Is fantasy focus hurting football?

Comment by Neil Cross

Updated May 15, 2012 13:58:32

Ron Barassi was in an angry state of mind when he confronted Gerard Healy when they were both at the Melbourne Football Club in the early 80s.

At the end of the exchange during a break in the game at the SCG, Barassi told Healy to "give me possessions and I'll shut up".

Possessions, or more particularly statistics, now rule AFL football. Statistics have spawned an industry.

Collecting, collating and categorising each kick, mark, handball, tackle, tap out, entry to forward 50, rebound from defensive 50. It goes on.

The nuances of these statistics are often lost on the general public but not those absorbed in the Dream Team/Supercoach phenomenon.

People in the past were content to enter tipping contests but for the real football nerd now the quest is to win Dream Team/Supercoach games.

For the uninitiated, Dream Team and Supercoach are basically the same statistically based competitions. Participants select players to make up a squad.

Each player is priced according to the number of points he averages per game. The points are based on the number of kicks, marks, handballs, free kicks for and against, hitouts, goals and behinds.

There is a a salary cap and the job of the participant is to select 22 players each week to take on another team. In each round, the participant with the most points wins the match-up.

Coaches repeatedly point out that the worth of a player in a particular game can't be judged on his statistics. This is most definitely not the case in the land of Dream Team or Supercoach. Rather, it is the only worth of a player.

The phenomenon has hit rugby league and rugby union as well as soccer and other sports but the plethora of statistical information in the AFL makes it a superior offering to the thousands addicted to closely watching the fantasy unfold.

Apparently it's fun. Supposedly it keeps participants interested in games even if there is a blowout on the scoreboard - the actual scoreboard; you know, the one that actually shows who wins or loses.

On the other hand, the long term effect of Dream Team and Supercoach could also reduce the public's interest in following a club.

In the fanatasy world, the only thing that matters is the individual and how many points they can accrue for your fantasy team. Hence, the club, the result, the interest in the game itself could die.

Perhaps that is a little dramatic. But then again, there are plenty of people who review the weekend's AFL games according to how Hogan's Heroes or Macca's Madmen or Hellboys performed rather than whether Carlton, Collingwood or West Coast won or lost.

There are even media outlets who publish or read out the fantasy points accrued by players. There are advice columns in newspapers on how to pick the best 22.

AFL is evolving. Fantasy leagues are growing. Whether they are good for one another in the long term will make for an interesting study.

Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, australian-football-league, rugby-league, super-rugby, australia

First posted May 15, 2012 13:58:32

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What is Fantasy Rugby?

Fantasy Rugby is essentially the same as any fantasy sport. It is usually an online game where players act as managers and owners of a sports team consisting of real life players reflecting their actual contribution to a sports team in a game. The owner buys the players and uses them to compete with other fantasy owners competing in the league. The owners accrue points based on the statistics generated by those individual players in their respective sport.

How successful players are is generally reflected in their cost, which limits how many super star players an owner can have in his or her team. A team owner has the ability to sell, buy, and replace players as they wish. However, these trades are usually limited.

Fantasy sports have become popular throughout the world. The most common international fantasy sports are fantasy soccer, cricket, and rugby. In the United States Fantasy Baseball and American Football are extremely popular. Fantasy Australian-rules football is popular in Australia, and Fantasy Rugby League is gathering a large following as well.

Each sport chooses key performance indicators, whether they be a big, like scoring points for their team, or small like catching a ball. These are accumulated while points are deducted for mistakes a player makes throughout the game. What makes Fantasy Rugby so interesting is the amount of performance indicators available. Players compete at lineouts, scrums, at the ruck, they make tackles, they catch and pass, they break the line and break tackles, and of course they score tries and kick goals. All of these situations are turned into points for your player to accumulate or lose.

The wide variety of point scoring opportunities and different player types make Fantasy Rugby a compelling and competitive online game for rugby fans. Most competitions capture the nuances of rugby, so the tight forwards get the opportunity to contribute as well as the flashy backs. As with all fantasy sports, it makes the watching of games even more exciting for sports fans, as they watch for what their fantasy team players are doing on the field.

For more information on Fantasy Rugby, including fantasy rugby tips and advice, the latest team announcements and player injury updates, check out my Rugby Blog, Rugby Fix - your resource for all things Fantasy Rugby!