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ASX Fantasy Rugby: Why you should be investing in the Chiefs

By RugbyPass
Jonah Lowe. (Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)

ASX Sports Fantasy Rugby is taking another step forward this weekend with all four Super Rugby Pacific matches available for savvy investors to take a punt on.

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While the Blues, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders won’t feature this weekend, with their matches postponed until the future, there are still plenty of IPOs available for ASX Sports players to get involved in.

In the sole game played on New Zealand soil this weekend, Moana Pasifika will host the Chiefs at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday evening. Across the ditch, the Brumbies will square off with the Reds in a top-of-the-table clash on Friday night, before the Fijian Drua host the Western Force and the Waratahs host the Rebels on Saturday.

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ASX Sports Fantasy Rugby has arrived.

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ASX Sports Fantasy Rugby has arrived.

In case you need reminding, users in ASX Sports earn points (called ‘dividends’) for how well their players perform, but the big money comes from buying and selling players at the right time, whether that’s offloading them when their value is plummeting downwards, or bringing them on board when you know they’re about to contribute in a big way on the field.

As is the case every week, there are cash prizes up for grabs so get in quick and grab a deal while you still can.

Who might be some of the best picks for Round 5 of Super Rugby Pacific?

Brumbies v Reds

Two of the top three performers from last weekend will feature in the Friday night derby between the Brumbies and Reds, in what will be a repeat of last year’s Super Rugby AU final – albeit in Canberra instead of Brisbane.

Tom Banks was a points machine for the Brumbies against the Rebels last weekend, clocking up over 150 metres on attack and beating eight defenders. His excellent performance was capped off with a last-game try, so it’s no wonder that the Wallabies fullback topped the point-scoring charts last week on ASX Sports Fantasy Rugby. While the Reds will prove a tougher opposition than the Rebels, Banks will be going head-to-head with another player who will be seriously interested in staking a claim for the Wallabies No 15 jersey, Jordan Petaia, and that will provide Banks with ample motivation to put out another strong performance.

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In the forwards, Reds hooker Joshua Nasser was a strong performer will ball-in-hand against the Drua but also delivered accurate ball to the lineout throughout the match and ultimately provided the highest return on investment last weekend. Seru Uru‘s late-game heroics also delivered good returns for any savvy investors.

Fijian Drua v Western Force

The Fijian Drua and Western Force have both strived to play expansive attacking rugby this year which could mean it rains points in Sydney on Saturday afternoon.

After spending the past two matches on the bench, Ian Prior has been promoted back into the starting line-up for the Force and he’ll almost certainly take on the goal-kicking duties this weekend. On the other side of the ledger, Teti Tela was superb off the boot for the Drua in their late comeback against the Reds, nailing five out of his six attempts at the posts. If the tries come thick and fast at Leichardt Oval, these two goal-kickers should rake in the points.

Two of last weekend’s top performers for the Drua, halfback Peni Matawalu and wing Onisi Ratave, have been shifted to the reserves this weekend but if the game opens up late in the piece like the Drua’s last clash, expect these two to have a big impact.

Otherwise, consider taking a punt on Force wing Byron Ralston, who will make his first starting appearance this weekend and will be looking for a big performance in order to reassert his spot in the team.

Moana Pasifika v Chiefs

Moana Pasifika squared up reasonably well the Crusaders in their only competition match to date but were still ultimately disposed of by 19 points in Round 2 of the season. During the pre-season, they were thrashed 61-7 by the Chiefs and with the men from Hamilton flying high after besting the Crusaders over the weekend, a bloodbath could be on the cards at Mt Smart on Saturday.

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There are plenty of ways to earn dividends in ASX Sport beyond simply investing in players who are likely to score tries but when the odds are so strongly in favour of the Chiefs, this is one game where it may simply be best to put your money behind the Chiefs’ high-flyers. As such, consider buying stocks in the Chiefs’ outside backs, especially Jonah Lowe and Emoni Narawa, who both scored tries against Moana Pasifika during the pre-season clash.

Waratahs v Rebels

The Rebels are still chasing their first win of the Super Rugby Pacific season while the Waratahs got their season back on track with a win over the Force last weekend.

Waratahs fullback Will Harrison has put in some strong performances in his return to action and with the 22-year-old shouldering goal-kicking duties, coupled with the Waratahs’ desire to spread the ball wide, he’s certainly a player worth investing in ahead of the weekend.

A rainy day on Saturday could lead to more forward-oriented play than we’ve seen so far throughout the competition so consider Rebels flanker Richard Hardwick – promoted into the No 7 jersey for this weekend – who doesn’t necessarily come up with the most game-changing plays in a match, but does plenty of the grunt work needed to get his team over the line. If the Rebels can get some ascendency up front – which is admittedly a big if – the boot of Matt To’omua could become a serious points accumulator throughout the match.

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

36 Go to comments
A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

36 Go to comments
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