'Once in a lifetime': Schoolteacher wins AFL Fantasy competition
A regional South Australian PE teacher has had all his hard work over 13 years pay off, beating out 140,000 players to win this year's AFL Fantasy competition.
In an extraordinary year, schoolteacher Tyler Wagner emerged as the winner of AFL Fantasy, a competition that draws nearly 140,000 participants annually. Wagner, a diehard Fremantle Dockers fan, had never imagined he would win the game, which involves coaching a virtual team of players based on their real-life performances and scoring points within a set budget.
With just moments remaining in the competition, Wagner's team, Wagmantle, led by three fantasy points. When the opposing team, The Powerhouse, failed to score, Wagner's team secured victory. The $20,000 prize, along with two tickets to the AFL Grand Final and a car, made Wagner's win feel overwhelmingly significant. Wagner, a 28-year-old PE teacher from South Australia, had been playing the game since 2014 and described his win as a dream come true.
His father, a long-time Fremantle supporter, may now join him in cheering for the team. AFL Fantasy expert Ryan Heff Gerlach, who has been playing since 2004 and runs a successful podcast, attributed Wagner's win to a combination of skill and luck, emphasizing that the statistical side of fantasy sports and a sense of gaming make it an appealing pastime.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
