The Thursday Scramble: Round 15 Bye Round 4

Will this ever end!!  Well the answer to that is yes. Finally! Just this last week to negotiate and we can get back to regular transmission. As per usual of course, we have another hurdle or two to jump before we get out of this horror period. Anyway… Let’s Scramble!

Navigating Round 15

We kick off this round with another blow. Clarry Oliver has been ruled out of tonight’s game at the Cattery which hurts the plans for a lot of coaches and for those in the limited trade versions that have held him, they are shattered!  But that is the way this game goes.

So what now. Well now we go shopping for those players that are off their bye from round 14. Unlike last week we have a number of really good options with Laird, Dawson, Petracca, Daicos, Cameron and Merrett right up at the top of that list. Now we know that many teams have these guys but it is unlikely you have all of them. So you can certainly bring these guys in with some good confidence.

But….  do you have to fill up your premiums this week? Is there another option?

There certainly is. We have always know that there is a heap of talent on the bye this week. So, it would be a more than valid option to do a bit of downgrading this week to build up some cash to go bang next week with two big upgrades. Next week we will have the likes of  Bontempelli, English, Macrae, Rozee, Butters, Coniglio, Kelly, Taranto and Walsh all available and bye free.

Now why I think this is a valid play is that we all know that heaps of teams are going to be struggling this week, so if you do a couple of downgrades and pick up a couple of guys that are going to get you a 40-60 this week it probably won’t hurt your position all that much. But when you go big with two big upgrades next week you can then catapult yourself ahead of those teams that are still doing a one down and one up. This strategy is of particular value where you already have most of the guys that I mentioned above or by getting them in would leave you with next to no money left.

Some of you may call this madness, but I guess I am calling it playing the long game. You may suffer a bit this week but the points that you could pick up on the opposition and effectively be that one trade ahead could pay off big time. The one caveat on this is that you need to be sure of the guys that you are bringing in. A couple that spring to mind are Sheldrick and Maric. Both seem to have some reasonable job security (just watch, at least one or maybe both won’t be named tonight now) and can become some bench cover for you once we are off the byes. Maric is the one I have most hope for given the simple fact the Eagles are running out of players!

Now I am not saying this is the best play you can make, just that it is a valid option for you to take and of course it is all going to come down to the structure of your team and what you have available this week. But I guess what I am saying is don’t bring in a player that you don’t really want just because the one you really want is on the bye this week, maybe take a little pause and gear up to get the guys you think can bring you home over the last 9 weeks of the season to either get a hat or premiership glory.

Team Finished? What now?

So you reckon that after this week you have a complete team of premiums to get you to that aforementioned glory and want to know what you should do now?  Well if you have a team that, once we get out of the byes, is stacked with all of Roy’s Rollin 22, there are always improvements you can make. Start by consolidating your bench and making sure you have good cover. Build up a bit of cash to cover the inevitable injury or suspension, you know they will happen and the more cash you can stash away the more options you will have when that time comes.

What I am politely saying here is that your team is never finished no matter how good you think it is.

But I am at the end of the byes and still have rookies on field!

Don’t worry, this is not the end of the world and I will be that there are a heap of teams out there in exactly the same position. This season (yeah we say it every year) has been very difficult and the key reason for that is we are seeing a lot of good players miss big chunks of time. Oliver has now missed a total of 4 weeks through his various injuries and Sicily will now miss 5 of 6 games through suspensions and byes. This seems to be the new normal and we just need to wear it and get on with it. But it has meant we have had to do a bit more sideswiping of premos and we haven’t been able to do as much rookie upgrading as we like.

If you still have a rookie or two on field, the task remains the same, keep working on getting them off starting with the poorest performer. But what about a guy like Sheezel or Ashcroft you ask? These two guys have been a bit of an exception but unless they are like the freak that was Daicos last season, they will run out of gas at some point and just be ready to move them on at that point. Sheezel looks to be the one that is more likely to go deep in the season, particularly if he keeps up that half back role and continues to take the kick ins.

Things to Remember

• We are just about through all the carnage! Hang in there.
• Keep a watch on teams tonight and adjust accordingly.
• Don’t blow up your team just to get that 18th player. Sometimes it is better for your team’s long term prospects to have that donut this week to easily make up those points in future rounds and more.

That’s about it from me this week folks, sorry for it being a bit shorter, things are a bit busy at the moment but I know you all have your teams structured up well (based on those that have been beating me lately I am sure of it) and that you will all come out of the byes looking great and ready to make a run at a great rank and a premiership in the last push to the end of the season. Have a great weekend and see you all next Thursday!