Round three is one of the most critical rounds in your fantasy season. Before the prices begin to move drastically now is one of the final weeks you can make moves before getting too far behind. Here’s some rapid-fire advice that hopefully helps you with the trading decisions you make this week.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe #1 Priority
The priority of trading this round is to ensure you have the right cash cows. So fixing up underperforming stepping stones and premiums as correctional moves is fine this week. But not at the expense of missing the ‘must have’ money makers. Players like Josh Rachele and Jack Hayes need to be prioritised if you missed them.
If you’re unsure who has the best breakeven, we’ve listed all the players with negative BEs across the formats here. Thankfully, for the coaches who’ve missed Nic Martin, you can in DreamTeam & SuperCoach give yourself another week’s grace as his price won’t move just yet. The aim of the game is to get your cash cows off the ground and upgrade your team as quickly as possible. But, of course, you’ll need cash to do that, so prioritise money-making moves this week.
Embed from Getty ImagesCorrect it, don’t react
There’s a belief in the fantasy community that says you cannot sideways trade premiums. I beg to differ. At this time of the year, you absolutely can. It’s called correctional trading, not sideways or reactionary trading. It’s different in the middle to later rounds of the year, but in these opening rounds, the only trades you should be making a correctional, suspension or injury impacted trades.
The difference between reactionary trading and correctional is identifying motive. Reactionary trading moves on a player because of one or two bad scores. Trading like this is dangerous and can mean instant ‘egg on your face’ feels. Trading Jack Crisp last week is an example. The role was there in round one, just not the scoring. That’s reactionary.
Correctional sees changes in how a player is used or a team’s game style that no longer makes the previous scoring expectations viable. For example, Tom Mitchell is still in the midfield, but the Hawks game style seems more direct and less Mitchell dependent and less content to play uncontested possession footy. As a result, a corrective trade could move him on to another potential comparable premium like Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Jackson Macrae or Touk Miller. So don’t react with your trades, correct.
Embed from Getty ImagesWe all make mistakes
Don’t be so proud to admit when you get things wrong, whether missing a steppingstone pick or going against a popular selection that’s firing. We all make mistakes, and we call get things wrong. It’s a game; it happens. The difference between good and great coaches is that the great ones recognise the trend and amend it rapidly.
Embed from Getty ImagesCreative Moves
I love this time of year. It’s where coaches who might have a failed starting selection or two can start to get creative with the trading moves they make. Creative thinking and creative trading can open your side to endless possibilities. It can help curate some fixes to your structure or even rapidly increase the cash generation. So give the reverse trade button a workout over the next 48 hours. You never know what gold you might uncover.
