Blackout Rugby

[Yorkshire Blue]

More 'stars' but less balanced. Also shows how back heavy we are.

1. Conor Broder - 14,542 CSR
2. Zachary Monaghan - 30,369 CSR
3. Michael Stewart - 13,382 CSR
4. Francis Leo'o - 10,417 CSR
5. Moronobu Murakami - 13,647 CSR
6. Phil Higgs - 12,147 CSR
7. Lance Paige - 16,495 CSR
8. Tikaroa Waara - 14,808 CSR
9. Dwight Idle - 34,261 CSR
10. Xavier Blain - 26,030 CSR
11. Patrice Cork - 15,364 CSR
12. Norman Beaton - 35,276 CSR
13. Tyler Brazier - 12,883 CSR
14. Rhys Hughes - 39,530 CSR
15. Michael Flaherty - 21,540 CSR

Combine our two teams and that would be a pretty handy side.

 

[MrB]

Lol at me for calling them nets.....

England manager not happy about the fact I've stopped training Hughes, doubt he'll play much this season anyway. Beaton is actually a better player but has much worse stamina.

 

[mcrabb]

Yep - a few good stars there. I'd definitely take Hughes, Beaton and Idle for my team.

I definitely think I'd have the edge against you in the forwards, but the way this game works I reckon you'd beat me. I think the star players tend to make the difference rather than a balanced team.

I managed to win in my cup game against a bot. A fairly comfortable 61-0 although there were a couple of injury scares.

I still find the performance of the forwards is generally disappointing. There seems to be some positions (fullback in particular) where I nearly always get a good rating, but the forwards rarely do any better than Reputable (below potential). I don't know if this is partly affected by tactics but it does make me wonder if you're actually better off focusing on the backs as it seems they are much more likely to perform.

 

[MrB]

I'm still learning, only just found out about the front row height factor, played 3 seasons with a prop much smaller than my hooker, corrected that little anomaly and we haven't conceded a point yet this season. Haven't paid much attention to the ratings, they seem to be very random. My first XV is pretty set so doesn't bother me how they play.

Got another bot in the cup next round which is handy, need sponsor/fan mood up to speed asap so we can start filling the ground.

 

[mcrabb]

What is the restriction exactly? I remember seeing that if your props were drastically different in height then it would imbalance your scrum, but I can't remember the restriction about hooker.

Unfortunately my best prop (Dash) is only 174cm and has pretty poor handling so would be no good as a hooker. I'm not sure if I'd have much luck getting in a smaller hooker than that. My current hooker Parer is 178cm.

 

[MrB]

From the rules:

3. Balance. The front row forms the platform for the rest of the scrum to be able to apply pressure at contact. They need to be fairly similar in height, within a reasonable range, with the hooker being shorter/equal in size to the props, as well the expectation that your locks are taller than your props. Locks also need to have similar height for a good balance in the scrum. An excessive gap in size could penalise the scrum's efficiency. One last factor when considering height and the scrum, is that a small advantage will apply for front rows that are shorter than the opposition's.

I've set myself up with
175..171..181
...200...202...

My hooker is one of my best players, just needs more technique.

Zachary Monaghan
20 years old | 30,601 CSR (+481) | 171 cm | 122 kg
Right handed, right footed, in reputable form, and perfect energy levels.
An aggressive player with controlled discipline, limited leadership, and limited experience.
Stamina: Satisfactory Handling: Impressive
Attack: Moderate Defense: Princely
Technique: Reputable Strength: Impressive
Jumping: Satisfactory Speed: Horrible
Agility: Limited Kicking: Limited

 

[mcrabb]

Oh okay. Maybe I won't get a huge penalty as the height isn't massively different. Although I might need to think about replacing my other prop. Currently the heights are:
174-179-192
204-203

Front row consists of:
Laurence Dash
20 years old | 21,856 CSR | 174 cm | 127 kg
Stamina: Average Handling: Limited
Attack: Satisfactory Defense: Admirable
Technique: Admirable Strength: Princely
Jumping: Non-Existent Speed: Horrible
Agility: Despicable Kicking: Decent

Matthew Parer
19 years old | 17,157 CSR | 179 cm | 125 kg
Right handed, left footed, in reputable form, and perfect energy levels.
Stamina: Average Handling: Admirable
Attack: Despicable Defense: Admirable
Technique: Satisfactory Strength: Admirable
Jumping: Satisfactory Speed: Non-Existent
Agility: Despicable Kicking: Limited

Jerome Denner
19 years old | 15,267 CSR | 192 cm | 125 kg
Right handed, right footed, in decent form, and perfect energy levels.
Stamina: Satisfactory Handling: Limited
Attack: Reputable Defense: Satisfactory
Technique: Reputable Strength: Admirable
Jumping: Moderate Speed: Limited
Agility: Despicable Kicking: Decent

Maybe I would be better off with one of my reserve front rowers...
Regan Butler
29 years old | 14,513 CSR | 186 cm | 141 kg
Stamina: Limited Handling: Decent
Attack: Decent Defense: Admirable
Technique: Reputable Strength: Satisfactory
Jumping: Average Speed: Non-Existent
Agility: Despicable Kicking: Horrible

Damian Barton
19 years old | 12,814 CSR | 180 cm | 119 kg
Stamina: Moderate Handling: Decent
Attack: Satisfactory Defense: Satisfactory
Technique: Decent Strength: Admirable
Jumping: Average Speed: Despicable
Agility: Despicable Kicking: Limited

Or maybe my blindside flanker...
Valente Rullo
20 years old | 24,208 CSR | 181 cm | 110 kg
Stamina: Moderate Handling: Average
Attack: Limited Defense: Admirable
Technique: Impressive Strength: Impressive
Jumping: Horrible Speed: Limited
Agility: Despicable Kicking: Reputable

Any ideas?

 

[MrB]

Tough one, Dash is a nice player but since I balanced my front row I haven't conceded a point. I'd be tempted to cash in on Dash, play Butler at prop for his weight and then use the cash to invest in a flanker with some pace (seems quite important).

 

[mcrabb]

Not too sure if it's so critical for a blindside. My open side flanker and No.8 have reasonable speed:

Openside Flanker:
Ambrogio Faustino
20 years old | 23,867 CSR | 186 cm | 111 kg
Stamina: Satisfactory Handling: Decent
Attack: Decent Defense: Impressive
Technique: Reputable Strength: Admirable
Jumping: Moderate Speed: Decent
Agility: Moderate Kicking: Average

No.8
Howie Tinsley
19 years old | 18,115 CSR | 199 cm | 120 kg
Stamina: Satisfactory Handling: Decent
Attack: Average Defense: Admirable
Technique: Reputable Strength: Admirable
Jumping: Horrible Speed: Decent
Agility: Average Kicking: Horrible

Actually I was playing Rullo at prop until I posted his stats on the Aussie forum to see what they thought. They recommended blindside flanker and said he wasn't that far from the national team (although this was beginning of last season).

Not sure whether to take your advice on Dash. He is my most consistent performer in the scrum and he was one of my starting players so quite attached to him. I'm not sure if I would be more tempted to sell Denner and get a shorter prop in to replace him.

Having said all that I have only conceded three points in 4 games so far this season so the team isn't doing badly defensively. Perhaps the no points conceded is more influenced by the change to the match engine than to changing your front row.

 

[MrB]

Probably, though I'd like to think I had a small part to do with it!! Probably not though....

Won again Saturday, promoted teams aren't too strong so should finish top 4 comfortably again.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Any ideas on how much these two are worth?

Wendell Wing
20 years old | 10,137 CSR | 178 cm | 110 kg
Right handed, right footed, in reputable form, and perfect energy levels.
A timid player with controlled discipline, average leadership, and despicable experience.
Stamina: Admirable Handling: Moderate
Attack: Average Defense: Moderate
Technique: Decent Strength: Reputable
Jumping: Moderate Speed: Average
Agility: Non-Existent Kicking: Despicable

Eli Wight
20 years old | 9,712 CSR | 185 cm | 113 kg
Left handed, left footed, in reputable form, and perfect energy levels.
A timid player with collected discipline, non-existent leadership, and non-existent experience.
Stamina: Satisfactory Handling: Moderate
Attack: Satisfactory Defense: Satisfactory
Technique: Reputable Strength: Reputable
Jumping: Moderate Speed: Despicable
Agility: Despicable Kicking: Limited

 

[MrB]

I just sold someone similar to them for $12k who was younger and heavier.

 

[mcrabb]

Last week I sold this guy for 31K...

Tom Herbert
28 years old | 11,910 CSR | 194 cm | 95 kg
Stamina: Limited Handling: Moderate
Attack: Satisfactory Defense: Admirable
Technique: Reputable Strength: Average
Jumping: Non-existent Speed: Non-existent
Agility: Limited Kicking: Average

Despite the inferior CSR I would say Eli Wight is definitely better

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Last week I sold this guy for 31K...

Tom Herbert
28 years old | 11,910 CSR | 194 cm | 95 kg
Stamina: Limited Handling: Moderate
Attack: Satisfactory Defense: Admirable
Technique: Reputable Strength: Average
Jumping: Non-existent Speed: Non-existent
Agility: Limited Kicking: Average

Despite the inferior CSR I would say Eli Wight is definitely better

How much did you list him for?

 

[mcrabb]

30K - simply because of his CSR as opposed to him being a particularly good player. I had two bids on him.

 

[MrB]

Another cup win, a fourth bot in a row in the next round and the round after should see me playing either a bot or a '1 click'. Nice cosy route into the Round 6.

Tracking the draw through shows my Round 6 opponents will be one of three III teams so will start to get tough from there.

 

[mcrabb]

Yep, I had a comfortable win against a bot this round, but have a slightly tougher match next round. I think my opponent has 2 internationals (French) although they're a div IV team and only have about half a dozen players over 10K CSR so I should really beat them.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I've a div III team next up :-(

 

[MrB]

Another win on Saturday, two of the promoted teams beaten relatively comfortably and we now top the table. Tougher games to come but we're certainly looking more solid and our 131kg prop seems to be giving us a bit more oomph in the scrum.

 

[mcrabb]

I was very pleased with my result. I was up against a pretty tough team who I expect to challenge for the league this season. I managed a 19-10 win and defensively I looked very strong up until the last 5 minutes (where I conceded a try and almost another).

Nothing spectacular in the training updates today - 7 pops (5 on 1st teamers). I'm looking for a couple of decent 17yo trainees at the moment, and got a few bids in. Annoyingly I had my eye on someone yesterday but my internet at home took so long to log on I missed out.

Cup game tomorrow and I've got an active team. I should beat them but they've got a few pretty decent players.