The Thursday Scramble: Round 2

Now that was more like it. 9 games, can’t wait for that again this week…. hang on, you are telling me there isn’t? Yup, we are a couple of teams down this week wit a couple of byes, but really this is the ‘easier’ week of the early bye rounds it seems. So, let’s make the most of it and Scramble!!

Bye Rounds

So we were all so worried about them but now they are here it doesn’t seem too bad. This week is the easier of the early bye rounds with Carlton and Brisbane on the bye. We don’t have as many Fantasy Relevant players from those teams that will cause too much issue. Zac Williams is really the main guy that we have from these teams that will have an impact. Remember that it is Best 18 this week so even if you don’t have much in the way of cover for him you shouldn’t be disadvantaged.

As you trade this week just keep the upcoming weeks in mind. Particularly if you are bringing in a premium. In round 3 we have the Suns and Giants on the bye. So this is probably one of the early bye rounds that is going to impact a lot of coaches, so just bear that in mind.

Price Changes!

You would have noticed that in AFL Fantasy, any player that played in Round 0  and in Round 1 would have had a double dose of price change this week. In that format of the game we are now back on track with price changes and from here on it is just normal price changes cycles.

In both Supercoach and RealDreamteam, where players have to play 3 games before they have a price change, we are going to see players from Gold Coast, GWS, Collingwood, Melbourne, Sydney and Richmond all have price changes after this week as Round 2 will be their third games. So beware of this! Obviously players from Carlton and Brisbane will fall back into line with all the other sides given they have the bye this week and have their price change next week.

So just be prepared in Supercoach and RDT that you will see some prices change after round 2 which is something we aren’t used to.

Best 18

Here we are with the first of the early bye rounds and as we all know all of these rounds are now Best 18 rounds, if you are new to this, all this means is that your best 18 On Field players count. All of the Emergency rules still count, so if you have a full field of players playing then your emergency will replace anyone that is a late out on field.

This can obviously mean that it should be easier to do your loopholing as most rounds (maybe not this one) you are more than likely to have a player on their bye on your field.

Just be very wary of these rounds and make sure that you have as many players playing in field as you absolutely can.

Fallout from Round 1

Last week we saw some big scores where we didn’t expect them and some poor scores where we expected some big ones. Now don’t panic as this isn’t special, we see this all the time. There is always someone that jumps out of the gate and they don’t have another big score for the rest of the season. Similarly, last season we saw Laird have a stinker in round 1 and heaps of coaches jumped off, but we then saw him recover from there for a great average. So knee jerk reactions aren’t always the best way to go in this game.

Remember this is a trading game and to make good trades we need to make some good cash to be able to do it, so for me the key trades to make this week are trades that are going to make you money.

In regards to a few players here are some thoughts.

• Brody Grundy – I would give him another go. He gave away 7 free kicks and he isn’t going to do that every week (hopefully). If you are determined to trade him, then Xerri is the answer to free up some cash.
• Crows & Suns players – I would write off most of this game as it was a horror night weather wise. I heard today a stat on one of the podcasts (sorry I can’t remember which one other wise I would give some credit) that there were 114 marks in the game compared to the 118 that the Suns alone took in round 0.
• Caleb Serong – Yes he had 46 touches in round 1 but is he going to do that again each week? No, so if you are planning to bring him in that is a perfectly good move, but just don’t expect the massive score each week.
• Isaac Heeney – It is going to be very hard for Horse Longmire to move him out of the midfield given the way he has been playing so he is so is a great option to bring in.
• Riley Bonner – I am still a little unsure on him. Sinclair is back this week but Crouch has been dropped so it will be very interesting to see how he goes with this change in dynamic. Again, not suggesting he is a bad selection but just be wary.

Things to Remember

• You don’t win or lose Fantasy in round 1, as Selby says, this is a Trading game not a starting squad game.
• Keep an eye on future bye rounds when you are making your trades.
• You aren’t going to get the right rookies every week, so don’t stress on that, just use the best judgement you can.
• Keep an ear out for the Submarine, he had a pretty good hit rate in round 1 so let’s see how he goes with round 2.

Have a great weekend and let’s look to consolidate our teams. Don’t blow them up, every player can have an off week. As with past seasons I will try and jump on and answer some of your comments, but this doesn’t always fit in with work so sorry if I don’t. Anyway, See you next Thursday!