Last year we all got to share in cheering on Buster Gonad or Chris, our now resident poster, on in his march towards the $50K prize.

How did he do it and what can we all learn from it though? He wrote up an excellent article reviewing his season at the end of last year - <a href="http://tooserious.net/?p=634">A Gonad Bustingly Good Year[/url] and I thought now was as good a time as any to have another look at how a champ runs his team over the season.

His article starts over the break.
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A Gonad Bustingly Good Year

Before I start my first ever TooSerious post, I would first like to take the opportunity to officially thank Walesy for all the work he does on the site, it has been a godsend to me over the last year and a half.  Also to Lucas, knighty and all posters who freely offer up advice every week even if they are giving up trade secrets.  If there is a question needed to be answered, guaranteed someone on this site knows the answer such is the wealth of knowledge.

Ok, now that thats off my chest, Walesy has asked me to put toghether a sort of SuperCoach year in review for my all conquering Buster Gonads.  So here it is...

Pre Season:

I think getting the right team before Round 1 is the most important part of the season.  Without a strong initial team, too many trades are wasted on getting competitive.  I tried to create a nice blend of premiums who were decently priced, some injured
returning players who i could depend on, some severely under priced stars and then the un-tried rookies.  The one exception to this is the great one, Gary Ablett Jnr.  Not having him would be like racing the Tour de France not for Team Astana, whats the point?  So pre-season Im hoping for a top 1000 finish after a top 2,000 finish in 08.

So my initial team was:

Backs : Goddard, Fisher (my only 2 premiums in defence), Drummond, Chornes, Raines, Houlihan (returning from injury), Hill, Petrenko, Broughton (rookies).

Mids : Gaz (my pride and joy, show him off to all the girls etc etc...), Judd, Gibbs, Selwood (4 premiums in the middle, altho i went Gibbs and Selwood as two, what i thought, under priced premiums), Skipworth (returning from injury), Rich, L Anthony, Otten (rookies).

Rucks : Cox (duh...), McIntosh (under priced proven performer), Spencer and Jacobs (no money on the bench in the rucks, complete waste!).

Forwards : Chapman, Buddy, Delidio, Pavlich (4 premiums here too), Higgins (star who was WAY under priced), Krakeour (thought a break out season was on the cards), M Brown, Garlett, Walker (my 3 rookies).

Now the real stuff begins, the season starts and the Gonads go ok up until the first trading point of the year in Rounds 3 and 4.  At this point my aim for the season remains at top 1000 as i have made a solid start sitting 166th after Round 4.  My first trade came in Round 3, as it should for everyone unless you have nailed your initial team to perfection.  Mine was the waste of space Raines for Shannon Hurn, and lo and behold, this was by far my best trade of the year.  Hurn was a GEM!  Round 4 saw Liam Anthony traded to Dayne Beams in an attempt to hit up some cash.

Two fantastic weeks follow this and at the end of Round 6 i am sitting 18th and have used 1 more trade, Ryan Houlihan who did his job to Chris Newman who made a rather slow start to the year.  This is a bog standard upgrade, and rounds 6-8 are really the ideal first upgrade times.

So here i am, 6 rounds in and sitting 18th, and now i start to believe a top 50 spot is on the cards.  But the first real problem has come up, Gary Ablett has gone down for 3 weeks.  This was a huge decision, keep the champ and lose the points, or play a trade earlier than wanted.  I took the risk and traded out Gaz and brought in Sewell.  The next few weeks also saw me make a further 5 trades to take me to the end of Round 9. Out of interest, those trades where:

Rd 7 : Walker < Warren (money maker)
Rd 8 : Skipworth < Cockie, M Brown > J Brown
Rd 9 : Hill < Grimes

After round 9 i had managed to climb to 12th and thought, a couple of smart trades, luck with injuries, and im a shot at top 10 here.  The excitement was beginning.  Round 10 rolled along and Higgins went down with suspected OP, so time to trade the young star, and in came, according to woodyman, the devil himself.  Ryan OKeefe got a spot in the side.  And boy what a trade this one was.  I think i made 3 season defining trades, number 1 was Hurn, and number 2 was definitely ROK.  He came into the side and averaged about 140 for the next 4 weeks.  What a gun!

3 more weeks and 5 trades later, i had hit the top 10 for the first time in my SuperCoach career.  For those interested, the trades were

Rd 11 : Beams < Muston, Otten > Gary Ablett.  The great man was back and my perma-captain back in place.
Rd 12 : Chad Cornes injured was immediately replaced by a too cheap to resist Corey Enright.
Rd 13 : Warren < Ballantyne and my 3rd genius trade.  My next trade was by far the riskiest move of the year.  I thought, if i dont take a chance, i wont win this thing.  So the choice was the Krak-whore to Riewoldt or Didak.  I went against all logic and reason and picked up Didak.  GREAT MOVE!!!

13 rounds down, sitting 4th overall, but ive used 14 trades.  By now I am thinking i can win this thing.  From previous years i knew some of the leaders would be low on trades and just enjoying their time in the sun.  So i thought, bide my time, keep up, then sprint to the line.

Round 14 passed without incident, then came Round 15.  Only 1 trade, Muston < Anthony to free up same cash.  A solid 2467 and into 1st place.  15 trades used.  7 rounds to play.  $50k was on the cards.

1 trade in each of the following 2 rounds of Cox to Petrie and Franky Grimes to Hodge.  So, Round 17 passes, i am sitting 3rd, and preparing for my final assault.  The sprint had arrived and i decided this was the time to make my move.

And the storm happened in Round 18.  The Gonad boys let rip.  A single trade of Rich to Montagna, a score of 2621 and i was back to first.  A position i was not to let go of for the rest of the year.  The sprint to the line was on in earnest, i had the lead and i had my finalised team.  The only trades i was going to use now was to cover injuries.  And then Round 19 happened....it had been written about in prophecies from ages passed but non believed those old folks who claimed the myth was true...the armageddon of SuperCoach had arrived, the end of the world.  Luckily i had trades to play with, all be it only 1.  Chappy went down, i had to go defensive.  I checked my main challengers and all but 2 had Leon Davis, so in came the Igniter.  I put in a respectable 2100 with thanks to a whopping 170 from Hurn, and the race was down to two, the Gonads and Le Grand.

At this point i still had 1 trade up my sleeve.  Everything told me to use the trade, build the lead and hope for the best.  I resisted the temptation and kept that 1 card up my sleeve to play.

Round 22, the lead maintained, nay extended, to 158 pts.  Buddy GONE, Newman GONE.  Thank god i kept the trade.  Who was going to do me the most damage.  This was obvious, Riewoldt v Melbourne.  He had to come in.

Friday night rolls along.  Hurn, what a star!  130 from only 18 touches!  Unheard of!
Along comes Saturday and a trip to Geelong.  Out runs Ablett looking freshly shorn and the Geelong sun sparkling off that bald head.  He destroys Freo to the tune of 146 precious captain points.  Who could ever doubt the messiah?  But then news filtered through from the radio of woodyman as we are walking out the stadium.  Lloyd has taken to Brad Sewell with a sledgehammer, Sewell is gone not to appear again.  Suddenly im half a player down.  But Gibbs is going nicely, 37 touches but only 115, its alright, he did ok.  Gibbs did his part beautifully with a fantastic end to the season.

Saturday night, Goodes is killing the Lions.  Oh CRAP!!!  Drummond is gone at half time aswell.  All of a sudden i am a full player down.  To make matters worse, Goodes somehow produces a 156 point massacre from barely 20 touches?  Not only do the umpires love him, but so do Champion Data.
The nerves are jangling, but DREW PETRIE TO THE RESCUE!!!  119 points in the rain and wind in Adelaide.

Sunday, judgement day.  I have a healthy lead, but by no means insurmountable.  St Kilda v Melbourne, Dal Santo is killing it in Dream Team points, Montagna struggling.  But hey, the gods love Montagna and he beats Dal Santo 155 - 129.  Fisher aswell, a lovely 113 and im pretty much home and hosed....Until Lockyer delivers 54 in the first quarter.  But at least Swan is struggling.  The final scores roll in, Dogs slowed down Lockyer to a 124, Gilbee in one of his best games of the year delivers 121.  But Swan only 98, Didak a nice 80.

10pm : Staring at the computer screen, the results are out, woodyman on the phone, Rex Hunt singing.  A froffy is cracked - in true English style it was a Fosters, oh the shame of it all!

The year of the Gonads is complete!