Simplistic but my rules are: 1/ If a premium might/will be out for 3+ weeks trade him out. 2/ If unsure whether to make a trade or not - DON'T. 3/ Point 1 over-rides point 2. I like everyone's rules above. Good thread!!
no duffield or Nroo for me next year cost me alot of points. The GnR policy did well until i also held duigan when i should've offloaded him, had him all year. Definately have GAJ as a lock in my mids next year, not sure how the GnR policy will go next year with GWS coming in. The one thing i wonder about is the prices of players this year will they inflate the top midfielders as most of them this year started 550K plus but by the end of the year they would be lucky to break 450K
Most of my lessons have been posted by others, but these are going to be my starting rules for next year: 1 - make sure players have had a good, injury free pre-season (or no kids) 2 - most of the best fwds and defs change every year - trade in form don't gamble 3 - cover every line with an MPP (saves trades) 4 - have a solid R3 from the start - preferably with MPP (saves trades) 5 - starting premiums should have several years of form behind them 6 - aim for PODs early in the season - by the end of the season everyone has mirror teams 7 - don't have a defined formula you can't break from (ie 4 premium mids, 4 rookie mids) get the rookies where the rookies are (a variation on Prompts all rookie midfield strategy)
1: Don't ignore second year players just because they don't tie in with your Guns & Rookies Strategy (Think Fyfe, Dustin Martin, T Rockliff) 2: Don't chase last weeks' points 3: Never gamble on captaincy unless there is no choice 4: Always wait until the subs are named on Friday before you trade 5: Keep a spreadhseet and do some hard ground work so you know where every team in your league stands with regards to trades, and salary cap 6: If it means winning your league, it is ok to lie to workmates, it is ok to lie on Survivor 7: Lastly, never choose a premium with a history of injury, I am looking fairly and squarely at N Riewoldt and A Didak in this case
One more thing I learnt this year was that trading into a premium team as quickly as possible isn't all it's cracked up to be. I had that at around R13 but then Sandi, Dawes, Browny, Heater, The General and several rookie injuries\\suspensions conspired to destroy my once great team. Therefore: 4. Don't trade in premiums for the sake of it, if your cashcow is still scoring well save the trades till you need them. You'll make up the points while others are copping donuts in the final rounds