Rugby League Stats is the ultimate in Fantasy Rugby. You are a Superleague (UK) or NRL (Australia) Coach. You sign real-life stars, select them for your team and their performances each week determine your success. 

It's your chance to coach real-life Superleague or NRL players, and show that YOU are the best coach in your league.

Every week you have to decide which players to select, signing new players, making transfer deals with other coaches and predictions for the results of top real-life games.

We also run a second rugby league game, designed specifically for internet play. Follow this link for details of the game Rugby League Breakout.

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How it works

There are ten teams in each game of Rugby League Stats each trying to win the league over a full season.

Rugby League Stats is a game of rugby management. Your squad is made up of twenty-four current Superleague or NRL stars and your results are determined solely by their performances in real-life. 

Each turn you have to select a lineup from your squad, made up of six forwards, two half-backs and five backs. Some players are allowed to play in more than one position: utility backs may play at half-back or back, and utility players may play in any position. You also have to decide which players will be your designated kickers for that week's game.

Your players stats for the week are taken from their real-life performances, with every single game played in the Superleague or NRL over the weekend (including Friday evenings) being used. It's important you select the right players. There's no point having one of the top scorers in the league if you haven't selected him!

Scoring

All players score tries and drop-goals equal to their scores in real-life. However, only your primary designated kicker can score goals (if he fails to kick any in real-life then your reserve designated kicker counts instead). 

Game Results

The season follows the Superleague and NRL seasons, played from March through to September. Turns are normally run and sent out every Tuesday with your orders for the following weekend due to be submitted by the Friday.

Each week you play one other team in your league and the result of the game is simple - if you outscore your opponents you win, if you don’t, they win. At the end of the season the team with the most points wins the title.

Squad Management

Rugby League Stats is a trading game. You have a limited income every turn (which is biased towards helping losing teams to recover by giving them more income, though you can increase your income by investing in marketing, merchandising and so on) with which to pay your players. 

The more successful your players are, the higher their wage demands become, so you need to continually be signing players and shuffling your squad to keep your finances under control, and keep your team competitive. 

Rugby League Stats isn’t a game where you can sign the "perfect team" and then simply watch them win all season.

Poaching Players

If a player is seriously undervalued then other teams can approach them and tempt them away by offering the player a significantly higher salary (at least 50% higher than his current salary). The player’s current team always have the chance to match such an offer, and if they do decide not to match it they receive compensation when the player moves teams, so they’ll have more money available to go out and find a replacement. Every player has a value, and it’s up to you to decide how much a player is worth to you.

Every turn you’ve got decisions to make about signing, transferring or waiving players. You can offer your own players for trade, make bids for unsigned players or approach underpaid players from other teams. In all cases you decide how much to bid for a player. If another team decide he's worth more then they can increase your bid the following turn (though they have to bid at least 50% more than you), otherwise you sign the player.

There is also a secondary competition in Rugby League Stats. Each week during the season you have to predict the results of all the real-life games. At the end of the season each team gets an income bonus for the following year according to how well they've done in this competition. It offers an interesting sideline to the game, regardless of how successfully your team is performing.

Game reports

Each turn you’ll receive half a dozen pages reports: a full roster listing with current scoring details for all of your players and full financial details for your teams. You’ll also receive game reports, showing the scorers in every game in the league, league tables, details of free agent signings, trades, holdouts and unsigned players who you may wish to consider making a bid for. 

Games and turnfees

There are games of Rugby League Stats already running based on both the Superleague (U.K.) and NRL (Australia). All run with weekly deadlines (so you've seven days between turns). We have positions available in most of these games that will allow you to start play immediately (as in real-life, you take over a team and try to turn their fortunes around). You can join during the season - teams are always available whose coaches have left and are being run by the computer. 

U.K. Turnfees in Rugby League Stats are £8.00 for four, £18.00 for ten and £32.00 for twenty, Aussie turnfees are $50 for ten, $88 for twenty. There are further discounts available if you play in more than one game. Click here for more details of turnfees. We welcome players from outside the UK. Click here for more details of overseas players.

Sending Orders/Play by Email

Your instructions are normally sent through our active website, but can also be sent by post or fax if required. Click here for more details on play by email

Players from outside the U.K.

We welcome players from outside the UK. Click here for details of playing from overseas.

How to join

To join Rugby League Stats you'll need to send £5.00 or $10.00 (payable to Ab Initio Games) along with your name and address, which covers the cost of your rulebook, team setup and first three turns. When you send in your application please give a team name. 

To join the game immediately just click here to pay your startup fee by credit card via our secure server website. When you send us your payment please also email Danny McConnell with your team name then we'll be able to get you started in a game even more quickly. If you'd rather submit your application by post, please print off the form below and include payment when you send it to us.

Rugby League Stats is run in the UK by Danny McConnell of Ab Initio Games. Click here for details of waiting lists.

Please print, complete and return the details below: 

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YES, I’d like to join a game of Rugby League Stats

I’ve enclosed a cheque/postal order for £5.00 (payable to Ab Initio Games).

Team Name: 

Name: 

Address: 

Email Address if you're happy to be contacted this way:

Where did you first hear about Rugby League Stats?: