The 'Midfield' or the 'Engine Room' is probably the most important position in everyone's SuperCoach team.
The obvious reason is that traditionally our captain is usually selected from the midfield. Whether it be Ablett, Swan, Pendlebury, Watson or whoever our premium midfielders usally average an extra 10-20 points more than premiums in other positions (all things being equal). The exception to this is perhaps Deledio(DEF), Goddard(DEF), Beams(FWD) and Dangerfield(FWD), noting I have ignored their DPP attributes as you would normally use these players in the non-Midfield position.
However, while we expect our premium midfielders to score more than premiums in other positions, there is a cost to this. The cost is the additional price or the surcharge you pay for these premium midfielders.
Now to determine whether it is worthwhile to choose a premium midfielder (excluding the captain benefit) it really depends on whether you think the premium midfielder will score more than the alternative. The alternative to a premium midfielder is the score which a premium in another position produces, but don't forget in calculating the alternative, we must include the 'Loose Change'. Usually, when we talk about Loose Change it relates to 'Value Priced Players' ('VPPs'), which was discussed in the same article as selecting VPPs gives you the opportunity to use the Loose Change to benefit your team elsewhere.
Now first and foremost, I do NOT look for VPPs nor care about the Loose Change in the Engine Room because I believe the Midfield is in a league of its own. Now it doesn't mean that I will not get a Midfield VPPs that I intend to trade out.
Luke Ball could be a good Midfield VPP that is our initial team then is traded out, but notice the different between Luke Ball to a player I categorise as a VPP that I intend to keep as a premium (which is a NO-No!). Again, now for example only, although I believe Lenny Hayes was a good VPP in 2012, if I selected Hayes, then I would select him on the basis that I believe that Lenny Hayes would be in the top 6 or top 10 Midfielders (which was not the case). I prefer to select a rookie in the midfield and look for and select VPPs in other positions rather than VPPs in the midfield then upgrade to True Midfield Premiums.
As aforementioned, I do not look for VPPs in the midfield therefore the question is how should we structure our Midfield or 'Engine Room' in 2013?
Traditionally, we have 6 starting midfielders and 2 benchwarmer, however as you will be aware, in 2013 there will be 8 midfielders and 2 benchwarmers. I have been to-ing and fro-ing on the structure of my Engine Room for a while and it's a difficult decision as the Risk v Return scenario is substantial.
The following Midfield Analysis only includes True Premiums and does not take VPPs nor Loose Change into calculations as I do not look for these in Midfield, but only in other positions.
0 Premiums and 8 Rookies (with 2 SUB)
As most of you may know, I had an all rookie midfield in 2010 when I finished 724th overall. Please refer to the '8 Rookie Midfield' article for background information.
Now in 2010, the Midfield format was 6 MID 2 SUB and there were decent rookies, thus the reason I made the bold move. In 2013, with a Midfield format of 8 MID 2 SUB, I think it's too risky. I'm not saying I won't adopt this, Gulp!! but I think the Captain disadvantage is too much and 2 SUBs covering 8 positions is quite difficult.
1 Premium Midfield
This strategy, like the above is quite risky. If this is being considered by anyone
, then the natural selection of the one premium would be Gary Ablett for captain purposes.
2 Premium Midfield
Now this is getting a bit warmer, but possibly 1 or 2 premium/s too short.
If this is being considered by anyone, then possibly Gary Ablett and one of Swan, Pendles, Murphy, Cotchin etc
3 Premium Midfield
At this early pre-season, I'm leaning towards this structure of 3 Premiums, 5 Non-Premiums and 2 Benchwarmers.
It will be probably Ablett with Swan and/or Pendlebury with one other (depending if I pick both Swan/Pendles).
4 Premium Midfield
I'm guessing this will probably be the standard midfield, with Ablett, Cotchin, Selwood and Swan/Pendles/Beams/Murphy/Judd. Now the latter group will be determined by whether people are willing to take donuts as they all clash with Ablett in terms of the round 13 bye and only 2 can be on the bench at any give time to avoid the donut.
5 Premium Midfield
Now if you are considering a 5 Premium midfield, you should keep your left eye on their Bye Group to ensure you don't have unnecessary donuts. Now if you are happy to accept 1 donut then that's a different story and okay. However, you need to incorporate this in your analysis of which premium to pick.
For example only, if you already have 2 premiums with a round 13 Bye such as Ablett and Swan and you are deciding on Pendlebury (round 13) or Selwood (round 12), you need to deduct ~10ppg off Pendlebury in your analysis as Pendlebury has a round 13 bye, but Selwood doesn't.
6 Premium Midfield
I think this is on the opposite end of 2 Premiums and 6 Rookies, in that you may have one midfield too many. This option could mean you are one premium short.
7/8 Premium Midfield
I think this is probably too many premiums in the midfield as the extra surcharge will mean you may be short a few premiums across the whole team.
Summary
It's possibly a bit too early to decide, but at this stage, I'm leaning towards 3 premiums.
The reason is I see so many VPPs in other non-midfield positions, who actually play midfield. I prefer to use the Loose Change to have an extra premium in other positions. However, the fact that we now have 30 trades rather than 24 trades means we may be willing to have more premiums in the Midfield and then side trade.
The structure of the Engine Room will be very important in 2013 with the 8 MID 2 SUB format, so think carefully. Another thing to consider is that not only does an additional Premium Midfielder mean you can be short a premium in the team, but in order for this Premium Midfielder to maintain its value, it has to maintain a higher average.
What I tend to do with my initial team is play around with the team and do a 'What if' test such as reduce a premium midfielder to see if it could that mean I get 2 premiums in another position. However, with the 2013 Midfield format, I believe it's more important than other positions whether it be more premium midfielders or less.
The obvious reason is that traditionally our captain is usually selected from the midfield. Whether it be Ablett, Swan, Pendlebury, Watson or whoever our premium midfielders usally average an extra 10-20 points more than premiums in other positions (all things being equal). The exception to this is perhaps Deledio(DEF), Goddard(DEF), Beams(FWD) and Dangerfield(FWD), noting I have ignored their DPP attributes as you would normally use these players in the non-Midfield position.
However, while we expect our premium midfielders to score more than premiums in other positions, there is a cost to this. The cost is the additional price or the surcharge you pay for these premium midfielders.
Now to determine whether it is worthwhile to choose a premium midfielder (excluding the captain benefit) it really depends on whether you think the premium midfielder will score more than the alternative. The alternative to a premium midfielder is the score which a premium in another position produces, but don't forget in calculating the alternative, we must include the 'Loose Change'. Usually, when we talk about Loose Change it relates to 'Value Priced Players' ('VPPs'), which was discussed in the same article as selecting VPPs gives you the opportunity to use the Loose Change to benefit your team elsewhere.
Now first and foremost, I do NOT look for VPPs nor care about the Loose Change in the Engine Room because I believe the Midfield is in a league of its own. Now it doesn't mean that I will not get a Midfield VPPs that I intend to trade out.
Luke Ball could be a good Midfield VPP that is our initial team then is traded out, but notice the different between Luke Ball to a player I categorise as a VPP that I intend to keep as a premium (which is a NO-No!). Again, now for example only, although I believe Lenny Hayes was a good VPP in 2012, if I selected Hayes, then I would select him on the basis that I believe that Lenny Hayes would be in the top 6 or top 10 Midfielders (which was not the case). I prefer to select a rookie in the midfield and look for and select VPPs in other positions rather than VPPs in the midfield then upgrade to True Midfield Premiums.
As aforementioned, I do not look for VPPs in the midfield therefore the question is how should we structure our Midfield or 'Engine Room' in 2013?
Traditionally, we have 6 starting midfielders and 2 benchwarmer, however as you will be aware, in 2013 there will be 8 midfielders and 2 benchwarmers. I have been to-ing and fro-ing on the structure of my Engine Room for a while and it's a difficult decision as the Risk v Return scenario is substantial.
The following Midfield Analysis only includes True Premiums and does not take VPPs nor Loose Change into calculations as I do not look for these in Midfield, but only in other positions.
0 Premiums and 8 Rookies (with 2 SUB)
As most of you may know, I had an all rookie midfield in 2010 when I finished 724th overall. Please refer to the '8 Rookie Midfield' article for background information.
Now in 2010, the Midfield format was 6 MID 2 SUB and there were decent rookies, thus the reason I made the bold move. In 2013, with a Midfield format of 8 MID 2 SUB, I think it's too risky. I'm not saying I won't adopt this, Gulp!! but I think the Captain disadvantage is too much and 2 SUBs covering 8 positions is quite difficult.
1 Premium Midfield
This strategy, like the above is quite risky. If this is being considered by anyone
, then the natural selection of the one premium would be Gary Ablett for captain purposes. 2 Premium Midfield
Now this is getting a bit warmer, but possibly 1 or 2 premium/s too short.
If this is being considered by anyone, then possibly Gary Ablett and one of Swan, Pendles, Murphy, Cotchin etc
3 Premium Midfield
At this early pre-season, I'm leaning towards this structure of 3 Premiums, 5 Non-Premiums and 2 Benchwarmers.
It will be probably Ablett with Swan and/or Pendlebury with one other (depending if I pick both Swan/Pendles).
4 Premium Midfield
I'm guessing this will probably be the standard midfield, with Ablett, Cotchin, Selwood and Swan/Pendles/Beams/Murphy/Judd. Now the latter group will be determined by whether people are willing to take donuts as they all clash with Ablett in terms of the round 13 bye and only 2 can be on the bench at any give time to avoid the donut.
5 Premium Midfield
Now if you are considering a 5 Premium midfield, you should keep your left eye on their Bye Group to ensure you don't have unnecessary donuts. Now if you are happy to accept 1 donut then that's a different story and okay. However, you need to incorporate this in your analysis of which premium to pick.
For example only, if you already have 2 premiums with a round 13 Bye such as Ablett and Swan and you are deciding on Pendlebury (round 13) or Selwood (round 12), you need to deduct ~10ppg off Pendlebury in your analysis as Pendlebury has a round 13 bye, but Selwood doesn't.
6 Premium Midfield
I think this is on the opposite end of 2 Premiums and 6 Rookies, in that you may have one midfield too many. This option could mean you are one premium short.
7/8 Premium Midfield
I think this is probably too many premiums in the midfield as the extra surcharge will mean you may be short a few premiums across the whole team.
Summary
It's possibly a bit too early to decide, but at this stage, I'm leaning towards 3 premiums.
The reason is I see so many VPPs in other non-midfield positions, who actually play midfield. I prefer to use the Loose Change to have an extra premium in other positions. However, the fact that we now have 30 trades rather than 24 trades means we may be willing to have more premiums in the Midfield and then side trade.
The structure of the Engine Room will be very important in 2013 with the 8 MID 2 SUB format, so think carefully. Another thing to consider is that not only does an additional Premium Midfielder mean you can be short a premium in the team, but in order for this Premium Midfielder to maintain its value, it has to maintain a higher average.
What I tend to do with my initial team is play around with the team and do a 'What if' test such as reduce a premium midfielder to see if it could that mean I get 2 premiums in another position. However, with the 2013 Midfield format, I believe it's more important than other positions whether it be more premium midfielders or less.
