The Thursday Scramble: Round 6

Gather round is behind us and it looks like some of our rookies need to be behind us also! It’s time to start improving our teams (won’t be hard for me to improve my rabble) so let’s Scramble!

Should we be worried?

We are starting to see some variations now in the scoring of our premiums. 5 rounds in we are likely to get some ups and downs but how worried should we really be with them?  Statistically it is pretty rare to have a player put out a score over 100 every single week.  Each year we get maybe a handful of these unicorns so this means that just like the stock market you need to be prepared for some ups and some downs throughout the year but if you end up with an average that is around the mark then you should be happy with that. I guess what I am saying here is unless there is an injury concern or a clear role change don’t jump at the shadows. The more you do that the less ability you will have to upgrade your team and you will fall further behind everyone else as you won’t have fully upgraded your side.  Let’s look at a few examples.

Tristan X-Erri In previous weeks I have probably said to hold him and all will be well.  And I am going to be doing just that with my team as I have him. I know he has had three scores in the 70s in a row, but realistically he hasn’t been the Lone Ranger when it comes to poor scores in the ruck this season. Having said all of that, he is one that I could tick off as a trade if you have the cash to get to a Max because he does have the hamstring niggle as well as the poor scoring. Last year he was getting a lot of points from his tackles. This year so far he is averaging just 4. So there is certainly a change in his game.

Tom Stewart  Wow what a ride this bloke is.  Injuries and now two trips to Adelaide and two bouts of Gastro.  Not sure what he is eating when he gets here, but maybe try a different restaurant!  There is no question this bloke can score, but the problem is the missed games.  He isn’t getting any younger and as a result the injuries shouldn’t be a surprise. And to make matters worse this week he plays on Monday and we won’t get squads for Monday until Saturday night and then final teams on Sunday night. So you do need to take the risk that he plays if you want to hold. I certainly wouldn’t be bringing him in if he is named and if I had him I would seriously consider upgrading him. I know he scores well but if he ain’t playing he ain’t scoring.

Finn Callaghan  Finn was popular early and he delivered in the first couple of weeks but now has delivered three sub80 scores in a row and he is starting to come under attention from the opposition taggers. We have also seen the return of Tom Green which is also going to be impacting his scoring. So with this slowing of scoring and also the attention he is getting from taggers means that he is one that we can safely trade out.

Easter Weekend Shenanigans

Ok, so we have Easter this weekend and that is great, but Fantasy Coaches need to keep their wits about them!

Firstly, there is a Friday Afternoon match between North and Carlton. So make sure you have your team sorted by just after lunch on Good Friday.

Secondly, we have the EasterMonday game between Hawthorn and Geelong. We won’t get any teams for this game until Saturday night and even then it will just be a squad with the final teams announced on Sunday night. So if there are any players under a cloud in this game that you are looking at I would say avoid.

Things to Remember

• It’s time to start culling those fully priced Rookies. My advice on this is just get rid of the ones that are going to go down the most in value if they score poorly. So play the breakeven game.
• Keep an eye on lockout times, it is an odd week so don’t get caught out.
• Check Fry’s article for the best rookies to downgrade to.

Have a great Easter weekend everyone and enjoy the footy! See 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.