@Muddogz. Is it a concern Curren has thrown his career away signing for the Perth Bears. Don’t pedigree players come from title winning clubs?
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1) Its a bit concerning that you consider TImoko to be defensively strong. He is amongst the lower tier when it comes to defence for centers. Note tackle efficiency rates only count if you get within reach to your opposition who has smoked you. And smoked he did...often. Maybe have a read from their own fans - https://thegh.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36772
2) Bit weird to have vice captains assuming the role of leading the team onfield and the captain (a back utility at that) sitting on the pine. Who will Toa come on for? How do legends like Price and Lyons feel about being vice captain to Toa, who hasnt even played 100 NRL games let alone ever captain a team. What exact leadership qualities has he ever shown on or off the field?
3) points deducted for needing information to correct their sides.
4) Did you think about obtaining David Kidwell to protect Willie Mason?
Is there a ‘kicker’ rule where captans have to have been an established club captain?
Also seems rather odd that you need a kicker in your starting team, but a captain can be outside of your starting team, but then again i didnt make the rules...
Muddogz
👍
1) Thank you sir, it’s very kind to say so.
2) You have pretty much summed up my weak spots nicely. 2nd row is a bit of a concern but Nikora is an elite hole runner and slots in nicely with either half. Taupau has done some nice work on the edge in the passed as well
3) I like to think of it working a lot like the Prince/Marshall combo at the tigers. Cleary and Budurus guiding the team around with SJ choosing his moments when to inject himself in the game.
4) Yes, hooker depth is a concern, it’s balanced out with Wighton and Boyd being able to cover 6 positions in the backline between them. I believe Barnett has covered there briefly in games when at the Knights and Cleary could do it at a pinch ala Johns in origin but would be far from ideal.
5) Haha selector was dealing with two young kids at the time and with the deadline approaching confused Henry and Martin. Very sloppy but i hear Henry is a good team man. Big fan of the bears back in the day so good to have a couple in the squad.
@Cces
Nice team. Few questions if i may.
1) There are concerns about your vanila halves. In their prime, Barrett and Reynolds would bore you out of watching the game at best. What are your plans around your halves? Is Turbo going to get injected more often to provide the much lacking spark? Are you concerned that your team will be out-halved against some of the other teams?
2) Sorenson - i guess the only way to spruik his credentials would be to say he won the premiership 4 times. Can you please justify his selection considering we are selecting teams that are supposedly comprising of the best players in the NRL era. Do you consider him as such?
3) Is outside back cover a concern? If say Turbo goes down, what are the changes you would make?
4) Can you please provide some input on how this team will be playing. It seems that this team is not built to play flashy like some other teams. Thoughts?
Congrats on a well selected team.
Nice team. Few questions if i may.
1) There are concerns about your vanila halves. In their prime, Barrett and Reynolds would bore you out of watching the game at best. What are your plans around your halves? Is Turbo going to get injected more often to provide the much lacking spark? Are you concerned that your team will be out-halved against some of the other teams?
2) Sorenson - i guess the only way to spruik his credentials would be to say he won the premiership 4 times. Can you please justify his selection considering we are selecting teams that are supposedly comprising of the best players in the NRL era. Do you consider him as such?
3) Is outside back cover a concern? If say Turbo goes down, what are the changes you would make?
4) Can you please provide some input on how this team will be playing. It seems that this team is not built to play flashy like some other teams. Thoughts?
Congrats on a well selected team.
As the criteria is ‘current NRL players’ and for Hodges players is the ‘top 50 players of the NRL era’ I assume we only include their NRL career?
On Adrian Morley, based on his NRL career he seems a very confusing forward option in an otherwise strong team.
Which year are we basing him on @Mr. Brownstone?
On Adrian Morley, based on his NRL career he seems a very confusing forward option in an otherwise strong team.
Which year are we basing him on @Mr. Brownstone?
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Just to be clear, we’re talking about Adrian Morley, the only Great Britain player to make the top 50 & the bloke that turned the 2002 grand final momentum by smashing Villasanti?
Yes. So 2002?
Just seems an odd choice as most of his career was UK and he never even won a Dally M award
Yeah look obviously not up to the elite standard of Dan Saifiti & Jordan McLean…Yes. So 2002?
Just seems an odd choice as most of his career was UK and he never even won a Dally M award
1 x 3 points from Saifitis dad for me
1 x 0 points from Saifitis dad for Brownstone
Investment in forum members family paying dividends
Plot twist - Saifiti's dad on this forum doesnt exist.1 x 3 points from Saifitis dad for me
1 x 0 points from Saifitis dad for Brownstone
Investment in forum members family paying dividends
That you know of…
Come to think of it, major plot twist, it could be Brownstone… he’s funny about confidentiality!
I know, that you know, that i know.That you know of…
- Thread starter
- #2,315
Kia ora koe @Chris Hodges
Thanks for your clarification questions appreciate the dialogue
1) My apologies I should not have positioned Timoko as a strong defender. He is indeed in the bottom third of centres at defence. I don't agree with you about Tackle Efficiency rates not being helpful indicators. In the end they balance out with the better defenders being higher at the end of the season. A very good defensive centre will be about 91 or 92 percent. So Timoko being around 87% is pretty mediocre and his 84% this year is starting to get below average.
However a couple of points to note. I deliberately drafted two specialist centres and moved Hamiso, a State of Origin Centre, to the wing as I knew that centres needed specialists in that role due to the defensive reads required.
Hamiso has lower tackle efficiency rates than Timoko (although part of this is explained by him being a fullback). Hamiso was 80.67% this year while Timoko was 84.3%
So if you are having a crack at the defensive abilities of my centres now, you really would have had a much stronger case if I had followed the Hodges leaked dossier's advice and played Matt Bowen on my wing and moved Hamiso to centre. Instead I took the defensive responsibilities of centres very seriously and I drafted two specialists at centre, so while we our defence may be average or even slightly below average it will not be terrible due to the drafting and team selection choices I made.
Also Timoko has other strengths. Going back to the yardage carries I brought him into the team for, that link to his fan season review you provided had some good information. See the parts in bold.
"Timoko produced 10 tries in 2025 (four in 2024 and 11 in 2023). His 17 try involvements compare with 10 last year and 16 in 2023. He's a powerful runner, ranking second at the club for most metres gained and tackle breaks, behind Kaeo Weekes. He made an average of five tackle breaks per game this year, a personal best (three in 2024). His line breaks were well up (16, compared with five in 2024 and 12 in 2023). His average running metres per match was down a bit (131 metres, compared with 141 in 2024). But he topped 200 running metres twice and more than 150 in twelve.
How did he compare with other regular NRL centres? He was in the top five for running metres and tackle breaks and the top 10 for line breaks. "
Timoko and my back line isn't going to be good at everything. We will be "average" at defence. But not terrible at defence. We will be reasonable at yardage carries out of our own end, and have the best and fastest back three with Hayne, Hamiso and Fox. Lyon is also rapid and a strong try scorer. Timoko also knows his way to the try line.
2) On Starford as captain while only being a bench player. I am being very honest with you as honesty is important to my personal values. I picked him as captain as he is my favourite player and this is an NRL fantasy game. Yes ideally your captain should be in your starting 13. I expect Price and Lyon to get on with it and will effectively be the real captains of the team since Starford won't be on the field often unless injuries strike.
In these games in the past Zero credence has been given to who is captain and no one has ever won votes or lost them before in the history of Wrighty games based on who is captain. If it had ever been an issue before I would have awarded the captaincy to Price instead. I don't view it as a material issue who is captain. With all those legends on the field from the Hodges stable they are all leaders capable of leading each other and lots of people will stand up and lead the way when it counts.
In terms of Starford's role on the bench; Starford will often get zero minutes in some games realistically, but injuries to outside backs are frequent and studies show that when one goes down in the first half it can really impact your chances of winning, so I am covering responsibly for the chance of injury by having him as a utility back. If there are no injuries in a game he will either get zero minutes or a token 10 minutes at the end to stretch his legs just like most back utilities don't play much unless needed.
He is a very sensible selection. And if he was more qualified and had a higher reputation then he would be over qualified to be a bench warming utility back who is only going to be used when injuries strike.
3) points deducted for needing information to correct their sides.
Go easy on me here I am new to league and these players from your stable are well before my time. I have never seen Thorn or Mason play. While you immediately knew they were on the wrong edge just from watching them. Nonetheless yes deduct some points as I took the time to look up in the game records what edge the Fox was on and what edge Lyon was on so should have looked up the game records for my second row as well. Fair enough.
4) Did you think about obtaining David Kidwell to protect Willie Mason?
I am sorry this joke is over my head as I am new to league and I don' t know the memes from that era.
Ngā mihi
Wrighty
@Naumaifooty
Great lineup loaded with x-factor. You simply needs to have Ponga in the team. Put him on a wing.
Him, Walsh, SBW and Marshall make you a real contender.
You outbid me on many of these players
Great lineup loaded with x-factor. You simply needs to have Ponga in the team. Put him on a wing.
Him, Walsh, SBW and Marshall make you a real contender.
You outbid me on many of these players
@Naumaifooty
Congrats on your team selection, certainly has a lot of flair about it!
Few questions:
1) That backline has elite gamebreakers litered through it. How will your team compensate for Walsh's defensive frailties? Now add Benji's (at his prime) defensive frailties to the mix.
2) A very compatible halves pairing. A game manager, with an entertaining player outside of him. My question is, what happens if DCE gets a strained neck. What team reshuffles will you make?
3) How do you feel about your starting props? How do you think they would manage against the likes of Tallis, Burgess, Haas running at them?
4) Thoughts on selecting WIng at Hooker. Great utility but a starting position for one of the best utilities the game has seen? Can you please justify his starting position?
5) Your team is not made to play defensive football. Say you match up against Cces's team how do you think you would go and what would be the final score?
6) Concerns around your bench selection. A fullback/half and another half. Two halves added up probably means you are wasting one bench spot. Especially with that undersized front row. Thoughts?
Congrats on your team selection, certainly has a lot of flair about it!
Few questions:
1) That backline has elite gamebreakers litered through it. How will your team compensate for Walsh's defensive frailties? Now add Benji's (at his prime) defensive frailties to the mix.
2) A very compatible halves pairing. A game manager, with an entertaining player outside of him. My question is, what happens if DCE gets a strained neck. What team reshuffles will you make?
3) How do you feel about your starting props? How do you think they would manage against the likes of Tallis, Burgess, Haas running at them?
4) Thoughts on selecting WIng at Hooker. Great utility but a starting position for one of the best utilities the game has seen? Can you please justify his starting position?
5) Your team is not made to play defensive football. Say you match up against Cces's team how do you think you would go and what would be the final score?
6) Concerns around your bench selection. A fullback/half and another half. Two halves added up probably means you are wasting one bench spot. Especially with that undersized front row. Thoughts?
- Thread starter
- #2,318
Hi @Chris Hodges
would you possibly be able to delete Warried2deaths post from the voting thread. The first posts in a row should all be the team lists.
There is nothing at all wrong with his post but it will make the thread less organised to have his post in the middle of the team lists for people to vote on.
After everyone has posted their team list I will make "voting open" post and then there can be free discussion in the thread?
would you possibly be able to delete Warried2deaths post from the voting thread. The first posts in a row should all be the team lists.
There is nothing at all wrong with his post but it will make the thread less organised to have his post in the middle of the team lists for people to vote on.
After everyone has posted their team list I will make "voting open" post and then there can be free discussion in the thread?
Cces
🎯
Kia ora Chris,
I'm happy to oblige.
1) There are concerns about your vanilla halves. In their prime, Barrett and Reynolds would bore you out of watching the game at best. What are your plans around your halves? Is Turbo going to get injected more often to provide the much lacking spark? Are you concerned that your team will be out-halved against some of the other teams?
My halves, behind all but one of the other packs in this competition, may have been a cause for concern but due to the mountain of field position that they would maintain across the 80 minutes they would be under very little fatigue when executing plays in the oppositions red zone. While "vanilla" is an apt appraisal of the pair when they are compared to other starting halves in this competition, both can be attacking weapons themselves, particularly when they are surrounded by some of the best edge threats in the game. Adam Reynolds may not have scored many tries since his regular edge backrower became Jordan Riki, but on his way to the 2014 title he scored 7 tries in a period of 17 games where he largely had Ben Te'o outside of him attracting lots of defensive attention. Barrett, a State of Origin rep at 19 years of age, managed to score when it mattered most, such as in an Ashes decider, RLWC Grand Final and had himself a double back when City vs Country served as a genuine SOO trial. The year that he won his Dally M Player of the Year Award was sandwiched in-between two of your other clients, Andrew Johns & Preston Campbell, which showcases he was more a French Vanilla type.
The plan is for Reynolds to line up on the right with Barrett on the left, with Barrett the second receiver when the situation arises. Turbo, staying fresh throughout due to fielding kicks on the 30m mark, will be constantly around the ball looking for second phase play off of our starting forwards, who are prolific off loaders.
Salary cap restraints meant that he was selected to play a small but important role. He is a known winner. A 25-match unbeaten streak in the NRL showcases this. A 917 day hiatus in between his 3rd & 4th NRL appearances shows the determination & character of the man. He also possesses a great smile & a chiseled rig so will feature prominently on our socials. If he gained a 5th ring in 2026 he may well end up amongst your stable once he retires.
If Turbo was to go down then Justin Hodges would revert to Fullback & would replicate his 2006 GF performance, including a try. Simon Mannering would then fill in the Centre spot and would match, or better, his effort in the position he displayed in becoming a RLWC Final winner in 2008.
We'd apply pressure like an Anaconda. No banana kicks or double block plays will be necessary to accumulate points. Front foot ball is a given with Turbo, To'o & Burgess/Haas taking most of the first 3 carries. Harry Grant having a snipe next or some early ball to Kikau or Tallis & the points will flow. Coates to do some acrobatics to keep the TikTok followers entertained.
It's been a pleasure. I'll be sure to advocate for Big Papa to utilise your management service once he hangs the boots up in October.
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1) That backline has elite gamebreakers litered through it. How will your team compensate for Walsh's defensive frailties? Now add Benji's (at his prime) defensive frailties to the mix.
Answer:
Every team has its share of weak defenders but we believe the positive outweigh the negative in this situation and believe the brighter the lights the better we perform. For example Brisbane wouldn’t be premiers without Walsh’s so called “defensive frailties” just ask Stefano and papi I’m sure they will tell you how bad Reece Walsh is on that side of the ball. As for Benji I think having SBW inside and Joey Manu outside him should compensate for his defensive deficiencies. Think Darren Lockyer having Tonie Carroll as security most of his career well Benji has 2 of them.
2) A very compatible halves pairing. A game manager, with an entertaining player outside of him. My question is, what happens if DCE gets a strained neck. What team reshuffles will you make?
Answer:
The same reshuffle Billy Slater made in origin we won’t hesitate to bring Tom Dearden in as we have full faith in his proven ability to perform and dominate against the best at the highest level.
3) How do you feel about your starting props? How do you think they would manage against the likes of Tallis, Burgess, Haas running at them?
Answer:
I feel they would welcome it Victor Radley, Craig Fitzgibbon, Lindsay Collins Jesse Bromwich Defence and work ethic is what their game is built on. As for the names you have mentioned you only have to limit their impact not stop them. You could ask the same question how do you think they would manage with Walsh, Benji and Wing and Kalyn around the ruck?
4) Thoughts on selecting WIng at Hooker. Great utility but a starting position for one of the best utilities the game has seen? Can you please justify his starting position?
Answer:
All we need is for him to make his tackles, give good service and run when the opportunity arises. Think Mitch Kenny with a license to run.
5) Your team is not made to play defensive football. Say you match up against Cces's team how do you think you would go and what would be the final score?
Answer:
We believe we can defend well enough and as I said we only have to limit the opposition not stop them because our attack will speak for itself and as for how we will fare against the other teams we will cross that bridge once we get there but in saying that we are more than confident in what we are capable of doing to any team. As for score lines we can’t predict the future but we can predict we are the last team anyone would want to get any sort of momentum during a game.
6) Concerns around your bench selection. A fullback/half and another half. Two halves added up probably means you are wasting one bench spot. Especially with that undersized front row. Thoughts?
Answer:
My middles play big minutes so am not too worried about the propping rotation as for the false narrative around being “undersized” Craig Fitzgibbon is my smallest front rower standing at 191cm and weighing in at 104kg so that’s more of a myth bit like the warriors having a massive pack. As for Dearden and Ponga both cover multiple positions and can break the game open at any point as we have seen at origin level.
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