The single biggest piece of trading advice I can give (and will hopefully follow this year) is to think of the season in its totality. It's so easy to think of this game as a week by week prospect but when you look back on the season you aren't going to care what your highs and lows were, you will just care about the overall result.
- You don't have to avoid every zero. I'm guilty of this year in year out. If I'm going to cop a zero, I make the best trade available to me at the time. This usually involves a sideways trade or culling a cash cow early.
- You don't have to trade in every bubble boy. Josh Glenn scored 103 in his first game and then averaged 39 in his remaining 4 games for the season and yet so many players here were stuck with him all season. Jack Steele averaged 76.5 in his first two games, burst the bubble with a 94 and then went on to average 50.75 for the rest of the season only playing 4 out of a possible 8 games. Rookies are inconsistent. Just because someone is set for a major price hike doesn't mean you will be behind the 8 ball long term if you miss out.
- You don't have to do every upgrade IMMEDIATELY. How often do you pull the trigger early on an Ablett / Pendles type because they are playing a bottom team and MIGHT explode. This often comes at the expense of someone else in your team. Last year I downgraded Newnes to McKenzie in order to upgrade Ellis Yoleman to Pendles. Pendles averaged 100.75 for the next 4 weeks, Newnes went on to be a defensive keeper.
- You don't need to tinker with your team every week. Half the time I fiddle with it just to feel like I'm doing something! It seems wrong to not trade for 3 weeks in a row so you tinker with minor things and hurt yourself down the track.
Basically - it's a marathon not a sprint. As Jurn said you need to think about how your trades will impact you later on.
