AFL Fantasy Football vs. Reality | Thebigtip

Fantasy sports have revolutionised the way we watch modern athletes play their trade on the sporting field, whether it be baseball, the NFL or more specific to this piece, the Australian Football League. Playing in either Dream Team or Supercoach competition gives participants an interest in a game they would not normally have (the other way is betting in it!).

 This is the ‘glass half full’ perspective; the ‘glass half empty’ angle is that fantasy football has taken away our ability to just watch a game for what it is. We all know people that simply can't watch a game without a laptop, getting scores updated only seconds after your players has marked, kicked and goaled for a sweet 12 points (using the Dream Team scoring system).

Is there anything more frustrating than seeing a player you traded out, outscore the player you brought in for them, selecting the ‘incorrect’ captain, play with a zero, have your bench players outscore your starters, holding off on a trade and then paying $50,000 more for the same player - the list is endless. But the most frustrating part of it all is that we have no control over what ‘our’ players do. None. I know because I have recently done all of the above – on several occasions!

I have been a regular, if not, disappointing Dream Team player for a number of years. I can confidently state that having an understanding of the great game of AFL football bares no resemblance to being an exceptional fantasy football coach.

Perhaps I am saying this because my record as a Dream Team player is, well, below average, yet I think I have a reasonable understanding of the actual game.

There are a number of websites which I think were invented to give blokes something to do while walking around IKEA with their significant others. It’s the most important reason to own a smart phone, and if you have an iPhone, there is a downloaded app which makes checking scores of your imaginary players even easier.

But who are those players whose actual performance bares no resemblance to their Dream Team scores? Those players, who if we were picking an actual team, would be amongst the first picked, but would not even be asked to come to training for our Dream Teams. “Na mate, don’t bother coming out this weekend, spend some time with the family”.

However, every coin has two sides, there are also those running around the hallowed turf whose scores, far outweigh their performance on the actual field of battle.

If we remove key defenders from this process, it becomes a far more interesting exercise. Most key position defenders are crucial to the structure of their respective teams, but as a fantasy football coach you would be as silly as a former player manager ending up in a hotel room of a St. Kilda school girl, who doesn’t go to school, nor is she from St. Kilda, to pick them.

Kurt Tippet (Reality)
A potential ‘franchise’ player, the centre piece of a spluttering forward line, and given Tippet has not been playing the game long, his upside is enormous. His goal kicking has improved, but not at the level it should be and because of this, his Dream Team scores do not reflect his importance to the Crows.

Andrew Carrazzo (Dream Teamer)
A turnover machine, and often wears a bit from passionate Blues fans but his Dream Team scores have been consistently high for a number of years, reason being, you don’t lose points for coughing up the pill. Thanks Andrew, I will take those 3 points, despite the fact, we don’t have the ball any more.

Daniel Kerr (Reality)
Kerr’s form this year has reminded the football world that commentators and analysts alike once rated him ahead of fellow on-ballers Ben Cousins and Chris Judd. There are few better ‘in and under’ players in the game but he is a rare breed who can play inside and outside the contest. His ability in open spaces often goes unrecognised because of his superior clearance expertise. There are very few players with the foot skills of Daniel Kerr, however his creative hand ball is what brings team mates into the game.  Tip – never pick him in Dream Team. I have done it for a year!

Brett Stanton (Dream Teamer)
The much maligned Brett Stanton’s gap between Dream Team and reality may in fact be the highest in the league. There are few players that work as hard in getting cheap touches than the Bombers current number 5 (I for one think this number should have been retired). No one can deny Stanton’s endeavour, but if he displayed any ability to make the right decision with any of his 25 touches, the Bombers would be a far more dangerous outfit. I would love to see a scoring system where you lose 5 points for a poor decision, and 10 points for placing your team mate in a situation where a player may end up in intensive care. Stanton would score in the minuses on a regular basis.

Brad Sewell (Reality)
There are few better than Sewell around a stoppage, from an offensive and defensive perspective, his ability to prevent the opposition clearance player to impact the contest is crucial to the Hawks. However, there is no current statistic that highlights this, how would one create a points system for a player like Sewell who consistently holds the ball in and disables the opposition best clearance players to impact at a stoppage.

Matt Priddis (Dream Teamer)

I am not sure I have included Priddis because he meets the criteria I am writing about or because he has ridiculous hair. Lets assume it’s the former. Priddis is one of the great all time Dream Team Players and if there was a dictionary definition of ‘cheap kicks’ then there would be a picture of Joel Bowden, but under him, their would certainly be a reference to Matt Priddis. Coaches may agree, as I don’t think he has ever been tagged, yet Priddis averages over 25 possessions per game possibly meaning that perhaps, just perhaps his possessions don’t damage his opponents.

By no means an exhaustive list but picking a fantasy football team is an art of form. I just happen to be a terrible artist.