2018 NRL Dream Team Virtual Sports/Sports Deck (VSDT) Part 1

Concussed wrote:

How many more games are you really expecting Lino to get Miltch? Surely they are just resting the franchise guy in Johnson one more week to make sure he is 100% from next week on?

I have been going over and over that same Croker to Lino trade, but just not sure if it is really worth it...

I have SJ, so getting Lino is really just a handcuff in case SJ misses more games.
If he gets another 2-3 games he'll make a decent profit and can downgrade later.

Sorenson I'll probably reverse trades on though. Might not play enough games to do anything useful.
Do want a cheap cashout for Rochow though

Still got 28 trades-crazy to trade Cam to Rein for his dollars increase and Captain Cook in the interim? Probably get Cam back but not necessarily a given. Leaves me a bank of just over a million, plus the potential couple of hundred over the next 3 or 4 weeks.

I didn't trade Cam out originally when a few did.

SI wrote:Still got 28 trades-crazy to trade Cam to Rein for his dollars increase and Captain Cook in the interim?  Probably get Cam back but not necessarily a given.  Leaves me a bank of just over a million, plus the potential couple of hundred over the next 3 or 4 weeks.

I didn't trade Cam out originally when a few did.

What is your ranking and the rest of your team SI? I have had Smith all along as well, and I don’t see it being a good idea for me personally to be trading him yet that is for sure. Do you think last week was the week if any to get Rein?

68th mate; 28 trades; 743k in the kitty; starting 17:

Smith, Cook
Alvaro, Kikau
Arrow, Merrin, JFH, Hess, Rochow, Carty
DCE, MBye 
Matterson, Inglis
Ponga, Turbo, Dufty

This week looking at Cam to Rein and Lodge to Fifita. That way I can still maintain the big bank, which is something I've been doing both here and Fantasy as a season long strategy.

Not much outside the 17, but with the bank and trades not concerned about depth.

PODdish team and doesn't look great on paper but doing enough to score well whilst preserving the cash; that is probably what is making me lean towards the Cam to Rein trade.

TL;DR Cam to Rein is a left field trade to keep in line with my big bank strategy whilst still slowly upgrading to guns.

SI wrote:68th mate; 28 trades; 743k in the kitty; starting 17:

Smith, Cook
Alvaro, Kikau
Arrow, Merrin, JFH, Hess, Rochow, Carty
DCE, MBye 
Matterson, Inglis
Ponga, Turbo, Dufty

This week looking at Cam to Rein and Lodge to Fifita. That way I can still maintain the big bank, which is something I've been doing both here and Fantasy as a season long strategy.

Not much outside the 17, but with the bank and trades not concerned about depth.

PODdish team and doesn't look great on paper but doing enough to score well whilst preserving the cash; that is probably what is making me lean towards the Cam to Rein trade.

TL;DR Cam to Rein is a left field trade to keep in line with my big bank strategy whilst still slowly upgrading to guns.

It's a hard one mate. Your team has a few good PODs which is good, but you don't want to swing too far POD and start losing ground either. Will you want to trade Cam back in again for your final 17?

A big bank is good, but you should also be using it to grab fallen guns in place of your Rochows & Duftys etc... I think holding on to too much bank for to long ends up costing you the same as striking while the iron is hot so to speak. You can keep your healthy bank by doing a cash out to a cow and an upgrade to a gun, all the while improving your scores and getting that final 17 together faster

Just my thoughts anyway mate

SI wrote:Still got 28 trades-crazy to trade Cam to Rein for his dollars increase and Captain Cook in the interim?  Probably get Cam back but not necessarily a given.  Leaves me a bank of just over a million, plus the potential couple of hundred over the next 3 or 4 weeks.

I didn't trade Cam out originally when a few did.

1 mill in the bank? Wow, that's a lot mate. I think I recall having a similar conversation last time, but I just can't see how that's a viable strategy if you are aiming to win the comp. The top teams now are almost at the point where you could argue they have their gun 17 (or a gun 17) in place, one or two who have gotten lucky with injuries are actually in the position where they have players like JFH outside of their 17.... Is it possible to keep pace with those guys with 1m on the sidelines? Perhaps you will prove you can!

I wouldn't trade Cam out either mate. At this point in time Cam and Cook stand out as the two Hookers to have. McInnes is the only one within 5 points of Cam but to be honest I see Cam comfortably outscoring him from this point in. Best IMO to lock these points in weekly to max your totals. Cam is still a bit of a POD in terms of the top 10 guys too.

EDIT: too late lol - I hope it works out for you mate (just looked at your team).

One thing I notice though, and perhaps something to think about, is that money thing works both ways. Sure Rein will make you some cash, but even prior to this round I would have suggested that trading out Rochow and Dufty would have been solid options. They both have big BEs relative to their averages, both are looking a little iffy in terms of their real life & fantasy production, and both will lose quite a bit of cash in the next couple weeks (and probably won't make it back IMO). Im gonna trade out Rochow this week cause I want to lock in the money he has made - same goes for Hiku too. I think he has peaked.

On a different note, my 8 year old niece decided who I traded in for Hiku. I was tossing up between Coote and Uate. I explained that Uate had been going pretty bad this year. She chose him as she genuinely felt sorry for him Fingers crossed huh!

Couple interesting points to note from the top 6 teams:

1st 2nd and 5th traded out Hiku to Coote, Sio, and Uate respectively (Sio into 2nd's 17 by the looks).
6th already gone Sorenson (traded out Rochow) and looks likely to start him.
2nd and 3rd still rolling without Cam - both have Havilli
4th gone Leota to Paseka
3rd not made a trade this week after all teams double traded last week!


Interested to see any other trades that might be made. I for one will be losing Rochow this week. Suspect 1st will too.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:Couple interesting points to note from the top 6 teams:

1st 2nd and 5th traded out Hiku to Coote, Sio, and Uate respectively (Sio into 2nd's 17 by the looks).
6th already gone Sorenson (traded out Rochow) and looks likely to start him.
2nd and 3rd still rolling without Cam - both have Havilli
4th gone Leota to Paseka
3rd not made a trade this week after all teams double traded last week!


Interested to see any other trades that might be made. I for one will be losing Rochow this week. Suspect 1st will too.

HEY!! Stop outing the trades for the guy ion 4th! I am sure he can do that himself Haha

Cash out for me is all this week, down to 25 trades. Hoping Brown is back next week cause I could do with his points for sure

What are your plans with Rochow mate?

Also did S.I. end up trading Smith out for Rein??

Concussed wrote:

HEY!! Stop outing the trades for the guy ion 4th! I am sure he can do that himself Haha

Cash out for me is all this week, down to 25 trades. Hoping Brown is back next week cause I could do with his points for sure

What are your plans with Rochow mate?

Also did S.I. end up trading Smith out for Rein??

Haha, yeah sorry mate!

I think I will probably go back to Murray. I am comforted that they held him form last week to make sure he is 100% and also think Surgess out is good for him. I want a round 13 playing replacement for Rochow too. And Murray's BE is low, so I feel it is now or never tbh.

The alternatives I can see are JTrbo, Harris, Hess and Alvaro. I think I would seriously consider JTrbo & Hess if it wasn't for Origin, and Alvaro looks to be at about value so I don't see the upside I do in Murray. Harris, I will let come down in value and perhaps look at when he bottoms out. I guess the alternative would be a cash out, but I like the look of Murray as a POD as well (not owned by 2nd 3rd or 6th).

Cashing out though (to Sorenson/Paseka) would give me $500k for upgrades but Im not sold on their job securities and I don't really want to bring in a CC that won't add substantially to my bye rounds.

That's my thoughts there mate. What do you reckon?

Sorenson will likely be pretty clear cut after this round anyway. If he goes 35+ again you probably can't ignore him...

Yup, it looks like SI went for Rein!

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Haha, yeah sorry mate!

I think I will probably go back to Murray. I am comforted that they held him form last week to make sure he is 100% and also think Surgess out is good for him. I want a round 13 playing replacement for Rochow too. And Murray's BE is low, so I feel it is now or never tbh.

The alternatives I can see are JTrbo, Harris, Hess and Alvaro. I think I would seriously consider JTrbo & Hess if it wasn't for Origin, and Alvaro looks to be at about value so I don't see the upside I do in Murray. Harris, I will let come down in value and perhaps look at when he bottoms out. I guess the alternative would be a cash out, but I like the look of Murray as a POD as well (not owned by 2nd 3rd or 6th).

Cashing out though (to Sorenson/Paseka) would give me $500k for upgrades but Im not sold on their job securities and I don't really want to bring in a CC that won't add substantially to my bye rounds.

That's my thoughts there mate. What do you reckon?

Sorenson will likely be pretty clear cut after this round anyway. If he goes 35+ again you probably can't ignore him...

Yup, it looks like SI went for Rein!

Ha yeah its all good man, like I said it was just for the cash, and it is a Rnd13 player as well, so fingers crossed he falls over the tryline as well for me to get really lucky...

Murray is a great choice man. I have held him the whole time because I really rate him as a player, and he will be gold in Rnd13. He will either be a keeper or become Jake or Tohu around Rnd17?

I will be watching Sorensen closely this weekend, as well as team lists again Tuesday, cause yes he could definitely become a must trade for the cash next week.

Jake can wait until after Rnd13 at the earliest due to Origin.

So yes I would in your shoes go Murray this week for sure. How are you looking for trades?

Oh no S.I.!! I posted pretty much exactly what you did giving him plenty of time to reverse... Fingers crossed he makes the $ from Rein he wants now

SIs move could pay off. It would require Rein hitting 50+ for 2 to 3 more weeks though at a minimum. If that were the case and with the trades he's got I imagine he'll go Rein to round 13 playing Hooker, to round 17 playing hooker to best gun going forward...

That would generate cash, probably come pretty close to matching Cams output, and also grab bye round points, but it requires a number of trades which in turn means less trades to use elsewhere particularly on those weeks.

I like it as a ballzy move but I think Smith scores too well for it to be worth it and it's also predicated on the need to generate new cash which Im not convinced is the best reason to make trades right now given how many cows have been around and still are.

Anyway, will be an interesting one to see how it plays out.

Thanks for your input re Murray. I'll wait till kick off but will likely pull that trigger tonight.

I've still max traded each week - so I currently have 23 left (22 after the Rochow trade). I am comfortable with that as a strategy, but it may come back to bite me later if injuries cause havoc in the final weeks. In the mean time I building a pretty nice squad though to the extent that JFH probably won't even make my 17 this week.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:SIs move could pay off. It would require Rein hitting 50+ for 2 to 3 more weeks though at a minimum. If that were the case and with the trades he's got I imagine he'll go Rein to round 13 playing Hooker, to round 17 playing hooker to best gun going forward...

That would generate cash, probably come pretty close to matching Cams output, and also grab bye round points, but it requires a number of trades which in turn means less trades to use elsewhere particularly on those weeks.

I like it as a ballzy move but I think Smith scores too well for it to be worth it and it's also predicated on the need to generate new cash which Im not convinced is the best reason to make trades right now given how many cows have been around and still are.

Anyway, will be an interesting one to see how it plays out.

Thanks for your input re Murray. I'll wait till kick off but will likely pull that trigger tonight.

I've still max traded each week - so I currently have 23 left (22 after the Rochow trade). I am comfortable with that as a strategy, but it may come back to bite me later if injuries cause havoc in the final weeks. In the mean time I building a pretty nice squad though to the extent that JFH probably won't even make my 17 this week.

Oh yeah don’t get me wrong mate, I love it when people swim against the current! It could well pay off for him later in the season, so will be interesting to monitor. We have your back S.I.

Wow what a skite re JFH! He is a crucial part of my 17 at the moment, as well as either Maloney or Isaako (TBD)!! I am still a ways off having a banging 17 and a non playing gun, thought it is early days still.

Who are your reserves if you don’t even have to play JFH?

Anyone else focussing a lot more on round 13 than round 17 given the quality of players/teams in the later?

Concussed wrote:

Oh yeah don’t get me wrong mate, I love it when people swim against the current! It could well pay off for him later in the season, so will be interesting to monitor. We have your back S.I.

Wow what a skite re JFH! He is a crucial part of my 17 at the moment, as well as either Maloney or Isaako (TBD)!! I am still a ways off having a banging 17 and a non playing gun, thought it is early days still.

Who are your reserves if you don’t even have to play JFH?

Anyone else focussing a lot more on round 13 than round 17 given the quality of players/teams in the later?

Haha, yeah, I guess on the one hand its a good thing - means I've got injury cover in the forwards and an option as to who to play each week, but to be honest I'd actually rather have that money tied up in a starting 17 player at this stage. Also, the flip side, as I've said, is I've max traded each week. So theres some positives and negatives.

I guess in terms of averages my ranked reserves are Cam Smith, RFM, Kikau, Merrin, and then JFH.

I may well dump one of these guys for Sorenson next week to free up the cash to upgrade elsewhere.

How we travelling team? 680 with only 3 to play, quite down on the last few weeks scores, and with the two games on Wednesday and only 3 to go this whole round is feeling a little weird.

Hopefully everyone else is scoring great and have avoided any carnage to your teams

605 with 4 to play.

Missing Harris and SJ, don't quite have the depth some of the top teams have, so going to cop it a bit this week.

Concussed wrote:How we travelling team? 680 with only 3 to play, quite down on the last few weeks scores, and with the two games on Wednesday and only 3 to go this whole round is feeling a little weird.

Hopefully everyone else is scoring great and have avoided any carnage to your teams

Hey man, yeah this round is not looking the greatest but not terrible either I guess. The top two teams are doing pretty well and look to be heading for scores of ~940

I'm 730 with the same three to play so tracking to be about 30 or so below the lead two depending on how Hess & Alvaro go

3rd has the same three players left and is on about 730 too.

High 880-900 looks to be quite a common score this week (lots of people from the forum tracking towards that). A few are tracking to ~920 it, and then those top two looking like hitting 940.

Milchcow wrote:
605 with 4 to play.

Missing Harris and SJ, don't quite have the depth some of the top teams have, so going to cop it a bit this week.

Yeah having those 2 out is definitely a big hit to a score mate. Both should be back next week though, fit and ready to fire! I am considering turning Maloney into Johnso next week, then my halves are sorted until Cleary gets back

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Hey man, yeah this round is not looking the greatest but not terrible either I guess. The top two teams are doing pretty well and look to be heading for scores of ~940

I'm 730 with the same three to play so tracking to be about 30 or so below the lead two depending on how Hess & Alvaro go

3rd has the same three players left and is on about 730 too.

High 880-900 looks to be quite a common score this week (lots of people from the forum tracking towards that). A few are tracking to ~920 it, and then those top two looking like hitting 940.

I’ll be lucky to get over 800 with how this weekend has been going haha! I will lose ground on you and the top 3 teams but I am happy with how my team is shaping up.

Taupau rocked the socks for you this week bro! I am still unsure about all these Manly players going forward though....they just don’t look the same team they were at the start of the year doe to all these dramas

Concussed wrote:

Yeah having those 2 out is definitely a big hit to a score mate. Both should be back next week though, fit and ready to fire! I am considering turning Maloney into Johnso next week, then my halves are sorted until Cleary gets back

Agreed, problem is first place has those two out and he's about to outscore all of us by the looks. He's managed it by spending absolute minimum in the Cs (outside of Matterson (he has been starting Isaako), and has Maloney as cover for SJ. His team is pretty stacked. Once he gets SJ and Harris back he basically only needs to upgrade Issako and he has a gun 17 + a couple decent back ups.

I guess we just have to keep plugging away, but even at this early stage it seems like it is gonna be tough to catch him (2nd has a pretty stacked team as well).

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Agreed, problem is first place has those two out and he's about to outscore all of us by the looks. He's managed it by spending absolute minimum in the Cs (outside of Matterson (he has been starting Isaako), and has Maloney as cover for SJ. His team is pretty stacked. Once he gets SJ and Harris back he basically only needs to upgrade Issako and he has a gun 17 + a couple decent back ups.

I guess we just have to keep plugging away, but even at this early stage it seems like it is gonna be tough to catch him (2nd has a pretty stacked team as well).

So what does it leave us as POD options then? It’s going to take a roll of the dice to catch them by the looks eh...