<a href="http://tooserious.net/a-2011-retrospective-part-ii-shags-nags">Part II[/url] and <a href="http://tooserious.net/a-2011-retrospective-part-i">Part I[/url]

Alright, weve got ourselves the big finale, the story of the current #1 supercoach in the land. I gotta say, if at the start of the year, someone had told me that Impromptu would be heading up the entire comp leading into the final round- I reckon I would have called them nuts! Seriously, he is one out of left field who just breaks every rule, heck, hes traded out Sandi twice already! (and I bet had Pav not gone down, Kreuzer -> Sandi would have been a shoein! ).

But seriously, Impromptu didnt have a great starting team- it was good, but with names like KHunt, OBrien, Montagna, Pittard, Atley, Bewick, LolRicho and Astbury- it certainly wasnt great, heck, even looking at his team now, its not perfect- I reckon hes the only team in the top100 that is fielding a position with a rookie (D7).

But through some excellent trading and impecible captain/bench work, Impromptu has managed to rally together his ragtag bag of misfits and push them into the position of being favorite heading into the final round, and for that- you gotta dip your hat. Well done mate, good luck.

I hope youre back again next year, from an 8man rookie midfield last year, to (maybe) taking it out this year- I cant wait to hear your thoughts on next year!

But enough from me, lets hear from Impromptu.
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I first came across TooSerious about 4-6 years ago, basically before Walesy became famous and I became [in]famous. If I recall correctly, the site was just a few articles and provided the breakeven calculator which was the reason why I visited this site [edit: and it was an awesome shade of blue! - walesy]. Walesy seemed to be a nice guy so I gave him a donation. I think it was $10 or $20. I was quite difficult and I said to Walesy I don’t know what this Paypal stuff is, just give me your bank account and I’ll deposit the money, which Walesy reluctantly did. I also tried to give him advice about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and I said perhaps you may want to change your domain name. Walesy thanked me for the suggestion, however backed his own judgment and kept the domain name (I was only trying to help mate! J). [edit: our SEO still sucks by the way, probably should have listened!]

I didn’t do very well in the first few years, but I finished 188 (2009), 824 (2010) and Top 5 (this year). Therefore, thank you TooSerious for the helping me with my rankings. Seriously, actually TooSerious(ly) thanks everyone.

This year, my initial team had the format of 4-4-2-5 (unlike 7-0-2-7 in 2010):

B: Gibbs, Deledio, Newman, Enright, Heppell, Lower, Stanley (Duigan, K.Hunt, O’Brien)
M: Swan, Judd, Pendlebury, Montagna, Pittard, Atley (Bewick, Harris, Hibberd)
R: Sandi, Cox (Z.Smith, Petrie)
F: N.Roo, Franklin, Pavlich, Goodes, OKeefe, Darling, Tapscott (Matera, LolRicho, Astbury)

Backs – Interesting 7 of the 10 backs are still in my final team!!. Go Karmichael!! Karmichael was a bit of a risk, but I thought he was a Mal Michael type of player who punches the ball and tackles a lot being a ex-rugby player, so hey why not. Having ‘No Goddard’ supported my reputation of backing my own judgment and thinking outside the square. O’Brien was my smoky but I got smoked!!

Midfield - Pendles was always going to be the first premium midfielder due to price. I was worried about the Swan / Pendles combo with the bye and the unknown ramifications of the byes. I eventually decided that I needed Pendles for value and Swan for beast mode. Like most, Ablett was always out of the equation due to the bye, price and also the uncertainty on his switch to Gold Coast. Harris was also a definite in. D.Swallow and Conca were considered but too expensive. I had Hibberd for MPP with Heppell as the Messiah Sir James Hird advised but misled that Hibberd would play week 2 L. Judd was in if I wanted more than 2 premium midfields. Montagna was reluctantly in as I considered Boyd due to him being the new Captain of the Dogs and unfortunately I kept Montagna.

Ruck – Standard starting ruck combination of Cox/Sandi. Z.Smith and Petrie had to be in, with Petrie being a DPP.

Forwards - Goodes/ROK/Pavlich were definite, mainly due to price and MPP. Buddy was in, I have a history with him, but I swallowed my pride. N.Roo was in. Astbury was my other smoky which linked with O’Brien L. Therefore my reputation of a strategic out-side the square thinker got quashed by O’Brien and Astbury (Fail!! Monster Fail!! Epic Fail)

Trades this year

23 Pavlich > Cloke

19 Newman > Fisher

14 Griffin > Kreuzer
14 Siposs > Callinan

13. Iles > Chapman
13. Darling > Harvey

12 Montagna > Ablett
12 Sandilands > Griffin

11. B.Smith > Scotland
11 J.Riewoldt > Mzungu

10 Bewick > Jacobs

9 Pittard > Boyd
9 Matera > Siposs

8. Harris > Selwood
8 Curnow > I. Smith

7 Z.Smith > Sandilands
7 Liberatore > Iles

6 Duigan > Goddard
6 Sandilands > McCauley

5 Tapscott > J.Riewoldt

4 OBrien > B. Smith
4 Astbury > J.Tippett

3 Hibberd > Liberatore
3 Atley > Curnow

Libba and Curnow had to be in my team (and all teams), therefore in Round 3 I traded them in for the gameless Hibberd and also Atley.

In round 4, I finally get rid of my deadwood O’Brien and Astbury (yay!!). I realized that this weekly trading thing is quite fun, so I traded more. I traded Jack Riewoldt into my side for round 5 as he has a good draw for 5-6 weeks. Against popular belief, I think that was MY BEST TRADE.

In Round 6, Impromptu is kind of bored (yes Im talking in the third person) and decides to trade Sandilands out. What? Did I hear correctly? Does Impromptu want to trade Sandilands out? Does Impromptu know something about Sandilands that the rest of the world don’t know? Is he injured? Is Impromptu drunk? Is Impromptu just crazy? Or all of the above? What the heck is Impromptu doing? He is ranked Top 10 overall. My reason is simple (KISS, keep it simple stupid), I traded Sandilands around the bye, and I didnt think Goddard would continue to drop in price. It was time to bring GOD(dard) into the team at the expense of Sandilands.

Round 7 – Sitting around, having a beer. I was asking myself maybe I should trade Sandilands back. Oooh what is the TooSerious and BF community going to think? Oh well going to do it anyway. Reluctantly Z.Smith to Sandilands!! Public outrage pours in.....................Kick Impromptu out of the SCE!! What is this crazy guy doing?

Round 9 - Matera to Siposs ...Fail!! (enough said)

Round 11 - Beautiful trading!! Got Scotland and Mzungu in...for who?? Jack Riewoldt!! What Jack Riewold the guy I traded in Round 5?? Yes, J.Riewoldt did his job, [ 136-109-94-74-104-63-TRADE]... Everyone will be surprised but this is when I put myself in a winning position as J.Riewoldt dropped badly afterwards (admittingly great in last 4 weeks).

Round 12 - Take 2 - traded Sandilands out again due to injury for Griffin. Great trade.

Round 14 - Griffen for Kruezer Initially I was very upset but after working out some hypotheticals, I think Kruezer saved me a donut last and definitely this week as I would of had Shaw and/or Newman still in my team. Yes, trying to think the glass is half full but if you look at my trades, Im pretty sure if I didnt trade Kruezer in I would of copped donuts. The reason is I would of brough H.Shaw in then out (ie 2 trades wasted).

Overall, I didnt have a good initial team, have traded badly but the question is why am I the leader moving into the final round. Is it lucky? YES A FAIR PORTION. Out of the 3 top teams, my team is the weakest, NO DOUBT. Luck plays a lot and Ive mentioned this everywhere...BUT IM LEADING BECAUSE IVE PUT MYSELF INTO A SITUATION WHERE IT ALLOWS LUCK TO PLAY A PART. You cannot win supercoach without luck, but you need to put yourself into a situation, which allows luck to rear its ugly (or beautiful) head. That is why fortunately for you all, TooSerious allows you to put yourself in a situation where luck can play a part. [edit: Oh youre a good man Prompts! ]

MAKE SURE YOU DONATE NEXT YEAR AS THERE IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT THE TOP 3 ARE TOOSERIOUS MEMBERS!!

Regardless, if I win the $50K or not, I sincerely want to thank everyone from TooSerious for their constructive feedback, negative comments, wishes and even vents.

To Shags and Yamum - I wish you guys all the best with the final round... I just leave it to fate now. Whoever is meant to win will win? Ive said it all along, naturally, I want to win the $50K (we all do!!!), however if I dont then I genuinely want Shags and Yamum to win the $50K. Good luck boys! And may the best Supercoah of 2011 triumph.

Impromptu says to Shags and Yamum Do you know whats waiting beyond that beach? Immortality! Take it! Its yours! ...