Before Round Three the "saruckersform" Team was listed as the number 10 league in competition with 1311 Leagues Worldwide. A special plea was made to all members to endeavour to improve our standing in that competition and we moved up from no 10 to no 9 in Round 3.
This plea was renewed last week and the response was overwhelming compared to last week. The point distribution then was as follows:
* 500 plus points - 2 members
* 400 plus points - 6 members
* 399 points or less - 6 members
This week the situation was vastly superior top last week:-
* 500 plus points - 4 members
* 400 plus points - 8 members
* 399 points or less - 2 members
The average score after round 3 was 393,6 points per member. This past week it was 450,7. This is indeed a massive improvement and I think congratulations is called for.
From a team perspective I was particularly worried about the performance of XQZIT. I hope he does not mind - but I had a look at his team, which was as follows:-
PR Schalk van der Merwe, Sekope Peku
Bench : Ruan Dreyer
HO Tatafu Polota-Nau
Bench : Malcolm Marx
LO Pieter-Steph du Toit, Matt Symons
Bench : Scott Barrett
BR Sam Cane, Duane Vermeulen, Ma'ama Vaipulu
Bench : Marcel Coetzee
SH Sarel Pretorius (captain)
Bench : TJ Perenera
FH Pat Lambie
Bench : Marnitz Boshoff
CE Charlie Ngatai, Teviita Kuridrani
Bench : Kerevi Samu
OB Israel Folau, James Lowe, Taqeli Naiyaravoru
Bench : Charles Piutau
Lets face facts - the above is a good team if all players indeed played. But our poor colleague was slammed with a triple whammy - the withdrawal on short notice of three of his players (including his captain) - plus the fact that of his reserves only one - Ruan Dreyer - could compensate him for the loss of a starter.
In essence I think that there are a few weakness in the team and I would like to concentrate on those:-
Taqeli Naiyaravoru - This guy plays for the Reds - not a team in form and a better option would be Naholo of the Highlanders or next week Jesse Kriel of the Bulls
Kerevi Samu - I would try to gradually get cheap playing players on the bench - not players with virtually no chance of playing during matches
Patrick Lambie - He is an excellent flyhalf - but after next week prefer Pollard at flyhalf
Duane Vermeulen is an excellent no 9 - if not the best in the world, very near to it. However, his playing style would not earn him points in fantasy competition and I would change him asap
Ma'ama Vaipulu - I am afraid I would not touch him with a bargepole and would seriously consider alternatives
Malcolm Marx I would try to gradually get cheap playing players on the bench - not players with virtually no chance of playing during matches
It is always advisable to select a captain who kicks at goal or is known as a ball carrier. A scrummie as captain is never ever a good option as they rarely earn even 30 points. A choice of captain is normally somewhere between an outside back, a flyhalf or a loosie or hooker - a scrummie is a bad choice as a captain.
My only advice as a more experienced competitor in fantasy selections is to -
* Bring Pollard in as soon as the Bulls bye is out of the way inst ead of Lambie;
* Try and bring in Jesse Kriel after the Bulls bye
* Try and change Symons as a lock - rather go for Etzebeth or Rory Arnold of the Brumbies
* gradually phase out the non-players from your bench in case calamity struck again.
* try and bring in Michael Hooper as a loosie ahead of Duane Vermeulen
* never ever use a scrummie as your captain - bad choice.
