The Thursday Scramble: Round 2

A weekend that started with so much promise ended with so poorly for many coaches. We also saw the impact that the new rules have had on the scoring potential of players this season. Add to that a couple of forced trades this week and there is always a reason to Scramble!

Has the game changed?

The new rules have had an impact on Fantasy and Supercoach scoring already. The main place we have seen it is in the scoring for the Rucks. We saw it with Grundy on Friday night and we wrote that off as he has always struggled against Stef Martin. But then when we saw Max struggle to score then we knew there was a problem starting to emerge. The following game we then saw ROB struggle against the Cats it was confirmed for me.

What we are seeing is the big fellas aren’t able to get around the ground to where the footy is as much as the game is just moving so fast. This is going to hurt their scoring but I am sure that the players and the coaches will start to adapt after a couple of rounds to the way the rules are working. As someone that paid up this year for both Gawn and Grundy I am not too concerned yet. I still believe that they will be in the top three rucks at the end of the year and will still be worth it.

What about the Rookie Ruckmen? We saw a massive score from Flynn and the expectation from people is that this will continue. I am not so sure. That game was in the wet which resulted in a heap of ruck contests and opportunities for points. I will be very interested to see how he goes this week and if he can back it up.

My advice is that I will be holding the two big dogs. If you do want to trade one of them out that is a perfectly ok strategy, just keep in mind how hard it can be to get them back in at their prices and be prepared to have one of the lesser credentialed ruckmen for the rest of the season.

Injuries & Suspensions

One round down and two very popular players are down and out for multiple weeks.

Bloody hard luck for Matty Rowell, the kid can’t catch a break. He is sensational to watch (what we have seen so far) and it is cruel that he will now miss a heap of time. He is a must trade and thankfully for owners there are a heap of people in the same boat.

Not sure it is hard luck for Paddy Dangerfield rather a hard head that got him a 3 week holiday. Once again he is a heavily owned player and there are plenty in the same boat and he is a must trade in all formats (clearly not draft of course) as three weeks is too long to hold.

Then there are the real unlucky coaches that had both of these guys!  I know there has been the temptation by some to consider holding both of them and fixing up rookie issues, personally I would be fixing these two guys first before looking at anything else, they are worth a heap of cash and you don’t want that sitting idle for even a week as in that time the rest of the competition could get away from you. Add to that the fact that the rookies have only played one game. We have all seen one game wonders before, there are no guarantees with any player, but rookies are even less of a guarantee!

So who do you bring in?  Here are a few strategies that you could use and then some players to consider.

You could use your DPP to open up a spot in your defence. You could switch either Laird or Clark to the midfield and then bring in a defender for Rowell. The obvious one here is Zac Williams who was missing in round 1. In RDT and SC he is pretty cheap and pretty close to Rowell’s cost but you will need a bit more money in AF as he costs about $100k more. The other one you could look at in the defence if you don’t have him is Callum Mills he is one you could look at but you will need a fair bit more money in all formats.

In the forward line, whether it is to replace Rowell (via DPP) or Danger the most popular pick is likely to be Dustin Martin after his big game against the Blues in round 1. The other name that is one of the most popular is Jaidyn Stephenson. He had a great game in round 1 but just take into account there was no Cunnington in that midfield, he will be the main one that will take points away. But he won’t take enough away to make it a bad pick though.  Other options would be Caldwell who had a good debut for the Bombers and if cash isn’t an issue then Dunkley could be your man.

In the mids it once again comes down to how much cash you have and what your second trade is but if you can afford to bring in Jack Macrae then he would be one I would look at but one that is a bit cheaper that is a great option is Tom Mitchell. We all shied away from him in the pre-season as he had a little niggle. He proved to us in that second half against the Bombers that there were no lingering effects. I think he will be coming into my AFL Fantasy side after posting a 106 in that game.

To be honest there are a heap of options and it all comes down to your cash situation.

I don’t have those two, so do I need to trade?

In AFL Fantasy. Absolutely! You have two to use each week and if you can use them to improve your side then go ahead and trade.  It is pretty unlikely your team is perfect at this point.

In RDT and SC where we are limited to 30 trades for the season, it is definitely in your best interests to not trade unless you have one of the two issues listed above in Rowell and Dangerfield. It is very tempting to jump on the rookies that you may have missed at this point but just remember that there have been rookies in the past that have had monster first games but then struggled to get to 30 in their second game. We have the opportunity to have a second game worth of data so let’s take that opportunity and use it. Unlike AFL Fantasy those two games don’t have price changes until a player has played two games.

CAPTAIN PICKS – Read Calvin’s best selections 

CASH COWS – Read Fry’s awesome look at the rooks

WASH UP – Read Matt’s take on the round that was

Things To Remember

• Don’t panic! It has only been one round. If you listen to podcasts you would know that the winner of the overall comp is often in the 15k – 20k range of rankings after round one.
• RDT and SC Trades are NON Reversible after the start of the first game. Make sure that you are aware of this and you have reversed everything before the first game and then make your trades as required.
• Most Leagues start this week. Keep an eye on your matchups, all the fun starts now.

Whilst there isn’t the stress that we had last week around the lockouts as we have most of our squad locked in now, it is still important that you don’t take your eye off the ball (or game starts) to make sure your team is set when the games start. Best of luck for round 2 and let’s hope that we don’t see any more long term injuries or suspensions this week!