The Rugby Magazine - Fantasy Rugby

[Scrumhead]

Not a dreadful start for me this week, but I made a bad choice starting Cruse instead of McGuigan. Collectively they’ve made me 26 points but it would have been 40 had I picked them the other way around!

I’ve gone for playing a centre at 10 and kicker who is unlikely to kick because all of my actual 10s are on the bench and after Joe Simmonds’ princely total of 5 last week (as a starter), I figured a centre might score better than picking a 10 who’s not starting!

Shame I didn’t go for Harris though. I’m pleased enough with his 11 points from the bench but I’ll be annoyed if either of my centres scores less than that!

[Scrumhead]

Latest Rugby Rebels league standings: https://therugbymagazine.com/fantasy/pr ... remiership

Team of the week:

1. Brocklebank (Newcastle)
2. Thacker (Bristol)
3. Perenise (Bath)
4. E. Holmes (Bristol)
5. Rowlands (Wasps)
6. Ewers (Exeter)
7. M. Wilson (Newcastle)
8. Ross (Sale)
9. Cook (Bath)
10. Cipriani (Gloucester)
11. Earle (Harlequins)
12. Farrell (Saracens)
13. Hurrell (Bristol)
14. L. Williams (Saracens)
15. Goode (Saracens)

[Shiny]

I had two players in the team of the week. Unfortunately I dropped some places due to having to sell a couple of my squad and buy in just to put a team out.

[Stom]

It all went a bit Pete Tong...

Simmonds had his worst performance to date. Madigan dropped out and my other 10s were benching...and I made more mistakes on who to bench and who to start, stupidly thinking that Bateman didn't have a flash in the pan season last time out. Unfortunately, he did it seems.

But Jono Ross is really a superb Fantasy Rugby player.

I now have a problem that the players I don't want are very cheap, so if I get rid of them I won't be able to afford direct replacements. I had to bring in a pair of locks this week, but with Spencer and Launch soon back, that should be good to go from now on.

[Scrumhead]

My week wasn’t too bad, but still wasn’t great ... Simmonds as captain was a poor choice, as was Cruse over McGuigan. A couple of better choices on starters vs. bench could have given me a good 40-50 points more. It’s all the more annoying when you have the players but make the wrong calls ...

I made the same mistake with Bateman but it’s my back three options that have been the most underwhelming. I thought Roko, Woodward, Adams, Lewington and Veainu would be a good group to choose from. Only Veainu really has the excuse of injury and although Lewington’s done fairly well, the fact that Maitland is keeping him out of the Saracens side is dic%ing me over at the moment.

The team in first currently has an average of 524 points per week. I’m a good 80 points per week off that.

Bearing in mind the bench players only get 50% of the points, it’s the equivalent of 19 full scores. To get 524 or more, that works out as 28 points per player.

This week only 6 in my squad managed to do that, although it could have been 9 of my starting XV if I’d selected better and made one of them captain instead of Simmonds’ shi**y points haul.

[Raggs]

AJ McGinty being pulled late meant a big points hit unfortunately.

[Scrumhead]

I’ll definitely be dropping points this week. Losing Simmonds and Hill is a big blow for my fantasy team - they’re two of my guaranteed starters ...

[Raggs]

I've already fired Simmonds as soon as I heard, before his value dropped too much. He was one of my top earners regardless.

[Peej]

But how long is he injured for? I've heard that it's for the season, but then Baxter's talking about being back early

[Raggs]

6-9 months, ACL.

[Scrumhead]

I've already fired Simmonds as soon as I heard, before his value dropped too much. He was one of my top earners regardless.

Me too, but I feel like I’m starting that horrid cycle of getting rid of 1 bigger earner for 2 cheap acquisitions ...

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that works well but it’s annoying when you don’t plan it.

[Raggs]

Already gone down that rabbit hole. I'm going to wait for lineups and see how I'm going, then try and get 1 goodun

[Stom]

Already gone down that rabbit hole. I'm going to wait for lineups and see how I'm going, then try and get 1 goodun

I'm torn on who to replace with. Won't be the same kind of points machine, most likely, but hopefully they can pick up a fair few and some other players can step up. The only issue is...I wanted to make another change this week and will be unable to do so without a 20 point drop now...

[Scrumhead]

Yeah - the big bonus for me is Skinner starting for Chiefs. It still depends on rotation but where I thought I definitely needed to spend money on a lock and a back row player, maybe I only need one of the two.

[Stom]

So I'm screwed...

Takalua, Stuart, Collins, Walker, BCurry, Whitten all out.

I may need to get rid of 2 players, along with Simmonds, in order to put out a team...Was hoping to rejig bit by bit after my squad mistakes, but looks like I'm screwed now.

[Shiny]

Something weird is happening, there must be a crack in the space time continuum. Either that or all the stars have aligned for that once in a season special event.

I have 15 starters who are all starting and not only that I have 7 out of 8 on the bench also starting with only one who is a sub. Of course they will all play like donkeys now and my captain will be sent off after 3 seconds giving me minus points but its given me a fighting chance.

[Stom]

So I'm screwed...

Takalua, Stuart, Collins, Walker, BCurry, Whitten all out.

I may need to get rid of 2 players, along with Simmonds, in order to put out a team...Was hoping to rejig bit by bit after my squad mistakes, but looks like I'm screwed now.

Wow, actually with a little moving around, I've managed to buy 2 and sell only Simmonds! And put out a 15 plus a bench including just 4 players who are subs and none who aren't playing

Hopefully there's no more big injuries before next week so I can simply work my way through the players I don't want any more week by week.

[Raggs]

So despite hoping to replace Simmonds with a single top tier player, I've replaced him with someone cheaper, and now only have enough for another cheap player. Think I'll hopefully sell a cheap player next week, and get a reasonable player in.

[Stom]

So despite hoping to replace Simmonds with a single top tier player, I've replaced him with someone cheaper, and now only have enough for another cheap player. Think I'll hopefully sell a cheap player next week, and get a reasonable player in.

I'm hopeful to bring in my real Simmonds replacement next week. I've bought in someone to play instead of both Simmonds and my two unavailable locks instead. I will be getting rid of one 200k+ player next week (long term injuries permitting) and bringing in quality.

I screwed up big time in failing to realise how much gametime RC players would miss...So hopefully my screw ups now will be good later in the season when I get them back.

[Raggs]

I'm still having to use bench players on the bench. Rotation is great in the real world, but it's tough in the game!

[Scrumhead]

I’m actually pleasantly surprised with the side I was able to select from this week. I flip flapped on what to do with my Sam Simmonds money but as selection was fairly kind to me this week, I went big and spent it all on Cordero.

I know exactly who I want to get rid of and who I want to sign to replace them but doing that with rotation, injuries and suspensions is difficult without taking a hit on points.

I’ve come to the conclusion that dropping the 20 points for signings is an option for emergencies only. Basically you need the player you sign to score 20 points or more for it to be worthwhile and it seems as though there are quite a few starting players getting single digit scores this season so I’m dubious on the risk/reward.

[Puja]

Kvesic's points went from 14 to 27 between the live estimates and the final score. Which was a huge relief for me, as he was my captain, so that was a change of 26 points overnight!

Puja

[Mellsblue]

I don’t play the game.......what is everyone’s feelings about how a players performance in a match relates to their points gained? Can a player have an average game but go over for two walkover tries and out score a player who played well but won’t make the highlight reel?

[Raggs]

It generally feels OK for scoring. A couple of tries, but otherwise poor game, won't get you a really big score. Forwards can be hitting rucks and don't get anything for that, so you do have to focus more on carriers/lineout options/tacklers. I don't think I'd pick Haskell for instance, he's not going to do much lineout work, no more tackles than many others, and not that great a carrier.

[Scrumhead]

I’d agree with Raggs. It’s probably more accurate for some positions than others - for example Joe Simmonds had a fairly decent game against Newcastle at Sandy Park but because they didn’t kick a great deal and he didn’t make any individual breaks, he scored a paltry 5 points. That was probably the lowest score of any starting 10 that week but Simmonds didn’t actually put in the worst performance.

As Raggs said, players that carry and tackle a lot tend to score well. Mark Wilson is among the top point scorers right now which will give you a decent idea.

It’s not madly off though. If you picked the England team using the stats for rounds 1-5, you’d get:

1. M. Vunipola
2. George
3. Stuart
4. Itoje
5. Lawes
6. Ross
7. Wilson
8. Mercer
9. Robson
10. Ford
11. May
12. Farrell
13. Slade
14. Sharples
15. Goode

It’s late now Mells, but you really should play. It’s a really good game.