The Fantasy Ruckers League Begins Second Season

By: John Fitzpatrick
Feb 12, 2023 - 9:30pm

Welcome to the Fantasy Ruckers league!

The fantasy what?

You mean a fantasy rugby team that includes Jonah Lomu, Brian O’Driscoll, and Sebastien Chabal?

That's cool, but no.

Something even better!

A fantasy sports league that combines Major League Rugby and all the elements of your standard fantasy sports experience - snake draft, waiver wire picks, and last-minute roster maneuvers!

via GIPHY

Are you still reading!?

Great - let me explain how this all came together and why you should follow along.

The Fantasy Ruckers Story

Brothers Matt and Ryan Ye convinced their long-time buddy, Vandy, who never followed the sport, to join them in creating a fantasy sports competition featuring MLR players.

What followed last season was a group of eight MLR supernerds who hand-scored all the matchups and plotted the day when fantasy MLR would take over the world!

We didn’t take over the world, but we did recruit new members to expand the competition.

Joining us this season are big names in American rugby media:

• Rugby Wrap Up - Matt McCarthy & Zach Lanning
• MLR Stats - James Deeley
• Eagles Overseas - Bill Baker
• MLR All Access - Stacy Paetz, Marc Stcherbina, and the show producers

New developments this season include a website and an enhanced stats collection process courtesy of Alistair Kirsch-Poole, writer for Glorious Rugby, proprietor of The Rugby Fan Blog Network, and co-host of the Glorious Rugby Podcast.

Are You Not Entertained?

Why should you care about The Fantasy Ruckers?

Because it’s something new, it’s something fun, and why the heck not, right?

More seriously, we think fantasy MLR engages with avid and casual fans, especially if they already play fantasy sports, such as football.

For example, our boy Vandy, who had never seen a rugby match before, is scouting players in the NPC and Super Rugby to prepare for the 2023 MLR Fantasy Draft.

He’s more knowledgeable about the sport, having fun, and owns merchandise of his favorite MLR team, the Utah Warriors.

All positive outcomes from playing in a silly fantasy MLR league.

Plus, you can tune in each week to watch the highly entertaining Fantasy Ruckers Show as Matt, Ryan, and Vandy review the prior week and preview the week ahead.

League Settings - Scoring

If you’ve read this far that might mean you are interested in learning more about how the scoring works in the league.

Individual players accumulate, or lose, points based on the following stats:

• Tries = 5pts
• Try Assist = 2pts
• Conversions = 1.0 pts
• Penalties = 1.5 pts
• 70+ minutes played = 0.5pts
• 80+ minutes played = 1.0 pts
• Yellow Card = -4.0 pts
• Red Card = -8.0 pts

**- Meters gained = 0.1pts/meter (replaces last year's try distance meters)

• Tackles = 0.3pts
• Breakdown steals = 2pts
• Turnovers = -0.5pts **

MLR clubs accumulate points based on their collective performance with set pieces, scoring and defensive effort.

• Set-piece Try Assist (Any try scored off of a maul/scrum by a player participating in a scrum or lineout) = 2.0 pts (awarded to Set piece TEAM)

• Offensive Bonus Point (Team scored 4+ tries in a game, exactly like MLR’s bonus point standing system) = 1.0 pts (awarded to Set piece TEAM)

• Defensive Bonus Point (Team loses within 7pts of opposing team, exactly like MLR’s bonus point) = 1.0 pts (awarded to Set piece TEAM)

League Settings - Rosters

Each owner must field a lineup that includes the following positions:

Front Row

• Hookers scored the most (behave yourself!) fantasy points in the front row

Second Row

• Counting tackles will boost their fantasy relevance

Back Row

• Riekert Hattingh was top six in fantasy scoring last season

Forward Flex

• An additional player from any of the forwards

Scrumhalf

• Matty & Ryan Ye's favorite position

Flyhalf

• Points for successful conversions and penalties

Center

• Dominated fantasy scoring last season

Back Three

• Can Ed Fidow repeat his league-leading try scoring efforts?

Back Flex

• An additional player from any of the backs

Team Defense/Set Piece

• Points from the set piece, bonus points and defensive effort

Five Bench Players

• Need depth in the reserves

How to Follow the League

Discord:The Fantasy Ruckers

Facebook:The Fantasy Ruckers

Instagram:The Fantasy Ruckers

Twitter:The Fantasy Ruckers

YouTube:The Fantasy Ruckers

What’s Next?

In tomorrow's post, I’ll share the results of the 2023 MLR Fantasy Draft and provide playoff probabilities for each owner in the league.