The Thursday Scramble: Round 14 Bye Week 3

We should be professionals at this by now, this is what, our 7th week of best 18 and byes this season!  Definitely a record. And one we do not want to break next season. So we have had 6 teams now complete their mid season bye and we have and another 6 on bye this week. So to me that means…. Time to Scramble!

Bye Week Plans

All the bye weeks we have had so far were just practice for this week. With 6 teams on the bye this week our planning will definitely be tested and hopefully we aren’t all caught with our pants down as the tide goes out (credit to Selby and X for that one).  So what are the things we need to do this week and how do we avoid disaster?

Trade in the premiums that have had their bye
I don’t know about you but I was all excited when lockout lifted, time to dump some dead weight and get in some fresh premiums. Then I remembered, we really only added two more teams to the pool of players to choose from. That was a bit of a letdown really. Particularly if you already have most of the good players from Port and Fremantle. So, the stocks really didn’t get boosted that much. Clearly Luke Ryan is the number one target this week given the way the Dockers like to chip it around and then we also have Clark who is his chipper in crime back there. In the mids it is really Serong and Butters that most coaches will be interested in because we can wait a few weeks on Rozee. Other than those guys and Young, there isn’t really too much else that jumps out at us as players that we must get in.

Don’t panic if that score wasn’t what you wanted.
So you didn’t get a great score last week, don’t worry, remember we said that you need to treat all the bye rounds as one big round and the aim is to come out the other end in a better position than when you entered it. In the first bye week I had a great score and I beat Warnie, Roy and Calvin by over 100 points each but then come this week (because I had most of the good Dockers) I was beaten by a similar amount. So don’t panic too much. Just keep your plan in mind and keep executing it.

Bad Luck Happens
We are always going to get injuries and bad luck in the byes that are going to throw our plans into disarray. In RDT and SC many coaches (including me) brought in Will Dawson this week as he was on the bubble, and he got injured without a point and is now going to miss a significant time. It is what it is and we just have to move on. It is a wasted of a trade but not much we can do about it, we just have to make the best of it.

Similar with Petracca getting injured and he is now going to miss multiple weeks and possibly the rest of the season. Again, nothing we can do about it so we just have to go with the flow and now trade him out. The good thing is that he was going to be on bye this week anyway!

Can you bring in someone on that has a Bye next week?

Not a premium that is for sure! We just can’t afford to that. If they are going to go up a few dollars in the coming round that is fine, just get them after their bye. However, if it is a rookie and you need to do it to get the dollars to make a premium upgrade then yes you can make an exception there. Dowling is the one that I would make an exception for if I needed to.

Other things to think about

Captain Choices! – Obviously you are going to listen to what Calvin says but just make sure you have your loops ready if you want to use a VC.  Clearly we have plenty of blue dots this week but just make sure you know what you are doing with your emergencies. Don’t get caught out like Roy nearly did with no E’s left to use.

Lower your VC standards. With fewer choices available you may want to take 10 points less than you normally would for your VC total.

Don’t over think things, just play the old meat and potatoes on this one. We need to get through the bye rounds before we start to get real clever!

No More Thursday Night Games!

Just the 6 games for us this week so make the most of them (and the break from constant games) and enjoy the weekend. Next week we will have a heap more players we can upgrade to so it will be time to go shopping!  Catch you all next Thursday!

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.