Analysis Floating Donut

[Impromptu]

The Floating Donut is a SuperCoach strategy that includes selecting a dual position player who we don't expect to play AFL games in 2013. The Floating Donut is possible due to a number of rules changes in SuperCoach (and AFL Dream Team) in 2013, which will affect your SuperCoach team structure, player selection and strategies.

These changes include (but are not limited to):

1. A Rolling Lockout, which means that prior to the commencement of a match, you can make changes to your SuperCoach team. The changes you make may include changing your captain, vice-captain, emergency(E), starting and bench players and you may even want to do some late trades.
2. An increase of 6 trades, from 24 to 30 trades.
3. An increase of 1 EMG, from 3 to 4 EMG.

I strongly believe the above changes will benefit experienced SuperCoach people (such as You and Me )

However, to be honest, I am NOT a fan of the Rolling Lockout as:

1. It may give an advantage to those who are online all the time such as myself and disadvantage people who don't have time over the weekend. What if people had to work over the weekend, say taxi drivers, people in the hospitality industry etc or we have 'social butterflies'. To be honest, it gives an unfair advantage to some people and yes, my comments stand even though I will benefit a lot from the rule changes.
2. There should be a work, life and SuperCoach balance. While most of us love SuperCoach, we do have family/social events to attend to occasionally.

Having said all that, if the proposed SuperCoach rules are implemented, we might as well take advantage of the changes in the SuperCoach Rules in 2013.

The 'Captain Loophole'

The Rolling Lockout allows you to take advantage of the 'Captain Loophole'.

In short, it means you pick your Preferred Captain as your Vice-Captain. If your Preferred Captain scores say 150 and you would like to keep this score, then you simply start a non-playing player and make him your Captain and make another player an EMG. However, because your Captain does not play, your Vice-Captain becomes the Captain with the EMG playing for the non-playing player. Now if your Preferred Captain (ie your Vice Captain) scores a 10 due to injury or is subbed off, you simply shift the Captain off the non-playing player and move the Captain cap to your new Captain.

The 'Emergency Player Loophole' aka the 'EMG Loophole'

The Rolling Lockout also allows you to take advantage of the 'EMG Loophole'.

In short, this means you pick a Friday night playing rookie (or one of that plays early in the round) and make him an EMG, say the equivalent to Morris and/or Ellis of Richmond in 2013. Now if this player, say Morris(e) scores 100, then you simply starting a non-playing player and as that non-playing player does not play, you will get Morris' score of 100. Now if Morris (e) gets an injury or is subbed off at half time, you simply start another player who plays and Morris(e)'s score does not count.

The 'Floating Donut'

Now to take advantage of both the' Captain Loophole' and the Emergency Loophole you need to have a non-playing player, which I have named the 'Floating Donut' Every time this Floating Donut plays, you will gain as it either means you have taken advantage of the Captain Loophole, ie your Vice-Captain has played or the EMG Loophole, ie your EMG is playing. The benefit could range from 20 points to 100points per round per Floating Donut. Over the year, it could mean a massive few hundred points per Floating Donut, which could mean the difference of a top 1,000 or top 5,000 result.

This Floating Donut, a mystical beast has te following attributes:

1. The player never plays a game or maybe near the end of the year - Hello Thomas Couch (FWD/MID) and Sam Docherty (MID/DEF) of SuperCoach 2012
2. The player is priced at rockbottom rookie price, ie a player who is on the rookie list of an AFL club
3. The player is a Dual Position Player for flexibility
4. The player may only play a number of games, but every game he plays you have gained 20-100 points. Therefore, the more games the 'Floating Donut' plays, the more successful the use of the 'Floating Donut' has been.

Just to re-iterate, the Floating Donut will play in the following circumstances:

1. if your Vice-Captain scores well, say scores 150, the Floating Donut will selected on the field as your Captain. As the Floating Donut does not play, you will get your Vice-Captain' score and your EMG for the Floating Donut
2. if your EMG scores 100, then the Floating Donut will a gig as a starting player. As the floating donut does not play, you will get the score of the EMG, ie 100.

There is a price you pay and risks involved by selecting a Floating Donut, which include:

1. you could be foregoing some cash cows, as you are effectively picking floating donuts who will not appreciate in value.
2. you could be risking a zero by having a Floating Donut, but if you plan your team carefully then this risk is minimised due to the 4 EMG and the Rolling Lockout

Based on the information given by SuperCoach, you will be required to have at least one Floating Donut for the Captain Loophole. The question on how many Floating Donuts you should be selecting is a difficult one and will be analysed in detail as you need to balance between the advantages of points gained or protected and the risk referred above.

One foreseeable risk that people may argue is that you are actually using some of the 4 EMG and what happens if you actually need the EMG? As mentioned above in order for the Floating Donut to be worthwhile, you need to play your EMG for the Floating Donut and that means that 1 EMG has been used up. If you use more EMGs, then you may not have any cover in other positions. The question is if you have little cover with EMG, doesn't it really matter anymore with SuperCoach 2013?

The beauty of the Rolling Lockout is if there is a late out, you can either decide to trade out the late out or move the other bench player onto the field, hence the worth of the EMG is dramatically reduced. If you watch every game and have time to make changes before every game, you may not even need an EMG to be honest.

Now this Floating Donut is a high risk and high return strategy and my article is strictly off the cuff and one for pre-season reading. We will need to further analyse this, but as a bare minimum, you will need one Floating Donut for the captain, which I believe is a must. It does get complicated with the 'what if' scenarios, but we've got a few months to analyse this. Right now, I'm looking at 3 Floating Donuts, but this could change in the course of the pre-season.

 

[BuddyLove]

Great Article as always Jay.

lol - I was hoping no one would blog about deliberately picking a non-playing dpp or as you elegantly put it 'floating donut'.
I wish we could have taken advantage of the EMG loophole this year, it would have been gold with players like Bugg and Toby Greene!

Right now, I'm looking at 3 Floating Donuts, but this could change in the course of the pre-season.

WOW - I thought I was crazy thinking about picking 1 in my starting squad

In saying that

If you did only have 1 floating donut you might run into a problem if . . .
You try and run the Captain & Emg Loophole in the same line eg. Midfield.
If your selected Emg has a shocker but your selected VC has 150+ you won't be able to take full advantage.


Another thing to think about is sometimes your floating donut will actually cost you points when he plays . .
Lets say your Emg rookie scores 75 and you decide to lock that score in and put your floating donut on the field.
1. If your resting emergency has an awesome game and scores 100
2. If your floating donut plays on Saturday, you put them on the ground and there is a late withdrawal on the Sunday (already made your 2 trades)
But like you said, its a risk vs reward!

I think the best thing about the rolling lock out is that if there is a a rookie that you love BUT they don't get named round one there is a big advantage in still picking them. This year I actually picked Tom Couch as a round 1 floating donut purely to get Kennedy's 104 (who I had selected as an Emg).

So much to think about!!! Can't wait for the season to start

 

[Impromptu]

Great Article as always Jay.

WOW - I thought I was crazy thinking about picking 1 in my starting squad

In saying that

If you did only have 1 floating donut you might run into a problem if . . .
You try and run the Captain & Emg Loophole in the same line eg. Midfield.
If your selected Emg has a shocker but your selected VC has 150+ you won't be able to take full advantage.

I think the best thing about the rolling lock out is that if there is a a rookie that you love BUT they don't get named round one there is a big advantage in still picking them. This year I actually picked Tom Couch as a round 1 floating donut purely to get Kennedy's 104 (who I had selected as an Emg).

So much to think about!!! Can't wait for the season to start

I agree that if your MID Vice-Capt scores 150 and your MID EMG scores 10, that you can't have a Floating Donut in the MID.

But the trick is the Floating Donut 'Floats' via DPP to another position, say FWD and the Floating Donut is the Captain in the FWD

Ooooh not Tom Couch

 

[OzRulesFootball]

lol - I was hoping no one would blog about deliberately picking a non-playing dpp

Trust Jay to let cat out of the bag...lol

I think the best thing about the rolling lock out is that if there is a a rookie that you love BUT they don't get named round one there is a big advantage in still picking them. This year I actually picked Tom Couch as a round 1 floating donut purely to get Kennedy's 104 (who I had selected as an Emg).

So much to think about!!! Can't wait for the season to start

I had Sam Rowe from start of last season as FOR/RUC.. Never played was only abut 95K and ended up finding out he had a cancer scare to battle so his footy season was off the menu but I
still had him all season like Jay had Tom Couch.... (As you figure out with only 24 trades other changes to squad become a bigger priority when these guys value is so little) Not much point in trading them out. But in 2013 opportunity knocks with loopholes with such players...

for 2013 I already been playing with Jay's planner and rookies like J.Stewart of GWS as DEF/FOR can still be of use even if they don't play much. I can see Mason Shaw of Port and Sam Rowe of Carlton still be an option for me as rookies with dpp.. Troy Menzel and Kennedy maybe others...

 

[Termin8er789]

Great article again Jay! Maybe we should start making a list of potential 'floating donut' players we could use in 2013. Having said that we won't really know which rookies will play most matches and which ones won't until further notice.

 

[BuddyLove]

I agree that if your MID Vice-Capt scores 150 and your MID EMG scores 10, that you can't have a Floating Donut in the MID.

But the trick is the Floating Donut 'Floats' via DPP to another position, say FWD and the Floating Donut is the Captain in the FWD

Good point but then you would be forced into taking your fwd emg score which might be ok but if your worst fwd played on Friday night you might have locked them in as emg - definitely need to think all scenarios through

If you had a second floating donut already in your fwd line you would be at the mercy of a late withdrawal.

I think the biggest mindset change we need to make is that with 30 trades every single point that can be saved is worth considering - the floating donut is a great example if this!

A lot to think about - has anyone heard anymore about the best 18 over mbr rule?

 

[Drew]

Thanks for another great article Jay. I don't think i'll be picking a non playing midfield rookie, too much $$ to be made from mid cash cows, but reckon the ruck is place to use this personally. I'm thinking of having Jacobs, NicNat, Luenberger and a non playing r/f rookie with possably Roughead and Cox with r/f in my forward line. Rucks are also much more likely to smash out a massive score one week the drop back to a sub -100 score the next - think Dean Cox last year and that massive 217. The ruck could be the best place to make the most points with this while still making the most of your cash cows in the midfield.

 

[IDIG]

[*]It may give an advantage to those who are online all the time such as myself

[*]There should be a work, life and SuperCoach balance.

Haha

Bravo Jay, bravo. I dare say most, me included hadn't put even an ounce of thought into this. The captain loophole maybe but not the benefits of the floating donut..which in my opinion the benefits would surely have to outweigh the risk involved. I haven't played a great number of what if scenarios but i do painstakingly recall a number of subbed players last year which pretty much ruined my sc week after week so this strategy would probably improve my quality of life if not anything else LOL

 

[Goodie's Guns]

Haha

Bravo Jay, bravo. I dare say most, me included hadn't put even an ounce of thought into this. The captain loophole maybe but not the benefits of the floating donut..which in my opinion the benefits would surely have to outweigh the risk involved. I haven't played a great number of what if scenarios but i do painstakingly recall a number of subbed players last year which pretty much ruined my sc week after week so this strategy would probably improve my quality of life if not anything else LOL

Yeah it was the late outs during SC finals that cost me a higher ranking and even my emergency was a late out two weeks in a row, agreed on improved quality of life.

 

[johno686]

I wount be going the floating donut from the start. I need the cash cows sitting there makeing me money for upgrades. But after the byes when we have our side set will be a different story but no way at the start of the year. 2013 will be a year of learning to see what strategy works the best.

 

[Damoz]

As usual Jay, GREAT Article!

Personally, I'm not a fan of the extra Trades - BAD Update!

 

[Zim^zuM]

I think a R/F floater in R4 is pretty safe if you go with a R/F premo in the FWD

 

[hammo42]

Another consideration is "The General", who tends to appear regularly in the 2nd half of the season. It seemed week after week you'd have at least $500K+ sitting on a bench somewhere earning '0', but maybe not anymore - they may now serve a 'rolling donut' purpose. Also premiums with 2-3 week injuries (eg GAJ in 2012) could see them kept more often as a rolling donut option.

I wount be going the floating donut from the start. I need the cash cows sitting there makeing me money for upgrades. But after the byes when we have our side set will be a different story but no way at the start of the year. 2013 will be a year of learning to see what strategy works the best.

This could mean the opposite to johno686's strategy above may apply. Perhaps 2 DPP perma-donuts may be needed pre-bye rounds, then maybe 1 DPP donut would suffice after the byes. When combined with some 'Generals' after the byes and pre-finals, this could provide enough rolling donut options from week to week, without foregoing cashcow positions on the bench.

 

[BuddyLove]

Another consideration is "The General", who tends to appear regularly in the 2nd half of the season. It seemed week after week you'd have at least $500K+ sitting on a bench somewhere earning '0', but maybe not anymore - they may now serve a 'rolling donut' purpose. Also premiums with 2-3 week injuries (eg GAJ in 2012) could see them kept more often as a rolling donut option.



This could mean the opposite to johno686's strategy above may apply. Perhaps 2 DPP perma-donuts may be needed pre-bye rounds, then maybe 1 DPP donut would suffice after the byes. When combined with some 'Generals' after the byes and pre-finals, this could provide enough rolling donut options from week to week, without foregoing cashcow positions on the bench.

Welcome aboard Hammo

You are absolutely spot on with your analysis! Couldn't have said it better myself!

Its funny that the year we get 30 trades we are also given an incentive to not trade injured players (assuming you have deep cover).

Where did you finish last year in SC?

 

[hammo42]

Welcome aboard Hammo

You are absolutely spot on with your analysis! Couldn't have said it better myself!

Its funny that the year we get 30 trades we are also given an incentive to not trade injured players (assuming you have deep cover).

Where did you finish last year in SC?

Thanks BuddyLove. I don't have the credentials of many here - in 2011 I finished 16,770 and in 2012 I finished 17,309. 2011 was my first SC season, and I was very excited in 2012 to come across these blogs and Jay's articles, so excited that I listened to too much advice instead of going with my own thoughts/ideas/opinions. There are so many tactical theories, ideas and opinions to consider that to cater for them all can make things worse, not better. Had I kept close to my original 2012 team and plan I would have done much better.

So, this season I'm very much taking a back seat, taking in the little bits and pieces that I think may be handy to know. But I'll be doing my own thing too. I'm glad to share my thoughts, though I am still very much a student. I'm glad you appreciated my comment - tells me I'm on the right track.

 

[Impromptu]

Thanks BuddyLove. I don't have the credentials of many here - in 2011 I finished 16,770 and in 2012 I finished 17,309. 2011 was my first SC season, and I was very excited in 2012 to come across these blogs and Jay's articles, so excited that I listened to too much advice instead of going with my own thoughts/ideas/opinions. There are so many tactical theories, ideas and opinions to consider that to cater for them all can make things worse, not better. Had I kept close to my original 2012 team and plan I would have done much better.

So, this season I'm very much taking a back seat, taking in the little bits and pieces that I think may be handy to know. But I'll be doing my own thing too. I'm glad to share my thoughts, though I am still very much a student. I'm glad you appreciated my comment - tells me I'm on the right track.

Totally agree.

Yes, I'm always of the view that you should consider many options and strategies as possible, however you need to apply them to your circumstances, follow your gut feeling and decided on your willingness to take/avoid risks. Think of this SuperCoach Scores website as a 'Think Tank', 'Knowledge Base' and a 'Brain storming session', however at the end of this, you need to decide on how you want to approach things and which strategy you want to adopt.

Don't worry, everyone has a bad year. I had a bad year in 2012, but I'm cool with that as I look back at, not only at 2011 when I won SuperCoach, but 2009 (188th) and 2010 (724th). I just want to re-iterate there is no right or wrong answer, but I think so long as you make your decisions with valid and rationale reasons, then that's all you can do.

With Johnno's comment that he won't be having a floating donut, it doesn't mean Johnno is right and I'm wrong or I'm right and Johnno is wrong. All it means is Johnno is weighing the potential extra points against the extra cash he generates from cashcows. That's the beauty of having open discussions between experienced SuperCoach people as we have reasons for what we do (even though they may be in contradiction to one another).

I will give my updated view in early 2013.

 

[Breaker]

Definitely worth considering to start a few 'floating donuts', especially if they are good rookies that will get games later in the season. My biggest concern is the loss of cash generation. During the course of the season, players will be injured/rested/suspended/dropped and I think these naturally occurring floating donuts are enough for using the Captain/Emergency loophole.

 

[Philzsay]

While I will definitely be using a floating donut or two I am likely to let them pick themselves rather than specifically target a player or two.

Having added Dean 'The Weapon' Robinson to the fitness department of my SC team last year I reckon there will be a great chance that every week there will be either a gun missing a week or two through injury/suspension or a rookie that has been unexpectedly dropped/rested/rotated.... Thinking back over the years other than maybe round 1, even though I have a great record of avoiding donuts, I cant ever remember a week whereby I have had all 30 players in my sqaud available to play.

 

[mpollock]

Not worth it in my opinion except perhaps in the 4th ruck position.

With so many ruck/forward options players like Rowe and McBean will play few games but provide a DPP link and could be used as a ruck for forward floating donut ...

 

[Beijing_Sting]

My understanding is that I'm not a good enough Supercoach player to use the floating Donut. I will need every cent and every player to assist me in my SC endeavours and will not want to waste a player. I'm no Supercoach 2011 winner with a Karmichael up my sleeve

Simply, I live in a foreign country with little access to watching the games, opening the site issues, I did not grow up following AFL, I rely solely on expert advice, and have little ability to analyze trends or fully understand the complexities of the game. Pretty much well, I am stuffed - and obviously not a fan of most of the new rule changes - especially the rolling lockout. It might be helpful if there is an android app this year, as the site seems intertwined with facebook (sometimes not accessible), but i see none on the horizon

So instead I'll use the accidental floater donut. I am positive, I'll not be able to trade as successfully and will most likely have the occasional accidental donuts in my rookies, despite my best efforts.

Glad sites like this exist, but I'm also sure my league competitors would have to be living under a brick not to know and use this site too. (hi guys )

Cheers.