Greetings boys and girls! Only 9 days left until the first squad deadline — I hope you’ve been thinking about who to select for your team. We’re already nearing 100 members in the league, so big thanks to those that who have signed up. If you haven’t joined and have been thinking about it, GET ON IT ALREADY! With a double gold test pass up for grabs, it’s well worth your effort!
And for the first-timers out there, here’s a little guide to get you started:
Set Up
You should all be able to figure out the process of registering a team from the previous post, so let’s consider that sorted. But now what do you do? Start off with your profile/manager name. Wise idea to come up with a pseudonym here – as before, blog or forum handle is great, creativity appreciated as always. Real names are no fun as the top portion of the standings table will go up here on the site. Pick a killer team name while you’re at it too.
Filling Out Your Team
The positions are pretty self-explanatory for any rugby fan and is just like your normal match squad of 22. Fox sets the positions, so it’s up to them to say that AAC is an outside back (fullback/wing) even though he’ll probably pop up at outside centre this year too. That’s just the way it is. And you have to remain within your budget.
Until we get to the semi-finals you are allowed only 4 players from any Super14 team at a time. So spread it out – try to even include a few Kiwis in there. This limit of 4 changes during the playoffs.
You get unlimited transfers for switching out players until the season officially starts. Then it’s down to 3 per week. You’re not exactly locked in, but there isn’t as much wiggle room either, so plan accordingly. And remember, you might have half of your backrow inactive if their bye weeks align down the road, so sometimes you’re forced to use transfers to get points. Same goes for injuries. You get one “wild card” during the season, allowing you to make unlimited transfers for the week you choose to use it.
There is an auto-sub feature which will sub one of your bench players in for one of your on-field players if he doesn’t see any game time and the sub does. It’s to account for last minute injuries and the like. But probably best not to rely on it if possible. Also, I believe your captain will not be auto-subbed because your designated captain must always be an on-field player (can’t be a sub and can’t be transfered out until you switch to another captain).
Points System
Your team captain earns twice his points for each week. So select him wisely.
The scoring chart can be seen here: http://s14fantasy.foxsports.com.au/M/rules.mc
There are some changes from what I recall of last year’s system. The value for tries, try assists, and linebreaks has gone up. And they’ve added a category called “linebreak creates” which I assume is awarded for putting a man into a gap or something. Winning a tighthead will get you more points this year, and losing one will lose you less this year. Try saving tackles will earn more points and I believe the hit for a not straight throw by your hooker is heavier.
What does this mean? Last year, some of the highest scoring fantasy players were backrowers and players that kicked for goal. The super-skilled blokes work their way to the top of the list too just out of ability. This new scheme looks to me like they’re making it easier for winger/fullback types to score points, while rewarding the frontrow piggies a little more too. Overall it seems like point total should be going up this year. I’ll discuss this more in the next installment.
Next Update
I’ll try to write up another preview before the season kicks off involving a bit of strategy and some other tid bits. I’m waiting for the coaches to figure out their squads a little more firmly after these trials are over with and any injury reports roll in. Until next time…
