Dream Team Extra: Grand Final Week

 

It’s been a long and carnageous year of Dream Teaming and we’re finally here: it’s Grand Final weekend! By some great stroke of luck, I’ve managed to crawl my way into one granny and I’ll be going all-out with my last two trades and cash-in-the-bank. Hopefully you’re looking good for your GF. If not, this is the week to risk it to win it!

It’s been a relatively quiet news week with not much of fantasy relevance, so maybe we’ll squeeze in a few pearlers to help us see off season 2012…

 

Granny Smokies

Freo, Adelaide, Collingwood, Richmond and Brissie have easy-to-average opposition this week. If you have a trade or two it will be worth looking at guys like Duffman, Sandi, Fyfe, Sloane and Heater as affordable uniques who are a big chance of racking it up. Of course if you’re flush with cash, you could load up on in-form premos like Mundy, Danger, Swan, Beams, Cotchin, Tuck and Redden.

 

Risk vs Reward

If you’re staring down the barrel of a granny or five this round, the age old debate of risk vs reward will have been running through your mind since last weekend. Issues like who to trade in, who to make captain and who to play and who to bench. If you’ve subscribed to the Assistant Coach and the projection is for tight games, then a little risk may be in order; if the projection is for comfortable wins, then err on the side of caution.

 

They’re All Lyon

Top gripe for the season has to be the lack of transparency from most of the AFL coaches regarding the playing prospects of fantasy-relevant guns. The inaugural Lyin’ Lyon award for 2012 goes to none other than the nemesis of DT coaches, Ross Lyon. His biggest DT-killing move was to play Broughton as a tagger/lockdown specialist with regularity throughout the year and his late withdrawal of Griffin cost a few Preliminary Finals last weekend. Thanks Ross. For nothing.

Keep in mind for next year…
1 – Lyon will keep lyin’.
2 – Gregory will rip it up in the preseason, but be very, very scared come lockout if you’re thinking about taking a punt on him for the third season running.
3 – They all lie. Some are better than others.

 

In? Out? Shaking It All ABout?

Lyon hasn’t been the only problem coach this season. Most have sinned when it comes to late withdrawals and injury news. We’ve seen Pendles and Buddy out for more than their 1-2 week projections, while Scotland and Waters both drank from the fountain of life to bounce back waaay ahead of their respective estimates with miracle cures. I guess I can see why a coach would want to give one of his guns every chance of proving his fitness to run out at game time, but more often than not, late withdrawal whispers proved true. Scotland and Waters cost trades, trades which were so much more precious than in previous years due to those horrible multi-bye rounds.

Keep in mind for next year…
1 – Get on Twitter! 60% of the time it’s right every time.
2 – Make sure you have cover/depth in your EMGs.
3 – It might pay to hang on to your injured gun until you get the chance to knock on his door and see him with a cast on his leg.

 

Take It Easy!

And I mean that quite literally! Only a few weeks of footy remain and then AFL’s out with summer coming, bringing an off-season of hot days, cold beers and barbies. Have a great break and huge chillax before it all starts winding up again for Preseason 2013!

 

Anyways, that’s the rub for the Dream Team season. Thanks for checking in each week for the round-up. Good luck if you’ve got a Grand Final to play for this weekend. See ya in the preseason!

 

Bored, tingly or otherwise?
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