Since the lockout ended this past Sunday night, a lot of Supercoach players have pondered the question while others have asked friends and fantasy experts "Should I burn a trade or 2 this week?"
Well, the answer completely depends on the strategy you are taking into the game/season. I present a case for both strategies:
If you have set your sights on the $50,000 cash or a brand new Nissan and you aren't surrounded by like-minded fantasy footy coaches or die-hard AFL supporters, then the answer to whether or not you should trade this week is YES. I make that call, because there would be a lot of coaches with the "all or bust" mindset that may have relied on Jack Martin as their 8th midfielder and need a replacement. Going for the grand prize, you would be aware that ALL 22 players are vital, including the #1 selected emergency for that section of the field. Martin is set for a good 4+ weeks on the sidelines; meaning it would be too costly to keep him when your team could be earning cash through other rookies. Your emergency may come into play if one of your key premium's happens to be a late withdrawal (god forbid). Because Martin is an expensive mid for a 1st year player, there are options to sideways trade and downgrade to free-up cash.
You might be facing similar problems with Andrew Walker (in ~9% of teams) who copped a 1 week ban for throwing Monfries into the fence. With the "all or bust" mindset, it's hard to find a bench player who can score 100+ in his place and putting someone like Tom Langdon in his place is supremely risky. Therefore you might consider ridding him from your side, because "playing catch-up" in the latter half of the season is extremely difficult, so you want to make sure you get the best start possible with all available 22, fit healthy and playing (including all premiums). Don't worry about Sam Mitchell, he will come good.
Then there's other strategy...what most of us will hope and strive for through the season - to be the best, to take out bragging rights and (hopefully) Grand Final GLORY! If that is the case, then I would say you would be SILLY to trade now. Let's say you bring in Tom Langdon after his 111 score a couple of weeks ago. He then scores 30 and is subbed off with an ankle injury. You've just overreacted to one-game rookie with no proven history of consistency and you've just lost a vital trade. Instead, why not add him to your WATCH list and monitor his game against Sydney (assuming selection) and see how he goes against another quality team?
Let's face it, Round 1 and 2 are meaningless when the season begins; you are not going head to head with league competitors as these are the 2 rounds to steady and get your team right. My advice, even if you have Jack Martin is to WAIT. Wait for Round 2 to complete, then assess the players who (a) are set for a big price hike (b) are projected to score well in the next round and (c) have a decent run of opponents in the coming 3 weeks. At the end of 2 rounds, you will look back and be glad you've used a maximum of 2 trades instead of 4!
"Come off it, RoOSTA, I can do both! Win the big one and take out the Granny!"
Well considering only 1 person of around 250,000 people can take both honours together, I'd suggest the conservative approach and never burn more than 1-2 trades in the first 2 weeks, especially if you are someone who has no trades left come finals (or Grand Final)!
So who to trade in? Join me on twitter THIS Friday as we start to dissect the competition 'guns and duds', just use #HOLDFOLD and send me your trade dilemma/s and cash in the bank and I'll provide some suggestions and advice on how you might proceed. @Ro0STA
Click here to discuss who to HOLD and who to FOLD on the Supercoach HQ forums!
RoOSTA
Well, the answer completely depends on the strategy you are taking into the game/season. I present a case for both strategies:
If you have set your sights on the $50,000 cash or a brand new Nissan and you aren't surrounded by like-minded fantasy footy coaches or die-hard AFL supporters, then the answer to whether or not you should trade this week is YES. I make that call, because there would be a lot of coaches with the "all or bust" mindset that may have relied on Jack Martin as their 8th midfielder and need a replacement. Going for the grand prize, you would be aware that ALL 22 players are vital, including the #1 selected emergency for that section of the field. Martin is set for a good 4+ weeks on the sidelines; meaning it would be too costly to keep him when your team could be earning cash through other rookies. Your emergency may come into play if one of your key premium's happens to be a late withdrawal (god forbid). Because Martin is an expensive mid for a 1st year player, there are options to sideways trade and downgrade to free-up cash.
You might be facing similar problems with Andrew Walker (in ~9% of teams) who copped a 1 week ban for throwing Monfries into the fence. With the "all or bust" mindset, it's hard to find a bench player who can score 100+ in his place and putting someone like Tom Langdon in his place is supremely risky. Therefore you might consider ridding him from your side, because "playing catch-up" in the latter half of the season is extremely difficult, so you want to make sure you get the best start possible with all available 22, fit healthy and playing (including all premiums). Don't worry about Sam Mitchell, he will come good.
Then there's other strategy...what most of us will hope and strive for through the season - to be the best, to take out bragging rights and (hopefully) Grand Final GLORY! If that is the case, then I would say you would be SILLY to trade now. Let's say you bring in Tom Langdon after his 111 score a couple of weeks ago. He then scores 30 and is subbed off with an ankle injury. You've just overreacted to one-game rookie with no proven history of consistency and you've just lost a vital trade. Instead, why not add him to your WATCH list and monitor his game against Sydney (assuming selection) and see how he goes against another quality team?
Let's face it, Round 1 and 2 are meaningless when the season begins; you are not going head to head with league competitors as these are the 2 rounds to steady and get your team right. My advice, even if you have Jack Martin is to WAIT. Wait for Round 2 to complete, then assess the players who (a) are set for a big price hike (b) are projected to score well in the next round and (c) have a decent run of opponents in the coming 3 weeks. At the end of 2 rounds, you will look back and be glad you've used a maximum of 2 trades instead of 4!
"Come off it, RoOSTA, I can do both! Win the big one and take out the Granny!"
Well considering only 1 person of around 250,000 people can take both honours together, I'd suggest the conservative approach and never burn more than 1-2 trades in the first 2 weeks, especially if you are someone who has no trades left come finals (or Grand Final)!
So who to trade in? Join me on twitter THIS Friday as we start to dissect the competition 'guns and duds', just use #HOLDFOLD and send me your trade dilemma/s and cash in the bank and I'll provide some suggestions and advice on how you might proceed. @Ro0STA
Click here to discuss who to HOLD and who to FOLD on the Supercoach HQ forums!
RoOSTA