As you will be aware, the 2012 AFL fixture has multi-byes for rounds 11, 12 and 13 and is as follows:
Standard Structure
Listed in the table below is the standard way to structure your team to get 2 donuts. R11, R12 and R13 refers to a player who has a bye in that round. Therefore, Cox would be R11 and Buddy Franklin would be R13.
Round 11
You must have exactly 8 players with R11 byes. The reason why you need to have 8 players with R11 byes, ie on the bench is because you need the other 22 on the field. Even though you won’t get a donut round 11, you cannot have 7 players with the R11 byes, otherwise you will get the donut in R12 or R13.
Round 12
You are required to trade 3 players (BAC/MID/FWD) with R12 byes to players with R11 byes with the end result being 8 players with the R12 bye. Again it cannot be 7 players with R12 byes, even though you will not get a donut for R12, you will get the donut in R13.
Round 13
You are required to trade 3 players (BAC/MID/FWD) with R13 byes to players with R12 or R11 byes with the end result being 8 players with the R13 bye. Now normally 8 players with the R13 bye would be perfect. However, since the 8 player comprises of 2 MID, 3 BAC and 3FWD for R13 and you can only have 2 players on the BAC and FWD bench, the last BAC and last FWD for R13 are the 2 donuts.
You will note that in R13, we have 4 ruckmen without the R13 bye. However, as we can only have 2 ruckman on the field, the other 2 R13 ruckmen are on the bench and wasted.
Now at the start, I mentioned that there is no way to avoid the 2 donuts. That’s correct, however if during the year we have 2 sets of rucks DPP, which don’t share the same bye round, then we can avoid the donuts. Let’s assume one of the wasted bench ruckmen is the Eagles’ Lycett (R/F) and the last R13 Fwd is the Hawks’ Hale (F/R), ie the donut. If amazingly Lycett becomes the number one ruckman over Cox and Nitanui then we can avoid a donut. The reason is that during Hale’s bye (R13) where he gets the donut, we switch Lycett with Hale by using the DPP link and Lycett starts on the field. Unfortunately, the chances of this happening is very close to zero.
Now the AFL Prospectus tells me there are 7 Forward/Rucks (Rowe, Hamling, Hale, Roughhead, Pattison, Staley, Lycett) and 2 Backman/Rucks (Sellar, Lever). You might be saying ‘Who are these guys?’, which is exactly the reason why you just cop the 2 donuts like everyone else
and don’t worry about avoiding it.
Maximising the 2 Donuts
Most people are reluctant to have 3 premiums in any position as they know they will cop a donut somewhere along the line as you can only have two players on the bench in any position. Therefore, you may not want to go Buddy Franklin, Martin and Nick Riewoldt as they all share the R13 bye. The obvious reason is Buddy, Martin and Riewoldt all can’t sit on the forward bench in R13 as only 2 players can at a given time.
However, you will note that with the original structure, we all cop a donuts with a forward and a backman for R13. Therefore, since we are going to cop two donuts anyway, why not pick the players we want for example, Buddy Franklin, Martin and Riewoldt and then get the donut for one of them, which we are going to get anyway. At least this way, we are getting more than 2 premiums per position per bye round. You can apply this to the backline as well.
There are actually many permutations and combinations of maximing the 2 donuts, but it can get a little complicated. Also, sometimes it’s better to stick to the KISS Rule ‘Keep It Simple [for] SuperCoach’!
Rookies or Premiums
It does not matter if R11, R12 or R13 are premiums or rookies. There is no right or wrong answer on how many premiums in each position for each bye should we have. My view is it is your personal preference and so long as you get 2 donuts with your preferred team, that’s already good result.
Addendum
This article has been migrated from SuperCoach Scores Blog to SuperCoach Scores Forum.
- Round 11 byes – Crows, Lions, Giants, Roos, Eagles, Bulldogs
- Round 12 byes – Pies, Bombers, Dockers, Cats, Demons, Swans
- Round 13 byes – Blues, Suns, Hawks, Power, Tigers, Saints
Standard Structure
Listed in the table below is the standard way to structure your team to get 2 donuts. R11, R12 and R13 refers to a player who has a bye in that round. Therefore, Cox would be R11 and Buddy Franklin would be R13.
Round 11
You must have exactly 8 players with R11 byes. The reason why you need to have 8 players with R11 byes, ie on the bench is because you need the other 22 on the field. Even though you won’t get a donut round 11, you cannot have 7 players with the R11 byes, otherwise you will get the donut in R12 or R13.
Round 12
You are required to trade 3 players (BAC/MID/FWD) with R12 byes to players with R11 byes with the end result being 8 players with the R12 bye. Again it cannot be 7 players with R12 byes, even though you will not get a donut for R12, you will get the donut in R13.
Round 13
You are required to trade 3 players (BAC/MID/FWD) with R13 byes to players with R12 or R11 byes with the end result being 8 players with the R13 bye. Now normally 8 players with the R13 bye would be perfect. However, since the 8 player comprises of 2 MID, 3 BAC and 3FWD for R13 and you can only have 2 players on the BAC and FWD bench, the last BAC and last FWD for R13 are the 2 donuts.
You will note that in R13, we have 4 ruckmen without the R13 bye. However, as we can only have 2 ruckman on the field, the other 2 R13 ruckmen are on the bench and wasted.
Now at the start, I mentioned that there is no way to avoid the 2 donuts. That’s correct, however if during the year we have 2 sets of rucks DPP, which don’t share the same bye round, then we can avoid the donuts. Let’s assume one of the wasted bench ruckmen is the Eagles’ Lycett (R/F) and the last R13 Fwd is the Hawks’ Hale (F/R), ie the donut. If amazingly Lycett becomes the number one ruckman over Cox and Nitanui then we can avoid a donut. The reason is that during Hale’s bye (R13) where he gets the donut, we switch Lycett with Hale by using the DPP link and Lycett starts on the field. Unfortunately, the chances of this happening is very close to zero.
Now the AFL Prospectus tells me there are 7 Forward/Rucks (Rowe, Hamling, Hale, Roughhead, Pattison, Staley, Lycett) and 2 Backman/Rucks (Sellar, Lever). You might be saying ‘Who are these guys?’, which is exactly the reason why you just cop the 2 donuts like everyone else
and don’t worry about avoiding it.Maximising the 2 Donuts
Most people are reluctant to have 3 premiums in any position as they know they will cop a donut somewhere along the line as you can only have two players on the bench in any position. Therefore, you may not want to go Buddy Franklin, Martin and Nick Riewoldt as they all share the R13 bye. The obvious reason is Buddy, Martin and Riewoldt all can’t sit on the forward bench in R13 as only 2 players can at a given time.
However, you will note that with the original structure, we all cop a donuts with a forward and a backman for R13. Therefore, since we are going to cop two donuts anyway, why not pick the players we want for example, Buddy Franklin, Martin and Riewoldt and then get the donut for one of them, which we are going to get anyway. At least this way, we are getting more than 2 premiums per position per bye round. You can apply this to the backline as well.
There are actually many permutations and combinations of maximing the 2 donuts, but it can get a little complicated. Also, sometimes it’s better to stick to the KISS Rule ‘Keep It Simple [for] SuperCoach’!
Rookies or Premiums
It does not matter if R11, R12 or R13 are premiums or rookies. There is no right or wrong answer on how many premiums in each position for each bye should we have. My view is it is your personal preference and so long as you get 2 donuts with your preferred team, that’s already good result.
Addendum
- It does not have to be that structure at Round 1, but rather beginning of Round 11
- Some people are saying ignore the bye structure at the start, which I don’t have a problem with the idea. Be to me, if you can get closer to where you want to be at Round 11 the better
- Furthemore, it doesn’t even have to be the above structure, but I tried to give a simple example. If I start complicating it, you will get more than 2 donuts. I am actually using a different structure, but my structure is a bit complicated and I prefer to get it wrong with my own team and not get it wrong for everyone else. This is just a basic structure to maximise your 2 donuts.
- WARNING – DO NOT DAMAGE YOUR TEAM JUST TO FACILITATE THE BYE
This article has been migrated from SuperCoach Scores Blog to SuperCoach Scores Forum.