Help me climb into the top 100

[Memphistopheles]

Since round 3 my team has been on a one-way train heading towards the top of the rankings, but now with trades and in short supply I am struggling to find a way to continue this rise.

For the record here is my climb from my lowest rank in round three to my best (this week): 23,884--->22,714--->14,328--->9,106--->5,507--->4,318--->1,555--->1,373--->1,383--->1,474--->709--->487.

This is where I would like your help. Below is my team for the run home - any thoughts on how to improve it and climb further up the rankings â€" my goals is top 100 by the end of the season.

One of this week’s trades I have planned from several weeks out and is Foley--->Swan and will complete my team with all premiums (except for rucks due to Sandi’s injury).

This will leave me with $21,800 and 5 trades remaining.

Here are my thoughts on how I can improve it.
Callinan â€" I feel like I need one last cash injection either to finish off my team or to have enough cash to make up a bit of ground with trades in the last few rounds.
This means one last downgrade and the only player I’m looking at currently is Callinan.

Whoever I trade down to him will be out of Mzungu, Prestia, Howe and Wallis and will depend on a two things â€" how much cash I can make and job security.

Wallis, if he can make a bit more cash before Callinan is on the bubble, is the favourite at the moment.

Defence â€" having an extra (eighth) premium defender will help me, especially when the final few weeks of the season come around. However, with the amount of trades I have left this is probably a luxury I can’t afford.

Midfield â€" My mids will be finished once I get in Swan, although it took a few extra trades to get there (thanks very much Mundy and Selwood :@).

Rucks â€" this is one area I can improve and I’m thinking an upgrade of Smith to Goldstein or McEvoy would be great. However, I can’t afford it just yet so am hoping of one them comes down in price in the coming weeks. As long as Bailey plays I can afford to get Goldy as I have cover, but if not McEvoy is my man.

Forwards â€" Knights and J Roo just aren’t cutting the mustard in my team atm, although for that matter neither is N Roo (but i won’t be trading him). I want to upgrade one of them to someone more productive â€" a byeless LeCras and Cloke are who I have my eye on atm. And the other will be a serviceable eighth forward. Again money is an issue here, although another bad week from Sylvia and he will be straight in after his bye.

Backs: Gibbs, Scotland, Goddard, Enright, Deledio, Rawlings, Adcock, Lower, Hibberd, Toy.

Mids: Swan, Boyd, Pendlebury, Ablett, Murphy, Mitchell, Jacobs, Mzungu, Wallis.

Rucks: Cox, Smith, Bailey, Tippett.

Forwards: Franklin, Chapman, Pavlich, Goodes, Petrie, N Riewoldt, Knights, J Riewoldt, Prestia, Howe.

[upthemaidens]

so u go foley-->swan  5trades and 21k left
i would go wallis--->callinan
without doing the maths could u afford an upgrade howe? maybe to sylvia or okeefe,,by doing that you can move a fwd premium into the mids when needed and still be able to start 7 premium forwards( well jack volt as 7th fwd)
  on your backs, i wouldnt bother touching it,,  lower is perfectly good as a fill-in player,, he hasnt been doing to bad, in fact i would be playing on the ground this week in front of adcock or even rawlings.

[Memphistopheles]

so u go foley-->swan  5trades and 21k left
i would go wallis--->callinan
without doing the maths could u afford an upgrade howe? maybe to sylvia or okeefe,,by doing that you can move a fwd premium into the mids when needed and still be able to start 7 premium forwards( well jack volt as 7th fwd)
  on your backs, i wouldnt bother touching it,,  lower is perfectly good as a fill-in player,, he hasnt been doing to bad, in fact i would be playing on the ground this week in front of adcock or even rawlings.

It all depends on what happens in the next couple of weeks.
If Sylvia doesn’t go up in price this week.
I should be able to get him in after his bye for Howe, although that could depend on how much cash Howe gains.
Although if Wallis plays and gains a bit of cash I should be able to make the trade fairly easily.
But that leaves me with 3 trades left for the season â€" do you think that’s enough given the depth I have (Essentially Lower 8th back, Sylvia 7th mid and Knights/J Roo eighth forward).
Bearing in mind that I want to try and leapfrog the 300 teams standing between me and a top 100 spot.
I am willing to take risks and am even strongly considering completing my team before the end of the season with several
On this note here is an interesting option.
After round 16 (Callinan on the bubble and has had his bye) I will trade whoever can earn me the most cash out of Mzungu, Prestia, Howe and Wallis to Callinan. (4 trades left)
Then I’ll go Smith--->Goldstein. (3 trades left)
Then round I make one more downgrade â€" this time out of Jacobs, Hibberd and the guys mentioned above (2 trades left) to make cash for my last two trades.
They will be Suckling in for Lower after Hawthorns last bye and O’Keefe in for Howe after his last bye. Or instead of O’Keefe another player who has had his last bye.
This leaves me with a team looking something like this (if I go the O’Keefe option) with no trades and five games remaining (no multi-bye rounds left).
Gibbs, Scotland, Goddard, Enright, Deledio, Rawlings, Suckling, Adcock, Jacobs, Toy.
Swan, Pendles, Boyd, Ablett, Murphy, Mitchell, O’Keefe, Callinan, (mid/def mpp rookie.
Goldstein, Cox, Bailey, Tippett.
Franklin, Chapman, Goodes, Pavlich, Petrie, N Riewoldt, Knights, J Riewoldt, Mzungu, Prestia.
For the final rounds:
Round 20: O’Keefe in for Boyd.
Round 21: Adcock in for Rawlings, Bailey in for Goldstein, J Roo in for Petrie
Round 22: Adcock in for Enright, J Roo in for Chapman.
Round 23: Adcock in for Gibbs. Scotland mpp to mids and O’Keefe in for him. Pav mpp to mids for Callinan and starts for Murphy and J Roo starts in forwards.
Round 24: Full strength.
I reckon I can climb a few places like this, however round 21 is a bit of a worry if Bailey isn’t fit.

[upthemaidens]

memph u do have the petrie link so just play him in ruck when needed.  is smith doing that bad?
  i wouldnt get rid of mpp players if i was you i.e. mzunga/prestia/jacobs   with very few trades left  you will need as much coverage as possible.  u have a solid team and i guess its in the lap of the gods with injuries from now on,,  but you probably can make top 100 (with alittle luck),  just dont get higher than me  ok
  just to give u hope i had i fairly average score last week and moved up 40 spots from 200 to 160,, so theres still places to make up

[Memphistopheles]

memph u do have the petrie link so just play him in ruck when needed.  is smith doing that bad?
  i wouldnt get rid of mpp players if i was you i.e. mzunga/prestia/jacobs   with very few trades left  you will need as much coverage as possible.  u have a solid team and i guess its in the lap of the gods with injuries from now on,,  but you probably can make top 100 (with alittle luck),  just dont get higher than me  ok
  just to give u hope i had i fairly average score last week and moved up 40 spots from 200 to 160,, so theres still places to make up

Out of interest - what rank are you now?

I'm constantly thinking up crazy schemes for my team, but in the end I usually just go with my gut, which has got me here.

Problem is this week it's telling me to get in Goldstein for Smith.. but i can't afford him and Swan. Do you think maybe I should hold off on Swan for another week? Or get a cheaper option (Montagna maybe)?

I do have the Petrie link, however I think the rucks is one area where i could gain a lot of ground. And i like Petrie as a forward - i'm not sold on starting both Knights and J Roo everyweek.

[upthemaidens]

yeah im 160th now

well if you only want to get further with overall, then i would go for a more unique premium (gamble with it) i.e. maybe griffen or embley,  if the guys in front of you all have swan (and they do) u wont be making up ground.
  rucks being a spot u can make ground is probably true, with sandi down.  i guess just do what you're doing and grip and rip

[Memphistopheles]

yeah im 160th now

well if you only want to get further with overall, then i would go for a more unique premium (gamble with it) i.e. maybe griffen or embley,  if the guys in front of you all have swan (and they do) u wont be making up ground.
  rucks being a spot u can make ground is probably true, with sandi down.  i guess just do what you're doing and grip and rip

Only thing is I can't see any mids  (that I don't already have) outscoring Swan over the next 10 weeks so not getting him will put me further behind.

I'd rather gamble in my backs, rucks and fowards.

With Knights out this week I might just do the one trade and do some more pondering. Mzungu named on the wing will start for me instead of Knights and Howe emergency.

I will most likely not trade during the multi-bye week and just get Callinan for the Hawks bye week.

Only thing is if I want to get Goldstein/McEvoy i think it has to be sooner rather than later.

LeCras wil drop in price over the next two weeks and could be a good forward unique. Should score more than Knights or J Roo that's for sure.

[upthemaidens]

just to add to your comment, i will most likely not trade during the multi-bye week.
i would say the multi-bye rounds will be a time for moves up the rank, well it certainly was for the first bunch. may not be quite has dramatic this late in the year,but still.   so trying to upgrade leading into them maybe  advantageous