Social Player Agent Game Voting Thread Open

[Inruin]

Well, for my votes I tried to look for weaknesses and reasons to rule teams out. Sometimes that gets a little bit pedantic looking for reasons but it is what it is. Must say it was interesting observing the game unfold.

So in no particular order here is my rational for my choices, like them or not!

Gus's Wizards - actually was surprised you managed to get such a strong team assembled considering your two luxury purchases. My concerns were K Hunt at fullback, Corey Parker, Leka on the bench, but the most glaring is Saifiti at prop. Might have considered moving Parker to lock and have Clark off the bench or starting prop and Capewell or Leka to second row. Good team though with arguably two of the most influential players of the modern era in the spine.

Uncivil Warriors - very solid team. Best and RTS were a bit underwhelming for me as a center/wing combo and I struggled to see how Kimmorley would be utilized off the bench. My 3rd place.

Warriors StrikeForce - this is an awesome team. One of my favorites to be honest. Almost gave you top spot but marked you down for your centres. My 2nd place

Starford's Stars - some great picks and some head scratchers. Toa on the bench being the main one. Add in Lodge and Hetherington as well and the bench is an issue for me. I might have considered playing McInnes at lock with Carrol moving to second row and Mason on the bench.

Muddogs XIII - Another solid team but I wondered how many errors and bad defensive reads both of your wingers would have each game. Boyd at centre, Curran in the second row and your bench quality were little things that gave me a little concern but it was your halves pairing that made me wonder how it would work together. Two great players but in my mind not complimentary.

The Territorial Monsters - scary good team. If I'm being picky, you could question the halves but the more I thought about it I think both players are under rated. Adam Reynolds dual premiership winner, 60%+ winning percentage across a dozen seasons, with an outstanding kicking game, elite goal kicker and his running game is decent too. There are better 6's but Trent Barrett is no mug either, dally m player of the year and I think compliments AR perfectly. This team is my top pick.

Apex Predators - good team but I couldn't go past having Drearden and Ponga on the bench together with one of the best utility players at 9 with no noted back up. The 1-17 just didn't have the same balanced feel for me as my other picks.

Northern Rynos - so close to a very good team but having to push Menzies in to centre and Gallen playing second row just detracts to much for me. Might have been better playing Strange at centre, Menzies second row, Gallen at lock with Jake dropping to the bench. Still would have been question marks on your centre but maybe not as big of a one with seemingly several positional changes to cover.

So there are my picks and reasons. Not easy, especially with the time and effort that has been put in to each team but it looks like @Chris Hodges only had one participation award to hand out.

1. The Territorial Monsters
2. Warriors StrikeForce
3. Uncivil Warriors

 

[Cces]

Quality sides & a lot of fun to be involved in. The Mrs is a Clinical Psychologist & reckons I've got a wee smidge of undiagnosed autism (elements of this in my mum) mixed in with some ADHD (my dad would have 100% meet the criteria for this) so my approach to voting mirrored this observation. I immediately choose my 2 top teams, analyzed them microscopically to determine who was deserving of the 3 points. After spending way too much time on that I lost interest & put fuck all thought into the 1 point vote as I believed Defence would've beat the remainder anyway. In hindsight, I definitely should have given that last vote a bit more respect considering the amount of time the remaining 5 team managers put in.

Anyway, my 10 cents worth:

Northern Rynos - one of the most dynamic starting 13s and with so many spots to fill in your squad in the final few rounds I thought you were in a position to scoop up some real bargains from Hodge's stable to replace some of your 2025 players, who personally I don't view as highly, in the last couple of auctions.
Tweaks I would've tried to make are even though Folau's skill set does favour Wing he did play way more at Centre so I would've shifted him there & tried to pick up Blacklock at the last auction for the minimum, shifted Menzies to Second Row, Gallen to Prop (which you could've argued that he would go 80 mins) leaving you with a big trio of Andrew Fifita, Leota & Whyte on the bench to go with Strange (Foran to be cover at #9).

Apex Predators - that backline paired with those edge backrowers would rack up points fast given half a chance! DCE & Walsh would provide in the clutch & Benji could pick & choose when he wants to turn it on. I think the starting middles would struggle to get parity, limiting Wing's running game, and the bench middle aren't changing the momentum against this quality of opposition.

Muddogz XII - Looks like you could well be the People's Champ. That shows how much elite talent you've stacked around guys like Liam Henry & Josh Curran who aren't even mid-tier of the current generation. It was well known that you were after Buderus on the final day as one of your final 4 recruits and I found myself doing some maths & putting out a bid for him, even though I didn't really need him, to ensure you were out of the hunt for Burgess as he would have elevated your team by strengthening the glaring weakness of the backrow. I didn't see Boyd at Centre coming on the last day & think him being pushed there in his final NRL season was a stain on his career. Each to their own but Boyd (or even Bowen) at Fullback with Wighton at Centre would've caught my attention more.

Starford's Stars - if I could referee a game involving this team the chat on the field would blow my mind. So many big personalities. JWH, Mason, Thorn & Carroll would absolutely belt teams defensively & the electric speed on the Wings would frighten every opponent. The bench is unbalanced & no where near as strong as anyone else though. I'm not 100% on this but I think both Mason & Thorn's peak years had the luxury of more than today's 8 substitutes, and they weren't 80 minute players in their eras. Carroll does have versatility to move there though. Hetherington & Toa don't belong in this company however. If I remember correctly you still had about 350k unspent for a last minute upgrade. You're spot on when you mentioned you got caught in the trap of picking your personal favourites, I did the same thing last year and it was to my team's detriment.

Warriors Strikeforce - my #1 team & what i thought was the most balanced. Carrying both Lewis & Hunt in your 17 has all scenarios covered. If anything I'd start Martin & utilize David Fifita off the bench. Some may mark you down for just the one Prop on the interchange but once Murray comes on at Lock, Taumalolo is into the Prop rotation.

Gus's Wizards - the ceilings of Smith, Thurston, Toopi, Crichton & Scott are incredible but the guys around them could've been way better had you still been actively bidding in the later letters. I've got a soft spot for KHunt too but found out last year that he's quite polarizing. Might've been a different story had he represented NZ. You were definitely the Most Valuable Personality.

Uncivil Warriors - my 2nd pick by the slimmest of margins. In my eyes the best spine & if you consider #13 a spine player it strengthens the case. Missing out on Farnworth was a real kick in the dick but I'm not certain that having Farnworth & then Stefano on the bench is actually much better than Best & Bird.
No genuine Hooker or Centre cover counted against you in the end along with no recognized right Centre.

Shout out to Defence who could've submitted:
1 Billy Slater
2 Lote Tuquiri
3 Kotoni Staggs (gk)
4 Herbie Farnworth
5 Wendell Sailor
6 Cameron Munster
7 Jahrome Hughes
8 JFH
9 Brandon Smith
10 Patrick Carrigan
11 Hudson Young
12 Jeremia Nanai
13 Brad Fittler

14 Nicho Hynes
15 Nelson Asofa-Solomona
16 Siosiua Taukeiaho
17 Haumole Olakau'atu

 

[Inruin]

Shout out to Defence who could've submitted:
1 Billy Slater
2 Lote Tuquiri
3 Kotoni Staggs (gk)
4 Herbie Farnworth
5 Wendell Sailor
6 Cameron Munster
7 Jahrome Hughes
8 JFH
9 Brandon Smith
10 Patrick Carrigan
11 Hudson Young
12 Jeremia Nanai
13 Brad Fittler

14 Nicho Hynes
15 Nelson Asofa-Solomona
16 Siosiua Taukeiaho
17 Haumole Olakau'atu

Man that's a seriously strong looking line up. Can only really mark him down on his 9 and lack of back up hooker on the bench.

Oh and a goal kicker (jokes)

 

[Chris Hodges]

Poor Herbie. Gets picked as a controversial auction result, and still doesnt get picked in the final list of teams.

Would have been nice to do a full final team list including Defence. He had a really good team and would have been nice to talk to him about his teams strengths and weaknesses.

Big thanks to the analytical gurus on the forum for breaking down each team and going through combinations, positions even down to who subs who and the thinkimg behind the makeup of the benches. I love the final analysis on each team more than the game itself, especially the rationale behind picking teams apart or understanding why it could all work.

What was your guys reasoning on how to rank players though, as theres different eras involved and rating teams is very subjective. I took the simple approach of essentially determining the prime era for each player in their chosen position. Thats why i simply couldnt look past players like Menzies selected at centre.

There were some very good teams selected and people put a lot of thought and effort into it. Well done all.

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

I ranked every team on Spine, Middles, Edge forwards, Outside backs & Bench, then decided on my 3 votes. Happy to show my rankings for each of these across all the teams, can include mine & Defences teams as well if of interest, but can also just keep it to top 3 & exclude mine.