The Thursday Scramble: Round 23 – Prelim Final Week

Well we at least had one week off from major injury.  However, here we go yet again with another major injury to deal with.  Are there any defenders left to pick?  Who knows… so Let’s Scramble!

Are there any Defenders left?

So a lot of us all had NAS and now we have to find a replacement. Our issue is there aren’t that many left and each of those have their own risks too.  So let’s look at a few of the options.

Callum Wilkie – He has had some great games this season but the issue is that he is now attracting a forward tag on occasion and the other issue is that he hasn’t been taking all the kick ins with Stocker doing that last game.  Having said that he can bust out a big score.

Dayne Zorko – He has had his rest and should be good but in his return game last week he looked to be cooked with a hammy and then said it was cramp.  At his age (no judgement here, he is still younger than me!) and his injury history this season, he is a risk for us.  However we know that he loves to beat up on the Suns so he could be a good option for us.

Brad Hill – Again, we thought he had broken his leg in about 5 places last week only to see him run out the game. So once again there is that injury concern that we have had with other guys but he also has had some really good form of late so he is another in the risk/reward bucket.

Josh Daicos – He is one that I did trade in to see what he looked like but I did trade him back out again as he doesn’t have the best of runs over the last two rounds with the Hawks this week and the Lions in round 24.  That is more than enough to scare me off bringing him in.

Jarman Impey – He has been such a dependable defender (shout out to the SHIVA community) but last week we saw that horror 53 from him and with Collingwood this week he could be a concern but he does have the Eagles in the last round so if you think it was a one off then jump aboard.

The two ‘roughies’ that I would consider bringing in (and that is a little harsh) would be The Lizard Nick Blakey who has a nice couple of games and also Jase Burgoyne who is now in that Port Adelaide midfield for no other reason than they don’t have anyone else! Both of these guys can score and if you are looking for a unique to roll the dice with then these guys could be the ones to go with.  Whichever way you go don’t panic on them, just roll the dice and have fun, we know there are going to be issues pop up somewhere over the next couple of weeks so go for it.

What am I supposed to do tonight?

Just when we were getting used to having a Thursday night game to sit back and watch and work our loophole magic with, it is gone! There is AFLW to watch and AFLW fantasy to play if they are things you want to do. But what it does mean is that after teams tonight (where I am sure there will be some form of carnage) we will have plenty of time to get our teams sorted out so that we can set up our teams as best we can for the weekend ahead.

So what this does mean is that we are not quite back to what we would have called a traditional weekend of footy a couple of years ago but we have one on Friday night, one early on Saturday (starting at 12:30pm EST so be ready for that) then two twilight, two Sat night and three on Sunday.  Have your loops and trades planned out so that you are ready to go.

Things to Remember

• Check that Scale of Hardness (or at least look at the two games your trade in’s will be playing) It doesn’t matter what they have done, it is what they will do these two weeks that counts now.
• If you are just going for League glory then remember to work that matchup with your opponent.  Make sure you either cover or go unique, whatever you need to do to win.
• If you are out of leagues, don’t give up, fight for the best rank you can get!
• And don’t be upset if you still have Petracca!  I have tried to trade him out for a few weeks but continue to have issues and still have him. Thankfully I have him at M9 so he isn’t on field (but watch him put up a big one now).

So just two rounds of Fantasy to go, get through this week to the big dance and then go all out for glory! But we will deal with that next week.  Have a great weekend and see you next Thursday for the last Scramble of the season.

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.