Spy Talk: Head-to-head finals tactics to advance

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G’day Gang!

It looks like a lot of us are in lockdown this week so I hope everyone is going okay.

One thing I did find is that footy helps!! So fire up for 7:50pm Thursday for the return of Lil Papi in the 1 Jersey and Harry Grant starting and enjoy the show!

I am going to chat this week about specific tactics that can be used in head-to-head finals matches to try and eke out a win even if you look in trouble and then have a quick look at a few other SC related topics!

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Head-to-head Finals

Below I will list a couple of my favourite tactics that can be used to try and win a H2H match up.

Note that if you are through to week three and don’t care about overall don’t use any trades this week unless you need to do it to be able to afford someone you want before they become unaffordable (Ie – Curran). It’s best to sit back and reassess the contest for next week.

1. If you are winning comfortably or should win easily just match your opponent as much as possible.

For example if you are cruising or have 17 players v 15 it makes sense to match captains so there is no chance of a miracle fight back.

Even if Turbo is the obvious one you can still just go Tedesco if that’s who your opponent chooses just in the off chance Turbo gets hurt early and Teddy scores 180.

Essentially take away the Point of Difference (POD) that your opponent has to try and beat you with a miracle.

BE CAREFUL however, because if your opponent’s skipper is Tedesco they might flip it back to Turbo a few minutes before lockout.

Be right on top of this to flip back as needed! This tactic is for when you are sure you are cruising.

2. This one is a classic but it can work or at the very least will make your opponent nervous!

As mentioned in point 1, start the week with a captain you are not actually going to have.

For example I might have Doueihi as my captain for the first 24 hours when really I am targeting Turbo all along.

The beauty of this is if you are losing your matchup or are not the favourite then your opponent might try and match you to sure up a win.

If they do, you can change it back to Turbo 30 seconds before lockout to the Manly match and you might end up with Tommy Turbo as a POD skipper!

Make sure you are aware of exactly when the game locks. It says it in the app or on the website.

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3. There is no harm in putting four or five players you don’t intend to use into your side to start the week before changing them back to your preferred players as the weekend goes on. This makes it harder for your opponent to plan!

4. When it comes to matching players you may need to do the opposite if you are in huge trouble. Captaining Turbo may not be possible if it means you have no other way to make up ground so target another high upside skipper and pray that things go your way.

5. If you are losing as the weekend goes on you might need to have a look at playing a POD from your extended bench if it’s the only way to potentially launch a comeback. An extra 25 points might become vital!

6. Free vice-captain loophole, then why not VC Turbo? Basically if you have 17 players or less this week you get a free crack at two captains. You can then take his score most likely but if he happens to have a low score for whatever reason you can then skipper someone later in the weekend. It could be massive play and it’s risk free!

7. The big one if possible is to use a trade or two if you need to. The later the better if you are in a position to pick up a Chooks player on Sunday it could be a great Sunday throw at the stumps. But any moves can be good and much like the above if you are able to do it just before lockout to the game so that your opponent can’t match you that’s what you are after. At the end of the day it’s these moves that could get you through to next week!

8. With all of this being said you don’t need to get funky if you are in a good position. The above tactics are really for those who are in trouble and need a POD move or two. But it can’t hurt to use a couple of mind games across the weekend if time allows!

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Harry Grant / Ryan Papenhuyzen

Quite simply he is starting, if you can get him in its looks a hell of a trade! Hopefully his body is up to 80 minutes… Lil Papi is the same if you are still holding a fullback that can be moved on or flipped to another position.

Shawn Blore

Looks a decent downgrade if you need cash for one more star into your side. Hopefully Garner doesn’t come back to eat into his minutes but Blore looks good. He’s an excellent defender it seems early on.

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Daly Cherry-Evans and Nathan Cleary

Personally I have a huge eye on one of these two next week. Cherry I will be able to get with one trade (I have two in the bank), while Cleary would take a downgrade to get him so two trades being used. But if he looks back to his best this week he would be hard to pass up

Josh Curran

I can’t actually believe how well he played last week. It was one of the truly great displays from the attack right through to kick chase, cleaning up loose balls and so on. What a star and what an attitude! SC wise looks a great buy. More analysis on Curran here.

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The Sum Up

It’s the fun/nervous time of the season. Go well everyone up the top in overall, don’t be afraid to take a calculated chance or two! And the same goes for head-to-head comps.

I will VC Harry Grant and skipper Turbo this week, but I actually hope Turbo has a rest as I have good coverage and quite like the idea of Teddy as skipper or looping Harry.

Cheers everyone!