The Friday Scramble: Round 15

Last time I checked, the end of the MBR’s was supposed to mean the end of the carnage for Dreamteam!  NO!  We know that this is never the truth.  So what have we seen this week?  Well Buddy’s Hammy (I am not confident at all he will play), Pendles busted Pin, Dusty’s in the doghouse and Brendon‘s Fists of Fury have caused us more issues this week.  And to be honest, there would be a lot of teams that have all 3 of these guys!

I hope that I am not the only one in the boat that has 3 or 4 of these guys, isn’t going to trade them and has other bench issues meaning no cover this week!  And if I am the only one then I guess it is 5 losses for me this week hey!

But seriously though, whilst these guys are guns and they are all expected to be back within 2 weeks (unless Dusty doesn’t set the alarm for two weeks time and sleeps right through the game) so in my humble opinion I would say that no one should be trading any of these guys out.  Mainly because I am sure that you are all struggling for trades right about now and really should be using them to keep as cover for when a LTI hits or you have one or two more upgrades to do to get what you percieve as a squad of 22 Premiums.

Current Form v Past Form?

A conundrum that confronts all of us DT coaches at some stage during the season and none more than when we have a player who is a Premo that is being outscored by one of our bench cover rookies.  This is the issue that our GWS Guru Griff asked me about yesterday!

Let’s look at a scenario shall we that I am sure the majority of us have.  About 108,050 teams have the big Zorko in their squads.  Now up until last week he had been scoring ton’s like they were going out of fashion.  However, last week he got a smack in the gob and made his way to a respectable (for someone of his limited experience) 69.  So he still isn’t terrible.

But the issue is, do you put him on the park in front of someone that has form in the past?  Let’s look at someone like Adam Goodes who has just come back from injury and happens to be playing the Lions.  He has only had 24 and 64 in his last two, but you know he is going to come back to form at some point.  Do you keep with the faith of Goodesy or do you go to a Zorko who you think is good for probably 80+??

For me, I think you have to look at what is happening in the here and now.  In this case I would be tempted to play Zorko over Goodes as Goodes works his way back to form.  You might miss that first big score he has, but as long as Zorko keeps the ship steady you won’t be left walking the plank if he brings in another measly 24.

Luckily (or unluckily) for me, I don’t have this choice to make as with Dusty, Buddy both out I need Zorko on the field anyway.  But I was going to have to make the hard choice if Dusty was playing.

Will there be any team without Carrots??

Seriously there won’t be many.  I know of one bloke that has told me he won’t be getting him and that is none other than the coach of Cousins Coke N Ice @Douthteez.  However, I reckon everyone else will be snapping him up this week with his tiny BE of 22!

The question that I was asked on Twitter (find me @pkd73) by DT Talk follower Andrew (@grinpowderdiah) was should he trade to get himself some Carrots!  Hargrave who can be unreliable or Gilbert who is a bit more consistent but generally a lower scorer.

For me it really depends on what the person you don’t trade will be asked to do for your team.  Will they be your trusty water boy that sits at D9 and will never need to be seen again.  Or are they the eager beaver that sits at D8 just praying for someone to get put on the mobile ambulance so they can get a run.  Or are they going to have to play at D7 still?

If the guy is going to be sitting at D7 then I personally would go with the guy that gets a game consistently and you know what you are going to get from them without having to stress out for the entire game!

If they are going to be your D8 or D9 then I still think I go for the consistent player.  You don’t want to have to look to your bench for some cover only to find that they guy you had sitting there has nicked off down the pub for a quick pint and a stillnox!

So if it were me I would pick Gilbert who has had 4 scores under 60 and only 1 score over 80 out of his 13 games over Gravy whose first 4 games of the year yielded an average of 88 whilst his last 4 games only netted you an average of 56.

 What’s that?  You don’t have Swanny??

Another Twitterer has asked me a question that I think may be facing a few people.  @Davidberger5 asked me whether or not he should Double Trade to bring in Swan or should he wait for 2-3 weeks to get Pendles or Murphy at a bargain basement price.

This will be the case a few people may find themselves in if they traded out Swanny when he was out for his little mid season rest and they haven’t been able to get him back in.

I think that the answer to this question is a bit of a two parter.  It will come down to how many trades you have left and what downgrade options you have.  I think that Swan is pretty much a must have in your teams.  I know that the two weeks that he has had blinders, the first one I didn’t have him and it cost me wins, and the second time I scrapped home when I didn’t have him as captain only through luck more than anything.  So I think it is a very risk y tactic to not have him in your side.

As for whether you should double trade for him?  Well I think that if you have 7+ trades left and you have a viable downgrade to a guy that is going to get playing time then I would do it.  If you are carrying 6 or less and need to use two to get him and the downgrade option is a bit like Katy Perry then it is risky, particularly if you have the cash to straight swap to someone like Pendles who is set to return next week or to Murphy next week or so when he bottoms out.  I would be nervous to be left with only 4 trades at this point in the season and having had to trade in a guy that is Hot then Cold or In then Out or even Up then Down as there are a lot of injuries to come before we get to the grand final of DT and I think you will need a lot of luck to make the GF and win it with only 4 or less left from this round on.

 Things To Remember

• Nearly everyone else has Dusty, Buddy and Goddard so stop your bitching! – No point complaining about it so just suck it up and get on with it.
• Get off Captain Calvin’s case – He just suggests the captains… you are the one that makes the decision.
• If you are Trading make sure you are happy to have that person til the end – I have probably told you this before, but if you are downgrading you need to be comfortable for that person to be on your bench for the rest of the season #Relton
• Consider your opposition – If you don’t really need to trade and it is just a luxury, don’t do it if you have an easy game in your league this week.  Save that trade and perhaps do it next week or the week after when you may have to trade out an LTI or the guy you want may drop in price.
• Make sure you have backup for Buddy-Let’s be honest he is going to be a late withdrawal and they have named him so they don’t get called disrespectful.  So make sure that you have an emergency for him.

So round 4 of the multi bye rounds is about to start, well not really but bloody hell it feels like it!  Make sure you have put the guys that are out on the bench and not leave them on the field and use the E to cover them.  If someone else pulls out and you have two active guys on the bench and only one with the E then you will get an unforced donut.

Have a great weekend of Dreamteaming and hopefully our scores reach the heights of last week!

Give me a yell on Twitter over the weekend and let me know how your last minute scrambling has gone!  @pkd73