Why can't I pick Damian McKenzie at fullback?
A few of you playing Super Rugby Fantasy this season have asked why Damian McKenzie isn't available to pick as an outside back, despite the fact he plays fullback every weekend. We thought we'd explain why.
When brainstorming about ways we could make the Super Rugby Fantasy game better, one of the major things we noted from the 2015 version was that the majority of canny brus were picking players out of position. This was possible because we allowed you to pick players in any position that they were capable of playing.
The best example of this was Nemani Nadolo. The giant Fijian winger has played once or twice (mostly internationally) in the centre, so we allowed you to pick him there in your fantasy team. So, every week he would play on the wing for the Crusaders, and yet pretty much everyone had him in their team as a centre.
He wasn't the only example. Broadly speaking, outside backs score the most points in our fantasy game - they have the most space to rack up metres with ball in hand, and score the most tries. So, guys like Nadolo and Tim Nanai-Willians were picked by almost everyone in the centre, despite very rarely playing there. Willem Alberts was a popular pick in the second row, despite hardly ever featuring there for the Sharks... and so on.
So, we decided that for this year's game, we needed to cut back on this. Basically, we wanted to make picking your fantasy team closer to reality, whilst also encouraging greater pick diversity. After all, it's no fun if everyone has Nadolo in the centre, is it?
This is where we return to Damian McKenzie. Before the season began, we decided to assign one position to each player. In general, this has worked well, because most players only play in one position.
For utility players, however, it meant we had to take an educated punt. We looked at where they had featured most in seasons past, and narrowed their availability down to that one position.
Now, DMac's situation has been something of a perfect storm, given his versatility and lack of appearances in the past. We made him a fly-half, which with the value of hindsight, is clearly wrong. And of course his insanely good form this season has somewhat cast a spotlight on the issue!
In general, though, we think we've got it right most of the time, and it has made for a better, more realistic game.
If you've got any thoughts on the above (including your own solution for the utility player problem!), do let us know below the line.
When brainstorming about ways we could make the Super Rugby Fantasy game better, one of the major things we noted from the 2015 version was that the majority of canny brus were picking players out of position. This was possible because we allowed you to pick players in any position that they were capable of playing.
The best example of this was Nemani Nadolo. The giant Fijian winger has played once or twice (mostly internationally) in the centre, so we allowed you to pick him there in your fantasy team. So, every week he would play on the wing for the Crusaders, and yet pretty much everyone had him in their team as a centre.
He wasn't the only example. Broadly speaking, outside backs score the most points in our fantasy game - they have the most space to rack up metres with ball in hand, and score the most tries. So, guys like Nadolo and Tim Nanai-Willians were picked by almost everyone in the centre, despite very rarely playing there. Willem Alberts was a popular pick in the second row, despite hardly ever featuring there for the Sharks... and so on.
So, we decided that for this year's game, we needed to cut back on this. Basically, we wanted to make picking your fantasy team closer to reality, whilst also encouraging greater pick diversity. After all, it's no fun if everyone has Nadolo in the centre, is it?
This is where we return to Damian McKenzie. Before the season began, we decided to assign one position to each player. In general, this has worked well, because most players only play in one position.
For utility players, however, it meant we had to take an educated punt. We looked at where they had featured most in seasons past, and narrowed their availability down to that one position.
Now, DMac's situation has been something of a perfect storm, given his versatility and lack of appearances in the past. We made him a fly-half, which with the value of hindsight, is clearly wrong. And of course his insanely good form this season has somewhat cast a spotlight on the issue!
In general, though, we think we've got it right most of the time, and it has made for a better, more realistic game.
If you've got any thoughts on the above (including your own solution for the utility player problem!), do let us know below the line.
Superbru on X
So this is actually about the vagaries of selection - picking DMac as kicker is always going to be a risk when Cruden is in the team too, as he is another kicking option and you can never be sure which one will kick. One of the many tactical elements of picking your team! 6 May 07:49
8 May 01:00
The scoring system for the forwards is good points for line outs n scrubs but the half back get nothing it's just about worth not having one in your team,
What if the half back got part of the forwards scrum point or points for so many passes or box kicks ,I'm not sure just trying to give feed back to super bru
Other wise keep it up
As for the reality part, not so much, coaches have the luxury of playing players in positions they see fit or for game plan requirements, so it would be nice to have an option of a positional switch with maybe a limit of 1 per round if the need arises.
Also, how about 1 Wild Card option, where at any time during the whole competition, you can do a general reset of your whole team once off. With all the bye weeks and injuries and players not performing and not making the team anymore, you might not be able to cover all positions with the weekly transfers, or you halfway through the season, you want to start afresh. Been playing fantasy premier league, where this option comes in quite handy for me round about