Planning for the Trade Deadline
It is starting to edge closer to that desperate time of the season for NRLCEO coaches – the Trade Deadline. Whilst not as important as the draft, many seasons are won and lost with poor planning and preparation for the deadline.
The standard Last Trade Round set for most competitions is Round 19 of a 26 round season. That means you can only make trades with opposition CEOs up until lockout of the next round set by your competition creator. For example, if your Late Trade Round is Round 19, you can make trades up until lockout of the first game in Round 20.
The last squad change means the last round you can cut players from your squad. Importantly you can still sign new players after this time if you have positions available in your squad.
How to find your deadlines
There are two ways to find your deadline. The easiest is to go to the home page and click the “View Full Ladder” link. If you have a deadline it will appear in the left hand column, if you don’t it will not appear here.
The second way to find it is to click the drop down at the top right of the page, and then click “My Profile” and then click the edit icon displayed below for the competition you need.
There are several key steps you should start taking to make sure you are ready for the end of season run.
1. Get your backup kicker
There is nothing worse than being at the top of the leaderboard, charging towards the playoffs only to have your kick go down after the deadline. It is too late to drop your kicker and kicking points will stop you from picking anyone up otherwise. It is imperative you start trying to acquire the backup now, as it may take a lot of wrangling for someone to give up an Issac Luke or Ethan Lowe type.
2. Start looking for dual-position players
It is worth looking for dual-listed guys, particularly if you have a squad limit lower than 25. The ability to slot a Naiqama or SKD into either centre or wing gives you added flexibility in working out which piece-of-shit free agent to slot into your backline when injury strikes.
3. Free up some roster space
You should make sure you have at least one, possibly two free spaces on your roster at the deadline. This enables you to pick up players in the event of an injury crisis or boom rookie winger being blooded late in the season.
Ryan
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- Forwards to acquire - July 22, 2015
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