Head to Head // The changing CTW strategy

The long held tactic of chasing favourable CTW matchups for Head to Head is dead.

Well if not dead, it’s dying. And the big shift in roles of wingers in the game is a huge part of it.

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On the weekend Jacob Kiraz scored 90 points, which was the 9th most at the position. And he did all this without a try or a line break to his name.

Zac Lomax was opposing him for Parramatta and scored 61 in a game where his side were smacked on the scoreboard and barely in the game for the final 20 minutes.

Herbie Farnworth cannot stop scoring tries. He toned up for the Dolphins and had 65 points in base and power – watching him closely it didn’t even feel like a big game for him but it was.

Greg Marzhew has scored two tries all season for a team who play attacking football with all the chemistry of a social side who just met before the game. He’s nearly averaging 70 for the season.

I’m talking about these four players specifically as they’re all examples which help to prove my point that, in a position where tries used to be the separation between the players which won you your league or not, these base and power beasts are changing the game.

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There are 16 players at CTW averaging over 65 (who’ve played more than five games). And only five of those top 16 actually correlate to the Top 12 try-scorers for the season in actual NRL.

Which goes to show that chasing the try-scorers isn’t the way to bank consistent SuperCoach scores anymore at CTW. 

And furthermore, as shown by Herbie on the weekend, when these base and power beasts do score a try or two is when you can get the monster scores at the position which will have your opposition quaking in their boots.

Here are the Best base and power averages at CTW (up to Round 13):

Rank	Player	B+P Average
1	Dylan Lucas	60.5
2	Herbie Farnworth	58.5
3	Greg Marzhew	58.4
4	Jacob Kiraz	56.3
5	Zac Lomax	55.7
6	Euan Aitken	54.3
7	Beau Fermor	54
8	Dane Gagai	51.9
9	Brian To’o	49.2
10	Fletcher Sharpe	48.9

So what does this boil down to and how can you use this information to win your Head to Head league?

It’s about this time of the year I like to start closely reviewing the match-ups in Head to Head finals to see which players I want on match-ups in my side. 

But I’m changing tact this year to just focus on getting as many of the known guns in who can do it any week against anyone.

Because not only are the floors of these players good enough to offset a poor game. The upside when they do add a try is going to comfortably beat the scoring of a lesser player who scores two or more anyway.

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Here’s my power rankings of the best players available at CTW and 2RF for the season:

Rank	CTW	2RF
1	Jacob Kiraz	Tino
2	Zac Lomax	Keaon
3	Herbie	Hudson Young
4	Dylan Lucas	Dylan Lucas
5	KL Iro	Eli Katoa
6	Reuben Garrick	Jacob Preston
7	Fletcher Sharpe	Haumole
8	Valentine Holmes	Erin Clark
9	Brian To’o	Connor Watson
10	Mark Nawanitawase	Pat Carrigan
11	Greg Marzhew	Villiame Kikau
12	Xavier Coates	Angus Crichton
13	Lehi Hopoate	Isaiah Yao
14	Dane Gagai	Toby Couchman

From here on out, my goal is to get my hands on as many of these players into my side as possible.

It’s not going to be financially possible to get everyone that I want to own. And it’s important to know that after the Origin period, the return to having just one team on the bye per week means that depth becomes less important, so carrying nuffs is fine. The multitude of dual position players we own also helps cover depth.

For what it’s worth, the draw for Finals is below with the different matchups ranked.

While the strength of schedule won’t carry as much weight for me this season if I can get in the guns I want across CTW and 2RF, obviously you’d expect to see an uptick in scoring for any side that has a softer draw.

As we finish the Origin period, I’ll take a deeper dive into the players to own and avoid based on match-ups.

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