The end of the regular season - NRL 2014

Well its the end of another regular season of NRL. A few points

1. Very competitive season this year, with the lowest Variance between the the participants in 5 years.
2. Improvers from 5 year average

Sydney Roosters (20%)
Penrith Panthers (17%)
Parramatta Eels (17%)
North Queensland Cowboys (10%)
Rabbits (6%)
Warriors (5%)
Manly (4%)

3. Ones that have struggled

Cronulla (-16%)
Titans (-10%)
St George (-9%)
Raiders (-9%)
Melbourne (-8%)
Tigers (-8%)
Knights (-6%)
Broncos (-6%)
Bulldogs (-4%)

Top 5 players in each position (according to my form guide)

1. Fullback
Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta)
Greg Inglis (Souths)
Michael Gordon (Cronulla)
Billy Slater (Melbourne)
Sam Tomkins (Warriors)

2. Wing
Josh Mansour (Penrith)
Daniel Vidot (Broncos)
Manu Vatuvei (Warriors)
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Sydney)
Semi Radradra (Parramatta)

3. Centre
Dane Gagai (Newcastle)
Will Chambers (Melbourne)
Shaun Kenny-Dowall (Sydney)
Jamal Idris (Penrith)
Joseph Leilua (Newcastle)

4. 5/8th
Dylan Walker (Souths)
Corey Norman (Parramatta)
Jack Wighton (Canberra)
James Maloney (Sydney)
Josh Hoffman (Broncos)

5. Half
Ben Hunt (Broncos)
Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly)
Shaun Johnson (Warriors)
Mitchell Pearce (Sydney)
Adam Reynolds (Souths)

9. Lock
Trent Merrin (St George)
Shaun Fensom (Canberra)
Dale Finucane (Bulldogs)
Adam Blair (Tigers)
Matt Gillett (Broncos)

10. Second Row
Alex Glenn (Broncos)
Simon Mannering (Warriors)
Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys)
Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne)
Ben Creagh (St George)

11. Prop
Sam Burgess (Souths)
James Graham (Bulldogs)
Josh McGuire (Broncos)
Jesse Bromwich (Melbourne)
Corey Parker (Broncos)

12. Hooker
Andrew McCullough (Bulldogs)
Nathan Friend (Warriors)
Cameron Smith (Melbourne)
Matt Ballin (Manly)
Robbie Farah (Tigers)

13. Interchange
Jacob Lillyman (Warriors)
Josh Jackson (Bulldogs)
Paul Vaughan (Canberra)
Jamie Buhrer (Manly)
Tohu Harris (Melbourne)

Team of the week - Change

Been thinking a lot about my team of the week calculations and I think the design is flawed. One of the big issues is that it doesn't account for time on the field. A player might have a great 1st game, but then get injured in Game 2 and still have a lot of form points through out the season...beating players who may have been consistantly good throughout the season, and hence more valuable to their team.

So I have weighted the form by multiplying it by the % of games played in the season. And the results are

Fullback :- Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta) *Same as previous
Wing :- Josh Mansour (Penrith) *Same as previous
Wing :- Daniel Vidot (Broncos) * Same as previous
Centre :- Dane Gagai (Knights) *Same as previous
Centre :- Shaun Kenny-Dowall  (Sydney) *Change
5/8 :- Dylan Walker (Souths) *Same as previous
Half :- Ben Hunt (Broncos) *Change
Lock :- Trent Merrin (Dragons) *Change
Second :- Ben Creagh (St George) *Change
Second :- Alex Glenn (Broncos) *Change
Prop :- Sam Burgess (Souths) *Same as previous
Prop :- James Graham (Bulldogs) *Same as previous
Hooker :- Matt Ballin (Manly) *Change
Interchange:- Jacob Lillyman (New Zealand) *Change
Interchange :- Jamie Buhrer (Manly) *Change
Interchange :- Jeremy Latimore (Penrith) *Change  Interchange :- Paul Vaughan (Canberra) *Change    I think this is a better looking (and more accurate best side than the one previous)