Well i played a bit more this morning.
I know the fundamentals of league, but not the finer shades. i'm a union boy, and haven't followed league since the heyday of "little" andy gregory.
that said, i think it's a damn fine game, a really good representation of the sport (in so far as i recall it), and leaves me with a sense of regret that Big Ant aren't in the union game. it's a bit weird to play a licensed game and yet have no idea who anyone is (e.g. playing as England and thinking "Keith Senior's having a quiet game...").
Played an NRL game (Roosters v Bulldogs) and it finished 0-0, which alongside my 2 career games made 3 matches in a row scoreless and having lost my first match 19-0 i was 4 games in without a point to my name!
Played an Auckland 9s game, England vs Cook Islands, and finally popped my cherry when I ran back the kick-off unopposed to score a bonus point try under the posts - (now understand where the extra point came against me in the first match!). one more bonus try and a regular try, all converted, gave me a 20-0 victory.
then played England vs Tonga, and my first try there was an absolute beauty: last tackle just over 20 metres out from their line, so sent up a bomb, my player won the contest for the ball, ran on and played what in union terms would be an amazing scissors pass to defeat the last defender and send a colleague under the posts. was a really good game, tougher opponent than the cook islands, and i eventually won 22-10.
to be honest, in a way i think knowing the basics but not the finer points is an advantage - i know enough to understand what to do and appreciate what BA have got right (a lot), but not so anoraky as to pick holes in minor issues.
one thing i think they've got right that every union game has messed up - the players take up appropriate positions in the line much better: you're far less likely to have a slow prop on the wing when you've finally worked an overlap. this may be that league is easier in that regard as you're not sending players into rucks, but it was something i noticed and liked.
my only real bugbear - though it could be my lack of understanding the controls properly - was i found it difficult to get good flat passes; often a good position has been squandered by playing a deep pass when a flat pass for the player to run on to would have put him through the gap.
nevertheless, so far i'm enjoying it a lot. great job
@BigAntStudios