Training Programs

Decided that a list of training programs for the positions (my opinion only of course) could be useful for those unsure of how to get the best out of their guys. It'll be based on 10 sessions, and I'll try and put a * next to secondary skills or skills currently with 2x that could be dropped to 1x, ** denotes the next skills to drop. Obviously this will vary a little depending on the players starting skills.

1+3 Props
1x stam**. 1x hands**. 1x att*. 2x def**. 2x tech. 2x str. 1x spd*

Pretty self explanatory. The spd+att is there since even though these guys may be slowed by their weight, their awesome tech+str can be useful in rucking, mauling and png plays, taking the initiative to drive on up, and they want a bit of pace to do so. Obviously with time spd/att can perhaps be swapped to double up another skill.


2 Hooker
1x stam**. 2x hands. 2x def*. 2x tech. 2x str**. 1xspd*

Probably the most specialist player out there. Def is one of the first to go simply because hopefully he'll have it from TT too. Str is reducable since the docs suggest that whilst str is very important Tech is slightly moreso. Again, spd can be dropped for something else if needbe.


4+5 Locks
1x stam**. 2x hands. 2x def*. 1x tech. 2x str. 2x jump

OK, again, fairly uncontroversial I hope. Personally I TT tech, and locks (according to docs) are the engine room of the scrum, suggesting to me whilst tech is important, str is more so. Lifters need Tech in the lineout, not the guy jumping up to get it.


6. Blindside Flanker
1x stam**. 1x hands. 1x att*. 2x def. 2x tech. 1x str. 1x spd**. 1x jump*

Spd is there since if you've got great tech you want to get it into the game. Str is nice, but not essential for flankers. The 6 is commonly the tall guy in the backrow and is treated as a 3rd lock, hence the jumping, this can be dropped with time.


7 Openside Flanker
1x stam**. 1x hands. 1x att*. 2x def. 2x tech. 1x str. 1x spd**. 1x agi*

Same as the blindside, but instead of jumping we're going for some agility, he's the one hopefully catching the quick moves around the scrum, and may need to be pegging that SH.


8
1x stam**. 1x hands. 1x att. 2x def*. 2x tech*. 2x str*. 1x spd.

I'd hope not many folk would argue with my suggested 8 training? Jumping could be a consideration. Some skills are pegged as first choice reducable purely because they are doubled up, not reflecting on their importance.


9 Scrum Half
1x stam**. 2x hands. 1x att. 2x def**. 1x tech*. 1x spd. 1x agi. 1x kick*

Another generalist, needs hands, should be able to take a kick if essential, needs to be able to ruck a bit, can't be too slow on his feet. A bit of str wouldn't go amiss if one of his other skills is storming ahead.


10 Fly Half
1x stam**. 2x hands*. 1x att. 1x def. 2x spd*. 1x agi. 2x kick

OK, the main issue I can see people having here is the 1x def. This could be traded with the doubled Spd.


11+14 Wingers
1x stam**. 1x hands. 2x att*. 2x def**. 2x spd. 2x agi

Possibly more specialised that even the hooker. Side skills never hurt, but those are the important ones.


12 Inside Centre
1x stam**. 2x hands. 2x att*. 2x def. 1x agi. 1x spd. 1x str*

Needs hands for creative plays, and needs att to make sure that they are effective. Str is there since this is often the crashball. As these players are often converted flankers, it may be that the str and one of the def nets can go to doubling spd+agi. Att will likely need a lot of work.


13 Outside Centre
1x stam**. 2x hands. 2x att*. 2x def. 2x agi. 1x spd.

The magic maker. Maybe swap the 2nd slot on att for more spd, but once you've made the break, a skillful attacker backed up by wingers will hopefully be able to wisely offload it to a speedier friend anyway.


15 Fullback
1x EVERYTHING. Jump*, Str* Tech*

Jack of all trades. He's the last line of defence, and as such, needs to stop anyone and everyone. Str+Tech+Jump are all skills that I feel can be dropped once they reach a reasonable level (what that is, is down to your discression). With those spare nets, I'd double up on Def, Agi and Spd, with Hands to not be forgotten if it's lacking.


OK, now for explanations for those that are interested.

General disclaimers.

Stamina in my mind is essential. If you don't have a fitness coach, doubling up in Team Training has been seen to be effective.

Not everyone has a kicking coach, in my mind you only need 1 great kicker, and both the SH and the FH (i know i said 2x him) can do without it. The FB in my mind is the essential player who can kick, since he's then one stuck at the back in the 22. I say FH as best kicker in terms of training because if you play a higher kicking game, and want useful drop goals, this is where the star needs to be.

Thoughts folks?

EDIT - Some notes for myself more than anything. tt=24 5-6nigt, 1x+tt 8/10igt, 2x+tt = 7/8 10-13igt, 2x 9 10-11igt, 2x8 9-10igt, tt=26/27 9-10igt

With training being limited do you guys spread it around your squad or do you only focus on a few players?

A few players. Take 3/4 17 year olds and hammer the training hard. Then when they are the best players in your squad, start on the next lot. By the time you're in Div 4, you're probably looking at 3 seasons training minimum on each player, so that you're producing players that'll still be with you in Div 3. 2 season would be sufficient at first if you need to bulk up your general squad.

When i started (last season) i started by only recruiting players under 19yrs of age so I could keep them for a good few seasons. Training wise I am spreading it around a bit. I'll try and focus a bit more on the 17yr olds coming through. The team csr is increasing nicely and according to promotion tables if thats anything to go by I am doing ok (around 20th).

When i get promoted this season (fingers crossed) I'll be pumping nearly all my money into trainers/facilites as I need to get those up.

Smart buying young players, and getting your base up to a good level, they'll keep climbing with TT, but you need to make sure that the base is of sufficient level. 20k players will not see you through Div4, 25k ones will probably keep you being relagated, and 30k+ base is when you're likely safe, and may get the odd playoff.

At the moment I have a baseline of mostly 40k+ backs that'll keep ticking over (20 year olds). And I'm now training a 65k back to keep ticking over even longer, and training forwards hard to have something to compete in Div 3 with.

currently have 8 players 21k and over so they will need to improve. My goal is to remain in div 4 but we will see. I don't believe I'll have a chance of getting into the top 4 but staying in the division for another season is a must. I'll need to read up on promotion relegation for next season.

Looking forward to playing against some decent teams rather than bots though.

Once you know your new division come onto the chatbox and ask for advice, we'll go through it and work out your chances.

You can't underestimate the jump from division to division. The step up in quality is always immense, and you will easily go from comfortably the best to comfortably the worst.

Here's a different approach to training (good if you have a large amonut of very young players):
Select 4 groups of 5 training sessions and assign a player to each (young, preferably 17 y/o)
Train for half a season, then change for another young player, repeat every half a season

With 16 players, this should see you advance at a good pace, whilst not wasting anyone's youth. Everyone gets one full season's training to themself in every 4 seasons, if you keep going to 24, you should have a very strong team to take forward as 1sts, and start a fresh cycle of youngsters. Theres also 5-10 sessions (depending on facility level) spare every week. One good way to split is as follows:

Tight 5 forward: 4 defence sessions, 1 attack
Loose forward: 3 defence sessions, 2 attack
Inside back: 2 defence sessions, 3 attack
Outside back: 1 defence session, 4 attack
Use remaining sessions to top up stamina or kicking depending on your training preference. If your setup has 2 attack and defence coaches, then you'll also have 2 sessions spare of each to play around with as needed.

Thought I'd stick this in here.

This is my idea of how each players skills should ideally be spread with 1 being of the most use and 10 being the least.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgaY8WOzeQ99dHQ1YjJTUG1HVktXVFRxSGFLWmJhSFE&output=html

Obviously TT can skew things a bit so my team looks nothing like this.

I'm particularly proud of the way no two positions are the same. Do you guys think anything should be changed?

Just quickly, can someone guide me (especially Womberto) as to why they feel a full-back needs a good amount of tech?

Rucking is certainly a positive thing to have in every player in my mind, however aside from those breakaways where your full-back is up against the breaker 1-on-1 and you'd like him to steal the ball before anyone arrives, I must admit I'd rather he avoids rucks as much as possible. Is there something I'm missing?

It's his opinion. If I were to train a fullback. I'd make sure he'd have high defense (well his number one skill i think), Good handling to catch those up and unders, Attack/Speed/Agility to be able to counter attack and strength to linebreak and help in tackles. Ofc stamina is important too. Kicking is also required to play the territory game and otherwise this can be counted as a potential weakness in your game.

jeolmaga wrote:It's his opinion. If I were to train a fullback. I'd make sure he'd have high defense (well his number one skill i think), Good handling to catch those up and unders, Attack/Speed/Agility to be able to counter attack and strength to linebreak and help in tackles. Ofc stamina is important too. Kicking is also required to play the territory game and otherwise this can be counted as a potential weakness in your game.

Yep and that's somewhat similar to my initial thinking. I guess I'm more curious as to how successful he finds a high (or strong/decent) technique full-back is and/or what the necessary BR theory (if I can call it that) is behind it?

Fundamentally (and maybe this is for another thread), what does the technique skill do? Does it also aid a tackler turning a player in the tackle to give a greater chance of turnover ball or is it just to do with the actual rucking? If it doesn't, then is such a situation simulated like that in the ME or is it merely chance, etc?

Increases the chance of turnovers.

In my mind the FB should do everything, he's the last line of defence, and needs to be able to stop whoever it is that got the break.

After a linebreak, according to commentary you can assume reasonably enough, that the ball carrier is quite likely to be isolated to some degree. A high tech FB can therefore in my mind not only help secure a turnover in a vital position, but perhaps at the least, slow down the attacking ball to help get defence in place.

Michivious, I believe you has mis-interpreted Womberto's link. A 1 means that it's the most important stat for a playing of that position. 10 means the least important stat. By putting a 10 in technique for the fullback this is the skill he believes has the least impact on a good fullback.

Sorry Raggs, I'm intrigued. What do the numbers in the following quote mean: "EDIT - Some notes for myself more than anything. tt=24 5-6nigt, 1x+tt 8/10igt, 2x+tt = 7/8 10-13igt, 2x 9 10-11igt, 2x8 9-10igt, tt=26/27 9-10igt."

Humps wrote:Michivious, I believe you has mis-interpreted Womberto's link. A 1 means that it's the most important stat for a playing of that position. 10 means the least important stat. By putting a 10 in technique for the fullback this is the skill he believes has the least impact on a good fullback.

That makes more sense, apologies there...!

Just time taken for pops .

Nps Miscihivious.

Ok Raggs, could you please translate the first few I can't seem to work it out. Maybe I'm having a stupid day

tt=24 5-6nigt, 1x+tt 8/10igt, 2x+tt = 7/8 10-13igt, 2x 9 10-11igt, 2x8 9-10igt, tt=26/27 9-10igt."

TT= Team training
24 = weeks
5-6 = skill levels
(n)igt = (non) in game training skill (kicking for props for instance, this is a guess mostly).

Michivious, I believe you has mis-interpreted Womberto's link. A 1 means that it's the most important stat for a playing of that position. 10 means the least important stat. By putting a 10 in technique for the fullback this is the skill he believes has the least impact on a good fullback.

Correct.