Fantasy Rugby selections - Mozart Please don't Read and get bored

Rooinek

Who says the Fantasy Cup competition is not tough.   The draw was made and the following will compete this week:

Oi-Matey     vs      Renegades

   358                          396

Sasue         vs       Stu

   350                           418

Rooinek      vs       Manilla Maulers

   340                            336

Myself         vs      Blou bliksems

   346                            337

I just want to give my serious thoughts on the issue as to what I would have done if I was in your position and how i intend to look at my team - bearing in mind the opposing teams.  I for instance am going not to start with any Sharks players - bar Reinach - taking into account the fact that I think the Chiefs will whip the Sharks by a considerable margin.

For what it is worth - have a look at my following comments:-

Renegades

 The problem is this guy has both Luatua and Piutui on the bench and is certain to bring them into the starting line -up.  If you do the same - it would mean that there will not be a point difference between the two of you.   The other issue though is that he is weakish insofar as his lock combination is concerned.  

I would rather go for Andries Bekker as a lock.   The Stormers are up against the Hurricanes that can be beaten up front and I have a feeling Bekker will do better in that game.    On the other hand Du Toit is nt likely to be as big a factor as he was recnetly in the game against the Chiefs.   Overall the Sharks have been weakened considerably by injuries and they are unlikely to do well against the Chiefs. 

Loosies are a toss-up.   He has Labuschagne on the bench and will no doubt bring him in - as I think chances are that Arno Botha will be benched.    If he is in the starting line-up he may be benched quite early as I see that the Waratahs is a tougher nut to crack than the Kings were.    I think you have an advantage over him here.

If I were you I woud stick with Genia - Reinach is going to have problems against the Chiefs and that will mean you are going to have a chance of an improvment there.

I think that he is in trouble with his centers.   It is likely that Serfontein will be bnched this weekend and he also have Kuhai and the weakish Conrad Smith.   That means he will have to find another center.and that is going to make life very uncomfortable.    

The Point difference of 38 points is big - but can be overcome if you can get better results from your team as a whole and make three top changes.

Stu

I looked at this team - but think he is weakish in some positions.   The key is to find the better prop, center and outside backs at thiss stage.   Jordaan scored well for him the prveious round and Conrad Smith is not a good one to have.   He is likely to bring on O'Connor from the bench - but if the Crusaders did to him what the Sharks did - he may be not very good for the team.  That is where you can make up a lot of points.  Jordaan is not going to be a good proposition against the Chiefs as I see it.

Also his outside backs are weakish and can be beaten by looking at players like Folau, Ioani and even Ashley- Cooper.  

Manilla Maulers

You have a slight advantage over him at present.  I would look again at the following positions if I were you:-

*   Flyhalf - I would go for Gareth Anscombe if I were you

*  Center -  Jan Serfontein is likely to be benched and O'Connor may be problematic against the Crusaders.  If Serfontein starts go for him and get O'Conner as second center.

*  Outside backs - I would get rid of Savea  asap and replace him with Folau or  Ioani.  Put Ben Smith on the bench until you can replace him as well.

Blou Bliksems

I also have a slight advantage - but will improve my props by bringin in Slipper and the locks by bringin in Luatua and moving Bekker from the bench.  The third change will depend on the team announcements and may insolve either a change at center or in the back row.   Hope Ardie Savea is paying and Serfontein in the starting line-up - then I will go for Jack Schatz as my other loosie.   If not - I am going for a center and may look at various options.  The outside backs will be strengthened  by playing Piutau from the bench.

SUMMARY

However, the team announcement for all of us will be the key.  I will definitely make one change in bringing Luatua into my team - for the rest the changes will be determined by the team announcments.

Mike should you be telling all the other teams what to do or concentrating on your team? Strange tactics.

 I also see you are a mere 6 points ahead of rooitwit!! How can that be?

Beeno

Nothing else to do - but to meddle in something you should not be in?   I was just sharing my thoughts with my mates and want to see thm beat their opponents.   They obviously will do what they think is best.   I have problems with injured players lke Beast and Kahui - so have to make some changes there as well.   Julian Savea is unlikely to play as well.  

I was six points ahead of Rooinek in the last round - but the overall point difference increased by 6 points and is now what I gave previously.   Capice?

Enjoy Mike, unfortunately I do not watch enough rugby to participate.  Dificult to deal with situations like Savea.  Where is ou rooinek I wonder. 

@mikey,
am i rgiht in assuming that we are the only 4 to survive the first round of cup challenge???

i got a bit of a heart attack as i saw u name our opponents for this week with last weeks score, i thought it was the result for last week and that i had been eliminated, lolz.
got a bit lucky, cos my opponent didnt make any transfers, which is why he scored so little, & being unable to unload gear has been costly.

one thing i noticed about my new opponent stu is he didnt make any transfers last week, he selected anscombe as his flyhalf & even ,ade him captain, it paid of handsomely, but anscombe started on the bench and only an early injury to horrel saw him come on.
IMO he didnt make any selections at all and hopefully that patter continues this week, :o)

dont underestimate oconner, IMO hes one of a few players who must be in ur team every single time hes playing.
here is a list of who IMO u should be selcting every single time without question,,,
steven luatua
ben afeaki
lappies labuschange
james oconner
like an american express, u should never leave ur fantasy home without them,

@beeno1 aka storminged,

rooinek is at kruger national park & wont be here during the week, i think the bro will be back by the weekend though.

hope ol rooy is safe & not being terrorized by man eating giraffes.

u should also really consider playing fanatsy rugby my bru, u will find it a lot of fun and anything to get u away from that awful keo site will only improve ur quality as a person, :o)

Sasue

There were six of us who survived Round 10 - I do not know who the other two members are who survived and concentrated on you, oi-matey, Rooinek and myself.   I will check though and see what happened to the other two.

I hope the guy opposing you come up with some negatives this weekend and you with real possitives - and that you beat him in Round 11.

Will Ben Afeaki be back this coming week?   it would complicate my selections a bit and I will have to decide between him and Slipper to replace Beast in that case.

@mikey,
not sure about afeaki, the last i heard he was to return last weekend during round 10, but that didint happen so im not sure what the go is with his return, but i actually forgot to add james slipper to that lsit too, he is another player that u should always pick, so IMO even if afeaki is available, u will lose nothing by going with slipper as he is very consistent too.

cup rounds only get tougher, but ive been averaging in the mid 300s which is not good, havent cracked 400 for almost a month now, :o(
 

Sasue

Sorry - I was wrong.  I checked and think that my previous 6 were determined before all thepoint allocations were finalized.  I now find only one other member of our league that made it to the next round and that is Double Eye - don.t know whether he is a member of this site:-

Anyway his oppenent is WARBOYS

The particulars are as follows:-

Double Eyes              vs    WARDBOYS

     370                                   344

 CM - thanks for the heads up buddy. Looks like I have my work cut out this week and will take your recommendations seriously. A lot depends on those team sheets as you say.