Hi all,

Its been a while since I wrote some articles here.

What Ive been doing over summer is watching some cricket, drafting some players into my ORFFL team (Humpty Doo Hammerheads) and relaxing without the weekly worry of trying to produce good trades for my team, or poring over Herald-Sun trumped up injury reports.  Talk about making a crisis out of very little.

But now, its time that I lifted the game and got focussed on what will be another classic Supercoach season.  There are enough pitfalls to trap even the most experience players up this year, and Im hoping we all pull together on the site and share good strategies and systems to get our teams into the prime slots during the season.

How Im going to operate from now until season launch is to give some previews for each of the teams.  Read on after the break for how I intend to do this.

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In these Season Previews I will give a list of player rankings and how they stack up.

Elite is the ranking for the best 9 Forwards, 9 Defenders, 8 Midfielders and 4 Ruckmen - but ranked not merely on PPG, but also on season points.   This means that players who play only a few games but shoot the lights out (Tutt, McIntosh, etc) dont overshadow others who might have had a great season - and more points overall - but just did it in a more methodical fashion.

Ive saved Premium positions for those who are ranked in the top 10% players - and this might prove a little contentious - grouped by positions.   This means that roughly 100 points per game and 20+ games in a season are required for midfielders, but the requirement for defenders is quite a bit less than this.  My reason behind this is that SuperCoach teams could decide at the start of the year to load up on Premium players seeking for them to become elite, and getting them for a bargain.   Premium midfielders are still mighty expensive (and given they arent even top 8); maybe too much so.

All other positional rankings are determined by price.  Upper Mid Price, Mid Price, Lower Mid Price are based on players $ values that are between $230k and Premium.

For the players beneath $230k I think they do need some separation.

Theres  a huge difference between picking a player like Coniglio, and someone like Magner, and therefore they needed to be treated accordingly.

Ive rated players who are priced below $100k as a Rookie, between $100 and $160 as Draftee, between $160 and $230 as TopDraft.

Each of the players in the Season Previews will be listed by position, so you can effectively see a "Depth Chart" for each of the teams, and most importantly, if there is a reasonable chance that your young gun is going to get some game time this season.

Im going to look at the Fixture

Yes its a fixture that we get each year, not a random draw, and because of this, some teams have a better run than others.   I can understand when someone like Impromptu says not to get Pendlebury from the start this season, because the Pies have a tougher run in 2012 than they did in 2011.   Return bouts with Geelong, Hawthorn, WCE and Carlton, thats what Im talking about.

Even so, the fixture can end up being strategic for Supercoach.   Theres the upgrade cycle to consider.   Some teams have an easy first half, some an easy middle, and some an easy finish.   If you ride the right players at the right time, you can have them in your team when it counts.   Nick Dal Santo was one of these players who was a great buy last season.   The Saints had a difficult early draw, that then opened up as the year progressed.   To get on NDS halfway through was a masterstroke.

Finally, when considering the fixture, you need to take into account the 3 game bubbles that can hurt a players value.   Or increase it.   If a team has GC, GWS and Brisbane in successive weeks, youd suggest most of their players will rise in value.  If they have Geelong, Collingwood and Hawthorn, youd suggest theyd go down.

Oh yes, and the bye

The fact that the fixture has been out for months means that most of you should have already done your homework on it.  The byes are strategically placed this year for maximum pain.   Or for maximum Supercoach benefit if you upgrade the right players quicker than you could have in previous seasons.   Carpe Diem - seize the day.   Three trades per week in the bye rounds - dont use them for merely fluffing around and avoiding a zero - have an upgrade strategy mapped out that will ink your team 4 or 5 extra Premium or Elite players in that period. That will have your overall score looking healthier as the whips get cracking.

So yeah, Im looking forward to the Season Previews, and will leave links on this page, so that its reasonably accessible to read the whole lot in one sitting.  If you choose.

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Adelaide" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-adelaide">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-adelaide[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Brisbane" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-brisbane">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-brisbane[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Carlton" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-carlton">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-carlton[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Collingwood" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-collingwood">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-collingwood[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Essendon" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-essendon">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-essendon[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Fremantle" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-fremantle">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-fremantle[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Geelong" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-geelong">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-geelong[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Gold Coast" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-gold-coast">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-gold-coast[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Greater Western Sydney" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-greater-western-sydney">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-greater-western-sydney[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Hawthorn" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-hawthorn">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-hawthorn[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Melbourne" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-melbourne">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-melbourne[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – North Melbourne" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-north-melbourne">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-north-melbourne[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Port Adelaide" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-port-adelaide">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-port-adelaide[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Richmond" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-richmond">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-richmond[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – St Kilda" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-st-kilda">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-st-kilda[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Sydney" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-sydney">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-sydney[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – West Coast" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-west-coast">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-west-coast[/url]

<a title="Lucas’ Supercoach Season Previews – Western Bulldogs" href="http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-western-bulldogs">http://tooserious.net/lucas-supercoach-season-previews-western-bulldogs[/url]

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