TooSerious

After a long season we have now arrived at grand final week. But first we must review round 2 of the finals. Please join us over the break where we review all the finals from the various leagues.


Premier League



King of Karlos will meet Westside Hardcore in the grand final. They were seeded 1 and 2 so it is appropriate that they have made it all the way through to the grand final. I would say that Karlos would go into the match as favourite but Westside will be happy that Millsap is back on deck which gives him a chance.

Last week Jasmine was relegated to Division One. After the results of the minor round finals, Anthak is now the second person from the Premier League going down to Division One. It is sad to see two of the founding members of the TS NBA community be relegated but I am sure it won't be too long before we see them back in the Premier League.

2 Westside Hardcore 1618 defeated 3 Wade Machine 1550



This match was in the balance at the start of the final day where Westside were holding a small lead. However they were able to onto their lead and claim one of the grand final spots. Games played were 48-47 in favour of Wade Machine. Of all players Matt Barnes (164/3) led the way for Westside followed by Batum (158/4) and Matthews (161/4). Wade Machine have been a force throughout the season and I fully expected them to make the GF with their strong roster but they were let down this round by some of their key players. Noah was the standout with (195/4), next best were Monroe (193/4) and Curry (162/4).

1 King of Karlos 1609 defeated the 4 Jug O Naughts 1530



Karlos was able to claim a hard fought win over Fez. Once again this match was in the balance on the final day but Fez was unable to pull back the lead of 70 pts. Games played were 45-44 in favour of Fez. Durant stood up when it counted for Karlos with (204/3), next best were Hawes (140/3) and Parsons (139/3). Fez will be...

2014 pre-season ORFFU draft
By Holky
We had an eventful draft that finished just in time for the 2014 season so I’m kind of in a hurry to do this writeup so I’ll cover just the new players. 
 
New Players:
Ararat Armadillos:
Coach: Insider
Pick 1: Alex Fasolo (21, 44, F), Pick 36: Jason Porplyzia (29, 59, F), Pick 37: Brent Moloney (30, 85, M), Pick 72: Greg Broughton (27, 72, D), Pick 73: Jordan Schroder (21, 48, M), Pick 108: Matthew Jaensch (24, 55, D)
Coolgardie Prospectors
Coach: JPK
Pick 2: Xavier Ellis (26, 22, M), Pick 35: Tom Jonas (23, 52, D), Pick 38: Josh Hill (25, 66, F), Pick 71: Lewis Johnston (23, 70, F), Pick 74: Mark Baguley (26, 69, D), Pick 107: Matt Jones (26, 69, M)
Pearcedale Panthers
Coach: TigersTooTough
Pick 3: Andrew Moore (22, 67, M), Pick 34: Matt McDonough (20, 32, F), Pick 39: Ben McGlynn (28, 72, F), Pick 70: Maverick Weller (22, N/A, D), Pick 75: Tom Bell (22, 64, M), Pick 106: Matthew Arnot (20, 53, M)
Christmas Island Smugglers
Coach: DamoH
Pick 4: Jesse White (26, 68, F), Pick 33: Eric MacKenzie (25, 69, D), Pick 40: George Horlin-Smith (21, 61, M), Pick 69: George Burbury (21, 57, F), Pick 76: Lachlan Keeffe (23, 67, D), Pick 105: Jason Ashby (19, N/A, D)
Eden Whalers
Coach: Holky
From Trade: Matt Fuller (Banchang) (23, N/A, D), Pick 5: Tom Young (21, 68, D), Pick 22: Jarryd Lyons (21, 64, F/M), Pick 32: Ed Curnow (24, 76, M), Pick 41: Steven May (22, 59, D/F), Pick 68: Nick Suban (23, 73, M), Pick 77: Sam Rowe (26, 60, R/F), Pick 80: Nick Smith (25, 66, D), Pick 104: PASS
Groote Eylandt Barracudas
Coach: YAD
Pick 6: James Frawley (25, 68, D), Pick 31: Tom Derickx (26, N/A, R), Pick 42: Shane Kersten (21, N/A, F), Pick 67: Will Langford (21, 14, D), Pick 78: Dean Towers (23, N/A, F/M), Pick 103: Tendai Mzungu (28, 80, M)
Goondiwindi Goannas
Coach: PushUpKing
Pick...

Some of you may have read this article, as it was put up on the Hun website last Friday. Here it is again, but on TS, in its unedited form - ie. without the SC Gold reference



Cash Cows



Due to being raised on a dairy farm, Gary Rohan could be considered the ultimate cash cow in the AFL, because it is otherwise fairly difficult to associate AFL players with cattle. The exception is when you are a SuperCoach playing to win, in which case cash cows” are a regular part of one's vocabulary.



Cash Cows are players who you have in your team primarily to generate money, which you can then use to strengthen your team. Rookie-priced players generally rise in value quickly and by the largest margin. Most SuperCoaches will start with somewhere between nine and 16 rookie-priced players and the idea is to trade them in at the point where they have peaked in price. Using cash cows to their maximum potential can result in having a fully upgraded team by about Round 14, ready to pile on the points in the run home to the end of the season.



The initial salary of first year players is determined by where they were taken in their draft; whereas experienced players' salaries are mostly dependant on their average points from the season prior. Based on the latter, we can attribute hypothetical price-based averages to the first-year players and to those who have a discounted starting price, which helps us predict how a player's price may evolve during the season. For example, pick #1 in the 2012 GWS Mini-draft, Jack Martin, has a starting salary of $222,300, which is the equivalent of a player who averaged approximately 42 points last season; whereas Matt Crouch, who was selected at pick 23 of the National Draft, has a starting salary of $117,300, the approximate equivalent to an...

For those that dont know about this, it is a comp to test your trading skills and this will be the 4th year in succession that TS has run it.

Everyone in the comp starts with exactly the same team and then after the end of the first full lockout, everyone can go nuts, trading as they wish... Until we are left with 1 team at the end who has managed to score more points than all the others who started with the same team.

So far this season, we only have 9 players in it, which is far less than the other years we've run this.
If you want to join in the fun, all you need to do is set up a new SuperCoach account (under an alternative email address to your own) and join the TS trading games group.

<strong style='background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333;]1. If you have ALREADY REGISTERED[/b] color: #333333;](with the alternate email) for the The Herald Sun Nissan SuperCoach Competition, simply click the following link (you may need to login):<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
http://supercoach.heraldsun.com.au/group?cic=179012 color: #333333;]<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<em style='background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333;](Once logged in, simply confirm your invitation and you'll be automatically added. Private Groups are a separate feature to the five head-to head leagues of 18, in which you may continue to participate as usual). color: #333333;]<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<strong style='background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333;]2. If you have NOT YET REGISTERED,[/b] color: #333333;]simply click on the link below and fill in the registration form as usual:<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
http://supercoach.heraldsun.com.au/?p=register&group_code=179012...

As mentioned in the recent post, this is the 4th year in succession that TS is running this comp.
Its a really interesting exercise and a lot of fun
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Everyone starts with the same 30 players, but everyone gets to make their own decisions on how to manage those players, choosing who will be their Captains, Vice Caps, Emergencies, and of course trades after round 1 is complete.
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We've so far got 21 players in this for 2014, and there's still time for more, but jump in quick if you're keen.
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<p style='background-color: #fcfcfc; margin-bottom: 10px;]If you want to join in the fun, all you need to do is set up a new SuperCoach account (under an alternative email address to your own) and join the TS trading games group.
<p style='background-color: #fcfcfc; margin-bottom: 10px;]&#160;
<p style='background-color: #fcfcfc; margin-bottom: 10px;]<strong style='color: #333333; background-color: #ffffff;]1. If you have ALREADY REGISTERED[/b][span style='color: #333333; background-color: #ffffff;]&#160;(<strong style='background-color: transparent;]with the alternate email[/b]) for the The Herald Sun Nissan SuperCoach Competition, simply click the following link (you may need to login):&#160;<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<strong style='background-color: transparent;]http://supercoach.heraldsun.com.au/group?cic=179012[/b][span style='color: #333333; background-color: #ffffff;]&#160;<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<em style='color: #333333; background-color: #ffffff;](Once logged in, simply confirm your invitation and you'll be automatically added. Private Groups are a separate feature to the five head-to head leagues of 18, in which you may continue to participate as usual).[span...

The 2014 season is nearly upon us but there are still some things to work through.
HOW DO I SELECT MY ORFFL TEAM EACH WEEK?
You need to do so via the tsLeagues tab. Where is that you may ask? Well it doesn't appear until you follow these steps:
1. Visit My Profile (click next to your avatar)

2. Visit My Account (2nd option under your avatar on the next screen)

3. Visit Manage Services tab (furtherest to the right of the 4 tabs)

4. Subscribe to tsLeagues


The tsLeagues tab will now appear alongside the Chat tab at the top of each TS page. It is from this tab that you can submit your weekly ORFFL team.
WILL THERE BE A ROLLING LOCKOUT FOR ROUND 1?
Yes, that is the intention. How will it be implemented? That is not clear. It will probably require manual admin adjustment, can't see any other way to be honest.
Suggestion on how it will work:
Everyone needs to submit a full team of 15 players plus 4/5 emergencies**prior to the start of the first game (7:50pm on Friday 14 March).
Team changes can be made via posting on the blog or email to an admin as long as the players concerned have not commenced their particular AFL match for the round.
WILL THERE BE A ROLLING LOCKOUT FOR OTHER ROUNDS?
Perhaps. It could be very time-consuming to administer however, so I have some reluctance to run with it. For rounds which are split over multiple weekends, an exception (similar to R1) will be made. But my view would be that each 'regular' round should be locked out at the commencement of the first match of that round.
WHERE IS THE FIXTURE?
Lucas sent me one but I haven't been able to work out how to upload it onto TS. Suggestions welcome. Do we want rivalry rounds this year?
Please discuss below.
HOW MANY EMERGENCIES EACH WEEK SHOULD BE BE ABLE TO NAME?
The new team upload function allows for 5 emergencies (one for every line including INT).
**Do we want to have 4 emergencies or 5? Please state your opinion...

What is the best strategy for the bye rounds this year? Do we need to account for them with our starting squad? Or is the best strategy actually to have no set approach at all?
In 2013, the bye rounds were across Rounds 11-13. In 2014, they will be earlier, occurring across Round 8-10. Here is a breakdown of the clubs and their byes in 2014:...

<div style='color: #222222;]Introducing ... Hindsight SuperCoach
<div style='color: #222222;]<br clear='none[/img]

<div style='color: #222222;]Something new for TS SuperCoach in 2014, the perfect game ... theoretically achievable, practically unachievable. Let's call it Hindsight SuperCoach.<br clear='none[/img]

<div style='color: #222222;]<br clear='none[/img]

<div original_target='http://tooserious.net/forum/forum/tabid/91/forumid/23/threadid/61165/scope/posts/default.aspx' style='color: #222222;]Some of you may have seen the forum posts on the perfect game for 2013 (link). What I initially positioned as an attempt to identify the winning moves by the overall SuperCoach 2013 winner, quickly turned into a quest for the ultimate score for 2013. What does that mean? It means the right initial team selection, all the right trades at the right time and the right team and captain selections every weekto maximise the SuperCoach score over the whole season. As it turned out, there was a ~20% upside to the score of the overall SuperCoach 2013 winner ... you can read through the posts to get the details.
<div style='color: #222222;]<br clear='none[/img]

<div style='color: #222222;]Even though it was the off-season, these posts quickly collected over 1,000 views and to date they've had over 2,000 views, so there clearly was some interest amongst the TS community in this. However, doing this after the season has completed is of little benefit to anyone, except maybe for some lessons learned for the next season. It may be of more benefit to run this for thecurrent season after the completion of each round... and that's what I'm going to try to do throughout the 2014 season and will (courtesy of Walesy) post the results in this blog. As this 100% relies on the benefits of hindsight, it...

Have been casting an eye over the ruck candidates for this season, looking at established set-and-forget players, along with rookies who might get a run. There are quite a few surprises, which might translate into SC opportunity. The Doggies have only one established ruckman, Big Will, while others share the load. Dogs must be vulnerable if Will goes down.



Four teams have only 3 ruckman, being Richmond, Essendon, Collingwood and Port. Richmond the interesting case with the Mullet not making a promising debut to 2014 due to injury. He had a niggle for much of last year as well. The other two are Stephenson and Hampson, awkward mid-pricers and neither guaranteed, although clearly both were recruited as insurance, letting Derickx go in the process. Essendon also interesting, with Ryder, Bellchambers and Thurlow. BC currently injured, so Thurlow getting a bit of a look in. He is of particular interest in SC as he has DPP with FWD - handy if you have Dixon as insurance for Sandi. But can he hold his spot when BC returns? At Port, Lobbe clearly the No. 1 ruck, while Redden is injured and Renouf, well, Renouf is Renouf. Port have a number of players including the Hoff and Trengove who can back up in the ruck. Collingwood have Grundy, Hudson and Witts. Seems likely Grundy will take the load, Hudson will be insurance and Witts might get a bit of game time.



West Coast, Carlton, Adelaide, Geelong and the Saints have 4 apiece. West Coast have the pairing of Cox and NicNat. While the latter has a few niggles, Lycett is getting some game time and not doing too badly. However, his job security is zero if NicNat is fit. Carlton have solid ruck stocks, but seem to have trouble making up their mind where to play them. Warnock is a very good tap ruckman, while Kreuzer is more mobile around the ground. Rowe can also play forward and Wood has been showing a bit with limited opportunities. Unless you are a Kreuzer-lover, I would stay away until they figure it all...

Just set up a group for us TSers. Instruction below on how to get in. (Along with a quick couple of Q's on leagues this year.
<strong style='color: #333333;]1. If you have ALREADY REGISTERED[/b][span style='color: #333333;]&#160;for the The Herald Sun Nissan SuperCoach Competition, simply click the following link (you may need to login):&#160;<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
http://supercoach.heraldsun.com.au/group?cic=687110[span style='color: #333333;] <br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<em style='color: #333333;](Once logged in, simply confirm your invitation and you'll be automatically added. Private Groups are a separate feature to the five head-to head leagues of 18, in which you may continue to participate as usual).[span style='color: #333333;]&#160;<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<strong style='color: #333333;]2. If you have NOT YET REGISTERED,[/b][span style='color: #333333;]&#160;simply click on the link below and fill in the registration form as usual:&#160;<br style='color: #333333;[/img]
http://supercoach.heraldsun.com.au/?p=register&amp;group_code=687110[span style='color: #333333;] <br style='color: #333333;[/img]
<em style='color: #333333;](On successful registration, you'll automatically be added to this Group. Simply look for the 'GROUP' tab in the nav of your Leagues page).
Got a quick straw poll on how we want to run leagues in this town for 2014.
Do we want to cruise along as we have in the past, creating leagues as we go?
Or perhaps put more focus onto breaking down into more categories (ie tsBombers / tsVicMetro / tsPeopleWhosNameDontStartWithH) kinda deal?
I dunno, any thoughts guys?
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There's also a SEPARATE Group for the 2014 Knockout Competitions, to find out more hit this...