The trade deadline is the last round in which trades can be proposed, accepted, or completed. After the deadline passes, the trade window closes for the remainder of the season — no more player movement between franchises.

The deadline round is set by the admin at the start of each season (typically around round 14-16 of an 18-round season). You can see the deadline on the dashboard and draw page.

What to do before the deadline

• If you're making a finals push, this is your last chance to add a missing piece
• If you're out of contention, trade your expensive stars to free up cap space for next season's auction
• Any pending trades that haven't been accepted by the deadline round expire automatically
• Waiver claims still operate after the deadline — only direct franchise-to-franchise trades close

Trades proposed in the final round before the deadline earn a "Trade Deadline Deal" achievement.

Minimum auction bid: $100,000.

Round structure: The season auction is split into rounds of around 30 players each. Rounds are ordered by overall rating descending, so the highest-rated legends and elites appear first, mid-tier players in the middle rounds, and lower-tier depth at the end.

Why this matters: You can't hold cap back for "value picks later" if you don't bid early — the marquee players are already gone. Plan your cap allocation across the rounds: how many stars do you want, vs how many cheap depth pieces?

Bidding rules:

• One bid per player per round — updating a bid replaces it, doesn't add to it.
• Blind bidding — you can't see what competitors have bid until after the round closes.
• Each round runs for ~24 hours by default. The next round opens automatically after the previous resolves.
• Pending bids count toward your effective cap, so you can't double-commit funds across active rounds.

The season auction is the single most important decision window of the year. A bad auction sets your team back for months. Here's a tried-and-tested approach for new owners:

1. Build a target board first. Before bidding opens, browse the player list and pick 3 marquee players you want and 8–10 mid-tier players you'd be happy with. Don't go in blind.
2. Set a hard ceiling per player. Decide your maximum bid for each target before the round opens. Stick to it — emotional bids during a round are how you blow your cap on one player.
3. Spread your cap across rounds. The auction runs in rounds with the highest-rated players first. Don't commit your entire cap in round 1 — leave 30–40% for the mid-tier players in rounds 2–4 where the value is.
4. Bid for chemistry, not just rating. Two 80-rated players from the same era + position synergy beat one 90-rated player on chemistry. Use the chemistry calculator to test combinations before bidding.
5. Always bid on a backup at each position. Don't leave a position uncovered hoping to grab someone in the next round — that's how you end up playing a prop at fullback.

Remember: a balanced 17 with good chemistry beats a top-heavy squad with a $5M halfback and gaps everywhere else.

At the start of each season, all eligible players go up for auction. Each franchise submits blind bids on the players they want. When the auction round closes, the system resolves bids: highest bid wins each player, ties broken by submission time.

Bids are blind — you cannot see what other franchises are bidding until after the round resolves. Spread your cap across enough players to fill a starting 13, or you'll be left with gaps you have to plug from the waiver pool.

Can I withdraw a bid before the auction closes?

Yes — until the auction round closes, you can edit or cancel any bid you've placed from the Auction page. Once the round closes, bids are locked and resolved.

---

Key Auction Rules

• Minimum bid: $100,000 per player
• Blind bids: You cannot see anyone else's bids until the round resolves
• Tiebreaker: If two franchises bid the same amount, the bid placed first wins
• Salary cap enforcement: You cannot bid more than your remaining cap space. If winning multiple bids would exceed your cap, the system processes highest bids first
• Multiple rounds: Elite players appear in earlier auction rounds. Lower-tier players in later rounds. Pace your spending across rounds

Strategy Tips

Don't blow your entire cap on 2-3 stars. You need 17 players minimum. A balanced squad with good chemistry will outperform a top-heavy squad with gaps. Check the pre-match preview to understand what positions matter most.

Guest legends are non-Warriors rugby league legends — stars from other NRL clubs, Super League, and international rugby league — who become temporarily available to bid on. They're the only way to bring non-Warriors players into Ultimate Team.

Periodically, an admin opens a guest stint auction for a specific legend. Franchises submit bids, the highest bid wins, and the winning franchise gets the player on their roster for a fixed stint of 1–6 rounds. When the stint ends the player departs, but any stats they accumulated stay attached to your franchise totals.

Starting state: guest legends arrive ready to play. They join your roster with:

• Form: 70 — good form, slight positive boost out of the gate
• Morale: 85 — arrive motivated and happy to be there
• Fitness: 100 — fully fit

If you see a guest legend sitting above 70 form before they've played a match, that means they've been included in a training session since they arrived — training adds a form boost on top of the starting baseline (light: +2–4, moderate: +4–8, intense: +6–12).

⚠ Important rules to know before you bid:

• Stint starts the moment they arrive. The countdown begins as soon as you win the bid — you cannot defer, save, or bank a guest legend for later. If you win a 4-round stint in round 22, they cover rounds 22–25 and then they're gone. There's no holding them back for a finals push.
• Guest legends do NOT play in the finals series. Their stints are regular-season only. Even if their duration would technically extend into finals, they're unavailable for finals matches. Plan your bids around the regular season ladder, not your finals run.
• Salary stays committed after the stint ends. When the stint expires the player is removed from your roster but their winning bid remains permanently committed against your salary cap for the rest of the season. You don't get the cap space back. Treat a guest legend bid as a long-term cap commitment, not a short-term rental fee.

Guest stints are best used to plug a short-term injury gap, chase a key win during the regular season, or score a few must-win games for ladder positioning — not to load up for finals. Bid only what you can afford to have locked away.

Trades are zero-sum on the field but positive-sum on the cap if you do them right. Here are the principles that separate good traders from bad ones:

1. Identify the other franchise's pain point. A team with cap pressure wants to dump a high-salary player. A team missing a position needs to fill a hole. Look at their roster before you propose anything.
2. Trade from depth. The best trades give you a starter for two of your bench players. Don't trade your starting halfback for two okay backs — you're hurting your strength to fix a position you can't even start.
3. Offer cash to sweeten unequal swaps. If you want a $2M player and only have $1.2M to offer in salary, throw in $800k cash. The receiving side gets cap relief, you get the player. Both sides win.
4. Use the trade-block view as intel. Players on other franchises' trade blocks are signals. They want to move them. Approach those franchises first.
5. Don't propose your first offer. Counter-offers are part of the negotiation. Open with something slightly aggressive, expect a counter, and meet in the middle.

Use the trade cap calculator below to test the cap math on both sides before you propose:

Open the Trades page, click New Proposal, pick the franchise you want to deal with, then drag players (and optional cash) into the offer / request columns. The system validates the salary cap on both sides before letting you submit.

The other franchise has 48 hours to accept, reject or counter. After that the proposal expires automatically. You can cancel a pending proposal at any time before it's actioned.

The trade window shown reflects the current league setting.

Can I trade injured or suspended players?

Yes — injured and suspended players can be traded, and the receiving franchise inherits the remaining injury / suspension rounds. This means picking up a "wounded" star can still be value if you can carry them through their layoff.

---

Counter-Offers

When another franchise sends you a trade, you have four options on the Trades page: Accept, Reject, Counter, or simply let it expire.

Hitting Counter opens a fresh proposal pre-filled with the perspective swapped — what they were requesting from you becomes what you're now offering, and vice versa. From there you can add or remove players, adjust the cash component, and submit it back. The counter is sent to the original proposer as a new pending trade.

Counter limit: a single trade chain is capped at 5 counter-offers. After that you have to accept, reject, or let it expire — no more back-and-forth. This stops trade negotiations from dragging on indefinitely.

The other franchise can then accept, reject, or counter you back, repeating until one of you commits or the cap is hit.

---

Trade Statuses

Every trade has one of seven statuses you'll see in the Trades list:

• Pending — waiting on the receiving franchise to accept, reject, or counter. The 48-hour expiry is ticking.
• Accepted — both sides agreed and the swap completed. Players and cash have been moved.
• Rejected — the receiving franchise turned it down outright.
• Countered — the receiving franchise sent back a modified version. The original is closed; check your inbox for the new pending counter.
• Withdrawn — the proposing franchise cancelled it before it was actioned.
• Expired — nobody acted within the 48-hour window. Treated as a soft rejection.
• Vetoed — an admin manually blocked the trade (rare — usually for cap exploits or collusion).

Minimum waiver bid: $100,000. Anything below that is rejected.

Tie-breaking: if two or more franchises bid the exact same amount on the same waiver, the earliest timestamp wins. The franchise that placed their bid first gets the player.

This means there's a small but real advantage to bidding early once a player hits waivers, even if you're planning to bid the same as everyone else. If you know you want a player and you know what you want to pay, don't wait to the last minute — lock it in early.

Waivers also count toward your effective salary cap as pending bids while they're open. You can't bid more than your remaining cap allows, even if a higher bid would lose you cap space only after the window resolves.

What is a waiver?

When a franchise releases a player, they enter a waiver window of 24 hours during which any other franchise can place a blind bid. When the window closes, the highest bid wins. If nobody bids, the player becomes a free agent.

Waiver bids are blind — you can't see other franchises' offers. Don't lowball — you don't get a second chance once the window closes.