Let Fantasy Begin
The imminent resumption of hostilities in the NRL offers many things for footy loving Australians. For some it brings respite from an increasingly dreary summer of cricket (Michael Clarke’s SCG heroics aside). Others may rejoice in once again having a conversation topic to share with that bogan at work with whom they’ve suffered through five months of awkward silences, while for many there is at least the hope of redemption and that elusive taste of premiership glory.
For a growing number of Rugby League devotees however, another season of fantasy football has been as greatly anticipated as the on-field action. In my household it has become such an all-consuming passion that the mere mention of the word “fantasy” last week caused my girlfriend to visibly shudder. Yes, it’s back, and not before time. The strategies fermenting inside my head over summer are about to be unleashed, and I’ll be sharing my joys and frustrations at all things fantasy here until Round 26.
In many ways, Rugby League is unsuited to the concept of a fantasy league. A relatively meagre playing pool (compared to more established fantasy sports such as NFL, baseball and soccer) mean that most people’s fantasy teams end up looking frustratingly similar by the end of the season. Whereas in NFL for instance one owner may have great success with Drew Brees while another does just as well with Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady, in the NRL anyone looking to build a successful team has no choice but to select the handful of consistently high scoring guns that everyone else in the competition also owns.
The NFL players mentioned above are three of the best players in the game. Brady’s place in the Hall of Fame is guaranteed, and Brees and Rodgers will almost certainly join him at Canton in due course. In fantasy leagues this is represented in the allocation of points, and these players are among the most valuable commodities in the game. This highlights the other obvious problem with the NRL fantasy model- it rewards work, not class or skill. Darren Lockyer was a notable Fantasy dud. While in some cases the cream rises- Paul Gallen, Cameron Smith and Jonathon Thurston all fall into the “must own” category- the most successful fantasy player since the competition’s inception demonstrates that there is at times a sizeable gulf between a great player and a great fantasy player.
Corey Parker is an admirable figure in the game. Hardworking and reliable, he is the type of character that Broncos fans must hold in the high esteem that I as a Dragon regard the likes of Ben Hornby, or players such as Lance Thompson in the past. Not flashy, but dependable, and more importantly, a clubman. He is not the type of player that sells tickets however, nor will anyone be telling their grandkids about watching Corey Parker play.
Maybe this is how it should be anyway. Rugby League is the game of the working man, so it is somehow fitting that the working man is top dog when it comes to fantasy. And besides, it’s always the showy halves who get the Dally Ms, Footy Show gigs and boot endorsements. So off you go Corey Parker. You may not light up our screens and electrify our stadiums like Benji Marshall, but gee you’ve gotten footy fans across the country some quality scores over the years. To judge him solely on his fantasy scores he becomes the best player in the game, with daylight limping to the line behind him.
Paul Gallen is next, with another significant gap to the rest of the pack. Nobody wishes a player harm, but I’ve often thought that a season-ending injury to one or both of these two would be great for fantasy. However, barring this, or somebody setting up a Parker/Gallen free league, these are the conditions we must live with.
The upside to the dominance of the select few NRL players who consistently rack up the big scores is bizarrely the light it shines on some of the lesser lights in the game. When you get to Round 20 and find yourself opposing a team with ten or eleven of the same players that you own, it is obviously those six or seven others that will decide your fate. If you didn’t think you could get pumped for watching Nathan Smith run out for the Panthers on a rainy Monday night at Shark Park, just wait until you need him to outscore Ben Pomeroy to deliver the victory. Now that’s entertainment. So let’s all rejoice at the return of the NRL and the return of fantasy.
By Michael Adams
