So the NRL season has met its dawn and it has taken with it the one thing ive been most obessessed about - Supercoach NRL. To the cheer of many wives/husbands and girlfriends/boyfriends I'm sure as they get their respective partners back... or so they think! Many diehards out there are already thinking about Supercoach 2012!
Questions are being asked; how much will James Graham come in at, what position is Berrigan likely to play at the Raiders, who are the must haves in 2012, will Issac Luke be taking back kicking duties?
For me, this blog will be an outlet during the off-season. Somewhere I can ink my thoughts on paper (so to speak) perhaps on the train on my way to work or during late nights when i can't sleep.
I have many ideas about the research I want to undertake and to publish so that hopefully any body who stumbles across this blog prior to February 2012 will find it useful in selecting their 2012 starting squad.
During the course of the season I've collected detailed stats directly from Supercoach and as I didn't subscribe to SC Gold I found it very useful. I kept spreadsheets to help me keep track of bye rounds and to help me calculate my own Break Evens (BEs). I also found other people with similar passion in keeping stats and who were inclined to make statistical analysis to help them validate certain trade decisions. Of course, stats is not the end and be all when it come to fantasy sports. The real skill is pushing the 'T' button - when you've put a mortgage on your trade decision which is usually done on a Friday just before lock out. These decisions are made upon solid grounds of careful (or at least half-hearted) research but for some purely on speculation. For the diehards, research takes a greater part and through that journey, speculation is consequently validated.
In the next few weeks I will start posting some of my ideas on the type of research I want to do. In doing so, hopefully these ideas become cemented in my head!
As I mentioned, I've gathered detailed stats from the Supercoach website but I've also collated minutes and other useful information from NRLStats.com so a lot of what I'm thinking will involve statistical analysis and lessons learned from the 2011 season. Again, stats is only a small part of Supercoach but one that can not be ignored.
Anyway that's all I wanted to say for my first post. My next post will be on what lesson we can learn from positional selection and the notion of 'Points Per Minute' or PPM.
Cheers big ears.
