THE MID SEASON REPORT

Hi guys and gals!

It's been a long time since we've had an update so I thought I'd chime in this year with a quick mid-season report. This will inform tipsters in the top 20 as to how they are faring at this stage of the tipping competition and will be a timely reminder to tipsters that haven't played any Jokers to start playing them! :P

Here we go:

THE TOP 20

Scotsta
Position: 1st
Pools Position: 1st in Pool F
Points: 105   
Margin: 162
All Corrects: 2 (Rounds 2 & 6)
Jokers Taken: 2/5

A great start by the veteran Scotsta and he's played it well so far.
With both his Jokers (Rounds 2 and 6) he took maximum points (20 points) which catapulted him to the top of the table and with decent scores since, he has yet to relinquish the lead.
Looks well placed to play his remaining 3 Jokers and take out the Championship for 2013.

Feet Little
Position: 2nd
Pools Position: 1st in Pool B
Points: 104
Margin: 149
All Corrects: 1 (Round 12)
Jokers Taken: 5/5

Feet Little is another NZTiger's Tipping veteran and is well placed in 2nd spot only 1 point behind the leader.
However, he has taken all of his Jokers so must maintain big scores from now till the GF to get a top 3 finish and a Pool B victory.

Vee8Head
Position: 3rd
Pools Position: 1st in Pool C
Points: 100
Margin: 142
All Corrects: 1 (Round 12)
Jokers Taken: 4/5

Vee8Head is another experienced tipper and has done extremely way to claw his way into the top 3 over the past few weeks. Sits healthy on 100 points and has one more Joker to play which is may decide to save for one big push at the end, depending how the next few weeks go for him.

Anu
Position: 4th
Pools Position: 1st in Pool A
Points: 99
Margin: 154
All Corrects: 1 (Round 2)
Jokers Taken: 3/5
Anu is playing his cards right at this stage and looks well placed to make a massive push for a top 3 finish if he continues this trend. He's used 3 of his 5 Jokers and managed to land maximum points in Round 2 which had him well placed very early on.

1YEARWONDERBARBA
Position: 5th
Pools Position: 2nd in Pool B
Points: 99
Margin: 247
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 4/5

1YEARWONDERBARBA (formerly known as OVERRATEDBENJI) started off with a hiss and a roar, jumping out with a huge lead after playing 4 of his 5 Jokers in the first 5 rounds of the competition. Since then he has slipped down to 5th has managed to stay within reach. Still has one Joker to play so will have to rely on getting good scores up to the point where he decides to play his last one. His margin score is a concern if it comes down to a tie breaker. Will be looking to take out Pool B over Feet Little.

Rocketane
Position: 6th =
Pools Position: 3rd in Pool B
Points: 97
Margin: 138
All Corrects: 1 (Round 2)
Jokers Taken: 3/5

Rocketane is well placed to make a big push for the top 3 with only 3 of his 5 Jokers taken.
Picked up an All Correct in Round 2 and has since maintained good scores to keep him hovering in the top 10. Has a battle on his hands with Feet Little and 1YEARWONDERBARBA for the Pool B prize.

jall091
Position: 6th =
Pools Position: 2nd in Pool F & 1st in Champions Pool
Points: 97
Margin: 170
All Corrects: 1 (Round 12)
Jokers Taken: 5/5

The 2008 Tipping champion is doing the best of all the former tipping champions in this 10 year anniversary season. Sitting nicely in 7th spot and leading the Champions Pool, however he has played all his Jokers so unless he continues to get good scores from here, expect jall091 to slip out of contention.

butch
Position: 8th =
Pools Position: 1st in Pool D
Points: 96
Margin: 156
All Corrects: 2 (Rounds 6 & 12)
Jokers Taken: 2/5

butch is very well poised to make a big push for a top 3 spot with only 2 of 5 Jokers played and having already landed 2 All Corrects this year. Certainly a Dark horse if he plays his cards right from here.
Will end up having a massive battle with Bronco2020 for the Pool D prize too.


Bronco2020
Position: 8th =
Pools Position: 2nd in Pool D
Points: 96
Margin: 162
All Corrects: 2 (Rounds 2 & 12)
Jokers Taken:1/5

Another tipster who is very well poised to make a big play at the top 3.
Of the top 10, Bronco2020 is the tipster with the least Jokers played and could really make a massive move up the ladder if he plays his 4 remaining Jokers right. The top 3 should be looking over their shoulders at this guy...look out. Could win Pool D too.

Warmess
Position: 10th
Pools Position: 3rd in Pool D
Points: 95
Margin: 139
All Corrects: 1 (Round 12)
Jokers Taken: 3/5

Experienced tipster Warmess has kept up with the pace in this competition, landing one all correct and playing 3 Jokers to find himself in the top 10 so far. Needs to use his last 2 jokers wisely and continue getting good scores to compete for a top 3 finish now. A chance to win Pool D if butch and Bronco2020 slip up on their Jokers.

Darren Scott
Position: 11th =
Pools Position: 2nd in Pool C
Points: 94
Margin: 176
All Corrects: 1 (Round 12)
Jokers Taken: 2/5

Sitting nicely just outside the Top 10 and with 3 Jokers remaining, Darren Scott could find himself nicely placed in the top 5 come the end of 2013. Landing any all corrects from here will make a huge difference as to where he can potentially finish. Will be hoping Vee8Head slips up so he can take out Pool C.

LOUNGIN SON
Position: 11th =
Pools Position: 2nd in Pool A
Points: 94
Margin: 751
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 5/5

LOUNGIN SON went all in playing all 5 of his Jokers between rounds 3-7. Only All Corrects from here will give him any chance of seeing prizes from here. Has a massive margin of 751 (the most of anyone in the competition) which will affect any tie breaker situations too. Pool A looks beyond reach at this stage.

Sincas
Position: 13th
Pools Position: 1st in Pool E
Points: 92
Margin: 152
All Corrects: 1 (Round 6)
Jokers Taken: 2/5

Like Darren Scott, Sincas is one of a few tipsters nicely placed outside the top 10 that could make a big play at the back end of the season. He has 3 Jokers remaining and with big scores he could make a big impact on the Top 5. Has been drawn in a forgiving Pool (Pool E) and looks set to win a Pool prize too.

Richard McCourt (2007 Champion)
Position: 14th=
Pools Position: 4th in Pool D & 2nd in Champions Pool
Points: 91
Margin: 136
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 3/5

Sitting equal 14th with 4 other tipsters, the 2007 champion will make a big play for a top 10 finish. With 2 jokers to play, he and Devoid are poised to over take jall091 as the Champion of All Champions at this stage.

Bearass
Position: 14th=
Pools Position: 5th in Pool D
Points: 91
Margin: 146
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 3/5

Bearass is poised to make a play at the top 10 so long as he continues getting good scores and plays his last 2 remaining Joker cards correctly. Needs to land an All Correct or two to push further from here.
1 of 5 Pool D Tipsters in the top 20.

Keith Wilton
Position: 14th=
Pools Position: 2nd in Pool E
Points: 91
Margin: 156
All Corrects: 1 (Round 10)
Jokers Taken: 3/5

Keith Wilton is nicely placed outside the Top 10 and will be looking to land a few All Corrects to play for a solid top 10 finish from here. Needs Sincas to slip up to take out Pool E.

taijay
Position: 14th=
Pools Position: 4th in Pool B
Points: 91
Margin: 170
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 2/5

Unlike the other 3 tipsters above him on margin difference in 14th place, taijay has 3 Jokers to play with and could well end up pushing towards a top 5 finish if he lands a few All Corrects and plays his Jokers right. One to watch.

devoid (2009 Champion)
Position: 14th=
Pools Position: 3rd in Pool E & 3rd in Champions Pool
Points: 91
Margin: 172
All Corrects: 1 (Round 6)
Jokers Taken: 2/5

Like taijay, the 2009 Champion has one extra Joker to play than the others in 14th equal, and he'll be looking to target jall091 and overtake him to become the Champion of all Champions in this 10th Anniversary season. Probably the best placed of all the former champions at this stage.

BEAR KNUCKLE
Position: 19th
Pools Position: 4th in Pool E
Points: 90
Margin: 177
All Corrects: 1 (Round 6)
Jokers Taken: 3/5

Last year's 3rd runner up BEAR KNUCKLE is doing the best of last year's prize winners. He needs a few big weeks to get himself back into prize contention. Certainly not out of it yet with 15 rounds to go (including finals).

BT Ross
Position: 19th=
Pools Position: 5th in Pool E
Points: 90
Margin: 186
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 3/5

Veteran BT Ross will be pleased with this start having being used to being placed further down the table in recent seasons. Still has 2 Jokers to play so is poised to have his biggest season finish. 1 of 5 Pool E tipsters in top 20.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Defending Champion

Sava4 (2013 Champion)
Position: 67th
Pools Position: 10th in Champions Pool
Points: 67
Margin: 159
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 0/5

Having not played a single Joker card, Sava4 will likely be the tipster that makes the biggest inroads at the back half of the season. Has the defending champion left it too late? Is this his overall plan?
At this stage, a top 20 finish would be very commendable.

Last Year's Runner Up

The Neighbour
Position: 59th
Pools Position: 10th in Pool C
Points: 75
Margin: 152
All Corrects: 0
Jokers Taken: 2/5

By his standards, it's fair to say the Neighbour is having an average 2nd season in the tipping competition.
The positive is he has only played 2 of 5 Jokers so could make some in roads at the back half of the season.
Will be hoping for a Top 30 finish.

NOTE - Tipsters Yet to play a Joker!

54th - Simply the Bears - 78 (206)
57th - cmcnls+1day - 76 (199)
64th - No1QPRNZ - 71 (164)
66th - Rex Kwando - 68  (196)
67th - Sava4 - 67 points (159)
68th = - Kelren - 65 points (146)
68th = - Kyle Thomson - 65 (148)
70th - Pet Johnson - 64 (184)
71st = - eviltwin - 62 (193)
71st = - rog the dodge - 62 (223)
73rd - melros - 60 (165)
75th - Tubasaurus - 56 (186)
76th = - Wilshere Wonderland - 54 (168)
76th = - haze13 - 54 (286)
78th - Joejoez - 41 (172)

Hmmmm...No Jokers played by all but 1 tipster in the bottom 13...I'm sensing a pattern here :P
If anyone is having problems playing their Jokers, please refer to  http://nztigersnrltipping.blogspot.com.au/p/competition-rules-please-read.html to read how to play them!

That's it for this week's update.
A full update hopefully next week where we look at the NRL's progress towards the Top 8.

Bye for now!

Mark
aka NZTiger