Fantasy Footy Tips And Tricks Part 2 - The Midfield | Thebigtip

The midfield. It’s without a doubt the essential part of every team. A gun midfield defines a gun team, and to get that gun midfield, you need to pick the right players. It’s easier said than done, of course, and this year highlights that.

The majority of premiums are found in the midfield nowadays, with 27 midfielders averaging over 100 points in Supercoach last season. The gun midfield everybody’s chasing will end up having just about every player as a premium, so there’s no room for ‘the rest’. If you’re looking to win your league, your team should contain only premiums and rookies.

The premiums are fairly easy – just select the players who you think will maintain or increase their price. I’d imagine Marc Murphy (CAR/111.9/544.5k), Jobe Watson (ESS/107/520.4k) and Andrew Swallow (NM/106.2/516.9k) would increase their averages as the midfield around them improves.

When it comes down to it, picking the best premiums is often luck-based, as it’s difficult to tell how they’ll fare compared to their previous season. When you do select your premiums, however, consider their injury history, their averages over the past seasons, their age and their teammates.

Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel (GEE/102.1/497) should do more in the absence of Gary Ablett (GC/129.9/631.9k), who is currently the second-most expensive player, behind Brendon Goddard. The same applies for his premiership teammate Joel Selwood (GEE/117.8/573.2k).

Ablett is an interesting player this season. Captain of the Suns, he should get heavily tagged – therefore he will often lose points. However, with the byes being introduced for this year, and with the Suns having both of theirs in the first 9 rounds, he may be a worthy selection.

After Round 9, Gold Coast will play every round for the rest of the season. That means you’ll have a premium that should score 120 points a game, without the worry of him missing a game, especially when the finals roll around.

The premium midfielders I’d keep away from include Michael Barlow (FRE/116/564.4k) (for obvious reasons), Matthew Boyd (WB/106.4/517.5k), Lenny Hayes (STK/103.5/503.5k) and most MPPs. Only select an MPP if you’re short of a player in a position, because then they can be swapped around. If you take your time with your team, however, that shouldn’t happen.

The rest of the premiums have good reasons to be selected, and could easily fit into your team. Sounds pretty easy to have a good midfield, yeah?

Not necessarily.

The byes are really going to frustrate us coaches this year. Having two players from one club in a position is now a no-go. Dane Swan (COL/126.9/617.3k) and Scott Pendlebury (COL/110.5/537.9k) don't fit in the same team, because when Collingwood have their bye, neither of them will play.

Selwood and Bartel are the same, as are Murphy and Chris Judd (CAR/118.5/576.7k), and Nick Dal Santo (STK/112.5/547.3k) and Leigh Montagna (STK/114.8/558.7k).

If you’ve got two premiums having the bye, it’s going to mean two of your rookies will have to fill their positions. And that’s if you don’t have any injuries in your midfield.

That’s where the rookies are really, really important – you can’t just go ‘bang, bang, bang’ with your bench players. They’re all going to play at some point, so choose the ones who will get a lot of games and score points at the same time.

A player like Tendai Mzungu (FRE/NA/110.2k) is the perfect example – he was brilliant in the NAB Cup. It’s a shame he’s out for 10 weeks after injuring his knee, but with 4 extra trades this season (bringing the total up to 24) it should be easy to bring him back in around Round 8-10 when he returns, as you’ll want all of your rookies playing this year.

Considering Mzungu’s injury, Daniel Harris (GC/NA/125.7k) looks to be that player. He’s the price of a rookie, but the Suns need hard and experienced players to combat the opposition, which is where Harris is going to be important this year. He should feature in the Sun’s midfield prominently and, barring injury, should bring his price up to $350k or higher, considering he only had 3 games in the VFL below 100 points last season.

Other rookies around that price include Mitch Wallis (WB/NA/103.6k), Isaac Smith (HAW/NA/103.6), Josh Green (BRI/NA/103.6k), Shaun Atley (NM/NA/108.6k) and Trent McKenzie (GC/NA/110.2k). These players should play a fair few games and are good for the three bench spots.

The more expensive rookies, however, should be in the starting 22. Players like David Swallow (GC/NA/188.6k), Harley Bennell (GC/NA/183.6k) and Andrew Gaff (WC/NA/173.6k) are good examples. Have one or two of those top 10 draft picks in there, but remember the byes – you’ll obviously screw yourself over with Swallow, Bennell, Harris and McKenzie in your midfield.

The other high picks selectable in the midfield should play Round 1, but if they don’t, there’s always time to mix your team around until the bounce of the first game. Make sure you check the teams and keep an eye on players you’re considering – if they’re playing and another similarly priced player is not, swap them.

You want every player playing every game to maximise your scoring and money for trading.

When it comes down to the rest of the players, check their NAB Cup form. A player like Jack Grimes (who isn’t selectable in the midfield, but this is just an example) averaged 88 last year but racked up over 100 points every game in the pre-season is a good example of tracking certain players – he wasn’t in my original 33, but he’s in the squad now.

So, like I said, there’s luck involved in your midfield, but that doesn’t mean your midfield will dominate without careful consideration of your players. Take your time with it, do some research, use your trades well, and you should end up with a strong bunch of players in the centre.

Keep your eye on The Big Tip for part three!