I RECKON even the most one-eyed supporter is allowed to climb onto another bandwagon for finals once the wheels have fallen off their own.
Right now I am all over the Cats. Or the Dogs. Or St Kilda. Or Freo. Or Sydney.
Frankly, I don’t care so long as it’s not Carlton or Collingwood. So right now, that probably means Geelong,
because I don’t see anything else out there likely to roll a certain black and white juggernaut.
Anyway, I’ve taken a similar route with AFL dream team. The Gavernators have gone the way of the dodo, so I’ve jumped on Ballarat businessman Peter Brugman’s team,
the mighty TAGers.
As I type this Brugman’s team leads the entire dream team world by a margin of 118 points. Maintain that lead, and a brand new Toyota (he can’t remember which type) will arrive on his doorstep.
‘‘Usually I’m not the sort of bloke who would watch a game and count every kick. I’d prefer to watch with my
mates with a beer, but as I can hear the sound of new car keys jangling, I’m looking a bit harder,’’ he admits.
‘‘To be honest this week I’ve been so busy at work that I haven’t had an opportunity to look at my team. A good mate of mine, Johnny King, sent me through a note that had a list of all the other top few teams to show what
was the same and what was different to my team.’’
Brugman said the lead would affect his strategy in what is grand final week for fantasy football competitions across the land.
‘‘I’ll be playing it safe because, with that lead, I can afford to,’’ Brugman explains.
‘‘If I wasn’t leading I would try to do something different. All the top dream teams are fairly similar, with similar players, so if you are 118 points behind you have to do things differently if you are to catch up.
‘‘At this stage of the year there are not a lot of trades left. There are only so many things you can do differently.’’
Brugman has one trade left. It will be like gold if the Pies, Cats or Saints decide to rest a player or two.
‘‘Last week I had Lenny Hayes, who was out, so I was able to bring in Pendlebury. It was a nothing trade,
and I haven’t improved my team. I just did it to keep on scoring,’’ he explains
The biggest pitfall, could be in selecting a captain.
A dream team captain earns double points — pick the wrong one and it can be hundreds of points up in smoke.
‘‘It is probably the most important decision of the week because, with limited trades, there’s not much else you can do with your side. What if your captain goes down with a leg injury in the first quarter? You’re buggered,’’ Brugman said.
Brugman will finalise his team later in the week.
Then there is an agonising wait as the weekend’s matches play out.
‘‘I haven’t won anything in my life and if you said at the start of the year I would be in this position, I wouldn’t
have believed it,’’ he says.
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