Patreon Exclusive | What to do when your team gets stuck

Read Time:2 Minute, 19 Second

Wednesday 17th February will go down in history for fantasy football coaches in 2021. It was the day that for many coaches, their side got screwed over. It all started with news that RUC/FWD Rowan Marshall would miss that start of the season due to a stress fracture in his foot.

Not only was Rowan a great top 10 forward option, but he also provided some security for those starting with Braydon Preuss at R2. Despite him being a relatively easy pick, that DPP movement gave coaches a security blanket if the selection failed. A few hours passed, and now another ruck is on the cutting room floor. GWS confirm that Preuss will now miss 4-5 months due to a shoulder reconstruction.

Embed from Getty Images

So now you’re stuck. You had a structure and players you loved, and within a matter of hours, that’s been destroyed. What do you do when you find yourself stuck with your side in the preseason?

Do you try and find another value ruck at R2? Does Ben McEvoy, Toby Nankervis or even a Sam Draper take the place of Preuss? Do you adjusted structure and remove Wayne Milera and go set and forget? Sooner or later, your side starts to change quickly and drastically and all in the case of one or two injuries. So, what should you do when your team finds itself stuck?

The answer is simple! Clear the decks, don’t save any remnant of it, do whatever you can and delete the team from existence. I know it feels like you’ve previously struck upon fantasy utopia and eliminating the team now will undo months of hard work. Now is the time to delete your team and start again.

Stop trying to squeeze players ‘in and out’ around a particular structure that clearly now will not work. Since first creating your team, potentially as early as December when the team pickers opened up so much has changed between now and then

.Whether it be injuries to premiums, key rookies emerging, role changes within sides and that’s all without seeing a few ‘competitive’ games of football with the AAMI community Series.

So try it out, see what happens you may find players, structures and strategies you’ve been battling with for weeks all find a natural way of landing smoothly. With still a month till the first lockout you’ve got plenty of time to tinker, so why not start again with a clear base. Who knows, you might find the perfect starting squad.