Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, Steve, how you going?
[00:00:02] Speaker B: Hey, how are you?
Squeeze. How are you? Thank you so much for having us here. Welcome our grizzly family. Yep.
How exciting is this time of year. This is the time of year where we just sit back and we realize rugby league football's back on our screens. Are you enjoying the trials?
[00:00:22] Speaker A: I, I did the Bulldogs one.
I beat the Knights because I was going to bring that. Bring a question up to you because like I haven't seen a. I only saw the mini. The mini snips on KO.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: Quick question is, did the Knights put up a second grade, third grade team or were they just really bad?
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Oh, look, when you go to the trials, it's.
You put your players on there and you're just going through the motions and going through the sets. You don't want to put all your, your, your moves out and show the other teams what you're going to do because then they can formulate a plan. It's just get running through the motions, making your tackles, getting your lines. And sometimes coaches like to, if you've got one edge spot spot available, they'll play the two content contenders and see which one they would like better moving forward. So it's just going, running through the motions, getting a bit of warmth on your shoulders and making a few hits and just getting your timings right with your line speed and just getting back to that.
The grind which is officiated at a higher tempo than what you couldn't do in, in your Thursday night training sessions.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you know they were the first team to not score any points in a pre season game? Yeah.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. Oh, look, they, they had a team on paper they should have done a lot better than what they put out there that, that weekend. In my opinion. However, they still got other stars not in their team, late withdrawals.
You know, just the whole preparation of the season could be thrown out.
They're going to Vegas so their minds might be thinking about, you know, which, which casino they're going to put on. Red or black. And you know, so they're, they're just all the excitement, the adrenaline and everything that's happening.
Yeah. It's preseason.
Take it with a grain of salt.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Yep.
What do you got for us for this week?
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Well, we missed out on last week and I want to recap on the. Because the first lot of trials was only two games and I guess what I love about trials and this really, really showcases how that the expansion is actually going to be not as daunting as what it thinks with the amount of people playing and sparing the lead.
Some of the junior talent that is emerging and showcased in these trials, stepping it up with the big dogs. Gosh, there's a lot of talent. There's a. There's this Cade ready guy that from the Dragons that just lit up the show. You got Blake Moser from the Tigers that should earn a starting guernsey. There's that West Tigers winger that just did the most acrobatic. It's almost contender for try of the year and was only in the trials and he may not even get a starting jersey for the whole rest of the year. So it's just showcases the emerging talent that we've got and also reassures us, especially as Perth Bears fans and. And another expansion team at the PNG Chiefs that we do have the skills, we do have the players.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: To expand and I can see 20 teams being a realistic option.
Yes, we might be running a bit thin, but if the, the guns spread around to the other teams and disperse and we'll be able to grow these beautiful young players.
Yeah, yeah. And that's what I like about trials.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: When the, when the Bears come in in 27, they're going to have juniors come through. They're already signing up juniors and the development of rugby league in Western Australia is going to go up a notch or two. It's going to pick up. And so 100 when they say they we don't have the youth and we don't have the player, you know, spread and we don't have enough players to play first grade. I've always found that a bit misleading tactic to stop the growth because when you produce another team, you get a whole whole group of players that come through. You get the whole, the support network, you get more training facilities, you get more investment, you get everything as long as long as you're not next door to another, another club like a WA club, the Chiefs, maybe another New Zealand club, you know. Yeah, it's.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: But there's a lot of talent around there and there's a lot of, I guess a lot of things behind the scenes for players to get to where they are that we don't know about.
There's a lot of kids out there already been poached at 13, 14 years. They've been put into education systems, they've got scholarships and they're playing in top league school boys competitions and developing their skills and doing training camps with the, the big players until they get the maturity, age, size and everything like that. So they're. That's never going to stop. It's just which team gets them first or which team, you know, pays the the man of bickies and I guess that's where the salary cap keeps everything in, you know, the straight and narrow. Like last year you couldn't go into the game going oh yeah, I've got the Dragons this week I'm going to win or I've got the Knights this week and I'm going to win. You, you got to always go in there with a hardened approach to go, you know what, I can't let my guard down Y even against this team whilst in the AFL and even the NFL with their draft systems and all that type of stuff, you get blowout scores week in, week out. You can almost pretty much gamble and predict the, the winner whilst in, in our wonderful game it is just so tight, so engaging. You have the occasional blowout but sometimes it's unpredictable blowout.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: So well especially around when you have like state of origin and a team's got a lot of their number one play is out, you know you, oh you're quite riskable in the, in the opposite direction where you expect a team to win, they'll end up losing. But I've got another question for you.
Having a military background, do you think the defense force could ever fueled a team?
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Well, funny you say that. I actually partook as a Australian Defense Force. I made the Australian Defense Force team. So it goes into three different like a little pyramid. You got Army, Air Force and navy and they have a combined service kind of competition every year they play against each other.
We get sometimes get a few curtain raiser games and in Brisbane, Sydney and the likes and then they select an ADF team. Now that ADF team every year plays the Roosters Dragons curtain raiser at Anzac Day and it gets a lot of media coverage and a lot of players.
We play against predominantly New Zealand Rugby League, however we've played against the Turks and that before and other countries along the way. So there's a lot of competitions and the military actually Australian military Defense force personnel, we work in conjunction with the NRL and we send teams to Papua New guinea and we're helping develop for the Chiefs to come in. Right now we're training development camps and women's rugby league.
A lot of our women in our defense force, I can name a few, Julie Robinson, Meg Ward, Talisha Quinn, all defense members all representing the Jillaroos. So there's, there is pathways, there's a lot of opportunities but it's just getting that if they had the Skill level.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: If they had the skill level and the players in the military. Right.
Not saying that they have to have all the framework in place but could you pick a first grade rugby league team from, from the defense force? That would be completely.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: Look, I, we have issues within the defense force as in we've got to do our job first.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: Yeah. But just take that away. Say they the defense force come to you and said okay, we want to put a, a defense force team in. They're playing this weekend, they're playing every weekend. You've got everything in place. They're now signed up to play rugby league. Do would they have the people, the manpower, the 30 man squad to compete against first grade rugby league teams?
Could they do it?
[00:08:54] Speaker B: First grade is in like nrl teams or first grade A grade. Oh, nrl teams. I'm going to be realistic here. Young 20 year old Stephen would have been. Yeah, give it me add them. But realistically I feel like we don't have the, the extreme skill sets of these players. Like I'm. We, we have the ability to be competitive. We've got the mongrel, we've got the foundations but these guys have got that next tier, that extra skill set that we're just slightly lacking. But with training and the right coaching and being amongst each other for a whole season as opposed to having a different team every week because of postings at sea and Afghanistan and all that, it makes it very disjointed and clunky and we're a team of individuals at times.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: As opposed to a collective team that work towards something. So like we, we, we could probably have the capability to, to work towards it but.
And there's a lot of star players that I've played with.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: That are absolute guns. But just I feel like due to the nature of our work we're unable to put in the time effort training as the elite athletes do.
[00:10:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: And that's unfortunate for the friends and that are listening. That that's just my gut feel like I'm happy to put a question in the board and say shut up Scooby, you're wrong. Like you know I thought I could run it at anyone and I weigh 20 kilos ringing wet. But that's just a mental attitude. You got to work together as a team and yeah, I, I even think Q Cup and New South Wales cup would put a, put a number on us.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I just, I just quit. I just wanted to know. I thought well we've got like I was in the navy, we used to play against teams when the ship pulled into New guinea would go off, play the New guinea police force or something or you'd be up top and you'd be playing soccer against one of the Asian teams. And.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: Well, I actually pitched an idea to the NRL when I was working as a director of navy and working with the ADF and the idea was to go through the NRL and have an emergency services cup. So the police, the fire is the ambos, navy, army, air force and everyone plays each other once in a round rom game and you know, have a grand final at the end and have a few curtain raiser games to the NRL clubs to promote the each service and you know, give them something back as well. So I don't know where that's gone since I've separated from the defense force, but if anyone's listening that I think that's a great. And that's where North Sydney Bears and. And my affiliation first, um, really, really came to terms is the North Sydney Bears were so accommodating to us having curtain raiser games for the men's and women's teams on North Sydney Oval. They throw. They hope they gave us their ground.
They allowed us to play the curtain raiser games or just use their facilities to play showcase our games to a greater audience.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: Opposed to just mum and dad going, yeah, you're awesome. Scuba.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. All right, well, we better get into the fantasy side of things.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: Fantasy? Oh, that was my fantasy. Living back, reminiscing the dreams. But no, no, they're really good questions and there is a lot of synergy, a lot of things. Defense can assist with the rugby league football. But yeah, back to fantasy football and I'll segue off. You mentioned state of origin.
[00:12:29] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: That is a very new, fresh change to the rules that have just been adapted this year. And there is fantasy relevance in, in regards to these rules and eligibility.
So listeners that don't know they've allowed the international players to play for their state of heritage. So say for example, you grew up in New South Wales, you're born and bred in New South Wales, yet you choose to go for your heritage. Countries such as New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, unfortunately that.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Don't you have to be born in that country to.
As a heritage?
[00:13:08] Speaker B: No, no. So you can have a father, uncle, you know, that type. There's.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: So if my mom's British, I can then play for England if I wanted to?
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Yes, correct.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: And before like so Victor Radley, for example, he chose his father heritage to be in England, which therefore ruled him out of ever playing for New South Wales. Even though he was born eastern suburbs and grew up in eastern suburbs, played New South Wales juniors and everything like that. Due to the fact that he chose to play for England has negated his ability to represent New South Wales in the state of origin.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Now this new rules comes in.
Adam Fu Blake, Victor Radley are now available for selection for their respective states.
Herbie Farnworth, unfortunately he moved over here at 14 and the rule says you have to be here before 13.
So unfortunately Herbie Farnworth won't be representing Queensland. I'm pretty stoked about that being a blue supporter. He's a good player. But yeah.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: Does it turn into an all stars team rather than a state of origin doing it this way, is it?
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Well, it's a state of origin that's you're born and grew up in the state. You went to school in the state.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: And you want to play for your state of heritage.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: A country of heritage. So I actually prefer this.
[00:14:28] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:14:30] Speaker B: It doesn't allow everyone to play like Kirby Farnworths and whatnot but it does open the window for players and as, as I said before, a fantasy standpoint players which I had in my team, I had Adam Fanua Blake in my team because in that state of origin period where your players are off and not playing for their, their, their club, they are, they are beneficial to your fantasy team.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: You don't want to have a whole team of state of origin players and come state of origin period. And you've got, you don't have a full complement of your team to fill each week. So you've got to be selective of your origin plays in your team. So sometimes choosing an Adam for new or Blake or a player that is, you know, not James Fisher Harris or something like that, that's not going to be selected for their state.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Is good to have in your team.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: No. That's good then.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: So yeah, the trials are good. A few emerging talents that have come out. Our coaches are showed a few of their hands at the moment in some of the players that are going to get selected and what we're going to do is we're going to bring up squizzes team up again and based off the trial games that we've seen prior, we, we're just going to rejig his team a little bit and we're going to talk about some of the preparation work in for Vegas round because round one is split over two weekends. So selecting your team and positioning your team is extremely important before the game starts. And I will explain with his cues and his selection of the team as we go through. So as you can see on the screen, he's got his team.
This is what we.
We had a little bit of a band aid, Mr. Fix It.
[00:16:23] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: We watched the trials and we go, oh, wasn't really keen on that guy or that guy didn't really have the minutes or the output that I'd like or the game plan that I like.
I'm going to swap a few players around.
[00:16:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I didn't get to spend much time watching the games this weekend, so that's fun. I only saw the one, the mini cap which I'll be looking at over the next couple of weeks to see if I've not a problem.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: But for me there's a couple of players that I found that are value players and players that have performed like actually performed well before and scored well previously and just had an off season or just didn't perform up to the standard last year to what they normally would expect. And some of those value players we've already got in our team, like the Mitchell Moses, he had a injury affected season last year so his price point's a little bit lower. So he's a value player. Yeah.
Some other players that I've, I think are value players and they're selected by a lot of teams for a reason.
And if you look at the percentage of the players you go okay, why is everyone on him?
They've either seen him in trials or seen some sort of advantage. And one of those that was always on my radar and I wanted to see in trials to just validate a decision was Trey Mooney from the Newcastle Knights. He played in the All Stars game as well. And at 450k I believe he'll at least make 150k and get 50 points per game. Y and someone that I and he's playing in round one, week one of the of the competition.
So what we'll do is we'll. We'll just see what we can do to try and accommodate him. I'd probably go Joshy Curran to Trey Mooney because Joshy Curran is currently a bench player for the Dogs and you're un minutes uncertainty there.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: And the amount of Money you're spending 566k on him with no certainty he's in your starting mids at the moment. You could swap him out for Trey mooney and get 116k and get, could I say more points.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Swap Haywood out. Who's a bulldoggy. His mid-375 if you've got the money.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: To do so like you won't be able to because he's the money situation at the moment.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Oh, how much money I've got 290. And then if I trade.
[00:18:58] Speaker B: Oh, well, yeah, if you trade him to try Mooney. That's a. That's a good segue right there.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: So if I swap.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Delete the red.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: Oh y then delete him the trash.
[00:19:13] Speaker B: Can then add him and then add. Yep. Bonza.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Jesse Cole Hearn's listed as lock this week so I mean that he's a really strong watch.
He's got a. A couple of rounds in him before McInnes comes back. So I'm happy with those mids at the moment. Wade Egan, crafty number nine. Sam Healey on the bench though scares me a little bit. Is he going to lose a couple of minutes? I've gone for Kurt Donahue at the moment but I wouldn't tell you not to get weight ean because I was high on him earlier on. Yeah, your edges are absolutely guns. I wouldn't even change them.
A player that I that really, really caught my eye and played back to, he showed glimpses of how he used to score in fantasy before and that's Nico Hot Boy hines. He's at 700,000. He started the year last year, I think 900,000 in the year before at 1 million he is h y nes he is.
When he played the game on the weekend I think he got 60 points or 66 points but what I like to see, and it isn't rugby league related but he was running up to the line and just run crab walking, going sideways and pushing off players and each time he gets that he accumulates points for a tackle break. Now it looks like fluff when you're watching it on the tv but those fluff converts to fantasy points and he. I know he just looked like he had that little bit of a attacking flair and mongo about him. And at 700k as a gun hooker gun half, I wouldn't tell anyone not to get him. So he's someone that I'm running on my team currently and it's just someone that I feel a little bit more pleased having a.
I'll probably say top three half in the. Out of all the halves you can choose being Cleary, Jaden Campbell Hines and maybe Izzy Katoa.
They're clear out and out top four halves.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: So that's someone that I'd like to pitch to you. If you. If you can shuffle your team around to accommodate him, I wouldn't be against it. Jackson Purdue, I just don't see the points with him. I'd have to probably someone you'd have on your bench to hopefully make points if you feel that way. But Jackson Purdue is someone that I feel is in a Cowboys team which don't look like they're going to do too well this year.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: I'd be 20. 20 grand short. 20 grand short to. To swap Purdue with Heinz.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Oh, that's fine.
There's other players that we can sacrifice and I think Joshi Curran down to a.
How much is current? 566. 20 grand. Yeah. I'm going to give you away all my secrets here.
634. No, he's more.
Have you got Lasardi?
You haven't got Lisardi yet from the store. You do have Lisardi from the storm Helium Luki or Luciana Leua.
Luciana Lulu is 430 and man, he looks fit and looks ready to to destroy. So you could possibly free up some cash by dropping a current down to Lay Lua or Helium Luki, which is a Cowboy.
And also the Dogs have a round buy in round two. So you don't want to hold too many dogs players for me, Bulldogs players, they're a free look in round one. You can see how they perform. You can see their minutes.
And then if you have any injuries or suspensions or plays you don't like in round three, when they come back, you could potentially just go, hey, look, I'm gonna bring you into the table. But having too many Bulldogs players, especially like Karaz and Tracy, for example, in round two, you need two wing fullbacks to take their place. And at the moment you've only got Chester there.
Do you see how that composition could. So I would seriously consider just dropping Connor Tracy to Setu2 when he comes in. He's going to be about 250k, I believe.
I would just put con Tracy down to a 250k player now, just randomly as a placeholder and then free up some cash so you can maneuver your team for now.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: And then whatever cash you have left over, then you can add to the 250k player that. Yeah, yeah.
[00:23:48] Speaker A: Because I had my team because I knew more the Bulldogs play. So that's why it's heavily loaded with Bulldogs players. I knew they'd have to be filtered out so I wasn't the so another.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Player you can consider is a Selwyn cabo. He looked good 450 odd K.
The you could possibly bring in a center layer Tower or Penisini for Karaz, save a couple hundred and or move Carez to wing fullback Connor Tracy to a center. That's another option for you.
[00:24:24] Speaker A: Yeah but who did you say in the for the to replace Tracy as a wing fullback I would just go.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: There'S a Setu two who plays for the Dragons who has scored 46 points and 50 odd points in his two trials and he looks like a. He's not in the system yet. He should be in the system. He's not in the top 30 of the dragon so he'll be in the system soon. But I would just find a player of the similar price range like a Lawson for now for example in the Dragons.
[00:25:01] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: Yeah just put him him down as a replacement. He's not going to get a run but you know that as soon as Setu2 comes in you're going to do a straight swap to him and that.
[00:25:12] Speaker A: Will.
[00:25:14] Speaker B: Free up a lot of cash to distribute it amongst your team.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: Farley might be out of favor as well within the the Dragons. Yeah and a player that caught my eye for the warriors is Leia Tower. I don't sorry for the pronunciation was fans but he is a. He looked pretty good. He's going to be a bit hot and cold at times but value for money in there position that doesn't Leia Tower the the guy. Hey yeah. You want me to pronounce the whole team.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: I've got him. I've got him. Yeah there he is.
I see 364 so I can do that and bring him in. Yep.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: So that just gives you a bit more shape and a bit balancing you know heavy on one single team.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: That does now if I go Hines but all teams I can drop Purdue out bring Hines in and that looks.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: A lot more stable.
Oh you've got Sean Russell on the bench. I didn't see that. Sorry because my face is over the team on the left.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: I've got the my camera in the way on the on me reserve bench and I can't move it.
[00:26:29] Speaker B: That's right. I'd swap Sean Russell around with Lawson and to shift your bench composition around. Actually scratch that because I'm going to tell you something right now. Let's just say this is your team right now that you want to carry into round one with. Let's say we've looked at fast forward next week. We we've watched the rugby league football this weekend and this is the team you Set on? Yeah.
The teams that are playing round one, week one, which are the Vegas teams which are the.
The Cowboys, Dragons, Knights and. And the doggies. You want them in your starting team if you want to play them first.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: The reason being is they will be locked out after they play.
[00:27:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: So if you were to have them on your.
Your team and your bench. So for example in your team right here I've got Couchman.
You want current to play?
[00:27:28] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:27:28] Speaker B: I'd put current in over Colehoun because if Colehoun doesn't get selected for the Sharks in lock position in round one, week two.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:38] Speaker B: You could swap Colhoun to any other player and not be restricted to swapping him just as a mid.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: Does that make sense?
[00:27:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: So you can swap Colone to any other position on your bench and interchange.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: But if you had him as a mid and you had no more mids on the bench to swap them around, you would be stuck with only swapping Jesse Cole for another mid of that value. And you might not get a player that is as good as it with Jesse Colone. You could swap to a 250k winger, Masini for example who absolutely shone the lights out and you're not getting a red dot in. In your rounds and accumulating that price.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: I have, I've got the red dot with Lawson for the Dragon.
[00:28:28] Speaker B: So Lawson's going to be set to two.
[00:28:30] Speaker A: Yep, that's right.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: Yeah, he's going to be.
There's a, there's a three way showdown between Farley 2 and Tua Pollotto for the wing spot. Yep. And they haven't decided those arrangements yet.
So we'll go through your team from start to finish. So we'll go. We've got White Egan. We'll talk about his promise. He's a crafty little hooker. He's played 80 minutes a lot before and I feel like there's a lot of value in him. Has a good hia in him. He doesn't mind a good head knock to the hip and yeah he's, he's.
I think he's undervalued and can potentially do well but my main concern with him is Healey's minutes and roll off the bench. Next player we've got Trey Mooney. We just talked about him. We've got Payne Haas as the next player.
Your captain, you set and forget player. It's Hakeem Haas now. He's had a name change. He's going to the Rabbit O's in 2027.
Does that mean he's.
His output's going to be less.
They're professional football players. The team are going to want to send him out on a high and go back to back.
Payne, Hakeem Haas is literally going to produce the same output as he does every year.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: Joshua Curran. Look, I'm, I'm. If that's who you want in your team, go for it. I, I've been wrong a million times before, but my concern is his minutes and he's wrong. More minutes equals more tackles, which he calls more points.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: If he's on the bench and not getting the minutes and not getting the points, I feel like his price can drop. And you could be in a bit of a pickle with Joshua Curran.
[00:30:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: Throw in the round two buy and it's a little bit more concerning. However, positive news for Joshi Karan, which I just don't know. The full scope is Leo Thompson's out for 10 weeks with an ankle injury. So he may get that front row gig and get those minutes again. So it may.
He may actually be good, but I haven't. I need to see it. For me, I'm a cautious coach now.
David Fafida, We've talked about him in the last episode. He's so undervalued due to the bench roles and everything he played last year.
He's either gonna, he's gonna make your money and he's gonna do well on the left side. Strong side of the rabbit eyes. Next player is Hudson Young. He brained it last year. I think he's had a. A career year last year.
I just love the mongrel on that. My main concern with Hudson Young and the Raiders is a Ricky Stewart factor. Ricky Stewart likes to chop and change players around.
You've got quality forwards at the Raiders with the likes of Nicholson, Zach Hosking, Corey Horsburn, all that. He likes to shuffle all the players around and one player that usually doesn't get shuffled is Hudson Young. So I think you're safe with him.
Moses, we talked about before, Heinz, we talked about before, Jacob Karaz is.
He's electric. He's a tackle break machine, offload machine. I have him. Had him in my team initially until the round two by. And that deterred me from him. He's also potential for state of origin with this whole Zach Lomax situation digressing, but he'll be in contention with Mark Noah, Kanita Wasa as well. So it'd be interesting to see how he performs. If he, if he wants state of origin, he may Perform a little bit more and that might have a subsequent price scores to to match his performance.
Ali La I really liked what I saw from him in the trials but again trials don't depict everything but it's a nice cheap center option and spend cheap in the centers unless you're getting Herbie or Karaz Sua Failongo this weekend gets his time to shine and the fullback jersey watch reassess if not pivot to a Jai Gray from the Rabidos. Scotty Drinkwater. He's the cornerstone of the attack for the Cowboys. If he's on song Cowboys are doing good. If not, oh this guy. I had him in my team for a few season and he breaks your heart and he wins you he pretty much is your Valentine's love one day and he's a heartbreaker the next. With a dumping he can go anywhere from a score of 13 to 70.
[00:33:03] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: Nathan Lawson as we discussed he's going to be a set to two from the Dragons winger. I feel like his performance has secured a spot in the wing and it's just a person there because he's not in the system to do a straight swap to him. Yeah your bench you got Cheese.
He's starting this weekend at hooker. My main concern with cheese is the Peter Mamazoulis and Bronson Garlic on the bench at the moment for the Rabidos. What is his role? How many minutes is that going to affect his scoring but at that price it's a safe risk. And hooker coverage with mid coverage as well.
Sean Russell Russell on the bushes. You know what he actually looked really good in the trials. It's the fittest I've ever seen him at that price point. It's a safe risk. Not someone that I'm gonna go for but there's a lot of upside but I don't think he'll go much lower in price so it's it's a high risk, low risk, high reward kind of player.
Ethan sanders from the Raiders 95 of coaches will be running with him again. I he could be a slow burn cash person could just be a passenger and and not hit the lot shot, shoot the lights out. However, he's a safe risk as well.
Lisardi from the storm him and Joe Chan are both playing on the edges this week so I feel like this these two are battling it out for one spot so if you don't if Lisardi doesn't make it Chan makes it.
It's not much of a difference to go up the Chan. I think he's 310k. So I'm watching this very closely as well. And the person that is on the right hand side for the storm out of those two will be, I believe the highly favored one to fill in, Ellie Katoa. Sport Paton had a bit of a run for the All Stars game and he didn't do anything spectacular but he just did his job. And you know, doing your job gets the numbers and gets the points. Basement price 250k. You can't lose anymore. We can lose 20, but I doubt it.
There's so much upside and potential. That's why he's almost, almost 30 owned Jesse Colhoon.
He's got an opportunity to cement himself in a spot until McInnes comes back. So my main concern with him the risk is Toby Rudolph was named that lock in the week one of the trials and I feel like come team list because this is what I was talking about moving him to the bench is if Toby Rudolph is the preferred lock, you're stuck with Jesse Colhoon on bench getting minimal minutes and you wouldn't be able to shift him at the mid. So I think Jessica's got the edge over Toby Rudolph because I think Rudolph's more of a prop forward. However, coaches have sprung a few little surprises on us fantasy coaches before. So moving him to the bench allows a bit more flexibility with your team come week two, Round one.
Tommy Chester, basement price.
You have him down there to hopefully make some Money and Jag1 really good score and then get those price rises and then jump off and and get the next one.
Ryan Couchman, the Roach because he's got a brother called Toby Couchman which I call Touche. The the Roach. Ryan Couchman.
Even if he gets a bench roll, his work ethic and drive is just.
He was actually favored over Toby when he first started in the nrl. He had until he succumbed to an injury. He is an acl. He is coming back from an acl. But his trial matches have shown that he's still got that tackle efficiency, work, effort, line speed, off the ball efforts. And what I mean by off the ball efforts is the they're defending and the ball goes left and he's on the right side. He's still working hard on the opposite side of the ball and shifting left to cover the space. So I think he's a must in your team. I reckon he'll accumulate points at about a point a minute. So even if he gets 30, 40 points, he'll get 30, 40 minutes. He'll get 30, 40 points in my opinion. Shane Flanagan released a statement on Fox Sports yesterday and pretty much said seven of the Fords have been confirmed and three yet to be determined.
Those forwards are Damien Cook, Toby Couchman, Ryan Couchman, Leshona Leilua and Saleh.
Missing one Ryan Couchman and there's one other edge forward that they've selected, but Hamish Stewart wasn't listed on there, which was a bit surprising for a lot of coaches. I will be watching. I'm just concerned of minutes with the Dragons and mouths to feed and who gets what role and what minutes. So looking at your team right there, it's having Ryan Couchman as your emergency kind of there would I'd move him up to position number five.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:38:19] Speaker B: So for example, if Ryan Couchman gets a 60 point score he you want that 60 point score in your team. Now how would you get that 60 point score if he's on your bench in your emergencies at position five?
That's a great question. Thanks Youngy for asking me.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: Yeah, no worries.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: I would consider swapping out a Sean Russell or Brandon Smith for a maccassini.
Having a non player that's going to play in round two, you will have a player that doesn't score above him which was mean the next person in the scoring position on your bench, which will be Ryan Catchman because he got 60 odd points, would get those 60 points for your team and you're bringing in a player that you're probably going to bring in in round two anyway after the round one buy of the Tigers.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: Who are you something to get rid of?
[00:39:15] Speaker B: Oh, I'm just saying in this situation right here, just say you have that's your bench composition as it stands.
I would probably swap Russell around with Colquhoun Patston and I'd probably swap Brandon Smith with Colhoon in in this situation right here. But just for the purpose of this demonstration, yeah, I would probably see a later Brandon Smith drop him down to Maccassini and just go, you know what, it's a free trade. You're going to bring in Maccassini round two. If you're not bringing a Maccassini round two, then you haven't been watching any of the trials or fantasy football. He is fantasy relevant.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: And how do you spell Maccasini?
[00:40:00] Speaker B: M A, K. There it is. There you go. He is what you want for your team but you don't really want a red.round1 unless Ryan Catchman scores you 50, 60 points or, or 45 points or whatever you feel happy on the Bench then you can put a maccassini there. That red dot there will automatically activate Ryan Catchman's score to your total.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: That is what I'm going to do with my team and I am going to work out the player that I least like in my team. I'll move him up above Ryan Catchman and I'll trade him out for maccassini.
So you got a little bit to play with. You got the last week of trials this week and that will really when you get your first team list and that the watching the trials will give you a baseline of your team.
But because round one is split over two weekends, you, you really need to be careful and some of the, the considerations is having the, the gun players that are playing in Vegas in your starting team.
[00:41:04] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:41:05] Speaker B: And being flexible with week two of round one.
So you can chop and change and you're not getting stuck with a 250k player in the mids and you have to bring in another mid. But there's no mids available at 250k.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:41:23] Speaker B: So that is just like a little bit of brand new players. 101 fantasy football.
I don't know if I've articulated that well. I've explained it that well. It's a, it's going from a player that's played for 13, 14 years to hey, this is how you play it. Brand new glitter gold stars and, and the like. So I'm hoping to being able to show it on the screen and, and visualize it. We'll be able to allow viewers to get a rough idea and understanding of how that's what I mean by the staggered rounds and all the complications that fantasy are throwing at us.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: Yep. You want to, we want to look at some of the week three team lists.
[00:42:14] Speaker B: Yeah. We'll quickly go through some weekly three team lists. We'll go through them quickly. So I'll, I won't go through all 30 players listed but players of interest will go through the Rabidos. They've listed their st. I think they've laid their cards on the table and listed their full team. There's no real surprises in the team except Ash Ward is the number seven. But I feel that's the COVID for a few injuries and, and everything like that at the moment.
And I'm just looking through to see if there's any curveballs. Another one which, which could potentially sneak their way in is the Adam Elliott's and the Locky Hubners.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:51] Speaker B: But that's kind of expected. Team list.
My Concern was with the Bronson Garlic and the Mamazoulis and how that affects Brandon Smith manly they're resting Tommy Turbo and getting that it runs through the legs I'll Zach Docker Clay is and Brandon Wakem are really down on the the pecking order which seems looks like Jake Simkin might get an 80 minute roll.
[00:43:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:18] Speaker B: Joey Walsh is that young upand cominging half that everyone's frothing over.
[00:43:23] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:43:24] Speaker B: And I would be interested to see his minutes and yeah Hugo Hart is just holding space for someone else I believe but if he can really play well he can solidify a spot next game we got the Ws and the Fins and again it's so good to see not an under 20s team listed. I feel like there's a few players tennis Stower Smith he started a run from the bench last year. He gets a good starting gig and I think they're missing Mitchie Barnett from their list and I think Tamari Martin's got injured but they also got oh what was the other half for the was do you remember off the top of your head? Nah.
[00:44:14] Speaker A: Oh no.
[00:44:16] Speaker B: Give us two seconds and I will get his name up because it is fantasy relevant. So don't go jumping on Luke Hansen. Yeah because you might go up Chanel Harris, Tavita Cht you'll likely be there. Or Luke Metcalfe if he's fit and firing Trey Full is an interesting one but you don't see the hammer there. I personally think Hammer will be there. Trey Fuller just goes to this center bench.
Hammer.
Hammer. So Tabui Fidel all right.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Yep. Yep.
[00:44:55] Speaker B: Sorry about my short terms and also Donahue is not playing at hooker at the moment but Brad Schneider's snuck in there so it's a bit of a concern for Donahue owners, myself included on how Brad schneider plays at 9.
[00:45:13] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:45:14] Speaker B: Next that Maccassini guy, that kid has got some talent so I I'll be round two he's in my team. Adam Dewey, he's at value half to consider for round two and there's no Terrell May but he is going into my team in round two. He is my set and forget captain for the year and I think Terrell May's comments last year about not making New South Wales is further going to be affected this year with the addition of Adam F. Blake are available for New South Wales. So therefore for me Terrell May is a must in my team because I don't think he's making origin and he's my set and forget captain.
[00:45:59] Speaker A: Yep. Madden Can I ask you a quick question? Are Toggs going to be. Are the Togs going to be any good this season?
[00:46:06] Speaker B: I think so. I think Kai Pierce Paul he's going to unload his offload I think Newcastle said you know not to use it and then you see him in All Stars games and other games where he's lets loose and fires. Yeah so I feel like his second phase play is going to really assist the Taylor Maze and the Nakasinis and and the likes of I don't have them cracking the eight but I have them winning a few games they shouldn't. Yeah Jock Madden I believe he should be at number seven and Dahui should be 13 just because I think Jock Madden has that more game control game management albeit Adam Dewey's got a good boot on him I just think Madden has a better game management Yep Panthers good to see a pretty much full squad there I see them running out for about 40 minutes and then swapping out with their juniors after half time the rest of the big boys but nothing, nothing surprising there in that team going he's just a placeholder for Scotty Sorensen or Liam Martin Jocks and the writers the Sharks no surprises there and I see Dane Laurie at fullback I've seen the trial before they had him in the halves I think Dan Laurie is going to be the Mr. Fix It on the bench for the Raiders and they're just trying him in a few different positions to see his versatility he actually played a really good game the other in the trial so it'd be interesting to see how he goes at fullback as well and the guys that didn't play in the other trial like the Jaden Braley's, the Zach Hoskins just starting to get some numbers through the legs in different roles.
Yep but nothing surprising in that Sifa Telekai the guy we're talking about he's coming to the Bears Official number 14 for the Sharkies he can play center or edge Yep and next last the the Chookies and the Eels now this is a interesting fantasy relic so I was interested to see Connor Watson on the bench and Blake Steep at lock I think that will switch around in a non trial game but I could totally be wrong with that interpretation but that looks like a full strength Chooks lineup barring the right center I think we're missing. I forgot his name power goes like usually a bench center.
Oh you think? I'm a Chooks fan I can't even remember old mate's name and in the centers. How good am I?
[00:48:50] Speaker A: You know a lot more players than I do.
[00:48:54] Speaker B: Fantasy football really helps you knowing players as well it you get to find the junior kids and watch them develop and you Billy Smith is one center and Tommy Talal might be missing. I thought there was another Chooks player that I.
Oh Robbie Toya. I knew those missing someone Queensland state of origin Rev how do you not have the Toyer but how do I forget him? So yeah Powergas is having a getting legs in there for Toya now the Parramatta Eels there's a few players of interest here that I'm Moses I think is good. Jermaine Hopgood had a bit of a low year last year but could come back in the form. I'm really liking Jack Williams as a DPP and if he gets an 80 minute edge roll I. I feel like he's late. Little steps towards the line gets a few line breaks but there's a lot of mouths to feed at the Eels with Tuolangi and that not even getting a run.
[00:49:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Are the Eels going to do any good, you reckon?
[00:49:55] Speaker B: I've got them in my top eight, yeah. If Moses is fit Eels are going to do good.
[00:50:00] Speaker A: I was just looking at some of the players they got in there but like I don't know a lot of the players but there's a few that stand out obviously. Sean Russell because he's a sign to the Bears.
Josh Ado Car because he used to play for the Bulldogs. Mitchell Moses and you got junior Paulo.
[00:50:15] Speaker B: Jonah Pezit's I'm going to the Broncos next year but he was at the Storm system and he's. He's really, really good.
Just doesn't overplay his hand. Mitchell Moses kicking game can literally change momentum of a game and that territorial advantage. A lot of young kids with a lot of will. Penicini plays a lot better with Moses so that's why I've got him in my team for that upside there. Riley Smith, I really like him as a hooker and you've got Talon de Silva from the Tigers that came over there.
I still have Riley Smith above him.
[00:50:47] Speaker A: What's Jack to Bella? I've got. Somehow that name looks familiar to me but I don't know.
[00:50:52] Speaker B: He was at the Dragons for pretty much his old career and the Dragons pretty much said see you later and it's. He actually, if you see the interview, he actually cried. He actually didn't want to leave but he. He was the guy that was accused of that indiscretion and had time at the game he was playing for New South Wales and that he's come back solid player.
[00:51:17] Speaker A: That's what I know the name of age now.
[00:51:19] Speaker B: He's not going to shoot the lights out but he'll do a job and probably be supplemented by Dylan Walk.
[00:51:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:51:23] Speaker B: Who had a throbbing year last year.
[00:51:26] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:51:28] Speaker B: As we said in the thing so far longer watch him. See if you like him in your team and how he converts. But he is excitement to watch when whenever he gets the fullback jersey.
Joe Chambersardi. They're fighting it out for the edge spots and they're still missing a few players and resting a few players on the Storm team. Keanu Keaney. Rate him as a player. Rate him in fantasy. Just.
I don't see points with the Titans this year. I feel like they're just.
They're a couple years off.
[00:52:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:03] Speaker B: Cooper Buy on the bench could easily swap over 13. He played 13 in the trials. He's the future. I really liked what I saw of him in the small minutes that I've seen of him. Police Har. He could easily go on the front row. Tino can go to lock. Randall can go to the bench. Randall's Mr. Fix It.
Jaden Campbell. What a talent. Holy moly.
He's just excitement overload.
If you have him in your fantasy team, you'll have a fun year watching him play. He is go. He's the heart and soul of the Titans and just a. A talent.
I like having plays. You like watching like the Tedescos, the Jaden Campbell's, the Harry Grants and is there one more?
[00:52:47] Speaker A: Nope.
[00:52:47] Speaker B: And that's it. We've gone through that one already previously. And yeah. Good to see Cameron Murray back for the Rabbit O's. But yeah. That's the team list for this weekend's trial.
Recommended trials. Don't just look at the fantasy scores because you don't know how many minutes they played or what role they played in the game. You actually need to watch the game.
Some coaches just get them out there for 20 minutes. Yep. Seen enough. Have a rest if you've got your spot or you've got your runs on your legs. So it's now just working out.
Do you believe that person's gonna play the role that you envisage him playing?
[00:53:28] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:53:29] Speaker B: In the team. And how does he fit your fantasy team?
[00:53:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
Now we've got our own fantasy league, an open fantasy league going. We've got a few people on there I'm trying to find.
[00:53:42] Speaker B: Let's share that code on the socials.
[00:53:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:44] Speaker B: I'll just get it back up and.
[00:53:47] Speaker A: I'll get the code. I'll add the code.
Yeah, I've got to find. Yeah, get that code going again. We'll get it out there.
Go to invites. There's me code.
[00:53:58] Speaker B: We want the code right now and it's too many letters and numbers to remember.
[00:54:02] Speaker A: I'll put it in the. It'll be in the comments. In the comments. Look down in the comments.
[00:54:07] Speaker B: We will do a post on our Instagram and that as well. We'll put the code and share it. Share it, share it.
What are we going to do? We're gonna for the winner there. Are we going to do a head to head comp or we're just doing the overall league. What do you want? What do we want to do?
[00:54:21] Speaker A: It's an open comp at the moment.
[00:54:23] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:54:24] Speaker A: And we also got the footy tipping on our website too. You can sign up to do footy tipping and we're work. Trying to work out. Yeah we're trying to work out. I'm just got to work out what the prizes are going to be so before we publish them but to have something join.
[00:54:38] Speaker B: Join up to the open league on the the bare facts. And what we'll do is we'll work out some it. We're not made of money but there'll be a small prize and maybe something donated hopefully from the Perth Bears is what we'll aim to try to do. But we're still in the early stages of building those connections so let's just go with.
We'll try to get something from the Bears, some sort of merch or something like that for the winner.
[00:55:03] Speaker A: But yeah, we're going to be getting our own. We're going to do our own merch so we can send them a best facts merch pack as well.
[00:55:11] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll work something out. Well once we work out the minute details of awards we've got we've got a whole long season join up, see how you go and the winner will get something special from us and the team.
[00:55:25] Speaker A: Sweet.
[00:55:27] Speaker B: I'm happy to give Cuddles. Bear cuddles. Yeah, Bear Naked cuddles.
[00:55:31] Speaker A: Yep. Well anyway watch what's your spot? We're going to be doing lots of things and our main channel like the main podcast that we do on Tuesday nights. There's all links on there. We're doing heaps of things. We've got the trials for the cheerleaders that we're setting up.
So what we're going to do we're Going to go out to some of the local games.
[00:55:56] Speaker B: I in there. Did I make the cut?
[00:55:59] Speaker A: We're doing a fundraiser for you.
[00:56:01] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:56:05] Speaker A: We're doing the fundraiser. Then you'll be part of the team.
[00:56:09] Speaker B: Oh, sweet. I'll wear my mini skirt any day of the week. And I.
[00:56:15] Speaker A: Yeah. So we've got heaps of things happen throughout the season. If you're in wall, we're going to head out to some of the local games and bits and pieces and fly the flag and you'll be able to come out and meet us and say hello.
[00:56:26] Speaker B: Oh, honestly, thank you for everyone for jumping on board. I hope today's fantasy lesson is a little bit.
Makes it a little bit clearer for the people that don't really understand. And as we go week by week, it gets a little bit easier and easier. It's just the start is so complex and so, so hard.
If you don't get your start right, it can really make it difficult to come back from.
[00:56:52] Speaker A: In the AFL fantasy, there's a bug. There's a little bug where you can do a tweak with your captain and your vice captain by having.
I think it's your captain on the bench.
[00:57:09] Speaker B: Oh, you can't do that on this one.
[00:57:10] Speaker A: And then what happens is if your vice captain scores more than goes good. Better than your captain, you can swap your captain out for a sub. You can sub him out because he hasn't played yet, hasn't been locked in. So you can sub him out or take the cap.
[00:57:29] Speaker B: You can do that without the whole team here. But the captain and vice captain are locked.
[00:57:33] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:57:35] Speaker B: So once you select them in here, they're locked. You can't trade them out. So say, for example, you have your vice captain as Nathan Cleary.
[00:57:44] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:57:45] Speaker B: And he's playing in week two and some reason he doesn't play, you can't trade him out.
[00:57:52] Speaker A: So. Well, I can change them whenever I feel like it, though.
[00:57:54] Speaker B: If they're not locked, unlimited trades throughout. The only time they're locked is if they've played Y or they got the VC and the C.
So the next.
[00:58:03] Speaker A: Lockout is 11 days, 19 hours and six minutes. If.
But obviously by the time we get this up this afternoon, it'll change.
[00:58:12] Speaker B: Are we going to do a draft for the talk offline on that one? And that concludes yes.
[00:58:19] Speaker A: Yep. No. Sweet. All right, well, thanks for joining us again, Scuba Steve, thank you very much for joining us. We'll be back next Tuesday unless we do a special in between.
[00:58:31] Speaker B: Next Tuesday is the biggest one of the year. It's the actual start of rugby league football. It's a team. This Tuesday. I've been waiting. This is Christmas for me.
[00:58:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:41] Speaker B: Oh, I'll actually even. I'll wrap myself up in a present. I'll unbox it on next Tuesday. I promise you that right now, Squiz. I'll literally put some ribbon around me and I'll unbox it for next. Next Tuesday because. Oh, Christmas rugby. Legs back, baby.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: Yep. All righty.
[00:58:57] Speaker B: We'll see you next week, Vegas.
[00:59:00] Speaker A: See you later.
[00:59:02] Speaker B: Gotcha.
