THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP
Once again, the NRL grand final surpassed the AFL grand final for excitement and theatre. It had everything- stoical defence, exhilarating offensive plays and a tiny moment in time which decided the whole season.
The Roosters went in as clear favourites, but the milk boys took it right up to them and may well have won if a controversial late 50/50 decision had have gone their way instead of Sydney’s.
As it was, the Roosters were deserving 14-8 winners and they sent Cooper Cronk of in a way befitting of his remarkable career.
Meanwhile, the NBA preseason kicked off signalling the home stretch before the season starts again, and Draftstars could not be more excited.
You can check out six previews of the season done here.
Will the Lakers and Clippers reignite basketball in L.A.? Will Zion be the beast everyone expects him to be? Will Ben Simmons shoot a three?
The Kings have some young players capable of going to the next level this year and it would be worthwhile keeping an eye on them and capitalising before they break out.
Rui Hachmura of the Wizards is another rook to look out for. He played an outstanding FIBA World Championships and looks like he will blossom into an NBA star.
And Victor Oladipo is returning from a horrible injury last year to a Pacers team to which he has the keys. He was turning into a bonafide superstar before the injury and there is no reason he will not maintain the trajectory he was on. Get on him early.
Remember.
Week five of the NFL threw up question marks for some teams.
The Rams suffered their second straight loss, going down to the Seahawks in a thriller, the Chargers dropped below .500 with an unexpected loss to Denver and the Chiefs may come to rue a loss to the Colts in which their offence just could not get going.
And after everything the Patriots complete dominance becomes more and more clear. Sure, they have had a soft draw, but the manner of their victories is remarkable and it is tough to make a case for anyone beating them. They have conceded 34 points this year.
Just look at them.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Bengals, Skins, Jets and Dolphins are woefully bad. Stay away. Stay far, far away.
NRL GRAND FINAL
Draftstars generously put on a $40k prize pool for the NRL decider and gave every fifth entry away for free!
User, TheMarvel, had just two entries and was the sole winner of the $5k first prize after selecting four of the top five scorers and nailing the choice of Joseph Leilua who banged out 46.5 DS points but cost just under $9k and was selected by only eight per cent of users.
Undoubtedly the best player of the contest was Jack Wighton, who was also awarded the Clive Churchill medal. He put the Raiders on his back at stages of the game and was duly rewarded with 63.38 DS points.
He broke through for the Raiders’ only try, broke six tackles, ran for 97 metres and laid 17 tackles.
Despite the loss, the Raiders accounted for five of the top six scorers. The one Rooster among them was Jared Waerea-Hargreaves who could be forgiven for Hargreaving himself not being awarded the Clive Churchill medal.
His 185 run metres and 41 tackles were a herculean effort and played a huge part in the victory.
NFL WEEK FOUR
The best performers from last week backed up their good form in week five.
Christian McCaffrey might be the first non QB to win the MVP since Adrian Peterson in 2012. His 47.7 output this week took his two-week tally to 81.6. In the absence of Cam Newton, he is doing in the air and on the ground and you just have to pick him.
Unbelievably, CMC was not the highest scorer of the week. Green Bay’s Aaron Jones had a whopping 49.2 DS points. He had a day with four scores being part of his 182 all-purpose yards. But still, he was not the top scorer.
No, the top scorer in week five was Houston receiver, Will Fuller V. He capitalised on a career day from DeShaun Watson (41.7 DS, five TDs) to pull in 14 catches for 217 yards and three scores. He cracked the half century with 53.7 DS points and having him in your team was virtually an instant win.
He had the highest Draftstars score in history.
Written by Brin Duggan
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