Season 9 Homepage

by Fluxy Sat 13 Aug - 14:13

First topic message reminder :

Breaking News: Newcastle Falcons continue to chase down leaders Sale Sharks, whilst Wasps defeat Tigers to climb away from the relegation battle.

Season 9 Homepage - Page 2 Aviva-Premiership-Trophy-e1306508139154

2015/2016 - Sale Sharks
2014/2015 – London Wasps

2013/2014 – London Wasps
2012/2013 – Leicester Tigers
2011/2012 – Newcastle Falcons
2010/2011 - Newcastle Falcons
2009/2010 – Saracens
2008/2009 - London Irish

POS	Aviva Premiership	PLAYED	WON	DREW	LOST	P F	P A	P D	T F	T A	TBP	LBP	POINTS
1	Sale Sharks*	13	11	1	1	371	315	56	44	32	5	1	51
2	Newcastle Falcons	13	11	0	2	347	307	40	38	31	2	2	48
3	Northampton Saints	13	9	1	3	371	324	47	44	34	5	3	46
4	Harlequins	13	8	1	4	357	329	28	41	35	3	4	41
5	Saracens*	13	8	2	3	332	309	23	37	30	2	3	40
6	Exeter Chiefs *	13	5	0	8	316	338	-22	29	38	0	8	27
7	Bristol Rugby	13	4	1	8	313	341	-28	33	36	0	8	26
8	Leicester Tigers	13	4	2	7	310	336	-26	30	37	0	6	26
9	Gloucester	13	4	0	9	321	333	-13	32	31	0	8	24
10	Wasps**	13	4	2	7	314	354	-40	36	36	2	4	24
11	Worcester Warriors	13	3	0	10	311	336	-25	29	34	0	10	22
12	Bath Rugby***	13	2	0	11	304	342	-38	28	38	0	10	15

Links

Fixture List

Released/Championship/National League/Academy Bidding
Foreign Transfers

Domestic Confirmation
Budgets

Injuries
European Homepage
Anglo Welsh Homepage

Welcome to Season 8 of the Aviva Premiership fantasy rugby game. Below are the rules of the game which must be adhered to. If there are any situations that arise in the course of the game which are not covered by the rules, a final decision will be made by the RFU (Fluxy) as to how the situation will be resolved.

Senior Squads wrote:
The maximum squad size is 40 senior players. If a team has more than 40 players in their squad then they will be fined £1 million per player over the permitted amounts per day for the first seven days. If after 7 consecutive days a team still has more than the permitted number of players then the team will be fined £2 million per player per day, and fined 1 league point per player per day for the next seven days. If after this time a team still has more than the permitted number of players in their squad, the RFU (Fluxy) will remove players at its discretion to bring them back under the permitted numbers. There will be no right of appeal to players being removed.

Be aware that all tier one international matches which are played during the season will count in the game, and players selected in the match day 23's for those matches will not be eligible to play for their clubs on that weekend, therefore you must give due consideration to the make-up of your squad.

Academy Rules wrote:
Each team will be allowed to have an academy squad of 23 players. Players who are in the academy must be born on or after 1st September 1994.

Any player, who is at any Premiership club in real life, either in their senior, academy or AASE squads, can be bid for on the domestic bidding page. Players who are at your own club in real life and are coming through the academy system must be bid for if you want them in your own academy.

Transfers wrote:

Domestic (other AP Teams)
Each team has a budget to use in the purchase of players. Domestic transfers between AP clubs, regardless of nationality of player, should be negotiated between the respective managers, and then confirmed on the Domestic Transfer Confirmation Page.
Domestic (Championship and below)
Each team may during the season purchase no more than 5 players from the Championship or the National Leagues. Worcester Warriors & London Wasps will receive two additional bids to be used exclusively on academy age players. These players must be bid for on the National League Bidding page, and each bid will be considered by the RFU on its own merits before being accepted or rejected. No bid will be accepted until a minimum of 24 hours has elapsed from the time the bid was made, in order to afford other managers the opportunity to make a counter bid.
Foreign
To make a foreign transfer (i.e. from any club outside of the AP, regardless of whether the player is English) a bid should be made by sending a PM to the RFU (Fluxy) and it will be considered by the RFU against the posted guidelines for purchase prices before being accepted or rejected. No bid will be accepted until a minimum of 24 hours has elapsed from the time the bid was made, in order to afford other managers the opportunity to make a counter bid.

There will be a summer foreign transfer window, which will run as follows.

Round Bidding

Open Bidding

Player Releases wrote:
Managers may choose to release players from their clubs, for which they will be offered compensation

Compensation will be paid as follows

£2 million – current international (must have played international rugby in the previous 12 months)
£1.5 million – former international
£1m – top flight experience
£0.5m – other

All released players will be deemed to have joined a Championship side and can be bid for on the National League Bidding page.

Retirements wrote:
There will be no compensation for retiring players. Should a player who retires decide to come out of retirement and play again, then he will automatically go back to the club who he was playing for in the game when he retired.

Fixtures wrote:
There will be 22 Aviva Premiership games per season, plus the play offs. There will also be European Rugby Champions Cup, European Rugby Challenge Cup and Anglo Welsh Cup matches. These games will take place once a week. A match thread will be put up every Monday. Home teams must be named by midnight on Tuesday. Away teams must be named by midnight on Wednesday. Failure to meet these deadlines is punishable by the addition of three match points to the oppositions final score, unless both sides fail to do so. Both teams must provide tactics by midnight on Thursday. Predictions will be open from 00:01 hours on Friday and remain open until 20:00 hours on Sunday. Managers will pm the scores that they think will happen from these games (apart from games in which they are involved). An average of all predictions will be taken, and then 0.5 points added to each teams score for each prediction that had them as the winner, and that will then be the final score.

Managers are asked to provide detail as to why they have predicted a result. To be considered a descriptive prediction this must be a full 3 lines long when entered into the text box.

Teams wrote:
When naming your team, not only should you put the starting XV and replacements, but also tactics that your team will employ. Results will be affected by the tactics described.

In addition, each team must have the following:-

For domestic competition at least 8 England qualified players in your match day 23, and at least 4 of those must be in your starting XV.

For European competition at least 8 England qualified players in your match day 23, and at least 6 of those must be in your starting XV.

At least 2 props and 1 hooker on the bench.

All players must be eligible (not injured or banned).

Failure to comply with these rules will result in a 1 league point deduction.

If you fail to submit a team for a match, then the other team will be automatically awarded a 30-0 bonus point win. If both teams fail to submit a team, then it will be scored as a 0-0 draw.

Injuries and Suspensions wrote:
Injuries in this game do NOT reflect real life, they will be generated by me.

Players banned in real life will be ineligible for selection in this game for the duration of the ban.

Inclusion of injured/banned players will result in them being replaced by players on the bench, and the bench not having eight players, which may result in punishment if it concerns the front-row.

Punishment for fielding an ineligible player will be loss of one match point.

Financial Rewards wrote:
There will be no rewards for the result of an individual match, instead the managers will receive cash for predicting.

£2m for descriptive predictions
£0.25m for scores on the doors predictions
Bonuses will be awarded on a scaled basis i.e. £2m for 5 games, £1.6m for 4 games and so on
If you fail to predict without first advising me that you are unable to do so that week, you will be fined £1m for a first offence, £2m for a second offence, £3m for a third offence etc upto a maximum of £5m per fine.

AP finishing positions.

Champions: £8m
Runners Up: £6m
Playoff Semi Finalist Losers: £5m
5th: £4m
6th: £3.5m
7th: £3m
8th: £2.5m
9th: £2m
10th: £1.5m
11th: £1m
12th: £0.5m

Heineken Cup

Losing Quarter Finalists - £2 million each
Losing Semi Finalists - £3 million each
Runners Up - £4 million
Champions - £5 million

Amlin Challenge Cup

Losing Quarter Finalists - £1 million each
Losing Semi Finalists - £2 million each
Runners Up - £3 million
Champions - £4 million

Anglo-Welsh Cup

Losing Semi Finalist - £1 million each
Runners Up - £2 million
Champions - £3 million

If your budgets falls below minus £10 million for any reason, the administrators (Fluxy) will step in and players from within your squad will be released for the relevant financial compensation (foreign transfer value) in order to bring your budget back above minus £10 million.

by Steven_Sharks Tue 30 Aug - 15:08

I also didn't think I'd have to keep the ones we chose for the summer tournament.

by ChequeredJersey Tue 30 Aug - 16:00

I thought what Flux meant was we pick 4 now this game and then those are our attributes for the season until we reach a swap date?

by BamBam Wed 31 Aug - 12:16

Budgets updated

by dammit_chris Thu 1 Sep - 17:23

After a speedy NH winger, athletic lock and a LH

PR Adam Jones (Wales) (3)
LK/BS Michael Paterson (England)
LK Paul Jedrasiak (France)
OS Jack Lamb (Samoa)
OS Brendon O'Connor (England)
OS Luke Wallace (England)
SH Cobus Reinach (South Africa)
FH Toby Flood (England)
CE Alex Dunbar (Scotland)
WG Frank Halai (New Zealand)
WG Adam Ashley Cooper (Australia)
FH/CE/FB James Hook (Wales)
WG/CE Matt Banahan (England)
LK Cameron Lawes (England) (dob needed)
BR Brad Wilkin (Australia) - born in 1995 can't find dob.
FH/FB Patricio Fernandez (Argentina) 11/10/1994.
WG Paolo Odogwu (dob needed, England u18s).

by Guest Thu 1 Sep - 17:59

What's the crack with attributes ? I
Have never picked any ? Where do
I pick them from? Can I make them up ?

Also surely you would change them as necessary ?

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 1 Sep - 18:45

You choose 4 from the attributes page.

by Fluxy Thu 1 Sep - 22:22

anonmattyt wrote:What's the crack with attributes ? I
Have never picked any ? Where do
I pick them from? Can I make them up ?

Also surely you would change them as necessary ?

Apologies I have been away for the past day.

To clarify - the four attributes (two defensive and two attacking) chosen for the first game, will be the four you have picked until a time arrives in which you will be able to amend two of the four when the time arrives.

Matt they are on the attributes page.

Just want to set the stall out now, as no one has indicated they aren't going to be late with teams or tactics will update the page at 0000.

by Fluxy Thu 1 Sep - 22:28

On another note, I know I have been threatening it - but here is the final resolution.

Foreigns will close on a week tomorrow @1700. This will also be the deadline to get your squad and academy squads in line.

by Guest Fri 2 Sep - 23:28

As predicted our lack of depth kills us. No front row and hook not a 10. Burns injury hit us. Were 24 up when
Burns on.
He is too small but a great kicker out
Of hand and attacking line.

We have 3 hookers who can't throw in.

Scott and moriarty amazingly as were burns,sharples, Marshall and laidlaw.

Why we sub Hibbard( throw aside excellent), rest of front row, Morgan and others baffling.

Leicester ground it
Out well and their bench of kitch, thompstone, Cole , youngsetc changed the game but were against our dross. That is tactics and shows how we are weak.

Tigers 8 was great. Slater gave away moronic penalties and was awful first half and sublime second
Half and lead well with young off.

Harrison the 9 looked better
At 10.
Kitchener decimated line out when on.

Tuilagi so short of fitness missed Tons
Of tackles as did the 13 betham and tait.

Freddie burns kicked the skin of
Everything.
At his best for Glos he was the best line kicker of a pen I have ever seen. He puts it right in corner.
Today he did that consistently.

by Guest Sat 3 Sep - 0:48

Good article

SA young and will lack leaders when Strauss gone. BDP not a leader and viewed as not worth a spot which is baffles me.

I would go pollard if they were in a good place as he has shown his leadership but for me still needs to learn int rugby. One
Day he rips nz to shreds next game he stinks place out.

Whitely only leader left after beast and
Having a prop as captain never works.

However Vermaulen better than whiteley. Hard choice

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/springbok-captaincy-who-should-replace-adriaan-strauss/

by ChequeredJersey Sat 3 Sep - 1:09

Whitely is good enough to start though, so may be worth it

by dammit_chris Sat 3 Sep - 13:21

Pooly, Akira Ioane is starting to look very good!

http://www.rugbydump.com/2016/09/5313/the-ioane-brothers-tear-up-the-turf-in-incredible-win-over-southland

by dammit_chris Sat 3 Sep - 15:34

Sarries looking so hard to stop, way too much power in their pack, just constant gain-line breakers.

Mat - you worried for Gloucester this season? Can't believe that Tigers were allowed to get back into that game yesterday, if Laidlow or Kvesvic get injured could see you guys getting dragged into a relegation battle with Falcons, Bristol and Worcester.

by Sgt_Pooly Sat 3 Sep - 16:33

Huge talents Chris, next season is huge for them with no 7's. Akira has some serious gas!

Gloucester will be in the mix with us, Sale, Wuss and Bristol. Not hugely impressed with Tigers last season and Tooma aside haven't really recruited that well.

by Guest Sat 3 Sep - 16:43

Glos will be in the bottom 6.
We will not go down but are continual lack of recruiting of depth is the issue.

Both ioane's are super talented. Akira needs to
Get fitter and get a work rate.
Reminds be a bit of a young vunipola in that respect. Great talent.

There was a fantastic article in paper the other day re piccamoles and his lack of work rate. Saying he puts a burden on his flankers with lack of work and defensively but has an amazing carrying and offloading game.

Pointed to the fitness levels in top 14 and also had some analysis showing pitch coverage of other 8s like read etc. The difference was amazing

by dammit_chris Sat 3 Sep - 17:04

I quite like Tigers recruitment this year, Toomua, Pieterson will both add a lot of experience and Genge looked good yesterday when he came on. But they are clever as just bring in a few to make changes to a squad, which is pretty good - O'Connor, McAffrey and Mike Williams were all great additions and they have got a bunch of top youngsters coming through, especially in the pack.

by dammit_chris Sat 3 Sep - 17:06

Bristol are playing some brilliant stuff in the first half - Varndell is still such an incredible finisher and Pisi and Lam will bring a lot to the AP this year.

by ChequeredJersey Sat 3 Sep - 19:12

So many rushed errors from Quins, second half so hard to play with the ball so slippery but will take the victory. Care's worst game in ages and dubious calls as captain :/

by dammit_chris Sat 3 Sep - 19:41

Hopefully just rustiness from Care, made some bad mistakes though. Just don't think you've got a powerful enough front five - rest of the team is great.

Bristol could surprise a few this season, but if they lose Pisi or Lam then it could be very different. Also you don't realise how well Henson plays for them.

by ChequeredJersey Sat 3 Sep - 19:45

Was actually happy with the grunt work today, maul went well, scrum solid, breakdown dominant by the end. Just need a bit more hard carrying there, would have started Luamanu in thes conditions

The rest was poor decision making and execution errors :/

by Guest Sat 3 Sep - 19:52

It takes 3-4 games for players to get up to speed so early season not really an indicator.

Lots of players missing or on special training programmes etc.

Bristol were very good and Quins very poor.

Quins have good players in many positions but poor in others. They will not challenge for me.

Thought the young 13 Marchant looked very good in attack but less so defending. A great prospect. Really good pace feet and strength. Very impressed by him

by ChequeredJersey Sat 3 Sep - 19:55

Not sure which positions we have no good players! Would rather have another quality lock but otherwise I think we have a fine starting 15, not great depth up front though

by dammit_chris Sat 3 Sep - 20:09

Marchant very good in attack when he had the chance, impressive for a 19 year old but what a mistake for that try.

Think Quins have stood still a little in terms of recruitment to build real quality in some areas - only Roberts I'd say has been a brilliant addition recently - whilst you compare that to Wasps, Bath and Sarries.

by Guest Sat 3 Sep - 20:49

ChequeredJersey wrote:Not sure which positions we have no good players! Would rather have another quality lock but otherwise I think we have a fine starting 15, not great depth up front though

Second row ?

My point CJ was mainly around depth.
Quins like Glos in that respect. First 15 very good but beyond??

Second row a weakness Defo. As is 10 after Evans

by Guest Sat 3 Sep - 20:51

Poor probably a bit harsh cj. Meant not at the level of other teams. Would also say visser is awful. Scores tries but defensively a mare.

by ChequeredJersey Sat 3 Sep - 22:15

I think our biggest error was not getting in an entirely new DoR with fresh ideas. Our previous course had huge pros but to fix the cons I think we need someone new in charge now we've lost Conor

by Guest Sat 3 Sep - 23:26

Your youth development is amazing.

Agree you needed a different coach.

Kingston used to coach me and I am
Amazed he is still considered
At top
Level

by Sgt_Pooly Sun 4 Sep - 2:30

Genge was more of a last season signing really. You look at some of the average players they've signed in the forwards over the last 2 seasons and they really don't look like a Tigers pack anymore.

by Guest Sun 4 Sep - 3:08

Agree pooly.

Compare deacon and Kay vs Barrow and slater

Ayerza on way down.

Cole is back to form and their lynchpin.

Corry back and Croft was leagues above current offering.

by Sgt_Pooly Sun 4 Sep - 8:01

Croft can't even get in the side these days, crazy. Barrow goes from 5th choice at Falcond to starting lock. Their pack is so un-Leicester like it's very strange.

by dammit_chris Sun 4 Sep - 9:25

Last seasons signings in their pack were good, if O'Connor stays fit for more than 2 games in a row, he will get in the England setup, Mike Williams has been chosen in the EPS already and McAffrey looks a very solid player. Think they've all been very good.

They are trying to be a lot more expansive in their game structure, Mauger has been a great influence there - but I agree that their second row is underpowered, Slater, Kitchener, Barrow all good players but none really stamp their authority into a game like Johnson and Kay could do.

by Sgt_Pooly Sun 4 Sep - 11:06

Can't say I agree on the signings Chris, none are int quality

by dammit_chris Sun 4 Sep - 16:50

Do you need them to be international quality to be a good signing though?

Tommy Taylor looks a very good signing for Wasps, not sure what's happened to Hughes though, he seems so out of sorts at the moment. Need him back to his best!

by Guest Sun 4 Sep - 19:11

Taylor was great around the park but his throwing in first half was awful.

Thought launch went well and Daly superb kick chase.

I thought gopperth was man of match

by ChequeredJersey Sun 4 Sep - 19:14

Also did people see Spencer's wondertry? Didn't know he had that in his arsenal...

by dammit_chris Sun 4 Sep - 19:26

He;s a very good no9 CJ, very underrated but needs to get more game time as he's 24 now and needs to get that starting spot.

Mat, agree with you there, Gopperth was excellent today - his try was a winger's finish too - he's style suits the no12 shirt. Be interesting to see how they use Eastmond.

Thought Daly had a very good game, and haven't realised how good Symons is before but he really made a difference when he came on. Both our no9s went well - be a great battle between them both this season.

The Wasps v Exeter games are becoming a great little rivalry.

by Sgt_Pooly Mon 5 Sep - 1:53

Generally the best players play Int rugby so it kind of shows the levels Tigers are recruiting at. Saracens bring in Burger, tigers bring in O'Connor......

by dammit_chris Mon 5 Sep - 12:15

Burger is the best signing in the AP this year, you don't realise all the little things he brings but you see it when the game isn't as intense as an international.

O'Connor had a good game on Friday, set up a great try and got one himself, and MCAffrey got motm, so both look good signings, but yes not world class ones.

by Sgt_Pooly Mon 5 Sep - 14:55

I'm not saying they're not decent players Chris, they're steady. I'm just saying they're un-tigers like and the recruitment has been like this for a few seasons now. Tigers just don't have an intimidating pack anymore.

by dammit_chris Mon 5 Sep - 19:03

Think they need to improve their second rows a bit as they aren't the nasty, gritty type but at the same time Tigers are looking to play more expansive rugby and in the second half v Gloucester they actually looked pretty good.

Liked the look of Genge when he came on, really powerful ball carrier there.

by Fluxy Mon 5 Sep - 23:15

This weeks thread is up and conditions are up.

The weekends results are in, will post feedback/predictions, along with update the table, and answer transfers, at a quiet moment in work tomorrow.

by Fluxy Tue 6 Sep - 14:44

Right, we should be up together. Table is updated, thread is ready for this week. Bam if you can, please update the budgets. Remember, squads need to be in line by Friday.

And we still need a Chiefs manager!

by Guest Sat 10 Sep - 20:52

Ben smith, barret , Savea and Crotty were excellent today as were Cordero and landajo.

Is landajo in the game ? Excellent player

by ChequeredJersey Sat 10 Sep - 22:53

anonmattyt wrote:Ben smith, barret , Savea and Crotty were excellent today as were Cordero and landajo.

Is landajo in the game ? Excellent player

Not yet, I considered him over Cubelli but I think long term Cubelli will be the more consistent player. He's a great 9 for Argentina though Tuculet not in the game yet either and for Glasgow Seymour seems to be in amazing form thus far

by Guest Sun 11 Sep - 0:12

Both good players at 9

by Sgt_Pooly Sun 11 Sep - 7:38

Falcons humped yesterday, really fancied something looking at that Bath side.....worrying. apparently Ford was outstanding

by dammit_chris Sun 11 Sep - 11:31

Bath been excellent in their first two games, amazing what a new coach can do - it's their pack that has stepped up.

Thing with Ford is that he now plays with a v good no9 and it's made an amazing difference to them.

by Fluxy Mon 12 Sep - 9:38

Guys if you want to get your predictions in before 1200, please do

by Fluxy Mon 12 Sep - 15:40

Right, I will update the table later this evening. Results for round two are done, and the thread for Round Three is underway, with conditions!

by Fluxy Mon 12 Sep - 15:49

I have also done a scan of all the squads, if you are in breach, you will receive a PM from at some point, advising of the action required. Nothing dramatic, unless you miss the deadline I set. If you don't hear from me, regard yourself as compliant.

Regarding the results from the weekend, sounded like Teo'o had a decent game before taken off for Warriors, and I might have to consider starting Purdy, if he keeps scoring tries!

by Sponsored content