Ando 2024

Oh by the way, love the team and that’s a pretty decent rank too. Keep up the good work.

@Liverpool_Bulldog Cheers mate, the team is in decent shape, but I've maxed traded so really need to put the breaks on. Injuries just seem to be non stop at the moment.

I don't think Plath will get 70mins but with his PPM anything around the 55min mark should be enough. Then there will be games where he plays longer if there are injuries etc.

The 233k bank it leaves opens a lot of possibilities moving forward.

@Ando I know you’ll take this in the light hearted way it’s meant to be taken but geez so it was you who broke Ponga

Well done mate poised for another high rank this year.

I really loved reading that and your tracker in general.

I think you’ve nailed things with where you are at.

FYI I’m also looking at Ponga to Drinky and Flanagan to a cheapie was gonna go J. Gray but not sure I have the guts to do it Armstrong being named would be good.

I hope you don’t have to max trade and can save the third trade otherwise you’ll be down to 20 trades.

@Rabbits21 Haha I'm with you on that I definitely broke Ponga. Feel pretty set on the direct swap to Drinky.

I was going to save the 3rd trade but Lussick is a bad enough plodder in 80 minutes, if Hands is stealing minutes he won't crack 20 without an attacking stat.

Booze said it's best to have fun so I think grabbing a Bateman in the #13 jersey will be one hell of a good time.

Not sure the Gray risk is worth it and the Knights could struggle with no Ponga as shown last week but there are not many options about unless you take a punt on Mikaele.

So now the TLT dust has settled I'm getting closer to locking my trades and yet again another week of max trading...

Ponga > Drinkwater - this is locked in, good memories of owning Drinky last year
Fog > Bateman - as stated above, fun times!

The last trade is plodder Lussick to either Brailey/Plath. Good chance they average similar but Brailey is 100k cheaper, means I keep HOK cover and Brailey plays RD13 and RD14.

Also Plath doesn't fit my Alpha Only policy as Flegler is the main man at the Dolphins. Team for RD8:

Egan
Carrigan Smithies May
Angus KPP
Hynes Galvin
Strange Iro
Drinky Papy Kiraz (Loop)
JBrailey Bateman Piakura Salmon (Loop)
Chan SHughes Gutho Chevy

Ando wrote:@Rabbits21 Haha I'm with you on that I definitely broke Ponga. Feel pretty set on the direct swap to Drinky.

I was going to save the 3rd trade but Lussick is a bad enough plodder in 80 minutes, if Hands is stealing minutes he won't crack 20 without an attacking stat.

Booze said it's best to have fun so I think grabbing a Bateman in the #13 jersey will be one hell of a good time.

Not sure the Gray risk is worth it and the Knights could struggle with no Ponga as shown last week but there are not many options about unless you take a punt on Mikaele.

Agree on Lussick he has to go. He will likely go subs 35 again. Last 5 game avg 35.

Atkinson is another we have mate guess it depends how seriously NRL takes mid range drink driving and cocaine if the second test comes back positive.

Any interest in Walsh over Drinky?

Both seem to be well reasoned trades...

sucks having to trade alphas for alphas though

I think there is a chance that Fainu scores as well as Bateman for half the price but I know not everyone agree with me here

@The Dolphin Conspiracies I hadn't even considered Fainu until now and looking into it he could definitely be a shout...

If he goes well this weekend I have 241k to upgrade Chan/Chevvy to him.

Round 8

Round Score: 964
Overall Rank: 779th

Trades

Lussick > Brailey
Ponga > Drinkwater
Fogarty > Bateman
ITB: 241k

Starting 17

Egan (38) - Another poor Warriors performance but he played 80 minutes which is the main thing
Carrigan (56) - Great score to say he had an early shower in a blowout
Smithies (39) - Not the Raiders to stay in the game for longer!
Terrell May (16) - Waiting a week to trade was the wrong call, time to go!
KPP (30) - Bit of a dud game but he's had plenty of good games so far this season
Crichton (86) - No longer a POD but he has been a great pick up
Hynes (c) (248) - Ouch for the non-owners
Galvin (55) - He's brilliant. Both fantasy and in real life
Iro (53) - Looking incredibly solid and could well be a keeper as long as he keeps the spot
Strange (14) - Didn't pick up the KM so not sure I will be confident playing him in the 17 moving forward
Drinkwater (36) - Will take that score against the Panthers, hopefully can repay the faith in the coming weeks
Gutho (51) - Glad I held an extra week but will likely need moving on
Papenhuysen (57) - Got his tries but still a massive lack of base
Brailey (54) - A definite upgrade on Lussick, just need him to stay fit
Bateman (60) - Very happy with the pick up, could really do with him picking up DPP
Piakura (36) - Good first showing back from injury but still missing tackles
Chan (35) - Will take the score but will probably have to trade soon with a 30min bench role

EMG

Chevy (42) - Funnily enough I could have waited on the Drinkwater trade but it is what it is
Kiraz (DNP)
Salmon (DNP)
Hughes (DNP)


Summary

Thank god for Nicho Hynes, I selfishly hope Trindall see's quite a bit of time on the sidelines so Nicho remains as the #1 captain choice.

Managed to make around 200 ranks so moving in the right direction and solid outings from the 3 trade ins Brailey, Bateman and Drinkwater.

Terrell May > Plath is locked in as my first trade and it leaves me 250k spare. Other trade out candidates are Gutho, Chan, Strange and Chevvy:

Gutho - I am actually tempted to hold him in a hope that he suits up RD13 as there are not many other RD13 WFB's I want to trade in.
Chan - luckily he nabbed a try to boost his score but moving forward it's very likely he averages around 20, very little cash left to be made
Strange - didn't pick up the KM's and has made 200k, ideally want to hold him to RD13 but may start to bleed cash
Chevy - probably has lost his spot for the foreseeable

Team after the single trade is:

Egan
Carrigan Plath Smithies
KPP Angus
Hynes Galvin
Strange Iro
Drinky Papy Kiraz
Brailey Bateman Piakura Salmon
Chan Hughes Gutho Chevy

Options for others trade targets are:

Garrick - DPP is handy and is priced 100k less than he started the year
Fuller - how long does he keep the #1 jersey
Armstrong - thought he looked great on debut and the Knights have a pretty good draw but how long does he keep the spot - would give me 3 Knights  

Really want to save some trades but feel like I could easily be missing the boat on Armstrong.

All thoughts on opinions welcomed!

Don’t you only have 2 Knights now Ponga gone (Brailey, KPP)

At least what I found in FPL this year is fluid in the knee is a bad sign for ACL and could set back past R13, say Gutho is pretty clear sell though a lot of the other possible options have R14 bye (Weekes, Fuller)

@Camo123 Yes mate, Armstrong would give me 3 Knights which I'm not really keen on prior to the RD12 bye but I might just bite the bullet. I was able to navigate the Dogs bye with 3 out just fine...

Gutho > Armstrong leaves me a 519k warchest for future upgrades

With Gutho out, and Chevy and Strange on a bye, you'll need at least one WFB or CTR next week. I'm getting in Armstrong as I'm still in cash generating mode, but can see the argument with your cash in the bank for targeting Garrick or Fuller instead. Personally, I'm not entirely sold on Garrick. He's not the sort of centre who goes looking for work or has a good base (apart from his goal kicking). I'd be more tempted to punt on Fuller, if you're willing to gamble HTF gets a Qld jersey.

@Jele Yeah the Gutho injury is a little bit annoying forcing my hand for a CTR or WFB trade and there being quite limited options.

I actually really like the Fuller shout mate, I would usually always take a Full Back over a pure Centre but just not sure I can go there with the lack of security.

Fuller gives me another red dot in RD14 meaning I would need at least two trades to field a full 17 then and he isn't going to be a season keeper so that's another trade burnt further down the line.

At least with Garrick he is nailed and there's a chance he plays Full Back over the Origin period. I am currently on Garrick leaving me:

Garrick Iro
Drinky Papy Kiraz

I quite like the flexibility this provides with the DPP's and it should get me through Origin before finally settling on some of the big guns for the run in.

Ando wrote:@Camo123 Yes mate, Armstrong would give me 3 Knights which I'm not really keen on prior to the RD12 bye but I might just bite the bullet. I was able to navigate the Dogs bye with 3 out just fine...

Gutho > Armstrong leaves me a 519k warchest for future upgrades

Wow no Atkinson?

So with the news Terrell is potentially it's made me want to hold him another week, ideally I'd like to keep him to RD13 but not sure that will be possible.

However whilst I have Gutho sat there as a definite out I think it's wiser to move him first. Before trades I have 241k in the bank meaning I don't have the cash to do:

Gutho > Plath
Chan > Garrick

If I want to stick with those two outs then I can afford to get Trai Fuller instead of Garrick but for reasons above I am not 100% sold. Another option is to trade in Armstrong but not sure I like the job security so with all that in mind I think I'll get Garrick. To afford this I'll need to trade Strange instead of Chan which is something I am warming too.

Canberra are going to be nowhere near as good as they have been without Fog leading the team and Strange has made a just shy of 200k so not a bad time to jump off before he starts leaking cash.

I also like the idea of culling another Raider leaving me just Chevy and Smithies and means I only have a max of 2 players per team except the Bulldogs but Salmon/SHughes will both be on the chopping block soon enough. This leaves the following team for this week:

Egan
Carrigan Plath Smithies
KPP Angus
Hynes Galvin
Garrick Iro
Drinky Papy Kiraz
Brailey Bateman Piakura May
Salmon Hughes Chan Chevy

All of the above may be void in 24 hours time...

Hey there

You crushed me by a point in the end

Similar targets as me with Plath, Armstrong and Garrick. I was punting May, but probably gonna hold now and hope for a 50 and re-evaluate next week. Puts Strange/Salmon next in line for me, so I'll probably punt Strange first to hopefully avoid bleeding cash everywhere. Hopefully Preston is cut tomorrow at the 24 hour for Salmon's stocks.

Good luck this week mate, hopefully into the top 500

@WT Winfield Looks like we are on the same wavelength then mate. I definitely think holding Terrell 1 more week is the play if he starts tomorrow night. I would hate the trade him out only for him to hold a starting spot for the next few weeks. Perhaps Robbo has rested him the last few weeks ready to unleash him for big mins in some tough games vs. Broncs, Warriors and Sharks.

I'm still not too worried about Salmon, he started the year at Lock and his 2 really dud games were when he played a full half at CTR. If he moves back to Lock he should still be good for 30+ for a few more price rises as long as he's not moved to CTR again.

I didn't get my wish last week so maybe I'll get it this week. No more injuries!

Ando wrote:@WT Winfield Looks like we are on the same wavelength then mate. I definitely think holding Terrell 1 more week is the play if he starts tomorrow night. I would hate the trade him out only for him to hold a starting spot for the next few weeks. Perhaps Robbo has rested him the last few weeks ready to unleash him for big mins in some tough games vs. Broncs, Warriors and Sharks.

I'm still not too worried about Salmon, he started the year at Lock and his 2 really dud games were when he played a full half at CTR. If he moves back to Lock he should still be good for 30+ for a few more price rises as long as he's not moved to CTR again.

I didn't get my wish last week so maybe I'll get it this week. No more injuries!

Yeah I'm thinking May surely has to be in for good minutes this week. A ~20k price drop would be worth it for the points compared to the alternatives. Shouldn't be too hard to upgrade him next week if everyone's back on deck.

Salmon's just so uninspiring that I can't wait to upgrade him to someone reliable

@WT Winfield And just like that I revert to my original plan with Terrell still named on the bench Could still trade Strange over Chan will but suppose it's better to have an 80min player over a 30min player.