The Thursday Scramble: Round 20

That was a bit more like it, no big problems this week thankfully so we can get to setting our teams up for what is (in most leagues) the final minor round of the season.  So no time to wait…. Let’s Scramble!

Finish off those trades

So hopefully it is unlikely you have other big issues this week and you can now set about fixing up the guys you couldn’t trade last week. This is likely to be JHF. But do you move Connor Rozee?  He is touch and go to see whether he plays this week or not. Normally we would have said if someone is out for two weeks then you would trade. But remember, that if you held last week, that is done and gone. If he misses this week it is just one that he is going to miss from here out so if he misses this week he will be highly likely back the following week so I would say hold him for this week. I can see a world where he is selected tonight but make sure you have some bench cover as there would then be a high chance he is a late out.

Hopefully your trades last week were good ones and you are able to keep improving your team this week. Something you can now pretty much put in the past (in the limited format games you 100% can) is the idea that we need to play the Break Even game.  Anyone you are bringing in now is more than likely someone that you are going to keep for the rest of the season so it doesn’t matter what their price does from here, it only matters what they are going to score. So the key here is to get the guys that are going to score the best (as if we haven’t been trying to do that all season) and make sure you are consulting the Scale of Hardness. As I have said already and have said in previous years, the closer we get to the end of the season the more relevant this becomes as the ability to earn points becomes more unique each week.

It has begun…..

When we get to this part of the season there is always the risk of someone being put in cotton wool for next year but there is also the risk of a retirement before round 24. So tonight we will see the final game for Sam Docherty. So if you have him the question is, do you trade him this week or next? There is the chance that he goes big with this being his last game. There is also a chance the Blues look for him.

However, If you have no other issues this week I would move Doc on now, like we saw the other week, all sorts of carnage can happen so you are taking a risk not trading him this week. Personally I would be moving him this week.

We are likely to see this happening over the coming weeks for various teams and various players. So just be careful as you could lose a player at any minute!

Fixture Shenanigans

Alert! This week we have our regular Thursday night game but then on Friday night we have TWO games so make sure you are all set. There is the Bulldogs v Bombers game then a half an hour later we have the GWS v Sydney game. So if you are doing any looping here just be very careful and make sure you have your team all set ready to go for that.

There is also another round later on where we have no Thursday night game but there are two games on the Friday. Just keep that in mind that we don’t have a regular fixture every week at the moment.  Also remember that we still don’t know the make up of round 24 yet so this will also be something to consider.  BUT, remember that the additional game of GC v Essendon does NOT count for Fantasy purposes.

Finals Strategy

For those of you in traditional leagues this is the last minor round before we hit the finals starting in round 21. So if you are only playing for league glory then make sure you set your teams accordingly. If you are locked in the top four then you might want to set your team up for the first round of finals and not worry so much about the win this week, but if you are scrambling to make the finals, you might want to throw a Hail Mary to try and get there. Like trading out a popular big dog and upgrading someone else with the cash to better your side.

Whatever you do make sure that you have an eye on the prize that you are going for whether it be overall rank, or if your team is going as badly as mine, league victory.

Things to Remember

• Don’t worry as much about break evens now, you are highly unlikely to cash these guys in so price doesn’t matter. We just want the best scoring players.
• I can’t stress the Scale of Hardness enough. Just 5 games left meaning someone will have a dream run and someone won’t.
• Watch out for benching in blowouts. We saw Dawson sit for much of the last quarter of the final game. If you pick a captain in a soft matchup that is over by half time then they may sit large chunks of the second half.

Good luck to everyone for this final minor round of the season. Some big games of footy this weekend being backed up by some big games of fantasy!  Let me know in the comments what you want to hear about from me over the finals and I will 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.