The Thursday Scramble: Round 17

Some massive scores last week which was great to see and even more fun if they were all in your team. But that doesn’t mean the game is going to get any easier, we already have a couple of issues to deal with this week and I am sure that by the time we see teams tonight it will only get worse. But don’t despair, we are all in the same boat! Let’s Scramble!

Time to Dunk Dunkley?

Can you believe our luck? Dunkley to miss this week with that calf issue and if history is anything to go by we aren’t likely to see him next week either. Now I have spent the week listening to all the podcasts and looking at all the news sources and there isn’t a single definitive answer unfortunately. But here are my thoughts on what I will be doing.

In AFL Fantasy, I will be trading him out. That is why we have the two trades per week (and my bench isn’t that strong!). This is what the majority of coaches will be doing. We are hearing he is out this week but there is a risk that it will be multiple weeks. We have seen players miss multiple weeks with the same issue. I am going to take the opportunity to downgrade from him a little to generate some much needed cash and use that elsewhere in my team to bring a mid pricer or a rookie up to a premium (just not sure who else I am trading out just yet). The downside to doing it this way is that if he does miss just the one week I won’t be able to bring him straight back in easily. If I want to do that I need to swap to someone that is the same price or not deploy the cash that I make from a slight downgrade into another player. I just don’t want to risk holding him with my poor bench cover.   However, if you do have good bench cover or if you can loop someone like a Sheldrick (who we will see tonight) then that would be the best way to go (sorry Calvin, but it needs to be done).

In SuperCoach and RealDreamteam I am still a bit torn on what to do. In both forms of the game I have enough trades left (I have over 5 in each) but I do still have an upgrade that I need to do of an onfield ‘rookie’. However, as mentioned above this is a great opportunity for me to use Dunkley’s value to go to a slightly cheaper player and put that money on the rookie with the rest of my bank to get a good upgrade done. I have held Clarry all this time thanks to the Dees telling us that he will be back next week and I just can’t afford to have two premiums on the bench for multiple weeks, my season is going poorly enough as it is!  But if you are running short on trades (2 or less) then I would definitely be in the hold camp, particularly if you have good bench cover and can loop a Sheldrick to see how things go before you have to pull the trigger.

And don’t think this is the last time we will be forced to make a decision like this in the run home, there will be more than a couple of these kind of pot holes that we will need to negotiate.

Time to Flick Fyfe

Well those that took the gamble on Fyfe certainly rolled snake eyes on this one. Unfortunately he didn’t play out as many had hoped and if it gives you any solace, the great Selby took a punt on him. If you do have him then I personally can’t see any option but to trade him out. He is highly unlikely to be back this season at all and hence there isn’t much point in holding him.

If you have him as well as Dunkley you could trade the two out and look to split the difference to get in a couple of good players.

What’s coming up?

Next week we should be getting our last dose of DPP and whilst we are unlikely to get any big names with new DPP status that will save our season, what you should be looking at is those ‘fringe’ players that could make or break your draft sides. Once they are released it would be worth jumping on the waiver wire and just see if any of them can help unlock a spot in your team or if they an add some value. There will be those guys that you can just use as bench cover or as a loop.

In case you didn’t know, in the majority of leagues you only have four more matches until you reach your league finals! So this is the time to be really on the ball and get your team up into the top 8 so that you have a chance to compete for the trophy. Don’t get complacent thinking that there is plenty of time left, there isn’t!

As we near the end of the season there is one document that will be the most important one and that is Cal’s Scale of Hardness. This is because as we get fewer and fewer games remaining the difficulty of games will vary more and more between teams so it is going to be one of your most important resources.

Things to Remember

• You don’t have to make your trades before the first game, as we are getting injuries it is often best to just wait and see how your looped emergency goes first.
• Check the Scale of Hardness for your trades as mentioned above.
• Late outs could get a bit more prevalent as we get players with niggles towards the end of the year and similarly we may see more resting too.

Hard to believe we are now up to round 17 but here we are. Hopefully you aren’t hit with too many bullets to dodge tonight and this weekend and if you are in the limited trade versions of the game, that you have enough trades to find your way out of grief!  Have a great weekend everyone and see you next Friday, and remember, if you have anything you want me to look at for next week’s scramble, don’t hesitate to hit me up on twitter at @pkd73. Cheers