#NRL 2013: The Postman's Pick - James Graham or Sam Burgess? + Mail #NRLDT #Supercoach

Quick Friday Blog from The Postman for all you NRL Dream Team and NRL Super Coach Tragics...

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Fantasy Conundrum: James Graham or Sam Burgess?

The question of who is better for your Fantasy NRL squad is a tricky one... that is unless you've been able to grab both in both formats - NRL Dream Team and NRL SuperCoach.

But if you have to choose one or the other in either game - here's the skinny on the two Englishmen.

James GRAHAM - Bulldogs
DT: $366,000 @ 49.6ppg, 54 BE
SC: $294,200 @ 64.9ppg, 81 BE
DT Skinny: Tackles are still the bee's knee's in DT - and Graham's two lowest scores to date (40 and 33) were because he only managed 22 and 23 tackles in Round 13 and 15. The rest of the year he's making 30-44 tackles a match and his score range is 46-64. In DT land that is MONEY FOR JAM and he plays Round 18 as well.
SC Skinny: In SC however - Tackles are important but not score defining. And that's where Graham falls down. He has no tries, just one try assist and one line break in 8 games, and a paltry 6 tackle breaks and 4 total offloads to go with it. In SC - that's not good news. He does tally the 8+ hitups enough to make his running game useful for his base stats - but Graham isn't about to pump out a 90+ game anytime soon... But the 60-80 bracket is a nice place to be every week.

Sam BURGESS - Rabbitohs
DT: $372,700 @ 49.5ppg, 62 BE
SC: $344,200 @ 72.9ppg, 83 BE
DT Skinny: Tackles are still the bee's knee's in DT - and this year Burgess is coming to the party breaking the 30 tackle mark in over half his games. But he's not going to crank out a 40 tackle day every week, making his work with the ball so much more important for a consistent score. Burgess gives you tackle breaks (3pt gold in DT), mid-range metres and not quite enough offloads a game to offset his tackle count. But he also makes errors and gives away penalties. The upside is he crosses the line - in DT a big facto when it comes to forwards who have great base stats. He has tries in 4 of his last 6 games. His range of points however is larger - 30-67pts.
SC Skinny: In SC those tries and line breaks make him a SUPERSTAR when he's on. When Baby John Burgess scores or sets up a try - he scores between 80-96pts. When he doesn't - he can still crack 70 but sits in the 50-60 range a little to frequently. As we know - SC rewards the important attacking plays like nobody's business - so tally up his 4 tries and 9 line breaks and you have POINTS! Another plus of SC is his errors/penalties aren't as punishing to his overall score.

SO WHO DO WE RECOMMEND?

#NRL 2013: Round 17 Tips Late Mail Predictions Preview #NRLLateMail #NRLDT #Supercoach

ROUND 17 TIPS and LATE MAIL
Plus The Postman's NRL Dream Team/NRL Super Coach Picks

2013 NRL Premiership

By W D Nicolson - July 3, 2013
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EXTRA LATEST OF LATE MAIL ADDED THROUGHOUT ROUND
ALL EXPERT PICKS AND SPECIAL FRIED RICE ADDED AS RECEIVED
THE POSTMAN'S MAIL IS NOW AVAILABLE: James Graham or Sam Burgess?

Here's a tip... when you see key players pull out on gameday - CHANGE YOUR TIP.

For some reason on Sunday and Monday Night - I saw Michael Gordon and Beau Ryan for the Sharks pull out... and stuck with the Sharks. And then I saw Kieran Foran pull out for Manly... and stuck with Manly.

Quite simply... I am an idiot.

Now while I don't like the fact you can change your tips on tipping websites up until the minute before the game starts (I'm a traditionalist of pick and stick Fridays) - I am foolish for not swapping both games and taking advantage of the 21st century.

Thus a possible 6/7 turned into a paltry 4/7 with the Storm losing to the Tigers the only real upset.

No tipping prize for me this year... not that I was seriously in contention anywhere but amongst the 'Awesome Foursome' Panel on this site - but still... I had such high hopes.

To the tips!

#NRL 2013: In the Press Box - At the footy with an Irishman... @BrendanFanning

In the Press Box: Lions Tour takes backseat to ins and outs of Rugby League

2013 NRL Premiership

By W D Nicolson - July 2, 2013
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The Complete Set will return next week on www.wdnicolson.com - but this week we recount watching a Rugby League game with an Irish Rugby Union Correspondent.

AT THE FOOTY WITH AN IRISHMAN
CURRENT NRL LADDER #NRLTweetPOTY Votes

Monday Night Football at the Footy Stadium… now this is what MNF was made for.

Central stadiums are the best place to play this fixture on the first working day of the week - because you have to try and tap into the traffic from the workplace... asking families to trek out to their home ground in the suburbs/country just isn’t going to work. So next year NRL - please lock in Allianz Stadium, Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and AAMI Park in Melbourne for at least two or three games each please.

I was at the SFS to cover the Easts-Manly Round 16 clash for the Official NRL Social Channels – the first game I’d been able to finagle my way into live… that is absorbing the game’s atmosphere and letting it direct my analysis, as opposed to doing my best to add not-on-location value (in 140 characters) to what you can already see on via the television broadcast.

The Roosters had been kind enough to clear a space for me in the Press Box and truth be told – the quality of what was then tweeted over the next two hours was going to ‘feel better’ than any ‘off the TV’ coverage can possibly translate into.

But I’m not here to talk about the process, rather the experience that came when an Irishman sat down beside me in the Press Box and introduced himself.

“Brendan Fanning, from The Sunday Independent newspaper Dublin.”

I quickly deduced from the accent* that this was not the indeed lead singer of Powderfinger but rather the real @BrendanFanning, well-respected Irish Rugby writer who is in Australia covering the British and Irish Lions tour that wraps up with the 3^rd Test in Sydney this coming Saturday.
* Though admittedly, I didn’t catch his name first time around due to said accent.

We exchanged pleasantries but welcomingly this Irishman was keen on the scent of Rugby League.

He wasn’t just here to watch a game of footy to fill time - Brendan wanted to experience as much of the nuances and intricacies of the Greatest Game of All during his short week in Sydney.

Brendan Fanning (left) with a few Irish Rugby internationals you may recognise

The lead-up to the actual first grade encounter was spent with us talking about both codes – so if you’ve got a few minutes, here is a summary of what we discussed and observed.