WTF happened to my Dream Team!

If you are asking yourself this question you sure are not alone after a round full of ups and downs for most Dream Team coaches.  But DON'T PANIC! It's just round 1.

This is my 9th year of Dream Team and I like to think I go OK. So I thought I might pass on a few tips and mention some of the mistakes I have made over the years.

Until last season I had always thought you have to be right up there in the top 500 all season to have any kind of shot at the Toyota. Most years I have finished top 1000 and around the 300 mark was my past best. But things fell into place last season,  I dodged some injuries and managed to grab 7th overall. I was pretty stoked in the end. Close but no cigar. You've gotta feel for the dude(I think it was a guy from memory) who came 2nd overall that is harsh, not even a Toyota keyring :) But back to the point.

Last week I was looking over the weekly team print-out that work kindly fund and had a scan through my rankings over the season. At round 7 last year I was way back in the 5000s and wasn't even considering top 100. It goes to show just how much ground you can make once you get your side up and running. I think the thing I did right last year was trad hard early. I  made a couple of big errors. especially rucks ( Mitch Clarke and Seaby were the low points) but I got my team settled by about round 7-8 and sat on my trades. Trying to keep close to 1 trade in the bank for the amount of weeks left is a good guide. But the point is you just need to be patient and very selective when you do trade. By low sell high. Sounds obvious but it's the key to Dream Team, you've got to play the market. Also as a rule make sure your trade is going to either make you at least 100k for a down grade or the player you bring in will be a genuine keeper if not keep your trade in the bank cause you only get 24.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make and one I know I have done it in years gone by is Panic Trade after round 1 or 2. After hours researching your team, making a a number of tough calls between player a and player b, weighing up dual position, age, durability, consistency and so on. Or even if you just picked your favourite players you picked them for a reason so stick to your guns!

If you are like me you looked down your team sheet today identified the let downs, and there were a few, (Foley being the stand-out). thought about the regrets, the almost picks and the last minute trade outs that were a HUGE MISTAKE! You are probably a tad miffed and already thinking about who will be replaced be a cheaper,  higher scoring player that you think you really should have picked in the first place. STOP and think why you picked that player to start with. Was it numerous matches to finish last season or a pretty solid NAB cup? We have had one round, just one. All players have bad games. We have 33, they can't possibly kill it week in week out and that goes for round one as well. The biggest waste of Trades in Dream Team is burning a trade especially a keeper after 1 or 2 bad games to start the season.

I actually recommend not trading at all after round one unless you have to replace an injured player.

If you are super serious about your Dream Team and are gunning for the car or at least have an eye on it as long as you are confident with your original side a bad week one is no big deal.

Good luck in round 2 and hopefully this ramble makes some sense to someone :)