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Episode 6; The Premiership RETURNS
28 Plays7 years ago
This episode, we get into solving lineup issues with all the injuries & players away on international duty. I also preview the fixtures for the coming weekend and what players to keep an eye on in those matches.
E-mail Q's? to fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com
Music provided by Royalty Free Music: http://www.soundotcom.com
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction & Platform Announcement
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello there, welcome back. This is the Finish Your Energy Yanks podcast. My name is Jared Dyke, reporting from just outside Boston, Massachusetts. It is just about that time to welcome back the premiership and we are excited. Oh, by the way, good news. We're on iTunes. So if you're listening to this through Podbean or SoundCloud or one of the other apps that I've used, well, no longer do you have to do that. You can listen to it on iTunes. So go ahead, give us a subscribe, give us a like,
00:00:35
Speaker
Whatever the heck it is, rate us if you want. You can tell us how terrible it is. You can tell us how good it is. Doesn't matter. But subscribe, download, and let us know what you think.
Premiership Return Preview & Content Highlights
00:00:45
Speaker
I'll continue to put show notes in there and all that good stuff. But so you can find us there.
00:00:53
Speaker
Okay, so it's been a lot going on in the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I'm going to keep this suspense a little longer. We're not going to get into too much internationals banter or the player news. I'm going to save that for Sunday because Sunday I am going to have somebody to bounce some chat off of and it'll be a lot more entertaining. So it'll be a nice quick episode. It'll be about 30, 40 minutes long if I can move my myself quickly here, but
Impact of International Commitments on Players
00:01:23
Speaker
Look forward to Sunday, lots of chat, lots of fun. All right, so the big thing that I wanted to address in this one is the issues that a lot of you may have with players missing. These days, players are coming from all over the universe to play in the premiership, and we're not just talking about the big countries in the Southern Hemisphere or in Europe, we're talking about
00:01:53
Speaker
tier two countries like the good old United States, Canada, Tonga, Samoa, like Georgia, Romania, all those, you know, these guys want to be released for their, their country's games.
Fantasy Team Management Challenges
00:02:09
Speaker
And most clubs know that if they don't, then they're just going to upset their players and possibly not get them resigned, especially if they like them, they're going to, they're going to release them.
00:02:23
Speaker
It's a lot of, uh, it's a lot, it's a long list. Um, I'm not going to go through everybody that's gone because God knows that would leave us here all day and you all would turn it off in the next five minutes. So let's not do that. But I will go through as fast as I possibly can is a list of players that I have in my lineup that are gone. So maybe you're missing some of those and the likely replacements that I'm going to look at when it comes to budget.
00:02:52
Speaker
announcement and productivity going forward. And then we'll look at the upcoming fixtures for the weekend and then I'll let you all be. Um, okay. So my big, my big problem, I'll tell you what my big problem is right now. I'm probably going to be forced to make at least three changes was, which means I'm eating 40 points easily. Um, cause I need locks and a flanker.
00:03:20
Speaker
and I'm probably going to need a goal kicker as well. I could not have one, but that'd be kind of dumb. So I've actually managed to puzzle together a full back line from my current squad, but I need forward help and I don't have a goal kicker in the back line, so I need help there. But let's just go through who's going on with what.
00:03:46
Speaker
So to Fete, the hooker, the hooker from Worcester. He's a, he's away with the United States. Obviously Alec Hepburn's away with England, the prop Macavar polo, uh, prop for series injured. Uh, Valor Pava Ruskin is sick, but he might be back this week. So I may be okay with that. Harry Thacker had a neck injury, but I think he's going to be back soon if he's not back already. Um, haven't didn't see anything on that. Sam Skinner is away with Scotland. Michael Rhodes away with England.
00:04:17
Speaker
Maro Toge, again, away with England. Nick Asiqui has been hurt. He probably would be with England if he wasn't. Ruan Ackerman just got hurt this week or last week. And it sounds like it was a bad one. I haven't found any details on it. So if somebody finds other details and is listening to this, please let me know. But yeah, it sounds like he's hurt and he's going to be up for a while.
Fantasy Management Tips & Strategies
00:04:40
Speaker
James Haskell, the flanker for
00:04:42
Speaker
Northampton, he just had surgery on his ankle, so he's out for a while. Jake Poledri is away with Italy, the flanker for Gloucester. Zach Mercer, who had a swimmer of a game in his debut for England, is still with England, the back row for Bath. Santana Takalua, he is away with Tonga, the scrum half from Newcastle. Owen Farrell, obviously, is your starting fly-half for England. The series fly-half, he's gone. Alex Lozowski, I believe, is playing with England still.
00:05:11
Speaker
uh, despite his band, although I think he just, the band just finished up. So no big deal there. Two CPC away with Samoa. Um, and finally the, the last name I have is AJ McGinty, the fly half for sale. Um, and the United States has a major issue with an injury and he will be out basically until January. So he's out.
00:05:37
Speaker
So that's what I got.
Affordable Flanker Recommendations
00:05:39
Speaker
Hopefully your team's doing better than mine in terms of just how decimated it's been by all this. It's tough to survive this format without having to eat some points. Um, especially in this first week back to the premiership while all the internationals are still being played, but it's doable. You just gotta find some guys that are maybe not on the most prominent teams, but are still productive.
00:06:03
Speaker
I have a list of guys that I think are valuable and worthy and are productive enough at their positions that they can hold a spot in the roster and not really feel like it's costing you too much. I used the 3PG to kind of gauge different positions and different players. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that this is the
00:06:33
Speaker
Magic formula and it's gonna produce you the best team hands it hands down Week in and week out it won't but it gives you a it just gives you a Another metric to look at when considering who you're gonna pick for your team coming up So I need now remember most a lot of these players are eligible for multiple positions Just because I have them listed as one thing doesn't mean they're not listed
00:07:00
Speaker
you know oftentimes a flanker will be listed as an eight man as well or a lock and same thing with the back like you know a wing will also be eligible at full back some full backs are eligible at wing or center or fly half although some scrum halves are eligible at either fly half or wing so there's all kinds of things out there so just be on the lookout you know you could have a a rarity like
Back Rowers & Locks: Cost vs. Productivity
00:07:27
Speaker
Harry Thacker and Ashley Johnson who are both eligible to play at least flanker if not the whole back row so Make get creative with your lineup a little bit, too You know obviously you have to fit that some of these things into your budget as well so if you're at the top of your budget, and you don't have any wiggle room you're gonna have to find pretty much a like-for-like replacement in terms of price So let's uh let's go through a few that I've compiled
00:07:55
Speaker
First at Flanker, Ted Hill from the Worcester Warriors. He is, I believe he's eligible for more than one position, but that's definitely a name I would put up there. Yeah, Ted Hill's definitely a name up there. He's only, he's only listed as Flanker, but he's only 132 pounds. So use that, use that for what it's worth.
00:08:20
Speaker
And Sam Lewis, also another flanker from Worcester. You know, people think Worcester and they're like, do I really want to play a Worcester player? They're not that bad. They scored plenty of points. Not all of them are going to score a ton of points per game because
00:08:38
Speaker
This is maybe one of the bottom two teams in the league, but still consider it because you got, like I said, we're at a point where you have to get creative. You can't get crazy. You can't be super, super picky. Yeah. Sam Lewis is a flanker only on the website. He's a hundred and 83 pounds. So he's a little more than Ted Hill. And I think actually Ted Hill has been a little bit more productive. So maybe look to see if you can get him first, especially if you need to pinch pennies in other areas, Louis Ludlow from Gloucester.
00:09:07
Speaker
He's another blanker that doesn't jump out you, but does his job very well, is very productive for the prices. He's at 192, 192 pounds, and he's also eligible to play eight man. So if you need somebody with a little flexibility, go with that guy.
00:09:27
Speaker
Lewis Ludlum Not to be confused with Ludlow Ludlum from Northampton Saints He's actually a little cheaper than Ludlow also eligible as an eight-man. He's 156 pounds again up there in productivity in terms of what you're spending for points and then of course a Guy I think he's kind of had a
00:09:50
Speaker
He's had a tough run and I thought he should have got picked for England, but Mac of Essex again up there in price 239, but he's probably going to start at eight man for exit or unless there's something going on that I've missed. There is a chance of that, but yeah, Mac of Essex is definitely a guy to put out there if you have him in the budget. All right. So another position I need a little help with is eight man. So I need back rowers like you read about.
00:10:21
Speaker
John Ross from sale is 220 pounds also eligible at flanker so somebody else to consider at the flanker spot and Josh Beaumont also from sale he is eligible at lock as well he's 253 pounds so that's not overly expensive for the productivity they've put out but
00:10:48
Speaker
Also, you know, it's not super cheap like the other guys we talked about, like Ted, Ted Hill and Sam Lewis and, uh, I think Ludlow and London Ludlow. We're also the, on the cheap end. Um,
00:11:02
Speaker
GJ van Velsa from Worcester. He's 209. He's eligible to play both flanker and eight. He's been very productive in his time. So give him a give him a look really like a lot. There's going to be a lot of Worcester players on this only because, you know, they're good players. They just weren't good enough to make their national squads.
Evaluating Lock Options
00:11:25
Speaker
GJ van Velsa is definitely a name to throw out there. James Chisholm from
00:11:31
Speaker
From the twins, as I said, as I spoke of him, Flanker in number eight, he is 220 pounds, not as productive, in my opinion, as Van Velsa or even Ross, but versatile, so worth the pennies if you're in that aspect, if you're looking for somebody that can play both Flanker and eight.
00:11:58
Speaker
I will also go, we'll talk about a little bit about which teams are giving up the most to different positions and different position groups in a little bit that might help you make your decision on that one. All right, let's go to second rows. This site likes to call them locks, doesn't matter, it's the same thing. We'll roll in from the WASP
00:12:26
Speaker
He's been very productive since launch, but he's been out. Uh, I'm pretty sure he's healthy. I didn't see any news about him being hurt. So 162 pounds. He's only eligible at lock though. So that's the thing. But for, if you just need a lock and you know, you just need a lock and you've got your back row set up rock and roll, that's a good price right there for a hit for his productivity.
00:12:49
Speaker
162 pounds. That's really good. And he's not to say he's not good, but he's just not going to go anywhere. Um, on international duty, duty anytime soon. So give that a, give that a look. Uh, at homes from Bristol, again, another, another team, I said, I'd probably investigate quite a bit because there are most of their players didn't go anywhere.
00:13:19
Speaker
And now they've been playing, continued to play together for another three weeks through this Premiership Cup. That also helps. Uh, at homes, another cheapo, 142 pounds, but again, only eligible at lock. So make sure your back row is set. You, you know, you got the guys you want back there. And then that's, that's all for your taking right there. If you, if you need a, if you need somebody on the cheap side.
00:13:45
Speaker
Bryn Evans is gonna be another name that pops up quite a bit. The lock for sale, he's a Kiwi, not going anywhere, been pretty productive even at the right page of 34. 234 pounds, it'll cost you again, only eligible at lock. So consider that when making this selection, you're not gonna have the flexibility of
00:14:14
Speaker
certain other players like a, obviously they're not there, but like Amaro Atoje who can play both lock and flanker or Courtney laws that can play both lock and flanker. So re so consider those factors when you're making the selection, because you're going to need to ride some of these guys probably for a little bit. Um, cause even once the,
00:14:36
Speaker
Internationals are over you're looking at Europe coming up Shortly after that so you'll probably see a heavy squad rotation Plus some of these guys are probably gonna want to rest and some may come out of the other side international of the internationals hurt Consider that as well. I hate to say it. I hate the fact that there are injuries out there But it's just you know, it's a fact of the game
00:15:01
Speaker
Dave ribbons from Northampton a lock and a flanker a little bit more flexibility with that he's 187 pounds so not overly expensive not as low as a couple of the guys we talked about like homes but again some versatility in there not over he's under the 200 pound mark which is really cheap
00:15:22
Speaker
If you consider that the top end of the whole player pool is in the upper 400s, granted there's only, I don't know, six, seven players that hit that mark, but yeah. Dave ribbons and he's tearing up trees for Northampton as well. You got to consider that, uh, Chris Vue. I don't know if he's healthy. He wasn't healthy before we went into the international break and before we went into Europe. So.
00:15:52
Speaker
Double check that I didn't see anything, but again, maybe there's something that I just really obviously missed. If he's healthy, he's both eligible at lock and flanker. He's 162 pounds. He's been fairly productive when he's made the team and been on the field. Just has a hard time staying hurt, so staying healthy keeps getting hurt. So keep that in mind if you seek out Chris Ruby.
00:16:19
Speaker
And then Calum Green, he's up there in price, 252 pounds, very productive for the Newcastle Falcons. I think they're starting to get, everything's starting to click up there in Newcastle again. They're, they're playing pretty good rugby. Obviously they had two gigantic wins in Europe. So I think the, I think the ball is rolling up there on Tyneside. So Calum Green, he's only eligible at lock. Remember that again. So you've, you noticed there's only a couple of guys.
00:16:47
Speaker
on this list that I've just given are eligible in multiple positions. So make sure that your back row is set and you aren't going to need and you have a little bit of cover too.
Goal Kickers: Versatility & Budget
00:16:58
Speaker
All right. So my other, my, my final issue, my final problem area is, is, um, is that goal kicker or 10, whatever it is, you gotta find one, right? Okay. So there's,
00:17:14
Speaker
A consideration for a guy like Ben Spencer, if he's on the pitch for Saracens and starts, that's a guy to throw out there. He's only, he is 250 pounds, just a scrum half, not a versatile player on the website at least. He does the goal kicking for Saracens when Owen Farrell's not there. If not, then I'd consider
00:17:40
Speaker
Alex good To be the next person in line to take the tee for Saracens. That's another name I have on this list Obviously, there's other big names day. Seprieani from Gloucester why did I just blank on that his band is up? So the band he picked up in Europe his band is up. So I would definitely have a peek at him He is gonna be a little bit on the expensive side
00:18:09
Speaker
Um, he is 390 pounds, but also eligible at fullback. If you have it in the budget, maybe throw it out there. Limasopuaga, another name I'd consider 354 pounds, not going anywhere. He's not going to play for the Kiwis. Obviously he's, he's in the premier ship. He's not eligible to play for the All Blacks. So, um, if you have it in the budget, 354 pounds, you bet Limasopuaga is going to produce.
00:18:36
Speaker
For sure. Freddy Burns, a little less than that at 318 for Bath, also eligible as a fullback. So if you have somebody that's locked into your fly app position and you can't find another place for them, but you still need that goal kicker, you can get Freddy Burns into the back line via fullback and get that going. And the last one, I had one more. Ah.
00:19:06
Speaker
So also Billy Searle would be another name to throw out there. The other, the other, um, lost. Goal kicker and fly half. That's only if he plays though. Um, I'd suspect that there will be more games with Sopa Wagga than there will be with Billy Searle, but, um, Billy Searle has been really, really productive for the price that he is. He is.
00:19:37
Speaker
I have Billy Searle at 113 in my sheet, but I can't find him in the game.