I’m not sure how your team went but for most it was a challenge to even field 18. Although, with nine rounds to go there’s still plenty of points on offer and opportunities galore to move up those rankings and win those leagues.
What a fascinating round of football we had this weekend. Some winners, some losers, and some just straddling the fence unsure about it all. Of course, the big winner was Neale Daniher and his team raising much needed funds for motor-neurone disease. What a great cause and such an inspiration to see. Puts the weekly ups and downs of being a fantasy sports coach in perspective, don’t you think?
Jon gives us a 90’s inspired look at the first week of the multi bye rounds in this edition of the SuperCoach wrap up.
As a former club president used to say regularly on a Thursday night, “A week is a long time in football”. And boy, this week has felt long. The obvious issue being the nature of the AFL season now that we here in Victoria have gone back into lockdown. At one point in the week it was looking like a bye-round had come early, but then it changed again back to the 22-man squad being counted. The rollercoaster finally settled on Friday morning and for some provided sweet relief for all those who care on what felt like a long weekend.
It’s not often a player scores over 200 so when one does we watch in awe and ride the wave. A big congratulations to those 31.8% of coaches who have him in their team, and even more so if you had him as captain or played the VC loophole. As it happens, the last time we saw a score of 200+ was round 10 last year. It also happened to be Clayton Oliver. And it also happened to be against Adelaide. We all know what to lock in for next year!
How good was Friday night! The start of the round. Another weekend of Supercoach for us. And to top it off, Tommy Highmore makes it back into the team! A late in for the Saints and a big win for plenty of coaches, a number of whom were no longer having to contemplate a donut in their defence.
If it feels to you like this past weekend was ‘meh’ then you’re right. It was. There wasn’t much to write home about. I mean, there were a few high scores here and there but nothing out-of-the-box.
It’s a strange feeling coming to the end of a weekend without having major issues. This weekend was reasonably uneventful considering the last three weeks (or seven weeks for some). Of course, we’ve all got issues, but from a Supercoach perspective we had no major injuries, no inconsiderate reports, and no significant concussions. To be fair, we didn’t really have any major scores either but that’s something we all have to deal with.
Injuries, injuries, injuries. What more needs to be said. It was the round for it. In 13 years of playing this game I’m not sure I’ve seen a start quite like this. To have so many premiums out at one time, so early on in the season, it certainly feels unique this year. But in the words of the all wise and knowledgeable Conor McGregor, “An injury is not just a process of recovery, it’s a process of discovery.”
As Monty Python’s “The Life Brian” reminds us, we’ve always got to look on the bright side of life. For despite another round of carnage for many coaches there were plenty of positives to take away from this weekend’s games. Let’s at least name some of these before moving to the more critical issues many have to deal with.