Dear Footy Tragics,

What an electrifying start to DT 2010 it’s been. The excitement that comes with a new season has hit fever pitch as we pore over any piece of pre season footy news we can get hold of. We are now just two days away from the commencement of the NAB Cup, which promises to shed some light over which players we should select in 2010.

As a new season starts, we all promise ourselves that we won’t make the same mistake we made last year, or that other mistake we made two years ago. Depending on how good your memory is, you may have also convinced yourself that you won’t make that same mistake you made three years ago, or even four.

The reality is, not only do we often repeat previous mistakes made, we also find ourselves making new ones, particularly when the rules changes. Regular visitors to our site will no doubt be aware of the “new rule” in 2010. The rule where the dreaded ZERO, becomes a thing of the past.

For those not familiar with this new rule, allow me to explain it in plain English.

STEP 1 - Select two dual position players. Note that they must both be defender / forward or midfielder / forward etc. You can’t have one defender / forward and one midfielder / forward.

STEP 2 - With these two players you have selected, choose one in each position.

STEP 3 - You can now swap these two players around at any time, without using one of your trades.

It looks like the days of the donut are gone, right? WRONG!

Geelong Cats Training Session This could possibly be the most confusing and utterly useless rule I’ve seen. The reality is there are not many duel position players I’m interested in for 2010. What about Paul Chapman, Alan Didak and Shaun Higgins you ask? All three are quality dreamteam players, but I still want them in my forward line. Why would I choose Alan Didak as a midfielder and cost myself Leigh Montagna in the process? I’m greedy, so I want both.

Let’s run a case study. I’ve worked out this new rule and 2010 is definitely my year. I’ve picked up Alan Didak as a midfielder and Shaun Higgins as a forward so I can swap them around to cover injuries. It’s Round 6 and Gary Ablett is injured. What’s more, my 7th and 8th midfielders are running around in the VFL this week as part of “workload monitoring” in their debut AFL season. My rock solid midfield of eight last week is now down to five, but wait, I can swap Didak and Higgins around can’t I? Yes you can, but you’ve still only got five midfielders (with one of those five being Higgins, rather than Montagna).

The next scenario takes us to the Thursday night prior to Round 22. Didak and Higgins have both being picked to play their 22nd game of the season. As you see their names selected on the official team sheet you think to yourself, what a futile exercise that was. Why did I weaken my all important midfield to cater for a strategy that can only be used in extraordinary circumstances?

We only get four premium midfielders, why reduce it back to three? I’m not compromising my midfield to gain some peace of mind in my defence or forward line. Choose your cheap defenders and cheap forwards wisely, and then back them in to get the job done. I prefer to attack, rather than defend. I’m not costing myself Brent Stanton, Brad Sewell or Jimmy Bartel to maybe cover a zero in Round 16.

I must confess I was going use this rule to swap Andrew Moore a $125,500 defender / forward (already in my side) with a suitable defender / forward. The problem being, there is no viable option under $140,000. If you can find one, please let me know.

As you may have gathered, I’ve decided to not use this new rule at all in 2010. I see it as an unnecessary distraction, with any potential benefit being far outweighed by the cost incurred in straying from my core strategy. My core strategy is to choose 30 quality players, not 29 quality players and an average defender / forward.

My advice, don’t let this new rule cloud your judgment over which players to select. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Good luck!