TooSerious

The weekend is nearly here, and with that comes lockout and finalising team selection.

Me, my focus has switched primarily to grand finals, so the trade cue is in the rack and Im hoping to smash through to the finals based on my current depth.

But hey, thats not the path for everyone- particularly if youre still in the hunt (or perhaps it is still...)

Anyways, as always, if you want to join us <a href="http://tooserious.net/live_scores.php?page=gameday&id=10251024&process=live">in the live chat[/url] over the weekend, feel free to drop in. Maybe crack a brew, and share a few kind words.

Round 13 recap: Well the captain’s choice proved difficult last week with only three players scoring over 130 for the round – Leigh Adams and Pearce Hanley both top scoring with 151 with Rockliff close behind with 147.

This week the byes have finished and we have a full board of players to pick from. Luckily I have had a bit of time on my hands this week so I bring you a bumper edition of choices. Again, however, the numbers point to one man …
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Ablett v. West Coast

Rd 11 2011: 154 SC points, 32 disposals
Rd 22 2010: 176 SC points, 33 disposals
Rd 11 2010: 121 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 11 2009: 175 SC points, 43 disposals
Rd 22 2008: 107 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 13 2008: 169 SC points, 37 disposals
Rd 7 2007: 106 SC points, 23 disposals

Average is 144 SC points with 32 disposals.

Note: Fantastic record against West Coast. Has been tagged by Scott Selwood in his past three games against the Eagles. Had a bye last week which had followed his huge game of 188. Prior to that game, he made a statement with only 64 which had followed another huge game of 155.

Goddard v. North Melbourne

Rd 23 2011: 135 SC points, 31 disposals
Rd 15 2011: 161 SC points, 28 disposals
Rd 20 2010: 139 SC points, 37 disposals
Rd 2 2010: 139 SC points, 29 disposals
Rd 21 2009: 125 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 11 2009: 74 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 14 2008: 113 SC points, 22 disposals
Rd 11 2007: 114 SC points, 23 disposals

Average is 125 SC points with 28 disposals.

Note: Fantastic record against North Melbourne averaging 144 in his past four games against them. Prior to his bye last week he had scores of 67, 104, 106 and 97 (average of 94).

Swan v. Fremantle

Rd 23 2011: 126 SC points, 35 disposals
Rd 8 2010: 133 SC points, 31 disposals
Rd 13 2009: 167 SC points, 41 disposals
Rd 22 2008: 89 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 1 2008: 80 SC points, 27 disposals
Rd 10 2007: 152 SC points, 35 disposals

Average is 124 SC points with 31...

For all you committed AFL Fantasy Football fans out there, there probably hasn’t been too much to cheer about over the past few weeks. With bye rounds just coming to an end, it has virtually been impossible to field a good team. With teams being finalised for the run home to the finals, you’ll be hoping that your fantasy team has made it through the past few rounds unscathed. If yours is anything like mine, you’ll be packing your bags and going on a much needed holiday where you can forget your losses and kick up your heels – and think about which players you’re going to get next year!

Not only is Victoria great for producing some world class footy players, but it’s also great for producing some world class ski fields; and with great <a href="http://www.flightcentre.com.au/ski-holidays/australia/mt-buller">Mt Buller holiday packages[/url], who says who can’t enjoy the lead up to the finals from the comforts of your very own fireplace, nestled away in your ski lodge!

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For those of you Fantasy Football Supercoaches out there who did manage to struggle through the three consecutive weeks of six byes a week, you should now be in a great position to lead your team to victory in your H2H leagues! Trades have been extremely valuable this season, especially in the past few rounds, so let’s hope you’ve made some smart choices. This season has been one of the biggest yet for Fantasy Footy, with an extra team being added to the competition, causing quite a stir for the first few rounds of 2012.

Here’s wishing you all the best in the lead up to fantasy finals; whether you truly are a Supercoach and will be sticking through to the finals, or, like me, have thrown in the towel and are preparing to hit the slopes – Wherever you are… BRING ON SEPTEMBER!

Imagine a darkness so absolute that nothing can penetrate it. Now imagine that same darkness, but a thousand times more so. This is how dark Ross Lyons heart is.

With this thought uppermost in our minds we move on to the winter solstice edition  of the ORFFA and the last of the bye rounds. It certainly was dark down at the Freezer at Mawson, though it didnt stop my man Patch from racking up a huge one.

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Perhaps the pre game references to Captain Oates may have spurred him on, who knows? Im just happy with the four points.

Darraweit Guim suffer their first loss for the season after 2/3 of their team go missing. Venus Bay slide down the ladder after losing a close one.

The Whitsundays continue to stick to the Whitsundays way of coaching, with predictable results. They may be just about to turn the corner, though, given the amount of drafting that went on there. No. 1 pick Mathew Broadbent may make his debut next week is the whisper at ORFFA headquarters.

Foul bay will presumably be doing the chicken dance about moving a game clear with a good win away at Gundagai.

Full teams this week gentlemen, dont forget to pick an entire side.

Marble Bar 826 defeated Namatjira 603

Gariwerd 813 defeated Nunawading 669

Waikikamoocow 682 lost to Birdsville 777

Iron Knob 861 defeated Whitsundays 554

Mount Beauty 766 defeated Darraweit Guim 515

Charlies Opening 641 defeated Powletts Plains 463

Mawson Base 905 defeated Far Kew 801

Cradle Mountain 957 defeated Venus Bay 872

Gundagai 753 lost to Foul Bay 903

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<table width="255" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><col width="127" /> <col width="44" /> <col width="84" />
<tbody>

<td width="127" height="17">Foul Bay
<td align="right" width="44">28
<td align="right" width="84">8338



<td height="17">Darraweit Guim
<td align="right">24
<td align="right">7608



<td height="17">Iron...

Another edition of one of the most prestigious events in the sporting world is taking place in little under 2 days. It is of course the Tour de France, having an earlier than usual start in late June due to the Olympics. Last year was a momentous occasion for us Aussies as Cadel Evans became the first Australian ever to win the Tour and this year there is a new Aussie-registered team, Orica-GreeneEdge who have been having a lot of success early on in their inaugural season.

All this combined has led to more interest in cycling than ever, and at TS is no different. Due to the response to the thread I created in the forum and the kindness of Walesy, I have the privilege of writing an article on the Tour de France and the fantasy games involved, in which will hopefully track the progress of the race as well as ours in the games!

More over the break.

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Firstly, this will be a long post, so I suggest having a good cuppa by your side whilst you read. What I will do is go over the basics of the Tour de France and then the fantasy games involved, so everyone is on the same page.

[span style="text-decoration: underline">The Race

The Tour de France is the biggest race on the cycling calendar and the pinnacle of the sport. Listed as one of the 3 Grand Tours of cycling it sits pretty comfortably above the other two races, the Giro d’Italia (raced in May) and the Vuelta a Espana (reached in September). This year the riders will cover a whopping 3,500kms in a little over 3 weeks, in 21 stages, on their way to Paris and will have to navigate all sorts of terrain from the flat but windy plains of Normandy, to the peaks of some of the greatest mountain climbs in the Pyrenees and Alps, and the final “parade” stage on the old cobbles at the foot of the Champs-Élysées.

From the Tour website <a href="http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/us/">here[/url] view all the information you could ever want about the Tour de France, especially all the stage...

This weeks teams have been brought to us by <a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://easiestjobever.careerone.com.au/?utm_source=intplaytoo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=eje5">Careerone,

<img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/themes/TooSerious/images/CareerOneAd/june-promo.jpg" width="476px" />

and their Easiest Job Ever promotion. Seriously, its a massive prize, and super easy to sign up, so check it out.

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So, now that the byes are over- we have our full squads back.

And its not a bad crop. Not much movement at all around the premiums- sure, in the rookies, but hey- we dont need them no more, right!

Ins: Bootsma, Hargrave, Saad
Outs: Clarke, Crozier, Adams, Darley, Redden

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<h3>Carlton v Hawthorn</h3>
MCG &#8211; Fri Jun 29, 7:50pm
Carlton
B: Zach Tuohy, Michael Jamison, Nick Duigan

HB: Bryce Gibbs, Matthew Watson, Christopher Yarran

C: Heath Scotland, Chris Judd, Kade Simpson

HF: Dennis Armfield, Shaun Hampson, Andrew Walker

F: Jeffrey Garlett, Matthew Kreuzer, Eddie Betts

Foll: Robert Warnock, Mitch Robinson, Andrew Carrazzo

I/C: David Ellard, Aaron Joseph, Brock McLean, Joshua Bootsma
Emg: Paul Bower, Andrew Collins, Frazer Dale
In: Shaun Hampson, Joshua Bootsma

Out: Lachlan Henderson (Groin), Andrew Collins
Hawthorn
B: Brent Guerra, Josh Gibson, Benjamin Stratton

HB: Matt Suckling, Ryan Schoenmakers, Grant Birchall

C: Jordan Lewis, Sam Mitchell, Isaac Smith

HF: Cyril Rioli, Lance Franklin, Shane Savage

F: Luke Breust, Jarryd Roughead, Paul Puopolo

Foll: David Hale, Shaun Burgoyne, Brad Sewell

I/C: Clinton Young, Brendan Whitecross, Liam Shiels, Jack Gunston
Emg: Thomas Murphy, Kyle Cheney, Bradley Hill
In: Jordan Lewis, Brendan Whitecross

Out: Thomas Murphy, Bradley Hill...

Good morning all, and welcome to the Best Buys.

Today we have a slightly expanded Best buys, as now that the bye rounds are over I thought it might be good to have a bit of a wrap-up on what’s changed. The byes were hell to deal with, for most SCers, and it must now feel strange for a lot of people to be fielding full squads again without having to wonder how many donuts they will cop this week.

Back to Basics is the name of the Best Buys article as this week, without bye rounds to worry about for the rest of the season, it really is back to basics for many of us. Who will average more over the rest of the year? Will the tough draw hurt? Who’s the best value defender for under 500 grand? Normal SC questions that seem like they were important far too long ago now come back with a bang and take the forefront of most coaches planning, and could well decide this years winner. Some careful planning will be required, and a whole swag of luck, but with the byes out of the way, the home stretch is at least in sight.

My tip of the week this week is Scott Thompson. The Crow champion is at a shockingly low price, and in a top 4 team with a great run home. Hard to pass up really. This week I’ve been pretty busy and with the larger Best Buys I haven’t really had time for much on my pick, suffice to say the usual spiel on him is over the break with the rest of the Best Buys.

I hope you can join me!

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INFO

The Best Buys uses a mix of price, form, break-evens and projected salaries to assess the Best Buys of each round. These are essentially the players that represent the best “value” which is determined by the above factors. Some player will not be mentioned on here even if they are playing well, as value is the key for this article. If a player is averaging 110, which is certainly solid, but priced at an average of 112 then they will not be rated. This does not mean these players should be avoided or not picked due to this, but simply...

Quiet week on the Brownlow front, aside from Jobe joining Thompson in the lead on 21 votes.  Really feel like the winner is gonna come from one of these two.

Over the break, Im gonna pull out a snap-shot of where each teams B&amp;F count is likely at - using the same formula but giving 5-4-3-2-1 for each team in each game regardless of result...it really shows just how unlucky Cotchin has been in my count to date:<!--more-->

Sydney v Geelong

3 - Keiren Jack (12)
2 - Ryan OKeefe (3)
1 - Jude Bolton (6)
The rest: C. Enright, J. Bartel, J. Selwood, R. Shaw, P. Chapman, S. Mumford

Brisbane v Western Bulldogs

3 - Tom Rockliff (9)
2 - Pearce Hanley (2)
1 - Jack Redden (1)
The rest: D. Zorko, A. McGrath, D. Merrett

Collingwood v West Coast

3 - Dane Swan (16)
2 - Dayne Beams (10)
1 - Travis Cloke (2)
The rest: B. Waters, S. Sidebottom, D. Kerr, J. Blair

Essendon v Fremantle

3 - Michael Hurley (3)
2 - Jobe Watson (21)
1 - Brent Stanton (17)
The rest: D. Myers, P. Ryder, N. Lower, M. Pavlich, D. Heppell, D. Hille

Melbourne v Greater Western Sydney

3 - Nathan Jones (5)
2 - Matthew Bate (2)
1 - Jared Rivers (1)
The rest: J. Watts, C. Garland, T. McDonald, M. Clark

North Melbourne v Adelaide

3 - Leigh Adams (4)
2 - Daniel Wells (3)
1 - Robbie Tarrant (1)
The rest: L. Thomas, R. Bastinac, T. Goldstein, S. Thompson (ADE), S. Atley, S. Wright

Leaderboard

1st - Scott Thompson (21)
1st - Jobe Watson (21)
3rd - Brent Stanton (17)
3rd - Matthew Boyd (17)
5th - Dane Swan (16)
5th - Gary Ablett (16)
5th - Lance Franklin (16)
8th - Scott Pendlebury (14)
9th - Sam Mitchell (12)
9th - Kieren Jack (12)
9th - Scott Selwood (12)

Adelaide B&amp;F

1st - Scott Thompson 47 votes (21 Brownlow Votes)
2nd - Patrick Dangerfield 25 votes (10)
3rd - Kurt Tippett 23 votes (6)
4th - Taylor Walker 22 votes (5)
5th - Rory Sloane 19 votes (5)

Brisbane B&amp;F

1st - Tom Rockliff 31 votes (9)
2nd - Jack Redden 29...

I think we may have made a mistake this week, as it looks like between all of us we didn’t actually finalise the team prior to lockout. We managed a deplorable 913 points this week, from 11 scoring players, which placed us at 260,157 for the round (I’m not making that up), and bumped us out to 22,830 in the overall rankings. Meanwhile in our leagues we managed zero wins, so I won’t even bother reviewing those.

Join me over the break to see what we did so wrong.<!--more-->

So, a quick look at our team gives us this disaster. The first thing you’ll probably notice is the amount of points out of our non-scoring players – big oops there!

1. Lake,DEF,89
2. Bugg,DEF,34
3. Darley,DEF,61
4. Shaw,DEF,39
5. Priddis Vice Captain,MID,166
6. Treloar,MID,99
7. Adams,MID,97
8. Cox,RUC,119
9. Giles Emergency,RUC,54
10. Dangerfield,FWD,100
11. Porplyzia,FWD,55
,,
1. Deledio,DEF,0
2. Goddard,DEF,0
3. Broughton,DEF,74
4. Shaw,DEF,86
5. Morris,DEF,0
6. Kennedy,MID,94
7. Ablett,MID,0
8. Selwood,MID,101
9. Mitchell,MID,0
10. Pendlebury,MID,0
11. Redden,RUC,0
12. Pattison,RUC,0
13. Franklin,FWD,0
14. Sidebottom,FWD,99
15. Roughead,FWD,0
16. Martin,FWD,0
17. Riewoldt,FWD,0
18. Milera,FWD,0
19. Sexton Emergency,FWD,0

I’m not really going to waste much time focusing on this, the numbers above tell the whole story. What I will say is this:
We had a total of 454 points on the bench that should have been on the field.
We left the captaincy with Pendlebury, and had Priddis as VC, while a Cox, or even a Selwood would have given us more points.
Luckily we had Giles as emergency ruckman, as Redden didn’t end up playing.

So, all in all a bit of a mess for the final bye round. Congrats to all of our opponents in all our leagues, you got some nice easy wins! Finally, on behalf of everyone involved in the donor team, sorry for messing it up so much for you all this week. We won’t be making this mistake again!

So, onto next week, and I’ve...

Well, the last of the byes are through- and man, I’m gunna enjoy logging in tonight and putting on a whole field of premiums.

It’s been a while!



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Sydney vs Geelong

Result: Sydney by 6, 12.8.80 to 11.8.74

Sydney did it again. Dominated early- held their lead for half a game- then nearly fell over at the final furlong.

It was super accurate kicking that really boosted out their lead though, kicking 7 straight in the first quarter to hold a 6 goal lead. Would have been a completely different game had they opened 4.3- or as weve see in some of the worst cases this year, 1.6

Jack top scored for the Swannies with 20 touches and 9 tackles for a 117SC. He also managed a pair of goals.

Johnson did very well for himself, picking up 110SC from 18 touches, while Mumford showed some good form, with just 10 touches and 23 hitouts for a 97SC.

Goodes really didnt get into the game, getting subbed off a 3 quarter time for just 7 touches and 2SC. Might find himself fodder to become my F8/M7 with Martin if he keeps this up.

Speaking of Subbings though, The green vest, Everitt, managed to kick the sealer- making a massive 86SC from just 6 touches and a goal!

Only two tons for Geelong with Enright making an 123SC off 29 touches. Selwood was the other, scragging out a 101SC off his 25 touches.

A lot of average performances really, without any standout failurs- though I reckon Hawkins is probably the only fantasy relevant (?) fella to fail, with 12 touches, a goal and 65SC.

Heroes: Jack, Enright
Villians: Goodes

Western vs Brisbane

Result: Brisbane by 58, 18.6.114 to 7.14.56

Three early goals to Merritt, and the Lions simply didnt let up. I mean, yes, there was definitely a fair swag of accuracy effecting both scores- but really, from the 3rd quarter onwards, it didnt even look like the would come close- kicking 4 behinds in...