Ranta Team Tracker ‘24

Have done something fun this year and didn’t get stuff sorted to get a team in for rd 1.

Cons: absolutely no chance at overall.
Pros: should go alright at H2H and know who to jump on

Koroisau
Tohu, May, Duncan
Luki, Smithies
Cleary, Fogarty
Strange, Burbo
Turbo, Walsh, Tuaupiki

Liddle, Flanagan, Seyfarth, Salmon
Levi, Galvin, Chan, Hughes

92k ITB

Initial thoughts:

Deliberately left Piakura and Papy out. Think they are great picks but with no real obvious cows so money making will be key. Hoping with both having high ish BEs (40-45)that they have a slow start and are bottomed out in 2-3 weeks. This’ll maximise the cash while also giving contingency for some of the riskier picks in Smithies (whitehead and Horse return), May (Roosters mins carousel), Duncan(Role and Arrow likely return), Luki (Cowboys mins carousel), Liddle (role clarity with returning forwards), Seyfarth (role clarity), Tuaupiki (CNK return). Papy may make me pay for this but I feel it's a risk worth taking especially as his floor is a lot lower/less consistent if not goal kicking.

Cotter and Lolo also fall in this basket but I think they had less total value in them and any drops in cash may make it worth the pickup.

Bit of a focus on maximising value as I’m a week behind

Know I don’t have WFB or CTR cover but Arthas, Kris, Suli, Campbell or Papy could all come in quickly. Part of why I went a bit boom or bust on some fringe picks.

Quick pick summary:

Koro - Hopefully 10 points of value if not the third best hooker at end of year. GK a bonus
Tohu - Haas is better but Tohu is more underpriced.
May - Taking a chance talent demands the minutes to make quick cash
Duncan - Taking a chance talent keeps a 50min + role
Luki - Hoping he’s undervalued. Know he’s inconsistent but a few boom games make his money fast.
Smithies - Taking a chance that even when Hotse and Whitehead return he’s in the mix.
Cleary - Captain choice. Cheaper than everyone else paid for him
Fogarty - maybe 5 points of value. Hoping for more but for the price(and HLF wasteland) it’s great.
Burbo - cheap CTR not playing CTR and cash cow.
Strange - cheap CTR not playing CTR and cash cow
Walsh - I’m a Broncos fan. Fun to watch and support. Not top dollar but top 5 WFB end of year.
Turbo - possibly my favourite player. Fun to watch and support.
Tuaupiki - hoping to jump on his rising price and swap to Papy as CNK returns (3-4 weeks)

Liddle - Taking a chance he’s closer to 65-70 mins on average and 10pts undervalued
Flanagan - HLF cover and hope for cow upside - won coin flip with hutch as he’s cheaper
Seyfarth - hoping for a lot of value here (40-45 points)
Salmon - Cheap enough to mitigate most risk. Hoping he’s closer to 40 points on average.

Levi - no real cheap cows. 30 is all that’s needed
Galvin - HLF coverage should Flanagan not work. Base price. May fail but was picked to start….
Chan - hopefully slow burn cash cow
Hughes - slow burn cash cow

Good luck to everyone! Would have loved to make a really different team but didn’t feel like there was that much on offer post rd 1 that I haven’t gone after already.

Papy and Piakura made me pay.

Duncan as a late out hurt as I didn’t see it in tim.

Score: 725
Rank: 164,751

The climb begins

Trades are pretty easy.

In: Papy and Fine
Out: Luki and Seyfarth(injury and role)

ITB: 118k

Also interested in Lussick but couldn’t stretch the cash. Have jumped on Fine early as I’ll likely want to trade Duncan next week.

Could trade Duncan instead of Luki this week to preserve cash but I think I’d like to give Duncan a chance and a BE of 32 might hurt but also he has a chance to be a trade in. Will sleep on it.

Round 3 score: 793
Rank: 156474

Score was really good. Not a monster like some on the forum but I was pretty happy with the overall.

Papy (bye), Walsh (injury) and Tuaupiki (HIA) have made me short two WFBs this week with just Turbo being available.

Cleary (injury) and Chan (bye) mean at least 1 of these 5 need to go to field a full team.

Trade outs:

Duncan - role isn’t there
Cleary, Walsh (long term injuries)

Holds:

Tuaupiki - May return next week. Has some cash in him to extract. Not sure CNK is back or not.
All the slow burn cows - Chan, Hughes, Levi, Salmon, Smithes, Burbo, Strange.

Trade ins:

Campbell - priced at 33. Has value if he retains the spot (Brimson) and Titans aren’t awful. Will have rocks and diamonds scores. Could wait a week to get timing right but I need a WFB

Kiraz - won’t score 89 every week but could be an underpriced CTR keeper with flexibility to cover WFB. One more good game (rabbits) could make him a rapid cow also.

Blaze - seems like a cow that even if he’s a dud makes enough money this week to significantly change the risk reward next week. Has kickstarted his money so just need to call if he’s closer to Strange or Galvin. Would provide CTR coverage for my team.

Ponga - likely to play Origin but is a straight swap for Walsh

Gutherson - probably a week early. Has some upside. Isn’t a final 17 player. Does he make enough to justify multiple trades.

Willison/Hunt - probably enough value in at least one if not both. Job security a bit questionable on length 3-5 weeks and minutes.

With 118k I’m probably looking Walsh and Duncan to Campbell + ??? (Blaze/Ponga)

Open to any suggestions. Will likely captain Api with Cleary out and reasses next week if I need his cash or not. May become an easy hold and if his money isn’t needed I’ll keep him.

Trades locked in:

Walsh -> Blaize
Duncan -> Campbell

Decided to play down with 16 this week instead of grabbing Ponga.

I have 3 strong WFBs (Papy, Campbell, Turbo) so adding another doesn’t feel best for team balance. Also figure Campbell and Blaize make more cash this week and Ponga against the warriors doesn’t feel like a boom game.

Have captained turbo with VC Koro. Will loop Hughes and Strange.

675 was probably below average but when it improves your rank to 146,670 you take it.

Confirmed trades for rd 5:

Tuaupiki -> KPP

EDG is diabolical so while I'm not sold there's a full value (10 points/150k) left in KPP he should make enough cash and provide valuable EDG cover. Leaves me with:

Koroisau
Tohu (c), May, Salmon
KPP, Fine
Cleary, Flanagan
Blaize, Strange
Turbo, Papy (vc), Campbell

Liddle, Smithies , Levi, Galvin
Hughes, Burbo, Fogarty, Chan

Fog automatically comes in for Cleary.

Hughes in the loop with Burbo. If Hughes scores poorly then Burbo goes to 17.
If Hughes scores well then I can take a look at Burbo. If Burbo scores well I can swap Fog and Levi to get Burbos score. If he scores poorly I can just leave him at 19.

I'm 1k short of Burbo to Brown.

Probably means I'll either sit on 310k ITB or have to move either Liddle or Smithies for Brown (or Ponga). Can't see any other good moves so will ponder that but likely save the trade.

728 for the round feels okay but think it more reflects that I dodged the carnage rather than my team actually performing well.

Rank is up to 126,773 so the charge continues.

The good:

A lot of the stalled cows did enough to keep the cash gen going. Liddle (51), Smithies (60), Hughes (47) and Burbos (34) were all very welcome.

Campbell (60) and Strange (46) also deserve a mention though I wasn’t as worried about these picks.

The bad:

Captaincy was underwhelming for a second week in a row. 80 minute Tohu wasn’t needing to do much against the underwhelming rabbits. Thought this would be a bit closer and give a safer floor after the Turbo pick last week but this didn’t work out. Really looking forward to having a solid locked in captaincy option again.

Fine - given he has 3 games left as a starter unless this week is big probably has <30k left in him.
Flanagan - not an easy game for halves to shine in but the low score means his cash gen has likely stalled
Api - if he’s not at 100% and without GK he’s probably fairly priced and likely to be a bit more volatile as a scorer
May - going to write off the low minutes as an aberration caused by game script. Does kill the cash train for a bit. Probably demonstrated that he needs to be upgraded at some point but happy to continue to hold until the cash gen has really kicked in.
Papy - with no GK he will have floor games. Not unexpected
Blaize - racked up a lot of demerits (-18). If he retains his spot then this is fine. Proves he can score bigger but probably has a few lower than you’d like games and shouldn’t be a lock over Burbo.
Fog - 6 goals and a FG for only 42… underwhelming but maybe not deserving of being in this section.

Plans this week:

Think I have 2 clear upgrades this week. With $310k ITB

Api -> Hynes
(If he’s not 100% and not GK this feels like a 20 point upgrade). Think Api plays Origin and have enough HOK depth with Liddle (maybe another 80k undervalued) and Levi with Brailey also an option soon. Plus Hynes would be my captain this week so is doubly valuable.

Flanagan -> Crichton
Think Flanagan without another big score has likely stalled. He’s now valued at 32 points with a 34 average. Maybe has 20-30k more in him but I don’t want to play him even on my bench and I have 4 halves I’d rather play. Time to move on. Crichton gives me a great EDG option so I can move on Salmon, Fine, Smithies when needed. Should post good scores and make enough cash so is a perfect play for this point of the season.

Leaves my team halves heavy but running Cleary and Hynes feels like it will make up for other weaknesses.Will confirm trades on/after TLT but leaves me with:

Liddle
May, Tohu, Smithies
KPP, Crichton
Hynes (c), Fogarty
Strange, Talagi
Papy, Turbo, Campbell

Cleary, Galvin, SHughes, Levi,
Salmon, Burbo, Finefeuiaki, Chan

Bench is a bit weak this week but when Cleary and Galvin return it feels great.

Leaves 65k ITB which is 1k short of Chan to Piakura - so ideally chan is named for two weeks to lower that gap and it’s also be great if the gap between Levi and Brailey (currently 97k) also shrinks a bit. Also running with 0 WFB cover - not ideal but the raider fullback or maybe cowboys CTR/Chester (if named) could work. Also looking to Garrick, Young, Tedesco, Latrell and Walsh in a few weeks as their recent low scores could make them great value and cover.

Last thing on my mind is probably to start a bye planner. Might be a bit early but need to start looking forward on a longer time horizon given I’ve only saved 3 trades (1 last week and 2 as I didn’t have a team till rd 2 )

Any thoughts or alternative views are appreciated

TLT was a bit of a doozy.

Going to take my chances and bring in Iro over Angus.

Few reasons:
1) Can ditch Chan so I keep more green dots
2) Iro should make more cash than Angus this week (small chance of more points to vs the rabbitohs)
3) Iro is better positionally for me. With no Talagi and Burbo actually at CTR I don't have any coverage.

Considered just trading to Angus and Iro but want Hynes for the season and the matchup with the Rabbitohs. Leaves me with a team this week of:

Liddle
May, Tohu, Smithies
KPP, Finefeuiaki
Hynes (c), Fogarty
Strange, Iro
Papy, Turbo, Campbell

Cleary, Galvin, Talagi, Salmon,
Hughes, Burbo, Flanagan, Levi


93k ITB for potentially three trades next week

Flanagan -> Angus (if role is there)
???? -> Stewart/Chester (if he does well - still lacking WFB cover)
Maybe keep a trade?????

Keep an eye on Late mail, Chan might be a late in. Ill be going Stewart over Iro and playing Burbo this week personally, (I need WFB cover, and I dont want 4 cheap centres in my team).

Thanks @King Assassin - kept an eye on the late mail.

Turns out the right move last week was to bring in both Crichton and Iro and play Flanagan at half over Hynes. Don't think without hindsight anyone could have picked that though so we move on knowing I lost some points but Iro made more cash so its a win.

This week is a tough one for me.

Cleary out for another week obviously doesn't help but I've held him this far. Hopefully is back next week.

Chan and Talagi both being on the bench after I traded Chan and kept Blaize isn't great but Blaize can sit at 21 and see what happens this week. Will re-assess next week - a low minute bench role isn't great for fantasy but with his BE I can afford to hold for a week. Also not many trade down options.

Peaked cows have come into the station - Flanagan, Levi and Burbo all have their hand up for a trade out. Fine is getting close to this as well.

Campbell is out so need a WFB this week to play 17. Not sure if hes a definite sell but cash is tight. Latest I can find is up to 6 weeks so leaning to he has to be a sell......

93k ITB makes my trades difficult.

I've pondered many combinations but the targets are:

Angus - Think its fairly obvious. Priced at 34. Likely has has 6 - 21 points of upside in him and is rising fast.
J Brailey - Priced at 33. Getting rid of Levi leaves me no HOK coverage and I honestly think this is roughly the bottom. I think a 40 average is the worst case and the best is edging closer to the 45-50 mark.
Chester - Dual WFB/CTR with some cash to make. Priced at 27 - think he'll average 30 - 35 but a few big games while providing solid coverage is enough. Given I have Iro, Talagi and Strange in my CTRs an I'm short a WFB this is more the right price with job security. The more limited upside is fine for that.
Stewart - Think he's a good cow but it'd be my 4th raider. Bye in 4 weeks is covered but this seems like a terrible situation to force myself into given Smithies, Fog and Strange are all putting keeper level scores in now. Probably would rather Gray based on eye test but no dual WFB makes him less valuable and the job security is very poor.


Locking in:

Levi to Brailey
Burbo to Angus
Campbell to Chester

Leaves 17k so will want some more cows to pop up for the likes of Fine, Flanagan and potentially Blaize soon. Piakura, Stewart and Gray are all on that list for now. Flanagan only survives another week as he's a green dot and doesn't have enough cash to facilitate the above moves without involving Stewart...

Team for Rd 7

Liddle
May, Tohu, Smithies
KPP, Angus
Hynes, Fogarty
Strange, Iro
Papy, Turbo, Chester

Brailey, Galvin, Salmon, Cleary (loop)
Flanagan, Fine, Hughes, Blaize

Team cracked the 5 digit ranks this week

RD 7 Score: 811
OR: 87,797
Team Value: $11.543m
ITB: 17k

Gonna go through my team positionally just to put some thoughts out there (Note: done prior to lockout lifting so $ made doesn't include rd7).

HOK:

Liddle - Hasn't really kicked on. Has made me $34k with some pretty average scoring. Is priced at about his average. Thinking I'll hold for 3 weeks before his bye hoping to see an improvement in output or consistently hitting that 70-80 mins mark to be of anymore value. Potential Trade Out
J. Brailey - Happy the new recruit has scored well. Feels like a version of Liddle thats 150k cheaper. Love the cover he provides. Cow

MID:

Tohu - Let me down the one week I captained him - Hasn't really made or lost cash but happy to have him. Keeper
May - Great cow - has made me ~$150k. Priced at 49 he still has upside if he could be assured 50+ mins. Definitely a luxury trade option Potential Trade Out
Smithies - Average cow - has made me ~$70k. Like May if there was consistently 70+mins he still has some upside. Potential Trade Out
Salmon - Made 100k so far with more to come Cow
Hughes - Made 70k so far with more to come. Some concern it will come to a rapid halt when team is back to full strength but good for now Cow

EDG:

KPP - Made 75k and looking like a cut price keeper Keeper
Angus - Missed both his big scores but happy bringing him in at the price point. Not sold yet he's final 17 but he's got money to make while I assess that Cow
Finefeuiaki - made 100k. Acceptable scores. Time in the squad may be coming to an end if Luki returns but until then is still a Cow
Smithies and Salmon - covered above.

HLF:

Cleary - Hope he's back this week. Keeper
Hynes - Hope we get more of rd7 and less of rd6. Keeper
Fogarty - Will have hopefully made me over 100k after this week while also being a great scorer. Unfortunate injury makes him a Trade
Galvin - Great cow - has made me $150k+. Will keep riding as a great bench scorer for the price.
Flanagan - Average cow that may have made me ~70-80k. Has peaked for now and is surplus to requirements Trade
Strange - not a hlf - see below

CTR:

Strange - Above average scores and great cash gen. Probably a cut under keeper but happy to give more time Cow
Iro - Great scores, questionable JS. Great cash gen so far. Hope he gets at least one more game Cow
Chester - First week in and scores 35 in a brutal loss. I'll take that. Probably not a heap of upside but really helps team balance Cow
Talagi - If named on the bench again he's a trade. Has potential but not sure the role will ever be there to give enough time to generate. Potential Trade

WFB:

Turbo - A favourite player of mine. Hasn't had the huge games but has been surprisingly consistent Keeper
Papy - Made me 64k - Happy to hold and hope he racks some big games together while providing good value. Don't see him as final 17 but may be forced to with all the carnage Hold
Chester - As above.

Moving forawrd:

Overall I have:

5 Keepers: Tohu, KPP, Cleary, Hynes, Turbo
2 Trades: Fogarty, Flanagan
4 Potential Trades: Liddle, May, Smithies, Talagi
1 Hold: Papy
9 Cows: Brailey, Salmon, Hughes, Angus, Fine, Galvin, Strange, Iro, Chester

Losses of Walsh and Campbell have made the WFB weaker than I'd like. CTR is also a bit thin given Chester is needed at WFB, Talagi isn't currently playable and Iro may not play any given week....... I'll start paying attention to this but fallen WFBs may need to be prioritised. Not sure I want too many confirmed Origin players so Walsh and Tedesco may be bypassed.

Minimum of two trades this week. Will see what TLT brings before making too much of a plan.

Playing somewhat safe this week.

Fogarty -> Plath
Flanagan -> Piakura

Piakura should be a solid cow this time around and I’ve taken a punt Plath elevated above his small sample size so far.

I’m only looking because he scored 70+ but things I like.

1. The two tries - got them because he was working hard and supporting up the middle. Feel he makes those effort plays which will be nice as an owner.
2. Solid tackling rate. Very few misses
3. If he got Gilbert’s role he’d be maybe 10 points of value.
4. MID is tricky for me at the moment. The top tier guys like Haas and Yeo will go to Origin soon. I can’t afford them but Plath is nice cover for the byes and could at his highest upside be a cut price keeper.

Have 275k in the bank which could do Salmon to Walsh. Not convinced that’s the play. Also could go Blaize to new cow.

Gray - poor JS and upcoming schedule isn’t friendly
Weekes - happy to wait a week to see potential. Too many rd 14 issues if not a great cow
Chevy - if I had to this’d be my but this week. Too many rd 14 issues if not a good cow
Armstrong - potential 3rd choice WFB - JS and scoring can be confirmed in 1-2 weeks
Atkinson - Trindall averages 27. Let’s see him play and see if Trindall has much confirmed time out.
Fainu - tempted. Is the spot his? Feel benji loves tinkering.
Others - less certainty on their fantasy ability. Will 1 week really hurt?