Welcome to the 23rd Annual GIGS LADDER COMP, this year proudly brought to you by AustralianFootball.com and The Footy Almanac.
(Please note. This is not to be confused with the legendary Footy Almanac Tip the Top 8 comp. More details on that one here.)
The Gigs Ladder Comp (first held by Andrew Gigacz in 1991 with just three people involved) is your one-stop set-it-and-forget-it footy tipping comp that requires just a few minutes (or, for some people, seconds) of your time once before the season begins. All you have to do is list the 18 teams as you think they will be placed on the ladder AFTER season 2013’s end. (That’s after the Grand Final, NOT Round 23.)
The closest ladder we receive to the the actual end of year ladder (see Ladder Comp 101 below for how that’s calculated), will be the winner. Throughout the year you’ll get a chance to see how your ladder is tracking via weekly updates, which will appear on the Footy Almanac and Australian Football websites each Wednesday. You’ll also get a spreadsheet sent to your email address so you can compare your ladders to other contestants and other “so called experts” such as Rohan Connolly, Robert Walls and any other footy guru who’s prepared to make their full ladder public.
So put your ladder together, give it a name (or it will be given one in the format First Name Last Intial, e.g Thomas P), send it in and join in the fun!
LADDERS CAN BE EMAILED TO [email protected]. Details on how to pay will then be forwarded to you.
BORING BITS
The format of the comp remains the same as ever. For those of you who are newcomers, a detailed description of how it works appears further down the page (see “LADDER COMP 101?). The inherent beauty of this competition is, of course, the fact that entrants need to submit their ladders once only prior to the season starting, before sitting back and relaxing and observing the weekly progress of their efforts. It’s a kind of “set-it-and-forget-it” footy tipping comp.
The entry fee for 2013 will $10 per person, to be received as early as possible in the season, with prizes to be distributed amongst the top five place-getters (45%, 25%, 15%, 10% and 5% of the pool respectively), after the lucky wooden-spooner receives their money back. Payment can be made to me in person or anybody can deposit directly into my bank account. (These details will be provided to entrants who email me their ladder at [email protected].)
LADDER COMP 101 – A basic rundown for those who’ve never before partaken.
The object of this game is to predict the full AFL ladder as you believe it will look at season’s end. By “season’s end”, we are referring to the POST-GRAND FINAL ladder. This obviously means the winner of the GF in position number one, with loser in second-place. Positions 3-8 are determined by the official AFL method, in which the losers in each of the first three weeks of the finals are placed 7th and 8th, 5th and 6th, and 3rd and 4th. The ladder position as at Round 23 decides which of the two teams finishes in the higher spot in each of those three weeks. Positions 9-18 obviously don’t change after Round 23.
All you need to do is submit the 18 teams in the order you believe they will finish. A score will then be allocated based on the difference between your ladder and the actual ladder. For example if you select Essendon to finish 7th and they finish 11th, you will have 4 points (11 minus 7) awarded “against” you. This is done for each team and your score totalled. Using this method the lower your score, the better you are doing. A perfect ladder, with all 18 teams in their correct positions will achieve a score of zero.
As a guide, the 2012 scores ranged from 28 (the winner) to 134 (wooden-spooner), although these can very from year to year depending on unexpected rises and falls by the various teams.
Weekly updates will be provided each Wednesday during the season via the Footy Almanac and Australian Football websites (with a spreadsheet also emailed directly to you) so you can track the progress of your ladder against other experts.
Q & A
I’ve probably forgotten to mention something so please email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Please pass this link on to anyone who might be interested in joining in. All welcome.
In the mean time happy laddering.
Cheers
Gigs
About Andrew Gigacz
Well, here we are. The Bulldogs have won a flag. What do I do now?
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And here’s this year’s “Most Like To Come Last” ladder – mine:
HAWTHORN
SYDNEY
WEST COAST
COLLINGWOOD
BRISBANE
NORTH MELBOURNE
RICHMOND
ST KILDA
Fremantle
Adelaide
Carlton
Essendon
Geelong
Port Adelaide
Melbourne
GWS
Gold Coast
Footscray
*Most Likely
NOT just “most likely”, IMHO, Gigs.
An absolute certainty. Very Brave slotting BrisVegas in.
But NO Catters, no Freo (with a soft draw) and no Adelaide.
Hardly think so.
Doggies best possible slot — 4th last. More likely …. 3rd last [16th]
Here’s my stabs (and entry money getting paid to Daff at country footy book BBQ next week):
Weagles
Hawks
Pies
Sydney
Freo
Adelaide
Bluebags
Catters
Yes Richard, I know I have a few “left-fielders” in there. Happy to cop any flak if and when I come last.
You’ll need to give me your bottom ten to join the ladder comp, but those 8 teams will be enough to be part of the Almanac “Tip the Top 8” comp.
Cheers
Gigs
Andy Maher has been kind (and brave) enough to offer his outlook for the season.
1. Collingwood
2. West Coast
3. Sydney
4. Fremantle*
5. Adelaide
6. Hawthorn
7. Geelong
8. Carlton
9. North Melbourne
10. Essendon
11. Richmond
12. Brisbane
13. St Kilda
14. Port Adelaide
15. Western Bulldogs
16. Melbourne
17. Gold Coast
18. Greater Western Sydney
* Says Andy: “Worried about Freo if Sandilands misses more than he plays.”
If you’re going to the All Nations tonight, feel free to pass on your ladders and/or your entry fee to me while you’re there.
Here’s what Rohan Connolly thinks:
1. WEST COAST
2. HAWTHORN
3. SYDNEY
4. FREMANTLE
5. COLLINGWOOD
6. CARLTON
7. GEELONG
8. ADELAIDE
9. Richmond
10. North Melbourne
11. Essendon
12. St KIlda
13. Brisbane
14. Port Adelaide
15. Melbourne
16. Western Bulldogs
17. Gold Coast
18. Greater Western Sydney
Still time to get your ladders in, folks!
Here’s Robert Walls’s:
HAWTHORN
FREMANTLE
WEST COAST
SYDNEY
CARLTON
COLLINGWOOD
GEELONG
NORTH MELBOURNE
Adelaide
Richmond
St Kilda
Brisbane
Essendon
Gold Coast
Western Bulldogs
Greater Western Sydney
Melbourne
Port Adelaide
And here’s Garry Lyon’s:
WEST COAST
SYDNEY
HAWTHORN
FREMANTLE
COLLINGWOOD
GEELONG
ADELAIDE
NORTH MELBOURNE
Carlton
Richmond
St Kilda
Brisbane
Essendon
Port Adelaide
Melbourne
Western Bulldogs
Gold Coast
Greater Western Sydney