The second of a series of game overviews to give you the ins and outs of the available games in place for this season’s Gallagher Premiership. If any new games pop up, please let us know at fantasyrugbygeek@gmail.com or @frugbygeek on Twitter. Next under the microscope is a game by the good folks at The Rugby Magazine, check it out here.
THE PREMISE
A salary cap style game with a nod to Fantasy Premier League but with a few new and innovative tweaks for rugby. You have a budget of £7m to build a squad of a minimum of 28 players, from these 28 you must pick a match day 23, all of whom will score for you (your bench getting you half points). As your entire match day 23 scores points, it crucial that you use your limited transfers wisely. Similarly to FPL, the players’ value increases and decreases over the course of the season, so as the season goes on you can build your team’s value. A really nice touch is the allowance of players to play in multiple positions, reflecting the real life scenario that someone may be a bit of a utility player popping up in multiple positions over the course of the season. So Stuart Hogg, for example, is assigned as a Full Back, Fly Half and Centre. This will allow a bit more flexibility when it comes to building your match day 23. The transfer system is slightly complicated. Once the season is up and running, you are limited to releasing 5 players per week – only 1 of these are free though, the remainder will each incur a 20 point transfer penalty. There is no limit on how many players you can bring into your squad, other than the remaining budget in your salary cap.
THE KEY POINTS
- Squad Size: A minimum of 28
- Team size: 23 – The 8 on your bench will earn half points
- Double scoring captain?: Yes
- Designated Kicker?: Yes
- Transfers: 1 free transfer (player release) per gameweek, up to 4 more releases allowed at a cost of 20 points per release
- Max players from one club: 6
THE EDGE
Use your squad well
It seems the most crucial observation is that you must use your squad well, it is critical that you have a match day 23 of players who should always be involved. 23 starters, even better, but what with squad rotation this is always a challenge. Avoid the temptation to load your starting XV with superstars, with your bench earning you half points, you are better served building a balanced squad of consistent performers rather than 15 superstars and a bench of low scorers.
Dodge the internationals
Although it’s tempting to load up with big names, your limited transfers will be better used on guaranteed starters each week of the season so that you don’t find yourself having to make costly multiple transfers when it comes to RWC returning stars and Six Nations.
Top of the Props
With a point on offer for every metre gained by props, you must bring in props who have a history of ball carrying for metres. The likes of John Afoa, Mako Vunipola, Alex Waller, Ellis Genge, Zurab Zvhania, Vincent Koch and Kyle Sinckler are essentials this game and are also solid captain choices. Ball-carrying locks also tend to score big. Crunch the stats and hunt down the carrying kings!
Lock In
As with Props, Locks tend to do well in the game, with a point on offer for every two metres gained, and a point on offer for every two passes/offloads. Locks all round are regular high scorers in the game and Locks with strong carrying, tackling, passing and lineout games will put in some hige scores. The likes of Ed Slater, Chris Vui, Will Skelton, Elliott Stooke and Maro Itoje should be some of the first names in your team.
Multiposition players are worth their weight in gold
Given the transfer restrictions and the squad size, by filling your squad with players who can play in multiple positions, you will provide your team with a lot more flexibility in case of injury, resting and rotation.
Players who like to run with the ball have the potential to score big
You will be well rewarded with players who run the ball in from deep and can take on and beat players, so load your team up with fullbacks and wings who like to run with the ball. The likes of Jason Woodward, Olly Woodburn, Alex Goode, Telusa Veainu, Jonny May, Liam Williams, Jack Nowell, Chris Pennell and Stuart Hogg are reliable performers in this respect.
Friday afternoons will never be the same
You have a small window of time between the Saturday and Sunday squads being announced at midday and the Friday night game kicking off, so make sure you log on in this time to make sure your proposed 23 is actually playing. Keep an eye on the team announcements on the Fantasy Rugby Geek Premiership Twitter List to catch the team announcements as they come in.
Plan ahead
Keep an eye on the fixture list when making your transfers to ensure that you get the best bang for your buck. If a certain team has a good run of games coming up bring them in. Conversely a side could have an attractive fixture that week but follows up with some tough games against the top dogs, it could be worth reconsidering!
If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Gallagher Premiership glory and win you some stash while you are at it, then join our public fantasy league on The Rugby Magazine fantasy game, where a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat will be on offer for the winner of the league. To join, Sign up to the game here & go to Leaderboards > Public Leagues and join “Fantasy Rugby Geek”. Good luck!
Fan of The Rugby Magazine? Have a read of our interview with Edward Kerr, founder of The Rugby Magazine, here…
Want to know what it takes to finish the tournament in The Rugby Magazine as #1 in the world? Read an interview with a previous Champion here…
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Get free tickets to The Rugby Show
The Rugby Show is a two-day gathering at the Ricoh Arena, home of Wasps, in July 2020. The Rugby Show already has a fantastic range of phenomenal speakers from across the professional game. The likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Maggie Alphonsi, current England World Cup duo, Joe Marler and George Kruis and World Cup winner Sarah Hunter will be talking about their own experiences, about coping with injury, maintaining fitness, nutrition, providing demonstrations on how to improve your skills as a player and more. The line-up also includes recent MMA convert James Haskell, Premiership regulars Jimmy Gopperth and Tommy Taylor to name a few. Registration has now gone live and as an ambassador of the Rugby Show, Fantasy Rugby Geek is offering you FREE ENTRY to the event (which usually costs £15 for an adult ticket). Click this link https://the-rugby-show-2020.reg.buzz/fantasy-rugby-geek and enter the following code TRS20GRASSROOTS to book your FREE tickets now!
Looking for more Fantasy Rugby insight and Resources?
New for the 2019/20 season, we are proud to present the The Fantasy Rugby Handbook. An exhaustive collection of wisdom and experience gained from over a decade of fantasy rugby playing. Primarily aimed at less experienced players but with enough nuggets of wisdom and insight for even the most grizzled fantasy rugby veteran. There is something here for all players. The eBook is available to download now for just £3.99 on Gumroad as a PDF and on Amazon in Kindle format (Free on Kindle Unlimited) – check it out!
If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the 2019 Gallagher Premiership fantasy games, all the stats sources, injury news, team news, fantasy relevant rugby betting odds and tons of other useful information.
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