDB.
- My centres. Went into the week thinking I had the two very best 'set and forget' centres, in Manu & Lemuelu. Just a little reminder about how dire that position is.

Trade Out Options:
- Nathan Cleary. Holding him did cross my mind as a H2H player with a guaranteed spot in the top 8, but 6 weeks is just slightly too long and he will likely drop some coin upon returning. Using him to secure another final 17 player for my side.
- Heilum Luki. I enjoy watching Luki as a player, and I do think the Cowboys are better when he plays a decent role. But with the return of Nanai limiting his minutes, as well as his up and down scoring in general, I'm thinking it's time to let him go.

Trade In Options:
- Isaiah Yeo. With Cleary going down, I only want to trade him to a bona fide gun with H2H finals in mind. Was aiming to pick up Yeo post origin hoping he'd lose a few dollars, but his average is higher with Cleary out of the side so I'm pulling the trigger now.
- Isaiah Papali'i. Slightly nervous about owning both Tigers edges, but at current value I find iPap too hard to ignore. (Forfeiting my H2H matchup in R17 as I have 7 players out so I'm not worried about that).

Cleary & Luki to & Yeo & iPap pretty much locked in. Leaves $300k in the bank for next week, possibly H.Edwards to Matterson. Not exactly sure how I'll get Cleary back into my side for H2H finals but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now I'm all about stacking my side with guns.

If I go ahead with the Edwards to Matterson trade next week, that would give me this side at full strength:

Grant
Haas Yeo JDB
Bateman iPap
Hynes SJ
Manu Lemuelu
Walsh Tedesco Bula/Ponga

Cook, Tohu, Matterson, Loiero
Ponga/Bula, Oloapu, Alamoti, Hands.

Gives me 16 keepers if you include either Bula/Ponga as a WFB3 keeper. Loiero the only one needing an eventual upgrade. Happy with how my side is shaping up heading into the money part of the season.

admiration for the ability to concentrate on H2H when the team is going so well overall

must be a bit of a mind f*ck watching the rank plummett

great team and good trades