The 21st Annual LADDER LADDER Competition

What the hell is a LADDER LADDER competition, I hear the uninitiated ask? Well it’s NOT the Tip The Top 8 comp. That is indeed another fine way to have fun with footy and you can find the details of that one right here.

The LADDER LADDER Competition is simple: it’s a comp that requires you to do no more than to write down (or type) the names of the 17 AFL teams ONCE for the ENTIRE season. How easy is that?

Oh, and you do have pay $5 to enter. But look what you get for that $5:

* a mind-bogglingly confusing weekly email, complete with bad puns, stupid stats and ridiculous comments

* a weekly update on how your ladder is going against the REAL ladder AND everybody else’s

* your chance to pit yourself against the ladders of “so called experts” from the various media

* ladders from obscurely named “celebrities” such as The Gray Glove, Chance Fateman and Benjamin Button

* your chance to win hundreds of dollars!

But don’t take my word for it, listen to what some of previous “ladderists” had to say about this comp:

“As good as anything I have seen” LC

“Great stuff” TI

“Have I paid, yet?” MP

“If you only enter one ladder competition this year it’ll probably be this one” AG

“I just don’t know how you keep coming up with this stuff” PS

“You must have a lot of time on your hands” DC

“You are one damaged piece of meat” JW

“Didn’t I read these same comments in last year’s promo?” SA

“Always entertaining and informative!” DC

“You’ve lost me again” JW

“But I’d be no good at this”

Don’t be so sure. There have been years when the LADDER LADDER Competition has been won by first-time entrants!

“So when do I have to submit my ladder by?”

All ladders need to be submitted prior to the start of the season which is THIS THURSDAY MARCH 24th at 7:10PM. That’s not much time, but that’s the beauty of this comp. It doesn’t take that long to put down the names of the 17 AFL teams in some kind of order. Of course you COULD spend hours pondering over where each team will finish (and you people out there know who you are!) only to be beaten by someone who spent less than two minutes on the entire exercise. It’s entirely up to you.

Get cracking! And tell your friends and family to send one in too!

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.

As always the entry fee is $5 per person, to be received as early as possible in the season, with prizes to be distributed amongst the top three place-getters (50%, 35% and 15% 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 22 decides which of the two teams finishes in the higher spot in each of those three weeks.  Positions 9-16 obviously don’t change after Round 22.

All you need to do is submit the 17 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 16 teams in their correct positions will achieve a score of zero.

As a guide, the 2010 scores ranged from 32 (the winner) to 114 (wooden-spooner), although these can very from year to year depending on unexpected rises and falls by the various teams. And this year provides the added complication of a 17th team, too.

I will endeavour to provide weekly updates via email 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 email 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?

Comments

  1. Gigs – can’t wait to enter. I’m looking to improve on last year where I finished 56th.

    Now here’s another idea – the upside down ladder ladder. You have to pick the order from 17th the first!

  2. Surely you can put together a better ladder than Rohan Connolly? Check it out below and get yours in to me at the email address above.

    ROHAN CONNOLLY’s 2011 LADDER:

    Collingwood
    Footscray
    St Kilda
    Geelong
    Fremantle
    Hawthorn
    Sydney
    North Melbourne
    —————–
    Carlton
    Melbourne
    Essendon
    Adelaide
    Richmond
    Port Adelaide
    West Coast
    Brisbane
    Gold Coast

  3. Speaking of ladders Gigs you wouldn’t have an update on the Sheffield Shield ladder would you. There hasn’t been too much reported in the Melb. papers lately.

    I have heard some of the esteemed Vic Knackers say that T20 and 50 Over cricket is not the real deal. How about the Shield?

    Oh we’re from Tiger Land,
    A fighting fury, Tassie Tiger Land…….

    Happy Phantom.

  4. Come on folks. Time’s running out. Get your ladder in and claim bragging rights when it beats Robert Walls’ one:

    Footscray
    Collingwood
    Geelong
    St Kilda
    Adelaide
    Hawthorn
    Fremantle
    Carlton
    ———–
    Melbourne
    Sydney
    North Melbourne
    Essendon
    Richmond
    Port Adelaide
    Gold Coast
    Brisbane
    West Coast

  5. How do I get the money to you Gigs?

  6. Phantom. Firstly, congratulations to those Tassie Tigers. I for one am fully prepared to acknowledge them as the best team in the country.

    Regarding money: in unmarked, non-sequential bills.

    Alternatively to my bank account, the details of which will be forwarded via email.

  7. Gigs
    I will work on it tonight, and email you my ladder tomorrow.
    Cheers
    Smokie

  8. Alovesupreme says

    Top to Bottom, I suggest:

    St. Kilda
    Collingwood
    Western Bulldogs
    Geelong
    Carlton
    Hawthorn
    Adelaide
    Sydney
    Fremantle
    Essendon
    Melbourne
    Port Adelaide
    West Coast
    Richmond
    North Melbourne
    Brisbane
    Gold Coast

    Gigs, I tried the email, and was given the message “Invalid address”.
    If you’ll be at the lunch to-morrow, I’ll hand you my $5 contribution to the prize pool for the benefit of more astute tipsters than me. Otherwise I’ll use the bank deposit system.

  9. #8. Not sure what happened there, Alovesupreme. It’s definitely [email protected] (unless you had the full stop often the “com”?). Anyway, I’ll email you separately and, yes, will be at tomorrow’s lunch.

    Thanks

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