ARE YOU frightened by Fantasy jargon? Does the thought of a bunch of number-crunching footy nerds hovering over their laptops and chortling about 'cash cows' and 'Fantasy pigs' make you break out in a cold sweat? Then, relax. Like most buzzwords, they're completely harmless, particularly if you take the time to learn the lingo. The Traders have made it easy for you with this complete A-Z guide of all the AFL Fantasy terms you'll ever need - a Ryan Abbott (Geelong rookie ruckman, look him up) to Dayne Zorko, if you like. Enjoy.
ADP (Average Draft Position): A number that indicates where a player has been selected in a Fantasy Draft based on the previous drafts that have occurred beforehand. For example, Dayne Beams' draft ranking last year was 6. Fair to say, it won't be that high again.
Best 18: A term used over the bye rounds where only your highest 18 scoring players (who must be on the field) will count towards your score.
Break-even: The score a player must reach that weekend to maintain their price. For example, Dayne Beams' break-even in round one this year is 86. If he reaches this number against the Western Bulldogs, his price will increase and if he doesn’t, he’ll drop in value.
Break-out: A player who has a break-out season will boost their average considerably from the year before. Lachie Hunter did this in 2016, lifting his average from 78 to 103. These are the players you want to target when selecting your Fantasy team for the opening round.
Burning up the track: An overused term during the pre-season. Beware of thinking such pronouncements meaning to a one-week wonder ends up in your Fantasy team.
Captain: Each week you get to assign the captaincy to one player in your team, and their score is doubled for that round. If you'd picked Nick Riewoldt as captain in the final round last year, you would have banked 400 points (2 x 200).
Cash cow: A cheap player who grows in price due to strong scores through the season, before being sold to make money. For example, Connor Blakely began last season costing just $137,000. He had a series of high-scoring games as the Dockers blooded some youngsters and his price rose by $243,000 for grateful coaches. The perfect cash cow.
Ceiling: A player's best potential score, admittedly the subject of speculation. For example, Heath Shaw has a huge ceiling as he demonstrated in round nine last year with 176 points.
Chasing points: Trading in someone who scored well the week before, in the hope that they will replicate that form for you. For example, if you got really excited by Josh Gibson's score of 131 in round 18, 2016, and brought him into your side, you would have been devastated when he clocked 52 the following week against Carlton.
Cover: An emergency who will certainly play, and will provide you with cover if an on-field player is a late withdrawal. The ultimate cover scenario is when that emergency scores over 100 and you receive that score in place of withdrawn player. The nightmare scenario is when one of your players goes down injured in the first quarter with a sub-20 score, and your cover player scores over 100 but his score doesn't count.
Cuddle: A tackle - worth four points each in Fantasy.
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Donut: When you can’t field a full team due to injuries or poor management. A player who doesn't play that weekend will score 0 - a donut.
Downgrade: The term used when offloading a player to a cheaper player to make some cash. For example, when you gamble that Jack Steven isn't going to get any better for you and you trade him for Port young gun Sam Powell-Pepper and make a quick $300,000 profit.
DPP (Dual-Position Player): A player who carries two positions next to their name and can play in either one. Jack Macrae (FWD/MID) can therefore be selected as a forward or a midfielder and moved from position to position when needed (as long as he swaps with another dual-position player).
Emergency: A player selected on your bench to cover an on-field player in case they are a late-withdrawal. Apart from bye rounds, only those on the field will score for you, so emergencies who play are extremely important.
Interchange: Also known as the bench. You’ll have two players in each position here when playing Fantasy Classic. It's wise to pick one from each as your emergency for that position.
Junk time: A term that refers to players who get very busy in the closing stages of a game with lots of kick to kick and uncontested ball boosting their score. A Fantasy coach's dream. Ex-Tiger Joel Bowden was the king of this points bonanza.
Karma bus: An imaginary vehicle that will run down those who brag. Be careful not to boast to your mates about league victories before all games are completed. That's when the karma bus leaves the depot and Patrick Dangerfield does an ACL.
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Kissed: When a Fantasy coach gets mega-lucky and receives a 'kiss' from the Fantasy fairy.
Late change: A last minute change to the original 22 players who were selected when teams were announced. A term dreaded and feared by all Fantasy coaches.
Lock: A player who is cemented into your side from the first day you made your team. The name Adam Treloar springs to mind.
Lock-out: The term used when the round begins and your team can no longer be changed. Usually 7.40pm, every Friday night.
Loophole: A term used when Fantasy coaches try to gain a double-chance when selecting a captain. This can only be done during partial lock-outs when you select a player as a vice-captain on the Thursday game. Then, if you like their score, you select a non-playing bench player as your captain. They will score a zero and the vice-captain's score will be doubled. If the Thursday night score of the vice-captain isn’t any good, select a captain as you usually would.
Mid-priced player: Players who are valued between $300,000 to $500,000. Tempting to save a few dollars, but most are mid-priced for a reason.
More midfield time: A promise made to players from AFL coaches, that never comes true. Well, almost never.
Fantasy Pig: The highest and most prestigious status in the Fantasy world, awarded to a player who goes above and beyond to feast on points. Currently, only the great Dane Swan and Tom Rockliff hold the mantle. The Fantasy Pig has no respect - just when you think he's had his fill of points, he goes back for more and more.
Fantasy Piglet: A potential pig in the making, who is serving their apprenticeship. Tom Mitchell is a strong candidate.
Free Agent: A player who hasn’t been selected in a Draft team, who can then be picked up when required.
Guns and rookies: A strategy used by Fantasy coaches where they only pick premium players and rookies, totally avoiding the mid-priced options. The idea is that the premiums will score reliably every week, while the decent rookies will score well enough to generate a price rise and later be upgraded.
Par: Stolen from golf, it’s the score that would be deemed as average for the week. So, if Calvinator scores 2250 in a high-scoring round, he's about 200 under par and not where he wants to be.
Partial lock-out: When there is a Thursday night game (like round one), only players from the two opposing clubs in that game are 'locked', and cannot be selected after the opening bounce. All other players from the 16 remaining clubs can be selected. Full lock-out will then commence at the opening bounce of the Friday night game.
Pocketing: A term used when selecting rucks and sometimes referred to as 'handcuffing'. For example, selecting Shane Mumford and 'pocketing' him with his potential back-up, Dawson Simpson. If Mumford misses a game, the Giants may call up Simpson to replace him, and you would too. A good strategy to use when playing Draft.
POD (Player of difference). A unique person not selected by many coaches. Brent Stanton would be a good example.
Rage trade: What all good coaches do on early in the week, trading out under-performing players to send a message, and then reverse the trades on Friday.
Relton Roberts: A term used when a Fantasy coach panics at the last minute prior to the first lock-out. They ignore all their pre-season research and jump on a random rookie they’ve never heard of, just because they’re named to play in the opening round. Don’t be tricked.
The Traders look up Relton Roberts' Fantasy stats but struggle to find any
Reverse trade: A useful button that can be hit to change any trades you have made leading into lock-out. You can also use it to reset your entire team to what it was at the end of the last round.
Scrapheap: Also known as the waiver wire. A term used in Draft to describe a pool of free agents. Usually plenty of valuable players to be found.
Set and forget: Selecting a player with confidence, knowing they will be a season long keeper without causing any frustration. How this differentiates from a 'lock' is unclear.
Sideways trade: When you straight swap a player for another player of equal value. Often used over the bye period to prevent you from scoring zeroes.
Sleeper or slider: Terms that refer to players who may be forgotten about on draft day and selected as a steal in late rounds. Aaron Young, Jack Martin, Daniel Menzel, those sorts of players.
Snout: A word associated with a player who is showing Fantasy Pig tendencies.
Spud: A bad player who scores poorly. There's no nice way to say it. In Fantasy terms, Zac Dawson is the clear leader as someone who plays most games with the lowest scores.
Ton up: A term used when a player scores 100 points.
Upgrade: A term used to when trading to a better player.
Vice-captain: Very rarely used and heaven forbid you’ll need it. A vice-captain's score will be doubled if you selected captain is a late withdrawal.
Yeo Yeo: Named after a certain Eagle (former Lion) who is great one week and goes missing the next with yo-yo type scores.
The pre-season AFL Record is the ultimate guide to a big season ahead and a must-have companion for those playing AFL Fantasy. The Traders present all the best tips on how to play in 2017. They have picked the leading players in each position and rated the top five Fantasy players to watch at each club. On sale now for $9.95 in newsagents and book stores.
