Some may already know the news and some may be living under a rock… but wherever you landed on the news, GameDay Squad is excited to announce that Women’s Aussie Rules is coming to the platform! For the 2023 season, GameDay Squad are proud to be venturing into one of the fastest growing leagues in the country and cannot wait to get involved in any way we can. We also understand that for the majority, this will be the first step into the Women's Aussie Rules fantasy space, and to help climates existing and/or new users, this blog will provide you with all you need to know to get started on your Women’s Aussie Rules fantasy journey!
What is GameDay Squad?
GameDay Squad follows the traditional fantasy approach of leveraging in-game stats to apply scores to players. Coaches select a team of players each week and their individual scores aggregate to determine the team's overall score. Where GameDay Squad differs from conventional fantasy platforms is that instead of selecting players from a “pool” of players, GameDay Squad’s fantasy players come in the form of player cards that are digital assets that you have full control and ownership of on the GameDay Squad platform. You will be able to start, bench, trade, de-list, sell and buy these cards all within the GameDay Squad platform and enjoy the traditional fantasy game all at the same time. In addition, GameDay Squad’s fantasy modes are based on the dynasty fantasy model, which means that you retain your fantasy assets season-to-season. Dynasty fantasy sports creates a fantasy experience like no other. By enabling team owners to keep players and build a team over time, there is a stronger sense of ownership, and there is value in identifying future stars of the game.
More on Player Cards and how to obtain them?
Player cards can only enter the GameDay Squad ecosystem through opening packs. Although player packs are the only way to introduce players to the GameDay Squad Platform, coaches will be able to acquire players through other means such as the transfer market. Player cards have key visual elements, including team colour, the player's name, the player's number (GDS Aussie Rules and GDS Women’s Aussie Rules only), the multiplier attached, the rarity of the card, and the player's position. Another feature of the player cards within GameDay Squad is that once you acquire a player card, it’s your card forever. You can make any decision you like with your player cards including delisting, trading for other player cards and selling on the transfer market.
In GameDay Squad, each player in both Women’s Aussie Rules have 6 variations of their card, each with an ascending level of rarity. Higher rarities of cards have a higher points multiplier - meaning they receive an additional bonus to their standard scoring.
The 6 rarities, card numbers and multipliers of cards are as follows:
Bronze - Unlimited - 1.0x Silver - 500 - 1.1x Gold - 250 - 1.2x Platinum - 50 - 1.3x Diamond - 10 - 1.4x Legend - 1 - 1.5x
To put the multipliers in perspective, a Kiara Bowers Diamond card applies a multiplier to their score of 1.4 x. If Kiara Bowers scores 100 GDS fantasy points as a base score, that then gets increased to 140 fantasy GDS points given her Diamond status and 1.4 x multiplier. This brings players with lesser fantasy relevancy into the conversation as starters and propels established fantasy studs into fantasy superstardom!
One of the main ways to collect cards is to purchase player car packs. Player card packs can be found in the GameDay Squad Women’s Aussie Rules store. There are three pack rarities, with three types of player volume attached. These include:Each type of pack has a different chance to include different rarities of cards, with a higher chance for the rarest cards in the Unique pack type. At the start of each GameDay Squad coach’s journey, they will be given starter packs to start building out their squad. In both codes, each coach will receive 30 bronze player cards. The player cards are completely random, giving everyone the chance to pack someone special right from the start.
So now you have some player cards, how do the squads work?
There are 18 active scoring players on an Women's Aussie Rules field. These are separated into 4 different positions:
6 defenders
5 midfielders
1 ruckman
6 forwards.
There are also 4 total bench players, one for each position. As well as your reserve which house all your non-playing player cards. A full and comprehensive list of all the Women's Aussie Rules active players and their positions will be released shortly.
How do your player cards accumulate points?
The stats your player's record in real-life competition will inform how many points they receive in GameDay Squad fantasy. The Women's Aussie Rules scoring measurements are broken down below.
Women's Aussie Rules 2023 GDS Scoring:
Kick - 4 Points
Handball - 2 Points
Mark - 3 Points
Tackle - 4 Points
Hit-Outs - 1 Point
Goal - 8 Points
Free-Kick For - 2 points
Free-Kick Against - (-2) points
Additional Scoring Details:
● When a game is complete a player's score will be multiplied by their card tier.
● Players in a team's reserves will not score points.
● Once all player's scores have been calculated, a weekly total score will be assigned to each coach for the round. These scores will be used to determine the standings in each competition against other coaches.
● This process is completed weekly with the final season standings for both leagues being a cumulative score of a coach's weekly scores.
How do I compete?
In 2023, both the Australian Rules Football and Rugby League codes will have two different competitions: namely the Classic Competition and the Champion Competition. To enter a squad all you have to do is simply fill in all the empty position slots and you are good to go! If there are empty slots remaining, your squad will be disqualified and you will receive zero points for that round.
Each card in GDS is assigned a salary cap cost depending on the rarity of the card, described below:
Bronze - $500k
Silver - $550k
Gold - $650k
Platinum - $750k
Diamond - $850k
Legend - $1 million
The Classic Competition’s rules mean that coaches are required to create the best possible team they can while still playing under the 12 million dollar salary cap. For the Classic Competition the salary cap is set at 12 million dollars, users need to stay on or under that salary cap using the dollar amount per tier to create the best team possible. The Champion Competition is where the highest tiered cards are played as there are no salary cap rules to play with. Coaches go head to head with their best cards and the best coach wins! It’s important to note that if a coach submits a Classic Competition team they also enter the Champion Competition as well.
Prizes
Prizes for the Women' Aussie Rule season are yet to be announced but keep tabs on all GameDay Squad social media accounts and discord channel for updates regarding any prize announcements!