The Thursday Scramble: Round 21 Finals Week 1

Can you believe we are at finals already? Just 4 rounds to go now until you can claim ultimate glory! But is your team ready to get you through to that final victory in your league (or hopefully the car). But we did have some more issues on the weekend so it is Time to Scramble!

The Emergency Room

We have seen one retirement and now we are starting to see some players get sent off for that end of season surgery. This week we have seen a couple of popular guys added to the list with Miles Bergman and Harley Reid head off into the sunset and we are not going to see them until next season.  The other one we need to have a watch on is Connor Rozee whose broken hand apparently blew up after the showdown loss.

Add to this a couple of guys that are very unlikely to be back this season like Jordan Ridley and Josh Kelly. Their injuries will see them out for 3-4 weeks minimum which means they are effectively gone for us from a fantasy sense.

This will keep happening in weeks to come with any niggles in non contending teams.

So what do we do with these guys?  Like I have said in recent weeks we just need to find the guys that are going to score the most over the remaining weeks in the season.  Again I will plug the Scale of Hardness as this is most crucial for the remainder of the season.

If you only have one player you need to trade, this is the time where I would say if you have plenty of bench cover, drop one right down to the bargain basement rookie and then use that cash to get your player up to the very best you can get. If you can get Bergman up to someone like Wanganeen-Milera then sell that farm!

And it may not be that they are off for surgery, it could be just that they aren’t in their team’s plans for the next year and they are out of contention so they decide to play the kids.  There has been a lot of conjecture this week about whether or not Caleb Daniel will be selected or will be dropped this week.

Bench Cover

Now I did just say you could drop right down to a basement rookie to get your other player up to the best you can get.  But, as we have seen there are still late outs happening so make sure you have at least one player as cover on each line.

We are going to see some players pull out and get rested, particularly later in the round if other results have gone their sides way meaning it isn’t as important to get the win.

Finals Strategy

I am sure you all know by now how the finals system work. They work just like the AFL finals.

There is certainly strategy you can employ here given you can see how your opponents team looks prior to the start of the round. So you can decide whether to take on their players or whether you want to match off their star players. Often this decision is made depending on whether you are in charge or the underdog.

Whilst it is very tempting to try and hit a six in these finals if you are behind. However, just make sure that you are not going to blow up your team. When you get the win then you are going to need that team the week after.

Things to Remember

• You aren’t the only one who is losing players to injury and surgery.  Make the most of the opportunities to bring some fresh blood in.
• Try and exploit a weakness in your opponents team.
• Just four weeks to go and a few teams have very easy runs. Use this, particularly in draft where you can ditch a fringe player with a tough run for someone that has a good one.

Not really much to add this week folks with there not being a great deal of carnage (until we get teams tonight). And remember, if you lose your first final and are eliminated this week, don’t give up because you can actually climb the rankings fast this time of year as those that aren’t as committed decide they will hang up the coach’s whistle.

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.