2026 FF Original Discussion Thread

Football Discussion BomberBlitz.com Fantasy Sports Leagues
1

Hey all

Some key info for the upcoming BBFFL1 season.

Firstly, thanks to @Blummers32 for all the great work he has done administering this comp the past two seasons. Also shout out to @Allblack and @You_Shall_Be_Smoten for assisting on the commish.

Blummers and Smoten have retired from the comp, and we welcome @jstella2 as one of the replacement coaches. Jstella2, you can take over either of the vacant teams. I’ll send you the squad lists as they stand for both of them. We still have one opening for a new coach. If anyone is interested, please PM me.

If anyone is interested in joining me on administration duties and forming a commish, I’d be happy to have you on board.

Teams and coaches

Team Coach
Sunbury Seagulls Split_Infinity
Knights of Columbus Crazy_Bomber
Saracens 1 saladin
Red and All Blacks Allblack
Conargo Bulls redbull
Topdonkeys The_Melkman
Mildura Crunchas SFNL The_Mad_Bomber
Pimpino Tigers HDFL wimmera1
Chiswick Cockatoos jstella2
Arizona Trotters Trotters
Essington FC OntheRise
Geyland United AVanderScreamer
Macleod Marvels Jefferson
Hotdons JBaller92
ExcitementMachines Stoops
Windy Dill Windy_Dill

Key dates:

  • Keeper deadline - Thur 19 Feb 9:00pm AEST
  • Draft begins - Sat 21 Feb 9:00am AEST
  • Pre-season trade period - Opening now, closes Thur 19 Feb 9:00pm AEST
  • Mid-season trade period - Mon 25 May 9:00am - Sun 21 Jun 9:00pm AEST (during bye rounds)
  • Season begins - Thur 12 Mar 7:30pm AEST (R1 Carl vs Rich - OR is a non-scoring round)

Competition fees (same as last season):

  • Entry fee - $20/coach
  • Admin - $50 for AFL Fantasy
  • Premiers prize - $240
  • Runner-up prize - $70

List management rules

  • Starting line-ups will consist of 6 forwards, 5 midfielders, 6 defenders and a ruckman
  • List size to be trimmed to 20 “keepers” by Thur 12 Feb 9:00pm AEST
  • List to be topped up to 30 players through the draft
  • Coaches have a responsibility to ensure a balanced mix of positions to enable a full side to be fielded each week
  • There are no restrictions on the number and timing of free-agency acquisitions, which will be managed on AFL Fantasy.
  • Players delisted will become “Restricted Free Agents” for two days. During this period they can be bid on by coaches. Restricted Free Agents will be allocated a team determined by reverse ladder order.
  • If a Restricted Free Agent is not bid on within two days, they enter the Free Agency pool, and can be picked up at any time by any coach.

Draft time limits

  • Coaches have a 6 hour time limit to make their selection
  • It is incumbent on coaches to set suitable number of contingencies through the app if they are unable to monitor the draft
  • If a coach does not select during their 6 hour time limit, the highest ranked player according to the app will be automatically drafted to that team

Bye rounds

  • Early bye rounds will be adjusted by applying Opening Round points to bye players
  • Mid-season bye rounds will be adjusted by applying season averages to bye players
  • Injured players who have the bye are ineligible for bye round scoring

Lockouts

  • Players can be moved between on-field or bench positions up to their individual game times
  • Players can be added to squads through fee agency or delisted up to the start of the first game of the round

I’ll provide more information and clarification in this thread. I’m certainly open to suggestions, and can make changes as required if we have consensus on a rule. Post your thoughts in this thread for discussion or PM me if you prefer.

7 Likes
2

@Allblack @Awesome_Scotty @wimmera1 @saladin @Crazy_Bomber @Stoops @redbull @The_Mad_Bomber @Trotters

3 Likes
3

@The_Melkman @Jefferson @AVanderScreamer @Split_Infinity @JBaller92 @OntheRise @jstella2 @Windy_Dill

1 Like
4

Gosh.
The 12th is like…counts on fingers really soon…

1 Like
5

so are we using the same platform , and we can log in now?

6

Yes, same platform. League is setup now and you can login.

7

On the app it is saying the league is awaiting activation, am I doing something wrong?

8

I’m probably doing something wrong. I’ll look into this.

9

I logged in and can see my squad. I’m assuming the indicated positions are correct.

10

We’re going with whatever positions the AFL assigns each player

11

I’m getting the same on the app. But can login from web browser and see my side.

12

We’re having some teething issues with the AFL draft website and the transfer of commissioner duties. I’m now able to activate the league, but not able to make a number of key setting changes I’d need to do before activating. Am waiting for support to get back to me on this.

Will keep you all posted.

3 Likes
13

Can I just say, is the keepers / draft happening way earlier than previously? I generally recall getting a look at a round of practice matches before having to settle on the 20 post-trades. Or is it a function of different practice match schedules now?

1 Like
14

I wanted to give us two weeks before the first AFL game to complete the draft. As it’s set, we’ve got 19 days between our draft starting and Rich v Carl.

Nothing is set in stone yet while we have AFL Draft issues being resolved, so potentially we could push it back. From memory the draft usually takes 10-12 days.

If it all feels a bit rushed to everyone, I’ll adjust the date. Happy to take feedback on this and anything else.

1 Like
15

I also thought it was a little early, I haven’t even thought about getting the footy record yet.
But I don’t know if it is, and I’m fine with it, and making sure we get through the draft is a good thing.

16

It looks like we started last year’s drafts late Feb / very early March , and from memory it was a close run thing before Round zero ( which is just a stupid concept but that’s another issue :rofl:)

1 Like
17

I’m certainly okay with pushing it back. There’s backend stuff to resolve, and we also need to find a new coach.

Previous years there’s been some anxiety about finishing the draft in a timely fashion, hence my slightly earlier start time.

1 Like
18

Just want to get a feel for when we should launch the draft. Please vote on options below:

Draft commencement date

  • Sat 14 Feb - 19 days before OR
  • Tues 17 Feb - 16 days before OR
  • Fri 20 Feb - 13 days before OR
  • Mon 23 Feb - 10 before OR
  • Sun 22 Feb - 7 days before OR
0 voters
19

Did we have a draft order anywhere? I usually have all this written down, but moving house and changing phones has seen me misplace everything

1 Like
20

First round of scratch matches finishes 21st Feb after they run between 16-21st. The only game on the 21st is WCE v FRE.

Official practice matches are 25th Feb - 1st March. Opening rd is 5th March, with teams for most opening rd fixtures being the evening of Thursday 5th of March.

Personal preference would be Fri 20th or Sun 22nd for the draft. It would be good to get a look at all sides once, but I’d rather not be drafting on the 5th when teams are announced as it gives a big leg up to coaches with late picks

6 Likes