The Thursday Scramble: Round 3

That first bye round wasn’t too bad now was it. It was mostly just Z Will that we were missing, but now stuff is about to get real with the Suns and the Giants missing this week. We all have at least 1 premium from these teams and most teams have probably got two. So on that very note…. it’s time to Scramble!

Do we need to panic?

No, of course we don’t. The star players that are on the bye that are popular are going to be in so many teams that it should be ok. So if you are holding Flanders, Sexyback or a Tom Green they are all in over 40% of teams so holding them is not a huge issue (correct at time of writing, but Sexton ownership is expected to plummet).

The big question is, do you have the players on the bench that you can bring in. I am fully expecting scores to be a bit lower for the next few bye rounds, so don’t panic. There have been some great rookies just itching to get a crack on your field.

One of the ways that people may want to deal with these byes is to trade around them. That means you may want to trade out a Whitfield and a Green this week to bring in some premiums with the full intention to bring the original guys back in next week. Longtime readers of this column each week would know that I don’t advocate for that as to me it is far too risky. A couple of injuries this week to key players and you are then left plugging holes and you can’t get your guys back in and they are then going to rise in value again the following week making it harder to get them.

If you plan to trade them out, you have to bring someone else in that you are fully prepared to have in your side for the long haul.

There is one opportunity that goes against this rule that I want to bring up here and that is old mate, Nick Daicos. Now many did fade him to start due to the possible Finn attention next week in round 4 and his bye in round 5. But, his poor score against the Saints has brought us a new option here. This game has caused his BE to skyrocket and all it would take is a solid Finn tag in round 4 and one more poorer score this week against Brisbane and he could really drop in price so much so that he could be accessible by heaps of coaches in round 6. This isn’t without risk but if you started him and are struggling for cash you could trade him out now and hope that you are able to get him back in a few weeks.

A further complication to just trading around the mini bye this week is to remember that Round 4 is NOT a best 18 bye round. It will be Gather round here in Adelaide so that means that everyone plays. So you won’t be able to just bring anyone you trade out back in as you move another player off who is on a bye.

I guess what I am trying to say here is, make sure you have a strategy and then stick to it and execute it. We do still have a couple more early bye rounds to go in rounds 5 and 6. So plan ahead but make sure you have options when something doesn’t go to that plan, as more often than not, this is going to happen.

Easter Weekend Conundrums

Now we know that this weekend always throws up some issues given the time between the first game and the last but it is always worth a reminder. With a game on Monday we won’t get any teams until late on the Sunday. So if you are unsure about the status of anyone on the Geelong or Hawthorn teams then trading them in before then could be risky.

Also, don’t snooze after the Geelong v Hawks game because when that finishes on Monday, we only have until the Thursday night to the start of the next round. So any trading and particularly waivers in your draft leagues will have to be considered and executed in a must shorter space of time than what we normally have.

Things To Remember

• Not all trades go to plan. With just two weeks of data, some trades aren’t going to go as planned.  Looking at you here Riley Bonner!
• Don’t just look at the players score, look at other changes to that team (still looking at you here Riley, thanks so much to Jack Sinclair for returning!)
• Leave yourself options until we know all the teams. This may be difficult but do your best
• Plan your trades but don’t commit them until you have to as per the rolling lockout.

This is one of the weeks of the year (along with Kings Birthday weekend) where the rolling lockout is your saviour. Use it to your advantage. Have a great Easter Weekend, enjoy the footy and see you all again next week.

Dunny

A passionate Port Adelaide Fan who simply loves footy! That is how I would describe myself. Catch my weekly article "The Thursday Scramble" with all the last minute things to think about for the weekend Follow: @pkd73.