The first in 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.
First under the microscope is a game by the good folks at The Rugby Magazine, check it out here.
THE PREMISE
Now a well-established part of the Fantasy Rugby landscape, The Rugby Magazine is a salary cap style game with a nod to Fantasy Premier League but with several 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 hefty 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
The most crucial pointer 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 the stars that will miss big chunks of the season for the Autumn Nations Cup 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 Ellis Genge, Oli Hoskins, Lewis Boyce, Beno Obano and Will Stuart 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 huge scores. The likes of Jonny Hill, Jonny Gray, Chris Vui, Jean-Luc Du Preez and Stephan Lewies 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 Luke Morahan, Charles Piutau, Ruaridh McConnochie, Louis Rees-Zammit, Stuart Hogg, George Furbank and Max Malins 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!
In other The Rugby Magazine news…
Don’t miss our interview with the 2019/20 overall Premiership TRM champion, Alasdair Haines. In it he provides some excellent insights as to how he fought off the challenge of thousands of other players to end the season at the top of the pack!
Also, if you are looking for some tips and picks for the new season, make sure you check out our recent value picks for The Rugby Magazine’s Gallagher Premiership 2020/21 blog post.
This season, The Rugby Magazine have also announced an excellent initiative to support the RPA’s charity, Restart Rugby
🔴 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 🔴
— The Rugby Magazine (@therugbymag) November 13, 2020
🚨 We’re delighted to announce we’ve teamed up with @RestartRugby, the official charity of the Rugby Players’ Association, and will donate 50% of every upgrade within our Premiership fantasy game.
👉 https://t.co/r00vCf0Bcs pic.twitter.com/Y7Ke5DPPn2
This season, the Rugby Magazine have teamed up with Restart, the official charity of the Rugby Players’ Association, and will donate 50% of every upgrade within their Premiership fantasy game. They are aiming to raise enough money to pay for their confidential counselling service for six months, but with the players of the Rugby Magazine’s help, the aim is to cover it for the full year. In this, we as Fantasy Rugby players have the chance to give back to those who give so much to us.
Finally, in an exciting new launch ahead of the 2020/21 season, The Rugby Magazine has now launched an iPhone app. The App is free to download in the App Store with Android coming soon…
Come and join the FRG league for 2020/21!
If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy 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, and a signed paperback copy of the Fantasy Rugby Handbook 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!
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Introducing The XV
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