So you know football competitions, well Dockerland has been running a small but fun competition for a few years now. If my memory serves me correctly, Scal initiated the good-humoured competition and Oos picked up the reins in 2006 - always with Shane's technical and managerial support.
![DFFL Trophy The perpetual DFFL trophy](http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh112/MercuryAlbums/DFFLtrophysmall.jpg)
Shane has given the nod and the Dockerland Fantasy Football League (DFFL) will run again in 2009. It is free and the only prizes on offer are good-natured ribbing and the knowledge that your team smashed another Dockerlander's team.
Me? I don't play. But I do offer helpful criticism like referring to your team as a mob of eGurls-loving goats and predicting that you'd be lucky to be able to beat a rug with your player positionings. Oh, and I also keep score. I gather the weekly player statistics from an online source where I can copy/paste the stats into my DFFL utility. The online source used to be the AFL website, but since the AFL flasherised (yes, that's a technical term that you are not clever enough to understand) their site, I've had to use FinalSiren. Sometimes FinalSiren’s statistics are different to those of the AFL.
So, how does the competition work? The section below provides the detail. In short, you participate in a Preseason Draft to pick your squad. Each week you select a team and your score is generated from the number of scores, marks, tackles, hit-outs and disposals your players pick up in the course of the game.
Want to play? To take part you must commit yourself to the Draft and submit a team each week. If you can't do that, do not nominate! To submit your nomination, reply to this posting on Dockerland. In the tradition of the DFFL, the first 16 self-nominations get to play, but I'll drop someone off the nomination list if they have a history of taking up a position but not participating.
Draft
Each coach will be assigned a number from 1 to 16 randomly. In the first round of the draft, coaches will choose a player starting with coach 1 through to 16. In the second round, we will reverse the order, and coach 16 will start, backwards through to coach 1. This will continue for all 15 rounds of the draft. The draft is conducted via Dockerland's Chat utility on an agreed night. Be warned - it does take a few hours to conduct! You can prepare a list of players you wish to draft if you are unable to make the draft night or in case there are any technical difficulties.
Extra Picks
From the time the draft is completed until June 30, each coach can avail themselves of a maximum of two (2) extra draft picks but must also delist players to allow for the new ones. In the event of one of their players being declared out of action for the remainder of the season, coaches can select a replacement. This is in addition to the extra draft picks. This is not compulsory and is at the coach's discretion.
Weekly Selection
Each week, the coach selects 11 players out of their 15 to compete. Those 11 players are broken up into 2 forwards, 3 midfielders, 2 backmen, 1 ruckman and 3 interchange players. If one of the main 8 players pulls out before the game on the weekend, the best interchange player will be chosen to take his place. If a player is hurt during the game, that is bad luck and the stats he has collected will be counted.
Scoring
The teams total score consists of the scores attained by the 8 players selected (or the interchange player if needed).
- Forwards - 3 points per goal, 1 point per behind
- Midfielders - 1 point per disposal
- Backmen - 1 point per mark, 1 point per tackle
- Ruckman - 1 point per mark, 1 point per hit-out
Winning
If you win the game for that week, you will score 4 premiership points, and get percentage according to how well you won. The ladder is identical to the AFL ladder in every respect.
Finals
At the end of the 18 rounds of premiership action, the final 8 will compete in 4 rounds of finals.