Ben and I were joined by the Fantasy Hurling creator Cathal McErlean and Oulart the Ballagh’s Des Mythen, a shrude fantasy hurling operator, to discuss and give tips for the upcoming 2022 championship game. Here are 5 tips that came out of our conversation to help you navigate your way to fantasy hurling success!
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- Playing the Fixtures
There are a few important factors to consider with regards to the fixtures in this year’s fantasy hurling game. The most notable is that the teams in Leinster will have an extra fixture compared to those in Munster. So while some players from Munster teams might appear more glamourous, they will only have 4 games to Leinster teams 5 games which means one Munster team doesn’t have a game each week starting with Clare at the weekend.
Another point worth noting is that there are two perceived weaker teams in Leinster in Westmeath and Laois. Westmeath have been playing their league trade this year in the second tier, albeit gaining promotion to Division 1 with a thumping of Down in the Division 2 final. Laois shipped some heavy defeats in Division 1A but avoided a relegation showdown with Offaly after an all-important win over Antrim in the Portlaoise. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to avoid players from Westmeath and Laois, but you do want to target forwards from Kilkenny, Dublin, Galway and Wexford for the first few rounds.
That’s not to say that you don’t look at players in Munster. But it will stand to you to keep an eye on when each team blanks. For example, Tony Kelly is an obvious pick that will be on most people’s radar. But, as mentioned, Clare don’t play in Round 1, so there is no need to have him, or any other Clare player in your team for the first round. There is a transfer window after R1 where you can transfer Tony Kelly safe in the knowledge that Clare won’t have another blank game week.
2. Who takes the frees?
Free takers have an obvious shine off them when selecting your players in fantasy hurling as they could come away with an extra 8-10 points from placed balls alone. But identifying the right free takers and the ones who can do the damage from play also is crucial.
Interestingly, at the time of writing, Dublin’s Donal Burke is the only really nailed on free-taker in Leinster for different reasons. There are question marks over the participation of Lee Chin and TJ Reid which could leave Rory O’Connor and Alan Murphy on the frees for Wexford and Kilkenny respectively. Conor Cooney took the majority of the frees for Galway in the league but if Evan Niland is able to force his way into the starting 15 then I think he could be on them. Then, with Laois and Westmeath, the free-taking was a lot more shared with PJ Scully, Stephen Maher and Ross King taking them at different stages for Laois and Killian Doyle and Jack Gillen splitting the duties for Westmeath.
On the flip side, Munster teams appear to have much more settled free takers. You’d expect all of Horgan, Kelly, Gillane, Forde and Bennett to start and when they start they take the frees. With the fixtures in mind, I think that the likes of Jason Forde and Donal Burke are essential and then it’ll be worth waiting for the teams to be announced on Friday and Saturday to choose from the others.
Backs and goalkeepers get 2 points for pointed frees so it’s also worth looking at players like Paudie Foley and Mark Fanning (Wex), Diarmuid Byrnes (Lim), Enda Rowlands (Laois) and Eoin Murphy (KK) who all have tendencies to bomb a few long-distance frees.
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3. Your Fantasy Captain
Your captain gets double points so the idea here is to pick the player you think will score the most. Simple. Again, keep the fixtures in mind as it costs a valuable transfer to change your captain so you don’t want a player that might have a blank game week, and as Des Mythen said, sometimes it’s good to pick a differential, someone that no ones else will captain as it’s a way to outscore the rest.
Eye’s will be on teamsheets to see if TJ Reid starts as he is will be sure to be a popular choice while Donal Burke is another great shout if TJ fails to make the Kilkenny starting 15.
4. Differentials
Finding that gem of a player that very few other teams contain is what can decide whether you finish the week nearer the top or the bottom of the table. As mentioned, Des even considers captaining a differential as he claims that it can be the difference-maker.
Panel Differential Picks:
Des: Mossy Keoghan, Eoin Cody (both Kilkenny)
Ben: Conal Flood (Wexford), Killian Doyle (Westmeath)
Cathal: Ronan Glennon (Galway), Danny Suttcliffe (Dublin)
Garry: Rian McBride, Ronan Hayes (both Dublin)
5. Manager Pick
This one is more straightforward. Pick the manager of the team that you think will win the All Ireland. The manager is not someone that you want to waste a transfer on so it’s a pick-and-stick situation. Des noted that during the league, selecting John Kiely over Liam Cahill probably cost him over 100 points in the long run.
I hope these tips help and again, don’t forget to sign up and enter:
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