The Holden NRL Dream Team season is drawing to a close, with the league semi-finals on this weekend and Daniel "Panda" Long leading the overall rankings by 66 points with two rounds to play.
Many of us, even those still in contention for our league titles, are already planning towards 2014 – ruing the fact that teenage Tigers sensation Luke Brooks won't be a bargain-basement cheapie after last week's 52-point debut, and keeping an eye on the new batch of young guns named in this season's Holden Cup Team of the Year.
We're also debating how Dream Team can be improved on next season. The last couple of years have brought some big changes to the game – the rolling lockout, the ability to switch player positions while making trades, and more rewards for attacking plays as a way to increase the value of backline stars. Are more changes needed next year?
This week I'm asking what you think.
Are three points for tackle breaks – the primary source of points for Greg Inglis, Billy Slater, Josh Dugan, Josh Hoffman, George Burgess and Andrew Fifita – too much? A tackle break isn't necessarily a significant play in a rugby league game, but the current three-point rule has turned some of the NRL's best attacking weapons into Dream Team guns. It's levelled the playing field in a game that had traditionally been dominated solely by tackle-hungry forwards.
If the value of tackle breaks was dropped to two points, should other attacking plays increase in value to keep fullbacks, wingers and centres relevant in Dream Team? Should line breaks be worth five or six points instead of four? Should tries be worth 10 points instead of eight?
Or should new scoring factors be added, like try saves, kicks defused and forced drop-outs?
Looking at other aspects of Dream Team, do you want more flexibility with making trades – for example by allowing unlimited positional switches between dual-position players when trading? (For example, being allowed to trade out a centre, move Greg Inglis from fullback to centre, move Jarryd Hayne from half to fullback, move Greg Bird from the second row to half, and bring in a second-rower.) Or would that be making dual positional players too valuable?
Should more than 34 trades be available each season? Should DT coaches get a "wildcard" to make unlimited trades for one week? Should the "captaincy loophole" be closed, or is it just a new tactic available to savvy Dream Team coaches?
Does Dream Team Draft need improvements? Can Assistant Coach be more helpful? Do you have an idea on how to improve the mobile app?
Or should the game stay just the way it is?
I'll be polling my buddies on the Lone Scout Facebook page this week about these kinds of questions, but feel free to send me your suggestions through Twitter or email as well. Who knows, your idea could make it into Holden NRL Dream Team 2014.
I'll publish the best and most popular ideas next week.
And stay tuned for the start of Finals Dream Team, a brand new competition running for the four weeks of the NRL finals series.
Follow the Lone Scout and ask your questions on Facebook, Twitter, or via email. Or just start playing Dream Team now.
