2018 NRL Fantasy is now open
Don't know your DPP from your POD? Your traps from your guns?
The first step to being in the know when it comes to , presented by Youi, is getting yourself comfortable with the lingo and acronyms around the game.
Here are the key phrases you'll need to know when you're reading up about Fantasy on jetwinvip.com or fan pages on Facebook or elsewhere, or when you're listening to the NRL Fantasy podcast or chatting to the die hard players in your league.
Cash cow – Cheap players who will rise in value quickly. They're crucial to a successful NRL Fantasy season (unless you're playing Draft) – buy them cheap, sell them for more, and use the spare cash to bring in star players down the track.
Keeper – High scorers who you'll expect to keep in your side for the rest of the season. Generally, it's anyone who scores more than 50 points a game, or outside backs who score more than 40 points a game.
Gun – an elite keeper. One of the top scorers in his position.
Trap – a player who looks like a good buy, but is probably someone you'd regret buying. Usually a cheap or mid-range player who appears to be good value but won't score enough points to be of much use.
DPP – dual position players. All players in Fantasy are allocated one or two positions, and utility players will be more valuable than ever in 2018 with the smaller 21-man squad sizes.
BE – break even. The most crucial number provided by Coach, the subscription stats service available in NRL Fantasy (just $20 for the whole season, and free through to the end of round one). Each player's break even is the score the player will need to make to maintain his price – score higher than their break even and they'll rise in value, score lower and they'll drop in value. Cameron Smith's break even for round one is 63; Bryce Cartwright's is 22.
WFB/CTR/HLF/FRF/2RF/HOK – the six positions in NRL Fantasy. Winger/fullback, centre, half, front-rower, second-rower, hooker.
The nicknames
Brothers in the NRL bring out the creativity (and laziness) in die-hard Fantasy players who can't really be bothered writing out somebody's whole name. That's how Sam, Tom and George Burgess became Surgess, Turgess and Gurgess, while Tom and Jake Trbojevic became TTurbo and JTurbo (or "Jurbo"). Rival playmakers Adam Reynolds and Josh Reynolds aren't even related but still get the A-Rey/J-Rey treatment (although Adam has traditionally been more of a Fantasy factor than Josh).
Then there are the one-offs, with some of Fantasy's elite being anointed with a moniker involving their jersey number – such as CS9 (Cameron Smith), PG13 (Paul Gallen) and CP13 (retired Fantasy legend Corey Parker).
The hyphen names
People don't have time to write out long names on the internet these days, so knowing your acronyms is crucial if you want to have an idea of who someone is talking about. Beware, in Fantasy circles a player can go from "Panthers rookie Corey Harawira-Naerea" to a simple "CHN" in no time. Here are a batch of the most popular acronyms:
CHN (see above)
RTS (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck)
JWH (Jared Waerea-Hargreaves)
JFH (James Fisher-Harris)
JDB (Jack De Belin)
NAS (Nelson Asofa-Solomona)
SKD (Shaun Kenny-Dowall)
SST (Sio Siua Taukeiaho)
TKO (also Sio Siua Taukeiaho – this can get confusing, I know)
DWZ (Dallin Watene-Zelezniak)
MWZ (Malakai Watene-Zelezniak)
RFM (Raymond Faitala-Mariner)
CNK (Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad)
POD – point of difference. The kind of player who isn't in too many other Fantasy teams, and could therefore give you an edge over the competition if he becomes a quality scorer.
Lockout – the time when you can no longer trade or substitute one of your player. The rolling lockout that is in effect in Fantasy means you can trade or substitute a player up until their team's match begins during a round.
Trade rage – a condition that has affected the vast majority of Fantasy coaches at some point. You'll discover it for yourself first thing on a Monday morning after a bad performance from your team.
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