The Friday Scramble: Round 7

Wow, it’s great to be back!  My apologies last week to all you legends out there, unfortunately I was in no condition to write and was scrambling just to get my own teams sorted before lockouts! I didn’t even get to Adelaide Oval Friday night to see the Power, as most of you know, that is as rare an occurrence as rocking horse poop!  Anyway, I was looking forward to this week of footy but then I saw the teams!  What the hell??  So happy there was no game last night as I need some time to Scramble!!

Whitfield! 

It was probably one of the bigger topics of the week, what to do with Whitfield? Would he play? Well the Giants have actually done us a favour and named him out already. This means we don’t have to stress over a late out etc and have to worry about our bench cover. I have had a lot of questions about what to do with him. In the pre two trades a week era we would have had no hesitation in holding him as we are very confident it will be just the one week. And if you are playing Supercoach or RDT then that is exactly what you do. You hold him as all indications are that he is back next week.

In AFL Fantasy you do have a choice to make and it is one that we have talked about often here at the Scramble. You can trade him but what that means is that you have to try and manufacture something in the coming weeks to make sure that he is back in your side and all sorts of other carnage can strike and you may not be able to find the trade or the cash to get him back in. The other option of course is to just put him on the bench for the week. This means that you are playing one of your rookies on field that you otherwise wouldn’t but you can  use your trades to better other parts of the team for the longer term which will ultimately (next week) see you with an extra premium on field rather than having sideways traded one this week.

So what am I doing? I have him in SC and RDT and I am holding. I don’t have him in AF and he was on my radar to get but I hadn’t been able to yet.

It Had To Happen

We all knew it was coming, we were having such a dream run with our rookies and we all knew that at some stage things would start to head south and we would lose a few of them in a single week and it has come to fruition now. I think the most common question that I got this week was which rookies to trade out. Now granted these questions came before Fry’s awesome rookie article from Wednesday so people may not have checked that yet. But unfortunately for Fry he doesn’t have the advantage of knowing the teams at the time he writes and publishes. So when you go back to that for a look just take the players in and out into consideration.

This is a real conundrum for many coaches but we just need to get back to basics and look at what is most important. Whilst squeezing the very most cash you can out of a rookie is important we also need points (and warm bodies) on the field. So if you somehow had Bailey Scott and Constable as well as some less trustworthy rookies like Gibbons and Butters (who has a tough matchup) and you could be worried about playing those guys on field. You may have already had plans to trade people like Collins or Balta out due to BE and cash generation issues. But you may be better off trading someone like a Constable early to ensure that you get a good warm body on the park this week rather than just being stubborn and trying to squeeze another $40k or so out of him.  I know that it goes against all that we have preached in the past but it really comes down to your individual situations and what your team is looking like. Sometimes the unconventional play can be the right one. It is more critical if you are going for overall win rather than just a league victory.

Tough decisions to make, just don’t be scared to make that tough decision on a player.

Selection Table

Wow one of the more active nights at selection we have seen so far this season.  Here are a few of my thoughts.

Robbie Gray we knew this one. He is a must trade in all formats.
Jack Scrimshaw is one of those rookies that was getting very close to his peak in all forms. I have no issues culling him now.
Jack Redden is only draft relevant. But his owners will be happy to see him back.
Shai Bolton is certainly cheap enough. And he seems to be the man they like to use to replace Jack in the team. Should be safe enough til Jack’s Back.
Will Setterfield returns so those using him for loophole purposes in RDT and SC just beware!!!
Nic Newman needs to be traded if you hadn’t done it already.
Jordan Clark should be the straight in for Constable.
Brett Bewley lives! Great to see him get a game (hopefully as it is extended bench). Will be keen to see how he goes.

#AskDunny

Hey Dunny, being a port man what’s your thoughts on Sam gray as an option? 2 x 120’s on a row looking a high risk high reward. Thinking libba to Sam gray and scrimshaw to Brandon Ellis thoughts?

— Kingzy1Kenobi (@gorilladz) May 1, 2019

Hey mate, I won’t tell you the comments from my group of mates when Sam Gray stayed in the team for that Richmond game at home.  However, by about half time (and a few vessels deep) things had changed after he kicked a couple of goals and they all were lining up to buy a jumper with his number on it! You are right, he has had a couple of great weeks against West Coast and North. But remember that preceding that he had a 44 and a 63 (which was the Tigers game where he kicked 3 goals). He is a massive risk/reward player but I just couldn’t recommend doing it to anyone. He has a big propensity to go missing in games. I would prefer you went further down to a rookie if you are trading Libba and get Scrim up to a top premium in Roy’s rolling 22.

If holding Whitfield should I turn scrimshaw into Lloyd or petro to Boak or Daniel with 100k left over

— Henry Moore (@Harry12021987) May 1, 2019

Hi Henry, I had to have a couple of goes reading your first tweet but I got there. I will try deal with it all here but apologies if I miss bits.
Boak’s BE is high at 121 and I am not sure he can get there against the Pies this week. So I probably don’t go there. I do like the idea of upgrading Scrimshaw (particularly now that we know he is out) and a Lloyd, Hurn, Laird or anyone else in the Rolling 22 would be appropriate. I am loving what Caleb Daniel is doing at the moment but I am bloody nervous. Bevo can ruin a great fantasy player at the drop of a hat and I am worried that Daniel’s role could change in an instant and screw us all over. So…. I think in answer to your question, hold Petrucelle this week as they play the Suns at home and do that backline trade.

Hold Libba and keep getting rid of rookies off the field? #AskDunny #AFLFantasy

— AJS Hawker (@AJSHawker) May 1, 2019

Short answer from me here AJS. Yup! First priority is always to get the Rookies off field. Yeah Libba had a stinker for you last week but it was 57, that is a great score for some rookies. So look at it from that perspective.

Trading out Sheed and Cousins, thinking of double downgrading. Should I go to Ross and Hayes ($549k banked) or Ross and Answerth ($592k banked)? Or is this a bad idea all together?

— Jacob Maynard (@JacobMaynard_14) May 1, 2019

Wow, this could be a super ballsy move Jacob or a really silly one. That would be one hell of a Warne chest for you that is for sure. Cousins trade is a no brainer since he is suspended and I think it was time for him to go anyway. And I agree it is time to move Sheed out. His role has certainly changed with Gaff back. But I can’t say I am a massive fan of doing that double downgrade. Yes you can go bang bang next week but how many points on field does it cost you this week? With other issues like Whitfield (if you have him) you could effectively be down a couple of premiums on field and relying on way too many rookies.  If you are really wedded to doing a double downgrade I say Ross and Hayes but really, I say don’t do it. Go one down and one up.

Things To Remember

• NO Loophole this week. Since we had no game last night then there is no loophole for AF this week so set your C and VC as per normal.
• Don’t panic on rookies if you don’t have to. If you have solid cover for the guys missing and you can improve your team by keeping a Constable or Scrimshaw and trading elsewhere do it. They are likely to be back next week.
• We will lose a premo for a week or two here and there throughout the season. Don’t stress about it. Just take stock of your team and find the best solutions for the longer term.

Have a great weekend of footy everyone, it is nice to have a “traditional” round but unlike the Traders I don’t mind a Thursday night game as it beats the you know what out of most of the rubbish on TV on a Thursday night. We are well into the upgrade portion of the season now and this is where the fun starts, not every trade you make will be a winning one in the first week but if you keep the long game in mind when you are making them you should be ok.

Catch you all next Friday!!