The Friday Scramble: Round 21

This is it.  No more stuffing around.  No more second chances!  If you lose this week you can pack your bags and head off to Bali on your end of season trip.  The decisions that you make today could be the ones that make or break you!  I know a few people last week that had a choice and made the wrong one!  My son is one of them!  I gave him the choice of picking either Stevie J or Nick Riewoldt to bring into his side when he wanted to trade out Chappy when he pulled out late.  Josh picked Volt and that lead to him being beaten by me in a Qualifying final…. needless to say it was immediatly my fault that he lost and not his!

But these are the sort of decisions that we make and you just don’t know what is going to happen.  It could have been a like a few weeks ago when Stevie introduced himself to Thommo’s shoulder and went out with 1 pt.  Or he could have been just like Fyfe and tripped over his suitcase in his Perth hotel.  I would love to see any in room footage of that!  Who knows what actually happened!!

Gibbo The Gun!

Last week I talked about putting Sam Gibsonon the ground ahead of guys like Sam Mitchell and Scott Thompson.  This certainly worked for those that took my advice, personally I had no choice and played both Thommo and Gibbo.  However, just remember that whilst Gibbo is on fire at the moment, make sure you analyse the matchups because this won’t always be the case and Gibbo is certainly one out of the box.

Gibson isn’t the only one that people have considered doing this with this year.  The other one is certainly Zorko.  He has been a great scorer this year too and I know that many people are talking about playing him in front of Mitch Robbo and Travis Cloke.  I don’t know about this one this week with Zorko playing Adelaide so if you are one of the people considering this I would be careful!

 Nick Volt!  What do we do with him??

So if you are like my son Josh and you traded in Nick Riewoldt last week and are facing an elimination game this week then you will need to maximise your score this week otherwise you are gone for the year.

Your options will depend on your cash in the bank really, but if you are low on cash but do have about $20k then you can go from Riewoldt up to the other choice you had last week and that is Stevie J.  Whilst he doesn’t have an ideal run home, he is the kind of guy that can do anything!

Other options would be (once again depending on your cash) Patty Dangerfield, Ryan O’Keefe, Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams.  If you don’t have any of those guys and can afford them, I say jump on.

If you managed to get through your Qualifying final and jumped straight to the Prelim last week then I would consider holding Nick and seeing what happens next week.  No point trading in someone this week in readiness for next week only to see them go down with a season ending injury this weekend and force you to use another trade!

Is that the General I see in the distance?

One of the most annoying things about Dream Team at this time of year is the sight of General Soreness around every corner!  You think you see him in the distance heading for your team but sometimes he darts around the next corner and you avoid him. 

The thing to think about at the moment is to be aware when you are trading of where the General is.  For example, if you are picking up a Crows player, be aware that they have Brisbane, Melbourne and Gold Coast in their last 3.  This would mean that they are marching straight into the General’s home territory!  I would expect a couple of their older stars (read Scott Thompson) to get a rest in one of these games to freshen them up for the finals.

Even though the teams have been named this week, don’t be at all surprised to see some big names disappear from team sheets over the weekend.  Ones that I expect to see include Chappy and Sam Mitchell.  However, there is no basis for this, just gut feel.

Do I or Don’t I??

Given that we all have 5 leagues that we are able to participate in thanks to the good folk at Virtual Sports, many of you will be in the position where you are safely resting in a Prelim Final in a couple of leagues but are in the cutthroat Elim final in the others.  The big question to ask yourself is…. do I trade to get the win in my Elim but have only 1 or no trades left for the Prelim next week??

There is only one person that can answer this and that is you. 

I am in this very situation this week.  I am through to the Prelims in my two leagues with friends that I see all the time.  I am in elims in my other 3 leagues.  So based on this I am choosing to not trade and ride my luck in the other leagues as the league I most want to win already sees me through to the Prelims.

All I can say is make sure you know what you want before you click that Trade button cause after lockout… you don’t get em back!

Things To Remember

• No Guts No Glory– If you look like you are going to struggle to get the win, go for a ballsy move and pick a different captain or make that trade you aren’t sure about.  You will either lose anyway or have a bloody great story to tell.
• Rookies are still Rookies – Yeah they have been killing it, but inconsistency is usually the motto of these guys, so be very careful.  Like I said, it paid off last week with Gibson but this won’t be the norm.
• Always be wary of a Late Withdrawal! – Late Withdrawals can be costly!  So make sure you are on your game and know exactly when to lock away your team.  Whilst you should also be careful of not drunk trading, you need to be on the ball right up until lockout (which is back to its normal time this week).
• How could you go in Big Brother at DT Finals time!- That would be just hell!!  I dont’ reckon you could trust your mates unless they weren’t in your league to look after your team!
• Pick a strategy and run with it – So if you are in the Prelim in some and not others, make a choice which league you want to win most and run with it.

DT Semi Finals are upon us and no one wants to go out in straight sets so if you had the Double Chance in your favourite league, make sure you do everything you can to avoid that disappointment!

Good luck in your games this week and hope to see you all through to the prelims next week!  I will let you know any late news I find out on twitter @pkd73 and keep your ears and eyes open…. it is bloody hard to follow your team if you don’t!