Not sure at all what to do for ruck cover, I don't want to play a guy like Bellchambers in my fwd line when there are such great fwd premiums this year and playing him on the bench is also pretty stupid since he's 300k so with no rookies what should I be doing for cover? If I go in with a goldy/nic Nat combo what happens if one of my players misses just 1 week with no cover?
The first thing is, don't panic, we're all in the same boat.
Unless a playing Rookie Ruck, with at least the appearance of some JS, presents in the next 2 weeks, take a R/F at R3.
If you aren't happy with any of the playing R/F's, then don't pick one to play in your Fwd line. Do keep in mind though, if you use a playing R/F as cover 4 times during the season, that can add around 10/game to his real value to your team.
Go in with Goldy/NicNat, or which ever 2 are your choice, and wait for a problem to strike, and then you can decide what is best, depending on how big the problem is. Also keep in mind, it is not the R/F (if you have one) that actually covers your missing Ruck, it is your F7. As your R/F is already on the field, and when he moves up to your Ruck line, your F7 comes on the ground.
When the problem strikes, and it will, you can assess:
If it looks like a 1 week problem, you might decide to eat the donut. If you compare your situation to someone who has the same Ruck out, but they have a R/F, they gain an F7 score advantage over you. Let's call that 60-70 points. It's probably a wise decision to eat a donut rather than plug a 70 point gap in your team. Trades are worth more than 70 points! The other option is to trade the Ruck out, or trade in a R/F to cover. Once again, not great options for a 1 week out, unless you are otherwise unhappy with your Ruck anyway. Side trading the Ruck out out to a similar Ruck might save you 100-110 points, but then what do you do when that Ruck goes missing? You can't keep doing that.
If it's a 2 or 3 week problem, I would suggest trading in a R/F at that point, so you have on going cover from that point on. It can be a cheap one, or a better one, depending on your cash and other trading needs. If a Rookie Ruck has presented in that time, you might even downgrade your missing Ruck to the Rookie Ruck, and gain cash from both ends of the trade. Once again, if you are generally disatisfied with the injured Ruck, then trade him out anyway.
If it is 4 weeks or longer, then trade the Ruck out.
Remember, with one week out, as an isolated case, you are really only giving up 60-70 points to those with R/F cover, not 100 points, or whatever the R/F scores.