The Thursday Scramble: Round 14 – Bye Week 3

Well that is the easy one out of the way, we were all worried about R12 for the forward line but the next two weeks is where a lot of our star players are going to be putting their feet up and contributing diddly squat to your fantasy scoring.  So… without further adieu, Let’s Scramble!

Is this what they call a Holding Pattern?

With just the Giants and the Tigers coming off the bye this week it seems as though the pool is pretty thin for what we can trade in from them.  I mean, let’s be honest, we aren’t trading in any Tigers right? Well maybe Jayden Short but he is about it really. I don’t think any of the others have earnt their spot and to be honest Short isn’t on my shopping list (he will drop a 140 now that I have said that). But it is in that back line that we will find our people this week as Lachie Whitfield and Lachie Ash are likely to be the two most traded in premiums this week. There is plenty of people wanting to upgrade in that back line and I am certainly one of them with Ash joining my team this week. Aside from them it is really just Finn Calaghan that I think will have interest in him but why is no one talking about Clarry Oliver? In SuperCoach he has only had the three games below 100 and in Fantasy he hasn’t been quite as lucrative but is averaging over 100 in his last 5. He is certainly one that you could consider.

I think many were looking at bringing in Izak Rankine this week and I certainly was considering it but now that we know he will be missing again you can wait another week on him.

So if you have the pair of Lachies then you may want to consider this week to be a set up week to get in some Dockers and Pies.  I say just those two as there really isn’t too many from the Blues or Hawks that I would be looking hard at. The main one would be Will Day as he is looking good on his return. The question is, do we trust that body just yet.

Then there are the trad outs.  One that we are all frustrated with is Dan Houston. He isn’t putting up the scores that he was when we all brought him in and this sort of coincided with Howe coming back into the side. When you have Houston, Howe, Daicos, Quaynor and Maynard back there, there isn’t much ball to go around. With Maynard now going to be missing some games that will free up a little bit of footy for Dan so you could take the risk and hold or you could upgrade. In AF I would have no qualms about upgrading him. But if you are a SuperCoacher then I would be tempted to hold him until you have done all your other upgrades and then see how many trades you have left. I can see me holding him for a bit just to conserve trades.

So what do we do?

Based on all of that my suggestions are….

1. Bring in one or both of those Giants defenders. They are both going to be likely top 6 by the end of season and you will want them.
2. Set your team up for next week. Offload some maxed out rookies (we will talk about that in a sec)
3. Plan out those trades for after this round and after the next.  Remember, after round 16 bye you will only have the two trades per week leading into round 17.

Yes, that’s right. While we have 3 trades per week to bring in players off their bye at the moment.  Following the bye that includes St Kilda, Melbourne, Bulldogs and Cats you will only have two trades you can use to get the guys you want. So just be aware of that.

But there are no rookies?

Well if you think that you are as bad as Warnie and his never ending Rookie Crisis.  We have all these mid season draftees that are coming online and they are all dirt cheap.  They are $230k in AF and $99k in SC. So they are bargain basement and you should be making the most of that.

Now when selecting a rookie we usually look for someone that is going to score well and make money and someone that is going to have some good job security.  Now I need to break this into the two games for a sec as I see the strategy similar but slightly different here.

In AFL Fantasy. I will have no hesitation bringing these guys in as soon as they are named. With our two trades per week we can afford to have them in the side for only a few games before they head back to the VFL, SANFL or WAFL as we can just trade them down to the next guy that is getting the call up.  Also, remember, after round 16 we should have no rookies on field (and here I am suggesting that guys like Murdock and Jagga can qualify as non rookies given the scores they are putting up but if you can get them off field that would be ideal). So with no rookies on field these guys are loops or emergencies at best for you so you shouldn’t be as bothered as you would have been earlier in the year.

In SuperCoach. Here I will exercise a little more caution. With the limited trades it is ideal if you can have at least one bench player that is likely to get a game each week as you will likely need them as we come to the close of the season and we see the inevitable restings and you may not have the trades available to rectify the problem so you will want a playing emergency in each line. Having said that, just like in AF, you should hopefully be near full ‘premium’ (we will address that in a few weeks) side and this means that with a little luck these guys will never grace the field and will sit on the pine keeping it warm for the rest of the season. The other thing here is that we aren’t likely to be going to trade them out for cash as we will have a full team and we won’t have the trades left to afford to do a one down and one up.

So with all that said, certainly use these guys to get your team set up for the rest of the year by maximising your downgrade dollar by bringing them in. Just don’t expect the world from them.  Not everyone of them will be a Tom McCarthy.

Things to Remember

• Four teams on bye this week. Pies, Blues, Dockers and Hawks. Get them off your field as best you can.
• Make plans for your trades for next week and the week after. It may not work out but any plan is better than no plans.
• Injuries and suspensions will still happen. It is best 18 still for three rounds so it is always good to make sure you have 20 or more guys on field that are active.

Back to just the 7 games this week but only three rounds of it then we are back to full strength. Hopefully our teams reflect that strength by that time too!  Have a great weekend watching the footy and see you all here 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.