The Workhorse Watcher’s Top NRLCEO Tips – Pt 1
So you’re new to NRLCEO? Maybe you need some help to make the 2016 season a winning one? In no particular order, here are my top tips to playing NRLCEO – Part I.
Forwards win matches, backs decide by how much
It’s true in the actual game and it’s true in NRLCEO. You can not win without a good forward pack so make sure you get some big guns early. Of the top 100 players from 2015, there was a 50/50 split between backs and forwards however out of the top 50, 31 were forwards. Out of the top 25, it was 18! Yes, a star back will have a massive week every now and then and win you the game but a quality forward will score week in, week out and lay a platform for you to be competitive every week. Even the best backs only average a try every other game.
A star player is a star player
Don’t buy into the whole “I’m not going to pick him because he’ll miss too many games through Origin” excuse. I’ve played in a keeper league with the same bunch of mates every year. At the start of each year we’re each allowed to retain a certain amount of players from the previous season and over the last three years myself and one other guy have contested the Grand Final every year. His starting hooker is Cam Smith and mine has been Robbie Farah. You wouldn’t find two players who have bigger workloads or miss more games from rep football than these two and yet we both insist on having them in our team because of how potent they can be when they are there, especially come finals time. If your team can’t afford to drop a couple of games midway through the year and still make the finals, then you’re no chance of winning the comp anyway.
Draft the best player available; avoid positional rushes
There will be a point in your draft when a handful of players who play the same position get picked one after the other. The natural reaction is to panic and quickly pick the next best player in that position before they all go. Whilst it’s important to have a well balanced team and finishing a draft with a hole in your roster is a cardinal sin, if there is a better player sitting there pick them and worry about how to fill that other position later.
Recruit every week, even if you don’t have to
You never know when an injury might strike so even though you might not have room for a player in your team this week, you may end up needing him in the future but by then it might be too late. With that said, don’t get too trigger happy on recruits either. There’s no point picking up a bench player who you know will be dropped in a week at the expense of a regular first grader who will be back in a couple of weeks. This is not Supercoach, you can’t just buy and sell willy nilly. Once you let a player a go, your chances of getting him back (if he’s any good) are nill. Play the long game but recruit when you can.
If a trade offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is
As an NRLCEO newbie, don’t fall victim to trade offers made by unscrupulous opponents looking to take advantage of your naivety. No one is going to make you an offer that leaves them worse off so unless a trade fixes a genuine problem just say no. And don’t strengthen a position if it weakens another.
Part II coming soon…
Geoff Adams
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