If I replace Fyfe to anther Mid I'm looking at Selwood and waiting on Ablett/Pendle to show a bit more and I'm not sold they are fully fit. If just on best price and low BE I would go Sloane but I don't have him been a top 8 mid so will pass.

Further to the Fyfe situation I'm asking do we have to replace him this week? Are other lines more important?

If you have better cover in the mids (Kerrige, Mills, Parish, Oliver if picked) or as a lot this year and stacked their mids maybe looking to the back/forward line through DPP will strengthen your side better and pick up a mid that's falling like Priddis, Rocky, Ablett the following week.

This opens up a lot more options.

Currently I'm looking at Boyd with his low BE and role now all the Doggies injuries.

Is that a long term solution though? Suckling will be back, JJ back in the late season, okay sure Murphy is gone for the year - but is there the risk of Boyd going great guns for 6 to 8 weeks and then tailing when JJ comes back?

Im not sure it is much of a risk as i think boyd is a proven premium. The only reason i didnt have him in my starting squad was high intial price and the thought he might be rested for the odd week here and there. I do think he will be a top 6 defender at seasons end, imho

If he's going to be top 6 defender then now is probably the time to grab him!

JJ and suckling return is the risk. JJ is long term and may take time to get back to early season form so could be worth it. Boyd has solid recent history for a Def even at his age. Just thought it's this week if I went with him.

Hmmm, if you have Pendles already, consider Treloar as well. Was tossing up between those two at the start of the season, and this week (I think) has been the first Pendles outscored the younger.

Except that most teams backline is probably going well, expecially with so many good rookies doing the job nicely there. Speaking for myself i have more pressing issues on the other lines, mainly midfield so that might be the area to start upgrading otherwise i can see great value in boyd

I like Boyd for that DEF position but just be wary he's coming up 34 in August and hasn't played a full season since 2012. That places a ? over him, for mine.

Well, had a bit of a downer. Had Suckling on the field & ended up with 2043 & dropping over 3000 to 8815
Anyway, now for part 2 of the rapid upgrade. Before choosing, I checked my team for bye status & shock, horror - it is terribly lopsided.
Rd 13 - 2D, 2M, 0R, 5F = 9 players on the bye,
Rd 14 - 6D, 7M, 2R, 3F = 18 players on the bye,
Rd 15 - 0D, 2M, 0R, 0F = 2 players on the bye.
Soooo, 620K to burn & Sinclair & Menadue to be the sacrifices - looking at players who have Rd 15 byes to even up.

Candidates - Waite, Sitchell, Zorko, Ward, Selwood, Ziebell, Hanley, Coniglio (any 2 will do as I have a lot of DPP).

I like the look of Zorko & Ziebell. Will leave me 22 trades + 122K

Question - are people taking their bye structure into account now when trading or is it too early?

Yep, taking byes into consideration.
The forced trade of Fyfe this week I will use to get a mid premium and if the premiums I look at do not suit the byes so well, I will put a line through that option.

I keep looking at that Bye round and freaking out before realising it's mostly my rookies, which means I'll have to be careful to not trade out of that round completely. Trading back in that round isn't the worst idea. Just keep it fairly even and you should be alright.