The Thursday Scramble: Round 18

Just when we start to think this game is getting easier, the Fantasy Gods throw a few curve balls at us to bring us back to earth! Lachie gets tagged, Clarry breaks a thumb, Walsh has a low score and Macrae didn’t hit 90! If you posted a big score this week then well done! If you didn’t (like me) then you should be ready to Scramble!!

The Pointy End of the Season is just about upon us

Just two weeks left for the minor round for the vast majority of leagues. Your top 8 should be just about set and you should know if you are locked in, no chance or fighting to make the finals. Unless you are in the top 100 in the comp or in the running to win a hat you have probably now turned your attention to your leagues and trying to win something from the season!

This is where your strategy can certainly change. In AF you have your two trades per week and unless you have some issues (like a Clarry this week) then you can use them to either pick up a unique against your opponent or match off their star to try and get that win for the week.

In RDT and SC what you can do is really going to be dependent on how many trades you have left. Realistically you want to have at least 2 trades left for the finals. You will need them for a season ending injury or you might need it to get a gun in for the grand final. The number of trades you have left will really dominate your decisions on the run home. So you really have to back in the players you have and hope that they can get you over the line.

Surely you don’t miss a game with a fractured thumb?

That is what Luke Hodge said during the commentary when we saw that Clarry Oliver had hurt his thumb. He has had surgery now and looks set to miss this week. There is still a slight chance that he could play given how early the injury occurred in the round.

So what do we do with him if he misses?

In AF you can most certainly trade him given you have the two per week. And realistically unless you have another premium sitting on your bench somewhere that allows you to sit him for a week you will miss out on a lot of points to your opponents if you play a bench cover rookie instead of a full blown premium.  If you are going to trade him then I would be looking at two players. Rory Laird and Jack Steele.  Laird has been fantastic this season and he would have been in a heap of starting teams if he didn’t break his hand in the preseason. Steele on the other hand has come back from his injury like he never missed a game! They also give you some good captaincy options.

In Supercoach or RealDreamteam you may be forced to hold him depending on your trades remaining. If you are down to 2 trades then you probably want to hold Clarry because he has such a high ceiling and if you trade him to someone else and are stuck with them for the rest of the year you may lose more points than you would have by playing a bench cover player.

For example you may lose 50 points this week by playing a bench cover guy over what you could get from a premium and holding Clarry. But if you trade him to someone that scores 120 each week on the run home and Clarry comes back and puts in a 160 along with averaging 130 then you would have lost out.  Confused?  I know I am! What I am saying is just do your maths and don’t just look at this week, you have 5 more weeks after this one and you need to take into account the scoring potential of your players across that entire period.

With any trades you make to move Clarry out with plans to get him back in next week, just remember that anything can happen and you might not have the opportunity to get him back in because other issues can crop up!

Things to Remember

• As we move closer to the end of the season, as I have said for a few weeks now, the Scale of Hardness becomes even more and more relevant.
• Try and VC your top choice for Captain each week and have a realistic line option. In SC last week a number of coaches gave up Clarry’s 124 and chased Lachie Neale and that really burnt them.
• If you need to use bench cover for Clarry or anyone else, try and use the emergency loophole.  Melbourne play in the second last game of the round so Clarry can be your loophole zero.
• No Thursday night footy this week so you have plenty of time to assess what the team sheets bring you.

Best of luck for the weekend, things are getting serious and you can’t drop off now!  Sorry for the shorter edition this week as things have been pretty busy. And for those of you in Adelaide I look forward to catching up for a beer at the Highway next week at the Traders shows!