The Ten Commandments of Fantasy Rugby

With the Super Rugby season kicking off on Friday, it’s time to turn our attention to the king of all competitions- fantasy rugby. Details on joining the G&GR pool can be found here. With $5k on the line (not to mention bragging rights) and 30-odd thousand players you need the best advice if you want to score well.

Sadly we can’t offer the best advice. But here are my ten commandments of fantasy rugby:

1. Thou shalt not select thy team before Friday. I know it’s tempting to make your selections on the Monday, after your team comprehensively failed that weekend. You saw player X have a barnstormer and want to get him in there before the masses descend and his price rises. But resist that temptation young padawan. Too often I have seen headstrong and impetuous players make their transfers on Tuesday and Wednesday, only to find their new player is being rested or picked up an injury at training. You should only change your team while sitting in front of the full round XV’s.
2. Thou shalt prioritise point scoring ability over class. This is a common error made by new players. They pick a XV that would actually be good at rugby as opposed to good at fantasy rugby. There is a key difference. While, generally speaking, the best players are the best scorers, this is not always the case. For example if I were fielding an actual rugby team, Richie McCaw, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Ben Franks and Adam Ashley-Cooper would probably be on my team sheet.  But in fantasy-land you are far better advised to go with Adam Thompson, Isaia Toeava, Wyatt Crockett or Kade Poki. Lesser players, but they take the ball to the line more, thus score more points.

3. Thou shalt respect players in form. Much like Michael Clarke over the summer, you should always bet on a player in form. They are more confident, more lucky and generally more better. The example from last year was Kade Poki. Over the first half of the season this lesser-known winger was unstoppable on the end of an honest backline of toilers. One game against the Rebels he made one play which accrued 30 fantasy points- a try, a linebreak, about six busted tackles and a yahtzee. Don’t wait too long to get on the train of an in-form player, even if you have never heard of him.
4. Thou shalt not read too much into menial things. By which I mean the weather, the playing pattern of the opposition, the team’s record at that stadium, the referee or the fact that Venus is in the 6^thhouse that weekend. Because it very rarely correlates with a good fantasy performance. Again don’t confuse fantasy rugby with real rugby. The Cheetahs, Lions and Rebels were pretty shithouse teams last season but produced plenty of high-scoring players- Sarel Pretorius, Robert Ebersohn, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ged Robinson etc.

   

5. Thou shalt not stray too far from the flock. By which I mean don’t go too left field. Sure you may have some inside word on a young centre from the Cheetahs who has been training the house down. But chances are SBW will score more points than he will. And yes I know every man and his dog will pick SBW (as well as Ioane, Dagg, Bekker, Pretorius etc.) but that is for good reason- these players make the dream team on a regular basis. So while you may not want to be ‘mainstream’ you are an idiot if you don’t select these players. You don’t have to cut off your hair or turn down your music, just pick Digby. Trust me, it’s for the best.
6. Thou shalt plan ahead. There are a few weeks this season where four sides have the bye. Chances are if you realise this on the Friday before the round you will be left with a couple of non-players in your starting XV, which is the cardinal sin of fantasy rugby. It isn’t rocket salad- you need to look to the round ahead before making your selections. In this vein you must also consider commandment 7:
7. Thou shalt not ignore thy bench players. With the confusing system of byes this season the bench is paramount. Not only because of the byes themselves, but the arduous schedule results in more injuries and more players being rested each week. Some teams are notorious for changing their XV every fucking week (the Blues are a prime example, also the Cheetahs). So you need to pick your bench players wisely. Pick the cheapest guy in each position who you know will start the game. Last year it was guys like Al Campbell or Sean Treeby. Early suggestions for this year include Tom Kingston, Andrew Smith, Sherwin Stowers and Fritz Lee. Don’t worry too much about quality, because if you plan ahead properly and don’t pick your team too early in the week you should only have to use your bench rarely. But in the event of a late change you need to have someone come in who may not score 50 points but at least should chalk up a solid 10-20. It ain’t much but it’s better than nothing.
8. Thou shalt beware thy fullback. The fullback is the joker of fantasy rugby. Some weeks the ball will follow him everywhere- he will break a couple of tackles each time he is on the counter not to mention score a few meat pies. Other weeks he will rarely be seen at all- stalking the back half of the field, kicking the ball most occasions he gets it. Ice Toeava was a prime example last year- 50 points one game, zero the next. So I suggest steering clear of fullbacks (except maybe Israel Dagg), especially when picking your captain.

   

9. Thou shalt respect thy prop forwards. This year they have changed the scoring system so it is far more friendly to the fatties up front. In the past you could just chuck the cheapest props in your team, safe in the knowledge that while they won’t score many points themselves, they won’t be too far behind the top scoring props for the week. Not so this year. Props could easily pull down 40+ points regularly, so mediocrity can no longer be tolerated. Shell out on a ball-running prop like Ben Alexander or Coenie Oosthuizen and watch the points roll in.
10. Thou shalt not lose sight of the game itself. As much as fantasy is serious stuff, the on-field rugby must come first. What do I mean by that? Put it this way- when the Crusaders score a length of the field try which goes through 10 sets of hands, don’t get stroppy because one of your fantasy players missed a tackle back on the 25m line. Just revel in the joy that you have just witnessed a great try. Fantasy is only a game. Rugby is far more serious than that.

What are your fantasy commandments?