A guide to the Draftstars Player Traffic Lights
The most common topic of feedback Draftstars has received over the past 12 months relates to which players end up start in a sporting contest (and scoring Draftstars points), and more specifically those who don’t. We understand that there is nothing more frustrating than having a team of high scorers with a single player who didn’t get on the field because they were either not listed in the team, or were a late withdrawal, and therefore scored zero points.
Draftstars has adopted a Traffic light system that mirrors similar systems used in season long fantasy competitions, specifically for the purpose of assisting our players to pick a team of athletes (footballers, cricketers and basketballers) who are expected to play.
With the NRL changing the way official team line-ups are announced for 2017, and changes to the days and times when matches are played across both NRL and AFL, this guide outlines how the traffic light system used on Draftstars works, and how it can assist with selecting players that will end up on the field.
AFL – 22 players start per team (18 on field, 4 interchange)
For each official announcement, named teams are released to the AFL’s official site (afl.com.au).
| Announcement Time | Format of Teams Named |
|---|---|
| Wednesday (by 6:30pm AEST) |
If matches are scheduled on a Thursday that week, then Teams with Emergencies (18 on field, 4 interchange and 3 emergencies) are named for those Thursday matches on Wednesday. |
| Thursday Night (by 6:30pm AEST) |
Teams with Emergencies are named for Friday and Saturday matches. Extended Interchange (18 on field, 7 interchange) are named for Sunday (and Monday) matches. |
| Friday Night (by 6:30pm AEST) |
Teams with Emergencies are named for Sunday matches. The 4 interchange and 3 emergencies must come from the original 7 interchange named Thursday. |
| 1 Hour before Each Match | Final Teams (18 on field, 4 interchange) is named. Up to three late changes from the Thursday/Friday teams can be made (players from the starting 22 could have been replaced by one of the emergencies). |
| Just before Each Match | Starting Teams are named. This nearly always corresponds to the 22 named 1 hour before the match, but very rarely an injury takes place in the final warmup and a change is allowed to occur from the emergencies originally listed. This happened in 2016 when Dylan Grimes was replaced by Troy Chaplin for a Richmond game. |
Draftstars Traffic Lights (AFL)
Once we receive the teams from the official stats provider (Champion Data), traffic lights are then made available to players on Draftstars’ desktop site, mobile site and mobile apps.
| Format | Draftstars Traffic Lights |
|---|---|
| Before Teams are named | No traffic lights are shown for any player on either team. |
| Extended interchange (18 on field, 7 interchange) | The 18 players named on the field will be marked with a green traffic light green and the 7 interchange will be marked orange. All other players for that team will be marked Red (Inactive). |
| Teams with Emergencies (18 on field, 4 interchange and 3 emergencies) | The 18 on-field and 4 interchange players will be shown in green, with the 3 emergencies marked orange. |
| Final Teams, Starting Teams (18 on field, 4 interchange) | Any late changes to the 22 will result in the incoming emergency player going from Orange to Green and the player removed from the 22 changed to Red. Emergencies not listed in the 22 will be marked as red. |
In this way, orange means either “part of a 7 man interchange for a game in a few days” or “listed as an emergency and unlikely to start”. Unless players are confident that the information on the Draftstars site isn’t accurate (likely hasn’t been updated) they should avoid selecting orange marked players in the AFL.
NRL – 17 players start per team
Each team starts with a squad of 21 per team, reducing to a squad of 19 players 24 hours before the match, then subsequently to 17 an hour before the match. For each official announcement, named teams are released to the NRL’s official site (nrl.com.au).
| Announcement Time | Format of Teams Named |
|---|---|
| Tuesday (by 5:00pm AEST) | The NRL releases official team lists on a Tuesday afternoon at 4pm (5pm for NZ Warriors). Each of these lists consists of 21 players (13 players on the field and 8 interchange players). |
| 24 Hours before Each Match | Two players from the original list are removed and 19 players are named, again with 13 named in field positions but with 6 interchange players. |
| 1 Hour before Each Match | The Final 17 (13 are named in field positions and 4 interchange players are named). This is the team that will start the match. |
Draftstars Traffic Lights (NRL)
Once we receive the teams from the official stats provider (Prozone), this then results in the following traffic lights.
| Format | Draftstars Traffic Lights |
|---|---|
| Before Teams are named | No traffic lights are shown for any player on either team. |
| 21 Players | The 13 players named on the field will be green and the 8 interchange will be marked orange. All other players for that team will be marked Red (Inactive). |
| 19 Players | The 13 players named on the field will be green and the 6 interchange will be marked orange. The two players from the 21 man squad not selected will be moved to Red (Inactive). |
| Final 17 | The 13 players named on the field will be green and the 4 interchange will be marked orange. The two players from the 19 man squad not selected will be marked Red (Inactive). |
In this way, orange means either “at risk of not playing” until 1 hour of the match starting, at which point it means “starting on the interchange”. Unless players are clear in understanding that they are selecting players starting on the interchange, they should avoid selecting orange marked players in the NRL until the final 17 have been named.
Disclaimer
Feeds of updated team lists are often not received until well after official notice is provide on the sporting code’s website, and in some cases not at all. Players are encouraged to double check their teams on the official sites or twitter feeds of the official teams (which generally provide the team lists the earliest).
The Draftstars Slates
One of the reasons Draftstars has decided to trial a 3 match slate for Thursday/Friday, and another for Saturday (for NRL), is that the 19 man teams should be known for all matches by the start time of those contests. Holding a full round contest results in an increased risk of players not playing in teams selected within that contest.
With respect to AFL, with the likely 22 not known by Thursday night for Sunday matches, the Draftstars Full Round slate starts on Friday (excludes Thursday night match), again to ensure there is increased certainty of players taking the field.
NBA
Whilst there are no traffic lights for NBA, sometimes a red cross will appear next to a player’s name. This indicates that the player has appeared on their team’s injury report and that there is some doubt over them taking their place in the lineup. The red cross does not indicate that the player will miss the game. Due to the frantic nature of how NBA teams are announced (sometimes only ten minutes before tip-off) the best source of information relating to team news is twitter. When you are selecting your team on the app, ensure that you have turned off the ‘Hide Inactive Players’ filter, which will sometimes hide players who have appeared on the injury report, but still take their place in their team’s lineup.
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