2019 NRL.com Fantasy thread part 5

Buramada wrote:

I think both Bird and Hampton are traps. Hampton's centre run was a small sample with quite a few tries. Bird was so so shit last year and it wrecked me. I think it is the new normal. Crichton could be worth a look though instead of Taupau

I agree re Bird but I disagree re Hampton mate. He has extreme pace which is why he scores tries & Morgan prefers attacking down Hampton's edge so he'll get plenty of ball & it will be good ball with a dominant Cowboys pack. You could use the same small sample size argument for Holland but both have excellent attacking stats.

A word of warning for those considering going with 3 guns at the back. Last year I started off with Ponga, Dufty and Edwards. While they all scored well to start the season it was a nightmare watching the likes of Corey Thompson, Isaako etc go close to their scores for ~300-400k less. None were scoring poorly enough to downgrade to one of the cows and they were too expensive to sit on the bench not scoring. I'll be avoiding handcuffing myself this year with going atleast one cheapie in the 17 for both CTR and WFB

StormTrooper96 wrote:Mine wasn’t working. Had to delete and re download then worked fine, plus all the photos were added. Just another A+ effort

Done, and worked.

Still no Matterson photo though!

multiple.scoregasms wrote:

Hard to go past someone that averaged 120 metres and 31 tackles per game in 2017. Those kind of base stats are absurd.

Also when you consider A. Crichton started the 2018 season a bit slow due to his finger amputation. He is a base stats king as your stats show, he only scored 3 tries in 2018 (scored 7 tries in 2017) so running off Cronk in 2019 he could easily double his 2018 try tally.

multiple.scoregasms wrote:A word of warning for those considering going with 3 guns at the back. Last year I started off with Ponga, Dufty and Edwards. While they all scored well to start the season it was a nightmare watching the likes of Corey Thompson, Isaako etc go close to their scores for ~300-400k less. None were scoring poorly enough to downgrade to one of the cows and they were too expensive to sit on the bench not scoring. I'll be avoiding handcuffing myself this year with going atleast one cheapie in the 17 for both CTR and WFB

This is definitely good for the thought. I would love Nikora to get a spot so I can move Lomax down to WFB. Just don't know much about the other cheapies at WFB.

Liverpool_Bulldog wrote:

This is definitely good for the thought. I would love Nikora to get a spot so I can move Lomax down to WFB. Just don't know much about the other cheapies at WFB.

If CNK starts as the Raiders f/b I would suggest considering him.

White Lightning wrote:

If CNK starts as the Raiders f/b I would suggest considering him.

So many what ifs makes building a team quite pointless atm. But will definitely take him under consideration. So many things need to falll into place

Loving the Crichton chat though

Mighty Fishes wrote:Feel free to laugh at this team all you want

Macca
J offa, Twal
Murray, Arrow, Gillett
Cleary, Pearce
Bird, Nikora
Lomax, Edwards, Allan

Stimson
Finucane
Kikau
Brown

Egan
Burr
Garrick
Warriors half

As has been mentioned, you are hoping for a kind TLT there. 
Biggest risk is if Allen or Lomax flops you have no replacements and no room to upgrade to someone better.

White Lightning wrote:

If CNK starts as the Raiders f/b I would suggest considering him.

Just had a look at CNK stats in ISP last year.

Averaged 32 as a winger in 16 games, but it was a real roller coaster. Highs of 56, 57, 62, 63 and 6 scores of 21 and under. Most of the big scores involved multiple tries in 1 game.
2 games at fullback for 43 and 31.

He is priced at 25, so I am not super confident in him being great value, but certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Just on Macca, obviously everyone is on him and I can see why. I'm tempted myself.

However, looking into his stats from last season, has me really questioning if he's worth it.

He averaged 72 mins last season (much higher than I thought) for 47 points per game. Even if he plays 80, his score average on that form would only increase to around 52. Which isn't likely to be inside keeper level. You want to have the 2 best hookers by season end IMO and i just can't see Macca outscoring Smith & Cook.

Therefore, unless Macca has an increase in output, AND gets the required 80 min role, he is a bit of a waste IMO. A 5 point increase in points output doesn't get you enough cash IMO to be cash-cow worthy. There's looks like more cash to be made elsewhere at hooker (Mahoney, Egan etc teams pending of course).

IMO, the only reason you should pick Macca is if you think he will play 80 mins minimum, AND increase his points output similar to a few years ago when he was averaging 55-60. And I just don't know if I see that happening this season.

Buramada wrote:

I think both Bird and Hampton are traps. Hampton's centre run was a small sample with quite a few tries. Bird was so so shit last year and it wrecked me. I think it is the new normal. Crichton could be worth a look though instead of Taupau

Bird would likely be a trap if he was priced above $350,000, but at almost basement, he is a low risk absolutely worth taking.

White Lightning wrote:

I agree re Bird but I disagree re Hampton mate. He has extreme pace which is why he scores tries & Morgan prefers attacking down Hampton's edge so he'll get plenty of ball & it will be good ball with a dominant Cowboys pack. You could use the same small sample size argument for Holland but both have excellent attacking stats.

Hampton has been good for fantasy wherever he's stated other than the bench. He's a great buy

Mulvy wrote:

Also how long would i be wearing the sailor? A week?

A week is plenty. You sound like you're conceding already

Milchy wrote:


As has been mentioned, you are hoping for a kind TLT there. 
Biggest risk is if Allen or Lomax flops you have no replacements and no room to upgrade to someone better.

I think i'll be downgrading Twal to Napa if he doesnt get banned that'll free up like 200k that is my concern that Allan/Nikora probably wont even start and im sure i can change things around. Theres so much value in the second row i just wanted to focus on that TLT will throw up some unexpected cheapies it would be great if Sivo started and also looking to put in a third front rower as that is really a concern that i only have the two

Macca was also injured last year and played after a a couple weeks of hyperextending his elbow. With Seibold at the helm and putting his influence into the team I can see Macca maybe taking a few more runs and controlling the game a bit more. Plus he was taken to kicking school this off season so should get some more km’s from dummy half this season. I expect 55 average

I got a reply around player pricing today. It may explain the variations. Looks like popularity has affected pricing by one or 2%. Hope this helps. Cheers

@lone_scout: @BlindSelector @NRLFantasy @FanHubNRL @CKennedy80 As far as I'm aware prices are based primarily on 2018 averages and altered slightly (as in, by 1 or 2%) based on popularity/ownership percentage in 2018.

CubanMafiaSandSlugs wrote:


IMO, the only reason you should pick Macca is if you think he will play 80 mins minimum, AND increase his points output similar to a few years ago when he was averaging 55-60. And I just don't know if I see that happening this season.

Of course Macca will play 80. Only injury prevents it. Any player can get an HIA/other injury that causes them to miss game time. Macca was injured for a bit of last year, hoping he is fully fit and can improve his scores accordingly is not the biggest risk people are taking thus year

Smith and Cook will average higher, but you have to pay for that average. Smith /Cook are unlikely to jump massively in price, so just bring them in after a month or 2 when you've made some money.

Blindside wrote: I got a reply around player pricing today. It may explain the variations. Looks like popularity has affected pricing by one or 2%. Hope this helps. Cheers

@lone_scout: @BlindSelector @NRLFantasy @FanHubNRL @CKennedy80 As far as I'm aware prices are based primarily on 2018 averages and altered slightly (as in, by 1 or 2%) based on popularity/ownership percentage in 2018.

Great work blindside, nice info.

Still doesn't explain Drinkwater/O'Sullivan/Momirovski but it's a start

SI wrote:
I started VSDT in 2008 I think. Not sure how many years it was around before that.

There was the FOX game and Sportal had a version as well. Before that there was the one where you literally posted your selections in, like by fucking mail  before those.   One of the lads on here (maybe Fraser or GM or Sash?) used to play it and relive the story occasionally, pretty sure was one of the Raiders favs anyway.

Actually GM might remember more about when the Sportal DT/Fantasy threads started as well.

In New Zealand there was a fantasy rugby comp I played at school in 1997. You mailed in your original team and registration and they sent you a wall planner which you used to keep track of your team (scoring was winning team, tries and goals) and when you wanted to change players you had to call up a toll number and make the changes by inputting numbers.... I was at a boarding school so used to have to get my grandfather to do it for me which was always an adventure!