Eels Blogs

Hey All,

Just figured i'd put this out there for any serious NRL supercoach players out there. Not too sure how many of you on here play.

So i listened to the Nrl Supercoach Pre-Season 2013 pod cast and also been glancing through rugby league week and there are a few things of interest. Some things to mull over in prep for the 2013 season when it finally comes back and takes us away from our lives again.

RULE CHANGES

First up is the rule changes for supercoach 2013. While nothing has been officially stated yet from NRL supercoach HQ. The AFL version of supercoach has already announced what they are planning to change and if history is anything to go by then NRL supercoach will most likley follow seeming that it is the same company behind the game. The afl supercoach changes are:

• Increased Trades from 24-30. As NRL already has 30 so i'm not sure if they are going to increase this or not but an extra 2 trades last season would have been very welcome.
• Rolling Lockout over the game weekend - This is a very strong chance of being implemented and in fact this was hinted at multiple times as a priority change. It means that players are not locked into a position until their game actually kicks off. So if its an hour before the game and there is a late withdrawl you can still bring someone else in provided that they havn't played yet.
• Possibility of only counting the top 13 scores on origin weeks, not the full 17. This is being talked about and would greatly level the playing field over the origin period.
• They are also looking at the ability to nominate an additional auto emergency, in afl supercoach you apparently could nominate 3. Now they are thinking of extending that to 4 and hopefully that means that NRL supercoach is a good chance of letting us nominate 1 auto emergency player.
• There is also talk of points for tackle busts and kick meters but this is a hotly debated topic as it is one thing that separates Supercoach from Dream team in the stats and it has been evidenced that points for tackle busts can greatly skew the stats. For example a player could run 20 meters accross field, break 5 tackes and get big points but not have made any actual meters in the run.

PLAYER WATCH & TRANSFERS

On the players front There is alot going on but In terms of transfers and such It is looking at being a very different year to the seasons past.

• The addition of David Stagg at the Broncos could effect Corey Parker's already decreased minutes rendering him a no go at his current hefty price tag. Corey is also a chance of losing his kicking duties to Prince.
• Tony Williams leaving the sea eagles as well as Daniel Harrision's move to the Eels pretty much solidifies Jamie Buhrers 2nd row spot at the sea eagles and he has a proven work rate  when given the 80 minutes.
• Obviously James Graham will be out of the bulldogs side for at least 8 nrl games so this could benefit Tolman and Kasiano. Tolman was a 70-80 point man before Graham came into the side. It could also mean more minutes for rookie Dale Finucane.
• While Bronson harrison leaves the for the Dragons, this opens up a position for recent Knights recruit Joel Edwards into the starting 17 at the Canberra Raiders.
• Paul Gallen is most likley looking at a permanent move into the Front Row considering Heinington and Luke Lewis have been recruited. Although Gal can play 80 minutes the chances are he will most likley play closer to 60 with the forward pack that the Sharks bolster.
• Also at sharks will Michael Gordon get his fullback role? He is at a much more reasonable price for 2013 considering his avg of 50.9. If he stays injury free he will be a very big scorer at his desired position.
• Gerard Beale is looking solid for a starting fullback role @ dragons and if so seems a looming cheapy.
• Wes Naiqama also looking at being starting fullback at the Panthers and could also boost his scores in that position.
• Tom Burgess is looking to beat his brother George onto the bench and has been decribed from fans as the most promising out of all the Burgess bros.
• Of Course there is SBW's return to league for the roosters and his attractiveness will depend on his starting price. Could easily be a 300k player.
• On the eels side of things what does a team without workhorse Nathan Hindmarsh do. who absorbs the extra minutes and tackles? Joseph Paulo's score could improve and an increase in minutes for Matt Ryan looks likley.
  
  

BYES ANALYSIS

Below is screenshot (from the SC talk website) of the bye weeks. Origin players will miss Rounds 12, 15 and 18 this season.

• The Bulldogs have the best bye schedule for non-origin players but he worst for origin players as they will miss 5 games over 8 weeks.
  
• Ok teams are Broncos, Cowboys (15 & 19). Titans, Rabbitohs, (13 & 18). Storm (12 & 19) and the Eels (12&16).
• The bad teams are Raiders, Roosters (12 & 18). Knights, Warriors, Dragons (15 & 18).
• The worst teams for bye weeks are Manly, Panthers and Sharks (12 & 15)
  

So all in all it is still early on in the Supercoach pre-season but things are looking to change. For once it appears that a majority teams will start the season without the likes of Paul Gallen and Corey Parker, waiting for thier prices to come down to earth and Rule changes could change our tactics a great deal for the coming season.