Want to get that edge over an Australian when challenging them to fantasy football? Then this is a must-read, but good luck in deciphering our creativity.
The Mentality of an Australian Player
When it comes to managing a fantasy football roster, Australians have to think outside of the box and get creative to beat Northern Hemisphere managers.
Why? Well, we are essentially always at a disadvantage when taking on our Northern Hemisphere counterparts.
Australians approach their fantasy football curiously to that of the Northern Hemisphere. We focus on fantasy football progressively, from where the heart begins, then up towards our heads, and then slightly to one side.
As author Rick Warren once quoted, “at first opposites attract, then opposites attack”. A mantra that fantasy communities should use for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres to come together to play. Everyone’s excited at first, but soon our northern friends quickly realise that we are a win-at-all-cost mentality nation.
Our analogy for fantasy football is simple. GO BIG OR GO HOME and it becomes shockingly apparent to those who haven’t played with us. Our unknown combative methods make us stand out as the odd-bunch, willing to go to any length to win a championship.
Differences like our Christmas period being the sun, beaches and hot as buggery. While your festivities seasons are snow, sleds, and colder to us than a hot (chip) french fry in a freezer. This is why we need to be formidable opponents with unrivaled intensity and a ruthless underdog mentality that is unknown to you.
After all, the NFL isn’t our national sport, and having to wake up at 3 am on Monday mornings just to watch live NFL action is a badge of honour.
In-Season Management
For an Australian to get ahead in the fantasy realm, we have to try and accurately predict the future. Yes, we technically live in the future – based on time-zone difference, but we are factually behind. While you are awake in your hemisphere, we are asleep in ours.
Unless we stay awake all night while news stories are happening in the NFL, we just will not keep up to date with current affairs. We wake up to roster moves and player pick-ups already secured.
“I’m just a normal Aussie bloke who likes to smoke and drink. If they’d held the final between 2 am and 4 am. I might have won.” — Jai Taurima, Olympic silver medallist in the long jump in Sydney.
We gain our edge by making calculated risky moves when the Northern Hemisphere sleeps. However difficult it is to predict and make bold moves for our rosters, we do it nonetheless. And for doing so, you will call us insane.
We premeditate the what-if outcomes for the next day, week, or month of an injured player and his replacement or a depth chart change. Even possible trade scenarios are readings we engage ourselves in to gain the upper hand. Piecing together puzzles well enough so when those puzzle pieces fall in the right place, we have that player already rostered.
In-Season Trading
Be careful not to get into conversation with an Australian when trades are getting done. Stick to your plan, don’t be swayed by the ‘BS’ that comes your way. Our colloquial enchantment has caught many a victim off their guard. We bring an element of surprise to the table when trying to secure our deals.
We leak stories about players’ health and well-being, stats, or multi-up on player swaps to hide the real player we want in that negotiation. Occasionally the use of an emotive element of trading is finessed by urging other managers into thinking the deal won’t last long.
I’ve seen it all go down in a fantasy league to gain any advantage of a trade – the new tricks getting created to get deals done are nothing short of brilliant.
Bold, speculative additions in free agency are also tactics we apply and are sometimes enough to sew the seed of doubt amongst our northern comrades. Along with the new player added to our roster, we write a critique on why that player is a must-have to any roster and create the need for that player.
Furthermore, our methods can get quite creative. If trades aren’t going our way, we aren’t afraid to cut a popular player in an attempt to send the waiver wire into a frenzy. Then hoping another manager drops a player of relevance who we can add.
Frustrated by it all, be sure not to show your cards to an Australian, as he just doubles down on you with all guns blazing.
Pre-Draft Management
Australians are larrikins. It’s in our nature to laugh at our mates’ expense. We certainly don’t take it personally, nor do we expect others to. Give as good as you get is our motto.
But we know how to rile the best of them up and we understand the draft is the first way we get the opportunity to. When we draft, our method is our madness.
We still use ADP charts, research on breakouts, and follow the norms of any NFL fantasy expert, analyst, or fan – for the most part. But if we can make a selection to throw any expert off their game then we will do it.
By going bold and making surprise picks early in the draft, managers begin to lose focus on their draft strategy and start to focus on ours, getting flabbergasted by our selections. It’s a great tactic to use to get your opponent sitting there shaking their heads, asking what the hell just happened.
“No one, however smart, however well-educated, however experienced, is the suppository of all wisdom.” — Tony Abbott, former Australian Prime Minister.
The word he intended to say was “repository”. But the key message here is we aren’t afraid to go with a different approach to the normalities of NFL fantasy drafts and select an unknown player early. That’s one of the pre-emptive strategies we do to gain an advantage.
Everything done has a reason as to why we have made the move. We have a future plan in mind. And by starting in an unpredictable fashion, we are simply creating a path for our moves that we can potentially manipulate later in the season.
Conclusion
Australian fantasy managers do have fun with fantasy football, but it’s our unique character that has you guessing what moves we make next in any given season. Lose focus and underestimate us, and an Australian will ultimately blindside you.
The conclusion here is that if you’re looking for a fun, abrupt active league member, then find a passionate Australian to play with. We will take your game to a whole new level of craziness.
I’ll leave you with one last Australian movie quote called The Club, “With the team we’ll have next year, Jesus Christ would be flat out making the reserves!”
Thank you for reading! You can find more of my work on my IDP Guys author page. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @FF_ProdigalSon and, while you’re there, be sure to follow @IDPGuys too!
