ByronWhether you’re making your NRL Fantasy coaching debut, or you’re a seasoned coaching veteran, the following article is your guide to the NRL Fantasy basics, FAQs and 2019 NRL Fantasy changes.
Where do you sign up to play?
How much to play?
Free.
Prizes
Weekly: Prizes for the five best scoring classic NRL Fantasy teams for an individual round include; 1st prize – $500, 2nd prize – $250, 3rd prize – $45 KFC voucher, 4th prize – $30 KFC voucher, 5th prize – $15 KFC voucher.
Overall: The winner of the 2019 NRL Fantasy competition will win $10,000 cash, plus a holiday for two to the International Nines tournament (including three night’s accommodation). Further, there are cash prizes for 2nd ($4,000), 3rd ($3000), 4th place ($2,000) and 5th ($1,000). There will also be 16 prizes for the best performing NRL Fantasy team from each club’s fan base.
A new feature for NRL Fantasy in 2019 is the $500 cash prize for the team with the highest value at the end of the season.
Finally, every coach who starts their own league with 16 teams or more will go into a draw to win a VIP trip to the NRL grand-final.
NRL Fantasy Classic (H2H) vs NRL Fantasy Draft?
Classic
The Classic NRL Fantasy format involves selecting a squad of 21 with a salary cap of $9.6m. You can play with your mates in a private league through a head-to-head format, or play individually in a public league.
Player prices will vary due to performance, therefore, you need to be shrewd with your budget by spending wisely through acquiring cash cows (players who will make you money over the course of the season) and value picks (underpriced keepers).
Draft
If you don’t want to worry about salary caps and player prices, or don’t want to have the same players across multiple teams within your league – then the NRL Fantasy Draft may for you.
One of the highlights of choosing to play the Draft option is the draft itself!
Set a date with a bunch of mates and get together for a draft party (beers are optional, yet highly recommended) and enjoy the fun and stressful experience the draft day brings.
The draft league can be customised to league size and how much time you give each coach for each draft pick. If you can’t attend the festivities, you can set a draft order in advance or select your team remotely.
The mode is flexible by allowing you to make trades with your rival coaches or picking up Free Agents between rounds. Once the team is selected the banter begins, and you will enter a head to head format much like the Classic format.
Cash Cows
The ability to generate money in NRL Fantasy Classic is the most important aspect of the game and this is achieved through acquiring the best performing “cash cows” available. Cash cows are basement to mid-priced players who are likely to increase their value during the season by consistently surpassing their “break even”.
Outside of selecting the cash cows in your squad in the first place, it is equally important what you do with the
The profits are to be used to bridge the gap between the cost of a star player on your journey toward a squad of 17 to 19 “keepers” (avg > 50).
So, which players should you pick?
First and foremost, it’s crucial we understand that not all players are great NRL Fantasy selections, irrespective of their status or impact in the game.
Cooper Cronk and Darren Lockyer have been two of the best players to take the field in NRL history, however, neither has been close to being the best buy in their respective positions in NRL Fantasy throughout their careers.
It’s important to recognise that there is a clear distinction between a great NRL player and a player with an NRL Fantasy friendly game. In saying that, there are many players that cross over – Andrew Fifita, Jason Taumololo and a host of other names just to add to the complexity.
Due to the scoring system, NRL Fantasy rewards points to players who can complete high tackle numbers and run metres, as well as dominant ball-runners or kickers. Therefore, defenders such as Cameron Smith, play-makers like Shaun Johnson and ball-runners like James Tedesco are all premium NRL Fantasy players.
As a guide, you should aim to get 50 points (on average) from forwards and halves, whilst aiming mid-40s from your outside backs.
It is also important to note that players can represent one or two positions in NRL Fantasy (dual position players). This can be important when trying to cover suspensions/injuries or a representative period throughout the season. Having players which cover, for example, both CTR and 2RF (i.e. Shark’s Kurt Capewell) results in having invaluable (and flexible) cover.
The following is a position breakdown including examples of the top performing players for each position in NRL Fantasy to use as a guide when setting up the framework of your team. AS a rule of thumb, you should be able to put together a team with 5 to 8 top line keeper from Round 1.
HOK – Aim for Hookers that can get through 80 minutes; Cameron Smith (average 60pts/game), Damien Cook (65pts/game).
FRF – Look for forwards with the ability to bust tackles and/or those that have an offload in their game; Andrew Fifita (58pts/game), Martin Taupau (57pts/game).
2RF – Workhorse locks or 80-minute second-rowers who get through plenty of defence (base stats), but also have the ability to bend the line; Jake Trbojevic (58pts/game), Jason Taumalolo (55pts/game), Angus Crichton (55pts/game).
HLF – Dominant attacking play-makers who take on the majority of the kicking are a must, think; Daly Cherry-Evans (55pts/game), Shaun Johnson (52pts/game), Nathan Cleary (52pts/game).
CTR – Run metres and line breaks are essential in this position; Latrell Mitchell (45pts/game), Blake Ferguson (44pts/game), Will Hopoate (43pts).
WFB – Tries, line breaks, run metres and tackle breaks are vital; James Tedesco (53pts/game), Kalyn Ponga (52pts/game), Tom Trbojevic (49pts/game)
Further, see the 2019 NRL Fantasy scoring system below to assist you in selecting your team and appraising the NRL Fantasy stocks of a player that has taken your interest.
Team Selection
“Rolling lockout” is a term you’ll need to be become familiar with. Rolling lockout means you can complete last-minute team changes before each match within a given round. Moreover, if you change your mind, or receive late mail on a member of your squad, you can substitute or trade him out altogether.
If you know you’re going to be busy over the NRL weekend, you can set your squad up early and be prepared with a contingency for any event.
For each round you are required to select a starting line-up consisting of 17 players including: 1 Hooker (HOK), 2 Front Row Forwards (FRF), 3 Second Row Forwards (2RF), 2 Halves (HLF), 2 Centres (CTR) and Fullbacks/Wingers (WFB), with four interchange players from the bench, and four emergency players.
Further, you need to select a captain (C) you predict will be the highest scoring player in that round within your team, as they will score DOUBLE points. If your selected captain doesn’t play then your vice captains (V) score will be doubled instead. These selections must be made before the first game of the round as they cannot be changed during the round. Another term you have heard within NRL Fantasy circles is “Rule No.1”, which refers to captaining Cam Smith every week irrespective of the opposition. The key takeaway from this is that captain hopping can be dangerous and it can be advantageous to pick and stick with your captain choice amongst one of your top-line keepers.
It is important to keep updated on injuries, suspensions, team list Tuesday and late mail to maximise your NRL Fantasy scores throughout the year. Look to all major channels such as the NRL, Fox Sports and Outta Their League social media channels for all important updates that may affect your team.
Interchange
Major updates to the interchange in NRL Fantasy were made in 2018 in a bid to give coaches more autonomy with their team selection – with the eight remaining players (outside the starting line-up) being ranked from 1 – 8. Players ranked 1 – 4 will form your interchange and part of your scoring 17, and players ranked 5 – 8 will be your emergency list.
Example: if a player from your starting line-up doesn’t play, the highest-ranked player of the same position in your reserves (players ranked 1 – 4) will automatically be selected into your starting line-up. If the player on your interchange also does not play, the highest ranked emergency player (players ranked 5 – 8) will then be called upon as a scoring player for the week – again, this occurs automatically.
What’s important here is that you have enough depth across all positions in your reserves list to be able to manage an injury or late withdrawal in any position without costing you your head to head match!
Trades
You can make unlimited trades before round 1. However, you are then restricted to two trades (maximum) a week for standard weeks and four trades for rounds 12, 14 and 16 (up to a maximum of 34 overall) for the season.
It is important to note that trades do not accumulate throughout the year.
Therefore, again, it is important to be prepared before round one with squad depth so you don’t unnecessarily waste
2019 Changes
The biggest change to NRL Fantasy this season is the price change predictor.
If you anticipate one of your players to score 45 points, enter 45 into the price predictor and it will calculate how much the price is likely to change for the following round/s.
Lastly, the salary cap has also been increased to $9.6 million this season for NRL Fantasy coaches.
2019 NRL Fantasy Scoring System
| Play | Points |
| Try | 8 |
| Try Assist | 5 |
| Line Break | 4 |
| Line-Break Assist | 2 |
| Tackle break | 3 |
| Forced drop-out | 2 |
| Goal | 2 |
| Offload | 2 |
| Tackle | 1 |
| Kick defused | 1 |
| Run metres | 1 for every 10 metres |
| Kick metres | 1 for every 20 metres |
| Field goal | 5 |
| Try save | 5 |
| 40/20 kick | 4 |
| Missed tackle | -2 |
| Error | -2 |
| Penalty conceded | -2 |
| Sin bin | -5 |
| Send off | -10 |
Advice and Tips Throughout the 2019 NRL Fantasy Season
Be sure to check into the Outta Their League website throughout the season for a host of articles and podcasts designed to help you navigate through the year and optimise your NRL Fantasy team for maximum performance.
Have a question you’d like addressed on the next episode of the NRL Fantasy Podcast?
Submit your NRL Fantasy questions to the Outta Their League website or email contact@outtatheirleague.com.au.
Subscribe to the NRL Fantasy Podcast by Outta Their League wherever you listen to podcasts and follow Outta Their League (@outtatheirleague) on; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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