Diary of an AFL SuperCoach Obsessive - Week 17

Monday:

Had easily my best round of the season, racking up 2,481 points. O’Keefe (an excellent pick-up indeed) scored 199, Pavlich scored 182 (or 364 given that he was my captain), Dean Cox scored 171, Stanton (my gawd!) scored 162, Dal Santo (my gawd again!) scored 158, Milburn (another excellent pick-up) scored 141, and Nick Riewoldt scored 139. At the other end of the scoreboard Heath Shaw was only marginally more useful than a wooden plank, scoring 40, Nick Stevens scored 46, Graham Johncock scored 49, and Trent Cotchin, filling in for the injured Gary Ablett, scored 51. Thought I might be in the running for the weekly prize, but could only manage position 42 in the end, which I’ll put down to Heath Shaw’s propensity to go missing in every second match. Did zoom up to No.71 in the overall standings though - the top 50 teams get their names on the front page of the teams list (but as Kelvin reminded me, no money); I might get there by season’s end.

Speaking of Kelvin, did manage to obliterate his squad to the tune of 463 points this week. To make things even better, my captain Pavlich outscored his captain, Dean Cox. No, even better was his comment that if I hadn’t picked up O’Keefe and Milburn this week he would have beaten me. I liked this comment for three reasons:

• I did pick up O’Keefe and Milburn, so it doesn’t really matter what would have happened if I hadn’t.
• But let’s say I didn’t pick up O’Keefe and Milburn. Well, then I would have picked up two different players and they would have scored points for me instead.
• Here’s the kicker: say O’Keefe and Milburn scored absolutely nothing this week instead of the combined 340 points they did score. Well, then I still would have won, and by over 100 points!

(Of course, I could have just let the comment go, but such is not the obsessive’s way. And I won’t mention the fact that Kelvin’s beaten me every time at chess…)

Wednesday:

Gary Ablett: to trade or not to trade? Once I would not have considered dumping the Football Jesus, but this is the second week in a row that he is scheduled to miss with his ankle injury. Let’s break this down further:

Pros:

• He’s worth so much that you can trade him for a star midfielder and still free up some cash.
• He is shaping up as an uncertain prospect from week-to-week, so it may just be better to make a clean break.
• Even if he does return, the injury may hamper him, reducing his stats and his trade value.
• He may kill off any small chance I have of being the nationwide SuperCoach winner.

Cons:

• I’m playing a weak team in my league this week, so in terms of winning my league I shouldn’t need to trade him just yet.
• If I trade him, then I actually have to think about who my captain is each week.
• He’s Gary freakin’ Ablett, and trading him could easily come back to bite me.

Verdict: I’ve got a good chance of winning my league, and only an outside chance of winning the entire comp. Keep him for this week, but if he doesn’t come back next week then drop him like a hot potato.

Thursday:

The good news is that O’Keefe is playing this week, despite his ankle injury, but the bad news is that Graham Johncock has been dropped. But good news!: my opponent has Johncock on his team as well. Considering that I scored over 2400 points last week and my opponent for this week only scored around 1400, even my cautious self can handle being one down. So no changes.

(Looking over Wednesday’s entry just reminded me that I was still in with some sort of chance of winning the overall comp. So I guess, by going one down, the choice has been made – win the league, screw the nationwide glory.)