Game plan: If you don't submit a game plan before the round simulates, the system auto-generates one for you. This uses your lowest-rated available players in default positions with balanced tactics across the board. No captain bonus optimisation, no tactical edge, no bench strategy. Auto-generated plans almost always lose — it's the single biggest disadvantage in the game.

The dashboard action hub shows "Game Plan" as pending with a red dot until you submit. You'll also see a "Set Game Plan" CTA on the draw page spotlight card.

Training: If you don't submit training, your squad simply doesn't train that round. No penalty, but you miss out on form/fitness boosts that your opponents might get. Training is optional but recommended — especially attack or fitness training before a big game.

Press conference: Completely optional. Not submitting one has no gameplay penalty. But you miss the chance to boost morale or play mind games with opponents.

Player events: If you don't respond to a player event before its deadline, the worst outcome is automatically applied. Contract disputes escalate, form slumps deepen, itchy feet get worse. Always respond to events — even a neutral response is better than ignoring them.

Yes — you can edit your game plan as many times as you want before the round simulates. There's no limit on changes.

Simply go back to the game plan page and make your adjustments. The system saves your latest submission. Your previous version is overwritten — there's no version history.

Things to consider

• Odds update: When you change your lineup, the betting odds for your fixture will shift to reflect the new squad strength and chemistry
• Last-minute injury: If a player picks up a training injury between game plan submissions, you may need to update your lineup
• Scouting: Check the pre-match preview before finalising — it shows your opponent's likely approach based on their historical tendencies (but never their actual current plan)

Every upcoming fixture displays decimal betting odds on the draw page, dashboard, and next match spotlight. These are calculated dynamically from:

• Lineup quality (75%) — the players you select and their condition (morale, fitness, form)
• Team chemistry — better chemistry shortens your odds
• Home advantage (10%)
• Ladder position (10%)
• Recent form (5%)
• Weather forecast — wet conditions favour forward-heavy lineups

Odds update when you change your game plan. Dropping a star player will cause your odds to drift. Naming a stronger lineup will shorten them. The favourite's odds appear in green.

Odds are displayed in Australian decimal format (e.g., .85 means a bet returns .85). Lower odds = more favoured to win.

Every scheduled fixture has a full pre-match analysis page accessible by clicking "Pre-Match Preview" on any fixture card or your spotlight game on the draw page.

The preview includes:

• Scouting Report — each team's playing style tendencies, strengths, weaknesses, and injury/fatigue concerns
• Tactical Battle — how the two coaching styles are expected to clash
• Key Matchup — the two most dangerous available players head to head
• Where to Target — weak spots in the opposition lineup
• Predicted Scoreline — based on attack and defence averages
• Chemistry Comparison — how well each lineup combines
• The Verdict — our analyst's pick

Important: The preview uses historical game plan tendencies only. Your current game plan is never revealed to opponents.

Mid-season events are league-wide occurrences that temporarily change the rules for one round. They're scheduled by the admin and fire automatically when the round arrives.

Judiciary Crackdown

The NRL Integrity Unit cracks down on foul play for one round. Penalty rates double — players are more likely to be penalised, sin-binned, or sent off. Judiciary charges after this round carry heavier base suspensions. Play clean football and avoid aggressive defence styles during a crackdown round.

Injury Epidemic

A flu or illness sweeps through the competition. Training injury rates double and in-game tackle injury rates increase by 50% for one round. Consider running recovery training instead of intense sessions. Protect your stars by resting anyone carrying a minor knock.

Sponsor Drama

A random franchise is hit with a sponsor-related event — could be a sponsor threatening to pull out, demanding a public response, or offering a questionable deal. The affected franchise must respond (accept, contest, or negotiate) before the deadline. Ignoring it can result in a reputation hit or salary cap penalty.

Mid-season events are announced in the news feed when they're scheduled, so you have advance warning to adjust your plans.

You pick a captain style alongside your captain. Three options:

• Lead from Front — doubles the captain's clutch composure effect in the final 10 minutes. Best when you have a high-leadership forward or hooker who you trust to steady the team late.
• Organise Defence — doubles the captain's penalty-discipline modifier. Best for teams that give up a lot of penalties or want a high-discipline lock/prop in the role.
• Inspire Backs — gives your back-line carriers (positions 1–7) an extra carry/try-scoring boost when they get the ball. Best when you have a high-leadership back (fullback, centre, half) and want to amplify your edge attack.

You can't go wrong — pick the style that matches your captain's position and your overall game plan.

How do I pick my goal kicker and field goal kicker?

On the Game Plan page you have separate dropdowns for goal kicker (conversions and penalty goals) and field goal kicker (1-point drop kicks). They can be the same player or different players.

Goal kicker uses the player's goal kicking attribute. Pick the highest-rated goal kicker on your active 17 (it's usually a halfback or fullback). A poor kicker can cost you 4–8 points a match in missed conversions.

Field goal kicker uses the player's field goals attribute. This is usually your halfback or five-eighth — the player most likely to be in position to attempt a 1-pointer in golden point or a tight finish.

If you don't have a strong specialist, picking your best halves combination still gives you a usable option for both roles.

Picking the Right Captain

Captain selection isn't just an honour — it's a tactical decision worth a few percent on penalty rate and clutch composure. Here's how to pick the right one:

How do I pick my captain and what does it actually do?

Pick your captain on the Game Plan page from any active starter. The captain bonus is driven by their leadership attribute (a stat 0–100) and applied in two places:

• Penalty discipline — high-leadership captains reduce the rate at which your defence concedes penalties (up to roughly ±6% swing).
• Clutch composure (final 10 minutes) — high-leadership captains lower your error rate in the closing stages (up to roughly ±4% swing).

The bigger the leadership rating, the bigger the swing. A captain with 85 leadership is meaningfully better than one with 50.

You also pick a vice-captain as a backup — if the captain is unavailable (injured, suspended) or sin-binned, the vice-captain takes over for that match.

Captain's Challenge

Each team gets one captain's challenge per match, following the NRL rule. It's used automatically by the sim engine when there's a contentious moment that has gone against your team.

Key rules:

• You get one challenge per game, used at the engine's discretion based on game state.
• If the challenge is successful (the original decision is overturned), you keep the challenge for later use — "retained on success".
• If the challenge is unsuccessful, your challenge is gone for the rest of the match.
• Successful challenges can flip a no-try into a try, overturn a forward-pass call, or undo a knock-on ruling.

You don't pick when to use it — the engine decides based on score state, time left, and the contentiousness of the call. You can see the outcome in the match commentary log.

After every completed match, you get a coach review on the game page that breaks down your team's performance. It's tailored to your franchise — viewing the same game as the opponent shows their version.

Sections in the review:

• Result context — how your win/loss/draw is framed (close call, blowout, gritty effort, etc.)
• Report card — A–F grades for attack, defence, and discipline based on your stat performance
• Insights — tactical observations on what worked and what didn't (e.g. "kicking strategy paid off in field position")
• Key performers — standout players from the match with their best stat highlight
• Selection suggestions — players who should be promoted, dropped, or rotated next round
• Half-by-half comparison — first half vs second half stat shifts
• Possession efficiency — tries scored per metre / possession
• Attacking breakdown — line breaks, offloads, errors, run metres, scoring efficiency by your chosen attack style
• Defensive breakdown — tackles, missed tackles, penalties, tries conceded, tackle efficiency
• Bench impact — how much your interchange contributed
• Injury summary — new injuries from the game

Use the report card grades to spot the area that needs the most attention before next round.

What is a scout report and when can I get one?

A scout report is a pre-match intelligence brief on your next opponent. It's available from the Game Plan page or the Draw page in the lead-up to a fixture.

What's in a scout report:

• Key players — opponent's top 3 by overall rating, with their standout attribute
• Recent form — their last 5 results and a one-line form summary
• Preferred tactics — what attack style and defence intensity they've been using lately
• Unavailable players — injured or suspended for this round
• Deep dives — rotating analysis sections including positional matchups, bench composition, goal kicking accuracy, completion trends, penalty discipline, kick-return strength, tactical patterns, trending players, salary cap state, and head-to-head history
• Counter strategy — suggested tactical response based on the matchup

The report is generated from the opponent's actual season data, so it's as accurate as their recent performances. Use it to spot weak edges, identify their goal kicker, and plan your attack target / defence intensity.

Every match generates a stat line for every player who took the field. Here's what each stat actually measures:

• Run metres — total ground gained while carrying the ball. Forwards usually average 80–130, backs 100–200+.
• Post-contact metres — metres made after the first defender has made contact. Driven by the carrier's power attribute. Strong forwards rack these up.
• Line breaks — clean breaks of the defensive line where the carrier got in behind. Driven by speed and agility. 1–2 per game is solid; 3+ is excellent.
• Tackle busts (busts) — broken or beaten tackles. A busted tackle means the defender made contact but the carrier kept going. High-power, high-agility carriers bust the most.
• Offloads — passes made out of a tackle, keeping the ball alive. Driven by passing and game sense. NRL average: 6–10 per team per game; props rarely offload, backs and locks more often.
• Try assists — the player who made the final pass leading directly to a try.
• Tries — tries scored.
• Tackles — successful tackles made. Forwards do most of the work (30+); backs less (10–20).
• Missed tackles — tackles attempted but failed. Tackle efficiency = tackles / (tackles + missed).
• Errors — ball handling errors (knock-ons, forward passes, dropped passes).
• Penalties conceded — penalties given away by this player.
• Intercepts — intercepted passes (rare but match-changing).
• Kick metres — total distance of kicks made by this player.
• Fantasy points — weighted score combining tries, goals, line breaks, tackle busts, offloads, run metres, and tackles. Used to rank performance for awards and the dashboard leaderboards.

The coach review highlights the standouts; the leaderboards rank them across the season.

Your game plan is the set of decisions you submit before each round simulates. It includes:

• Starting 13 and interchange selection
• Captain, vice-captain, goal kicker, field goal kicker
• Attack style and edge preference
• Defence intensity and shape
• Kicking strategy and direction
• Interchange plan and second-half adjustments

You can save a default game plan that auto-applies if you don't submit a fresh one for a given round.

When does my game plan need to be locked in?

The deadline is the fixture's scheduled kickoff time — not 1 hour before. You can keep editing your game plan right up until the moment the game is due to sim. The countdown timer on the Game Plan page shows exactly how long you have left.

If you don't submit a fresh plan for a round, the system falls back to your last saved plan from a previous round. If you've never submitted one, a default lineup is used (which may be sub-optimal — always submit at least one plan early in the season).

Co-managers can submit on your behalf if you have one configured.

Defence Options

You don't pick a specific defensive shape in your game plan. What you choose is the defence intensity: aggressive, standard, or conservative. The simulation engine then automatically picks the right defensive shape for each situation based on that intensity, the field position, the score, and what the attack is doing.

The shapes the engine uses internally:

• Rush — aggressive line speed forward, shuts down halves but vulnerable to grubbers and offloads. Used more often when you set aggressive intensity.
• Slide — lateral movement, good against wide attack. Common in standard intensity.
• Blitz — extreme aggression, high reward / high risk. Triggered when you're behind late and on aggressive.
• Umbrella — centres push up, fullback drops back to cover bombs and chips. Used when the attack is in kicking range.
• Scramble — recovery shape after a line break, prioritises cover defenders.
• Goal-line — condensed inside the 10m zone, used automatically when defending the try line.

So your one decision shapes everything: aggressive = more rush/blitz, more line breaks for and against; conservative = more slide/umbrella, lower-scoring matches; standard = balanced.

Attack, Defence & Kicking Styles

Attack style is a single game plan setting with three options:

• Running — favours carries, offloads, and line breaks. Best when you have powerful forwards and quick outside backs.
• Kicking — favours bombs, grubbers, kicks-in-behind, and field position. Best when you have a high-quality halfback and aerial wingers.
• Balanced — mixes both approaches. The safe default if you're not sure.

You also pick an edge preference (left, right, or balanced) to bias your attacking shape toward one side — useful if you have a star centre/wing combo on one edge.

What is game management and what do the options do?

Game management tells the engine how strictly to follow your tactics when the score swings. Three options:

• Stick to plan — the engine follows your setup regardless of score. Good for stable matchups; risky when you're behind late.
• Adaptive — the engine adjusts intensity and risk based on game state (e.g. shifts more aggressive if behind in the final 20). The default.
• Closer — aggressive tempo and risk-taking when the game is tight in the final 10 minutes. Best for chasing wins.

How do second-half adjustments work?

You can pre-set a second-half attack and second-half defence shift to apply automatically at half-time. Each can be set to same (no change) or to a different value than your starting setting.

For example: start the game on kicking + standard defence, then flip to running + aggressive in the second half if you expect to be chasing. The engine applies the change at the half-time whistle.

If you don't want to commit to a pre-set change, leave both on same and let game management (adaptive) handle in-game shifts.

What does kicking strategy and kick direction control?

Kicking strategy sets your halves' default approach when they kick in general play:

• Long — clearing kicks for territory, bombs to the corners.
• Short — grubbers, chips, and kicks-in-behind to chase tries.
• Tactical — mixed, situational kicks. The default.

Kick direction biases where kicks go: left, right, or centre. Useful if your wingers are great in the air on a particular side.

Kickoff strategy separately controls how you kick off after a try or to start a half: deep (territory), short (recovery attempt), or target weakness (kicks toward the opponent's weakest aerial defender).

Interchange Plan

The interchange plan is the high-level tempo for how your 4 bench players rotate in. Three options:

• Early — bench rotates on early in each half. Use this if your starters tire quickly or your bench is strong.
• Balanced — rotation spread across the match. The default and usually safest.
• Save second half — bench held back for fresh impact in the final 20 minutes. Risky if your starters get injured early.

This is the broad strategy. For finer control over which bench player covers which starter and how many minutes they should play, use the per-bench-player bench instructions (see the next question).

The engine also reserves the last 1–2 interchanges for the final 10–20 minutes by default, so you don't exhaust all your subs early and have nothing left when fatigue hits.

Bench Instructions & Do Not Sub Off

Beyond the broad interchange plan, you can give each individual bench player (jerseys 14–17) a precise instruction set on the Game Plan page. This is the most powerful interchange tool in the game.

For each bench slot you can set:

• Replaces — which starting jersey positions this bench player is allowed to come on for. For example, you might tell jersey 14 it can replace either prop (8 or 10), or tell jersey 15 it can only cover the hooker (9). The sim engine will only swap that bench player onto a position from this list.
• Target minutes — how many total minutes you want this bench player to play. Once a bench player's minutes are overdue (i.e. you set a target of 25 mins and they've only played 15 with not much game left), the engine prioritises getting them on field even if it means breaking the late-game interchange reserve.

You can also set a protected list — jersey positions in the starting 13 that should NOT be subbed off tactically. The sim respects this and avoids rotating them out. Common uses:

• Protect your halves (6, 7) so the playmakers stay on the field for the full 80
• Protect your fullback (1) so the kick-return organiser doesn't leave
• Protect your captain so the leadership bonus stays applied late

Important: protection is from tactical rotation only — an injured or sin-binned player will still be replaced regardless. And bench instructions don't override genuine emergencies (e.g. if a prop blows up at 30% fitness with no replacement allowed, the engine will still swap them).

Tip: setting your halves and fullback as protected, then giving your bench forwards target_minutes of 18–25 each, mimics how real NRL teams use their forward rotation.

The sin bin is a temporary 10-minute removal from the field for serious or repeat penalty offences. It's automatic in the sim — you don't trigger it manually.

How it triggers:

• Roughly 3% chance per penalty as a base rate, scaled by penalty type and the player's discipline attribute.
• Persistent offenders get an escalating chance — each penalty beyond your team's 4th adds an extra +10% sin bin chance for the rest of the game.
• Low-discipline players take more sin bins than high-discipline ones in identical situations.

Effect on the team: while a player is in the bin, your team plays with 12 on the field for 10 minutes. The sim engine accounts for this by making the short-handed side more vulnerable to line breaks, edge overlaps, and tries.

Send-offs (red cards) are much rarer (~0.3% chance per penalty) and remove the player permanently. The team plays the rest of the match with 12.

Six Again Rule

Six again is the NRL's alternative to a full penalty for ruck infringements (slow play-the-ball, hand in the ruck, off-side at marker, etc.). Instead of stopping play and giving a penalty, the referee signals a fresh set of six tackles to the attacking team without breaking the flow.

In the sim:

• ~6–8 per team per game on average
• Triggered automatically based on the defending team's discipline and tackle work
• Resets the tackle count to 1 immediately, no kick-for-touch
• Less harsh than a full penalty (no kick to touch, no penalty goal option) but still gives the attacking team momentum

You'll see "Six again!" in the commentary log when it happens. Persistent ruck infringements stack the chance of an actual penalty (and eventual sin bin) on top.

Golden Point

If the score is level after 80 minutes, the match goes into golden point — sudden-death extra time where the next score wins.

Any scoring play ends the game immediately:

• Try — instant win (4 points + conversion)
• Penalty goal — 2 points, instant win
• Field goal — 1 point, instant win — this is the most common golden point winner because halves can attempt from anywhere in attacking territory

This is why field goal kicker selection matters. If you have a halfback or five-eighth with a high field goals attribute, golden point becomes a winnable proposition. If your kicker is mediocre, expect to lose the field goal duel against opponents with a better drop-kick threat.

Regular-season games can end in a draw if neither team scores in the golden point period (it doesn't go forever). Finals matches always must be decided.

Two environmental factors shape every match outcome before a tackle is even made: weather (pre-rolled at fixture creation and visible as a forecast) and home advantage (a small but real boost for the home franchise).

Weather (5 forecast conditions + 1 transition state)

Each fixture has one of 5 forecast values locked in when the round is drawn: fine, cloudy, light rain, rain, windy. Distribution across all games: fine ~44%, cloudy ~22%, light rain ~11%, rain ~11%, windy ~11%. A sixth state — damp — only appears mid-match as rain eases off; it's never on the forecast UI and never starts a game.

There's a 15% chance the weather shifts at half-time, plus an occasional mid-half change — but transitions are stepped: heavy rain never jumps straight to fine in 15 minutes. The graph is rain → light rain → damp → fine, where damp is a wet pitch with no falling rain (residual handling penalty). Squalls roll IN the same way: fine → light rain → rain.

You can see the forecast in advance on your Next Game card and the game plan submission form — the forecast becomes more accurate as kickoff approaches (40% at 7 days out, 80% at 24 hours, 95% at gametime). See "Can I see the weather for upcoming games?" for the full forecast mechanic.

Home advantage

Every home franchise gets a small performance boost applied across the simulation. It's small but real — it shifts ~50/50 matches toward the home side and can be the difference in a tight finish.

Higher-seeded finals teams play at home in week 1 of finals as a reward for ladder position. The grand final is at a neutral venue.

Referee personality

One more rolled-per-game factor: every match has a referee with one of three personalities, randomly assigned at kickoff:

• Strict (25% of games): 1.15–1.30x penalty rate. Both teams concede more penalties.
• Balanced (50% of games): 0.90–1.10x — the typical NRL ref.
• Lenient (25% of games): 0.70–0.90x — lets a lot of stuff go.

You can't see the ref personality in advance — it's revealed implicitly through the match commentary and penalty count. A strict ref + low-discipline team is a recipe for sin bins.

Viewing Weather Forecasts

Every scheduled fixture has a weather forecast that becomes more accurate as game day approaches. You see it in two places:

• Next Game card on your home dashboard — a small weather line underneath the stadium, showing the current forecast plus a confidence level and countdown.
• Game Plan submission form — a prominent banner at the top of the plan form with the weather, an icon, the confidence level, and a one-line strategic hint. Use this to shape your attack style, defence intensity, kick direction, and goal kicker choice for the conditions.

How accurate is the forecast?

The forecast tightens as kickoff approaches, mirroring real weather forecasting:

• A week out: highly uncertain — the forecast can easily be wrong, treat it as directional only
• Several days out: starting to firm up, but still worth revisiting closer to gameday
• Day before kickoff: high confidence, but not certain
• Hours before kickoff: near-certain
• After kickoff: shows the actual weather the game was played in

Behind the scenes, each fixture has a locked "true" weather assigned when the round is drawn. The sim will always play the game in that true weather — what tightens is the forecast display, not the reality.

When the forecast is wrong, how wrong is it?

Wrong forecasts are "close" wrong, not wildly wrong. A rainy day is far more often mispredicted as "light rain" or "cloudy" than as "fine", just like real-world forecasts. So even at long range when the forecast is least reliable, the direction of the forecast gives you meaningful signal — if it says wet, it's more likely to actually be wet than dry.

When should I commit to a wet-weather plan?

Game plans can be submitted right up until kickoff, so you don't have to commit early. Later is better. A forecast you see several days out is speculative — by the final day, it's much more trustworthy, and within a few hours of kickoff it's essentially locked in. If you're agonising over whether to pick a wet-weather roster early in the week, the safer play is to wait and re-check the forecast closer to gameday before finalising.

Mid-match weather changes

Even with an accurate forecast, the engine can still shift the weather at half-time (or, less often, mid-half). It's uncommon but not rare. The forecast predicts the starting weather, not necessarily the whole match.

Transitions are stepped. Heavy rain never jumps straight to fine — the graph is rain → light rain → damp → fine. Damp is a wet-pitch residual state: no falling rain, but the surface and ball are still slick. So a forecast of "rain" is never wasted: even if the rain stops at halftime, the second half will still play in light rain or damp conditions, not back to a perfect track. The post-match summary shows both halves' weather (e.g. "Rain → Damp") so you can see exactly what was played in.

If you're building a wet-weather specialist bench, a fine-forecast game isn't a complete waste — there's always a small chance the match shifts conditions.

How to use it strategically

• Fine / Cloudy: no weather factor — play your preferred style.
• Light rain: expect more handling errors. A kicking or balanced attack is safer than running.
• Heavy rain: knock-ons spike, offloads get turned over. Kick for territory, grind up the middle, run a conservative defence.
• Windy: kick distance and field goals are affected. Double-check your kick direction setting and consider whether your designated goal kicker is still the best pick.

Beyond the obvious mechanics (chemistry, attributes, captain, weather), the simulation engine has several hidden bonuses and penalties that can swing matches. Here are the ones with the biggest strategic impact:

Fresh bench surge (+5% for 10 minutes)

Any bench player coming on for the first time gets a +5% effectiveness boost for the first 10 minutes on the field. The boost expires after that. This is on top of the utility player +10% (if applicable). Time your interchanges so a fresh forward is on the field during your attacking sets.

Lead from Front captain fatigue tax

Captains with the Lead from Front style burn fatigue 15% faster than normal players. The clutch composure bonus (final 10 minutes) is doubled, but the trade-off is they wear down faster in grinding games. Pair Lead from Front captains with bench rotations — never try to play them 80 minutes.

Repeat set defending penalty

When a team defends multiple consecutive attacking sets in their own end (a "siege"), they accumulate fatigue and structural disorganisation. Each repeat set adds +12% to the attacker's effectiveness, capped at +40%. After 3+ repeat sets the line break rate jumps +15% and try rate +10%. Forcing a goal-line dropout is one of the most valuable plays in the sim.

Turnover spike (+35% line breaks)

The set immediately after a turnover gives the receiving team +35% line break rate. One set only, but it's huge. This is why intercepting passes and forcing knock-ons matters so much — the next set is golden.

Crowd lift on home scoring

When the home team scores AND has positive momentum AND the crowd is over 15,000, they get up to +3% additional line break rate. Stadium attendance is rolled per game (range: 8k–28k). Big crowds at home make a measurable difference, especially in finals.

Sin bin escalation past 4 penalties

Once your team has conceded 4+ penalties, each additional penalty adds +10% sin bin chance for the rest of the game. At 9+ penalties the system mercy-rules you and cuts penalty rate by 50%. The escalation means a single bad period can spiral — one penalty leads to two leads to three leads to a sin bin.

Organise Defence forward pack bonus

The Organise Defence captain style adds a +3% defensive influence boost to your forward pack (positions 8–13) on top of the doubled penalty discipline effect. If you're running a forward-heavy defensive game plan, this is the best captain style for the job.

Fresh interchange carrier boost (+12%)

A bench player who comes on and immediately carries the ball gets a +12% boost to their carry effectiveness on that first carry. Compounds with utility +10% and fresh bench +5%. A utility player carrying on first touch can be at +27% effectiveness in that moment.

Games sim every Wednesday at 6pm NZST. Each round's fixtures all simulate together at that scheduled kickoff time.

That kickoff time is also your game plan deadline — you can keep editing your lineup and tactics right up until the moment the round sims. After 6pm Wednesday the round is locked.

Check the Draw page for the exact scheduled time of any specific fixture. Admins can manually sim earlier if all game plans are already in, but the default is the Wednesday 6pm slot.

Lockout

The game plan lockout is at sim time — you can keep editing your lineup and tactics right up until the moment the round simulates. The countdown timer on the dashboard and draw page shows exactly how long you have.

What if I miss the deadline?

If you don't submit a game plan, the system auto-generates one using your lowest-rated available players in default positions with balanced tactics. This is a significant disadvantage — auto-generated plans almost always lose. The action hub on your dashboard will show "Game Plan" as pending until you submit.

Can the admin sim early?

Yes — if all franchise owners have submitted their game plans, the admin can trigger simulation early. But the default schedule is the Wednesday 6pm slot.

Yes — the 2D match viewer plays back the simulation in your browser with full broadcast-style visuals: players moving on the field, tackles, kicks, tries, weather, momentum bars and a NRL-style scoreboard.

You can replay any completed game at any time. The viewer has playback speed controls, slow-motion on big moments, and a per-play commentary log on the side.

Where can I watch my games?

Once a round simulates, every game has a 2D match viewer accessible from the Draw page or your franchise dashboard. Click into any completed fixture to launch the viewer.

The viewer plays the entire match in your browser with broadcast-style visuals: tackles, kicks, tries, weather effects, momentum bars, score bug, and a per-play commentary log. You can pause, scrub, change playback speed, and replay highlights any time after the sim.

Match Viewer Controls

The 2D viewer has a control bar at the bottom of the field with these options:

• Play / pause — the play button or Spacebar on your keyboard.
• Speed — cycle through playback speeds (0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x). Useful for skipping through stoppages or slowing down a try.
• Slow-mo on big moments — the viewer automatically slows down on tries, line breaks, and big hits. You can disable this in the settings menu if you prefer full speed.
• Player focus — click any player dot on the field to lock the camera/highlight on them. Click again to release. Great for following your captain or star halfback through a passage of play.
• Commentary log — a side panel showing every play in text form. Click any line to jump back to that moment in the match.
• Score bug + tackle count — always visible in the corner.

The viewer remembers your speed/slow-mo preferences across matches.

When an event triggers, you'll see it on your dashboard activity feed and on the player's page with a "Response required" badge. Click in, read the situation, and pick from the available options. Each option lists its expected outcome (e.g. "+5 morale, −2 form" or "10% chance of contract issue").

The response status moves through three states:

• Pending — waiting for your decision.
• Responded — you picked an option and the outcome was applied.
• Defaulted — the deadline passed without a response. The system applies the worst-case outcome on your behalf.

You have a deadline (usually 48–72 hours) to respond. Defaulting almost always gives the worst result — even a guess is better than no response. Set up notification alerts so you don't miss them.

What is a player event?

Player events are narrative moments that happen to your players between rounds — injuries, contract disputes, off-field incidents, sponsorship offers, breakout form, leadership moments, and more. There are 20 event types in total covering injuries, discipline, morale, performance, and positive moments.

Most events are response-required — you get a notification with a small set of choices, and your decision affects the outcome. Ignoring an event past its deadline counts as defaulting and usually has a worse outcome than even a bad active choice.

Event Types

There are 22 event types grouped into 7 categories:

Injury (3):

• Training Injury — player picks up a knock during a training session.
• Game Injury — player injured during a match (separate from the in-game injury system).
• Illness Outbreak — a bug sweeps through the squad, hitting 3–5 players at once. Response: quarantine the affected players, push through and risk it spreading, or call in medical staff (cap cost).

Discipline (3):

• Off-Field Incident — trouble outside the club. Options: public apology (team morale hit), keep it in-house, or pay a league discipline fine (cap cost, bigger morale hit on player, team respects the discipline). Once per player per season.
• Suspended — player banned from selection (usually triggered by a judiciary outcome).
• Media Controversy — the press picks up something. Issue a statement (success weighted by captain leadership + player discipline), no comment, or media blackout. Once per player per season.

Morale (6):

• Contract Dispute — player wants a renegotiation. Options: renegotiate (+15% salary, resolves), ride it out (locker room tension), or promise a future role (player morale up, teammates resent it). Once per player per season.
• Wants Out (Itchy Feet) — player has decided they want to be traded. Options: loyalty bonus (+10% salary), ignore it, or list on trade block. Once per player per season.
• Trade Rejection Dismay — triggered when a player has been offered in 3+ rejected trades this season. They found out the club has been trying to move them on. Options: reassure them (captain leadership weighted), be honest and list on trade block, or tough love (risk of itchy feet). Once per player per season.
• Listed on Trade Block — consequence of you putting them on the block.
• Fan Backlash — triggered after 3+ consecutive losses. Options: address media (captain leadership + franchise reputation weighted), or ride it out.
• Cap Pressure — triggered when salary usage exceeds 98%. Options: restructure a contract (highest-paid non-leader takes 10% pay cut, frees cap space, -8 morale hit), tough it out, or release the lowest-OVR non-starter (50% salary refund, starters protected).

Performance (2):

• Form Slump — player's recent performances trending down. Options: intensive coaching (-10 fitness, partial form restore), back the player, or drop to reserves (discipline-weighted recovery — high-discipline players bounce back better).
• Breakout Form — sudden surge in form. Automatic — no response needed.

Personal (1):

• Family Issue — off-field personal matter affecting morale and fitness. Options: compassionate leave (1-round standdown, team rallies around them), or support and continue (+2 morale from feeling supported, -2 fitness from distraction). Once per player per season.

Positive (7):

• Leadership Moment — player steps up as a leader. Permanent +1 leadership attribute growth, +1 team morale.
• Player of the Week — top fantasy scorer from last round. Form and morale boost + team morale.
• Team Bonding — squad-wide morale boost (+5 to entire roster).
• Mentorship — veteran takes a young teammate under their wing. Mentor gets +1 permanent leadership growth; mentee gets form and morale boost; team morale +1.
• Sponsorship Deal — new sponsor signs on. Cap boost + player morale (+5 on the player whose profile landed the deal) + team morale.
• Community Award — player honoured for community work. +1 permanent leadership growth, team morale +2, cap boost.

Frequency protection: negative events (off-field incident, contract dispute, itchy feet, media controversy, family issue) can only hit the same player once per season. A second contract dispute on the same player in the same season won't happen — the system rerolls to a different event. Positive events can repeat (multiple leadership moments, mentorships, etc. are realistic).

Triggered events (fan backlash, cap pressure, trade rejection dismay, player of the week, illness outbreak) have their own frequency limits — see each event's description above for details.

How Often Do Events Happen?

Player events generate per round with a controlled frequency:

• Per-player chance: 8% per round. Each fit or minor-injury player on your roster has roughly that chance of triggering an event in any given round.
• Per-franchise cap: max 2 events per franchise per round. You won't get hammered with five player events in one week even if the dice are unkind.
• Protected players: players already carrying a major or season-ending injury don't generate events. Only fit and minor-injury players are eligible.

Event mix: the random selection is weighted, not uniform. Common events like breakout form, form slump, and leadership moment appear most often. Rare events like community award, sponsorship deal, and itchy feet appear less frequently.

Mentorship events have a special requirement: the triggering player must be a senior (100+ career games AND 85+ overall rating) and your roster must also contain a junior (30 or fewer career games, with fewer games than the senior). Veterans on a young roster tend to trigger these.

The event chance and franchise cap shown reflect the current league settings.

Mentorship Events

Mentorship is one of the rarer positive player events. It triggers when an experienced senior player on your roster takes a young teammate under their wing. The result is morale and leadership gains for both, plus a small team-wide morale boost.

Eligibility: the triggering player must be a senior (100+ career games AND 85+ overall rating), and your roster must also contain at least one junior (30 or fewer career games) with fewer games than the senior.

Without both on your roster, you'll never see a mentorship event roll. This is why owners with squads full of mid-tier veterans rarely see them — they have no qualifying juniors.

Typical outcome (when you respond well):

• +5 morale for the junior
• +3 leadership for the senior (a permanent attribute gain on a normally fixed stat)
• +2 morale across the entire squad

Every press conference has a tone you pick. Each tone changes your reputation and team morale by a fixed amount, with a different risk profile. Click any tone below to see its exact effect:

How to choose: Humble is the safest reputation builder. Aggressive gives the biggest morale boost but costs reputation and carries a higher backfire risk on mind games. Diplomatic is a balanced no-risk option. Deflecting gives nothing but lets you avoid a public stance.

What are mind games?

Mind games are special press conference types that let you target an opponent before a match. There are three options — click any to see the success/backfire trade-off:

Backfires reverse some or all of the intended effect onto your own team. Use mind games sparingly and against opponents whose halves or fullback you want to rattle.