AFL Toyota Premiership 2011

Your 2011 season starts with picking your dream squad of 33 players. In Toyota AFL Dream Team, every player from every AFL club is available to everyone taking part. They're ranked by their virtual salary. The good news is that you have a starting salary cap of $8,225,000 – everybody has the same cap to start with – but don't get too cocky. For one, it's Dream money, not actual cash. Secondly, you'll be surprised how quickly it gets eaten up as you select your squad.

You'll have to pick a starting line-up of 22 (seven backs, six centres, two rucks, seven forwards) as well as 11 reserves, but if you think you need a hand, you can click 'auto-fill' and have us automatically do it for you. You might want to pick your favourite handful of players and then auto-fill the rest of the squad around them, or auto-fill with your supported team's players.

Each player costs a certain amount of money based on recent form and your only restriction is keeping within the $8,225,000 salary cap – the same as real AFL clubs.

A good strategy for picking your team is to pick about half of your squad from the superstars of the game and better-known, dependable club champions. The other half should come from good value, less expensive players like ready-made draftees and players who are establishing themselves at their club. You can also take a punt also on players returning from long-term injury.

Dream Team relies on the real-world workings of football, so that scores are assessed according to the actual match statistics of individual players. But this also means that suspended or injured players are, therefore, unavailable for Dream Team as well.

Once you've picked your squad, all you have to do is check back with your team every week or so to make sure your players are in form and not injured or sidelined by the tribunal or their team having the bye. You can swap your reserves in and out of your starting 22 week-by-week, and even nominate three emergencies, in case some of your men don't end up taking to the field. Unlike an actual AFL coach, you can even trade players in and out of your squad (more below).

Important tip – the key to getting good scores is to always make sure there are no 'zeroes' in your team. Make sure the players you've picked are actually going to take the field that week, and that your emergencies are going to play too so you're covered for last minute withdrawals. The best way to check this is to read the official team announcements published on afl.com.au every Thursday afternoon.

Each week the real performances of your 22 players will score points for your team – it’s that simple. The more possessions, goals, tackles and free kicks your players get each week, the higher your team score.

Points are awarded as follows:
Kicks: 3 points
Handballs: 2 points
Mark: 3 points
Tackles: 4 points
Free kicks for: 1 point
Free kicks against: -3 points
Hitouts: 1 point
Goals: 6 points
Behinds: 1 point

Your nominated captain scores double points, so awarding the captaincy to your best player is an easy way to get ahead.

You also choose a vice-captain – who becomes captain, and scores double points, if your nominated captain doesn’t play for some reason.

You can stay in touch with how your players are scoring by logging on to the Match Day Centre on afl.com.au and watching their Dream Team scores update live.

Part of any good Toyota AFL Dream Team strategy is managing your list of players during the season through trading.

If a player suffers a long-term injury or seriously loses form, you can delist him completely and trade in a replacement before the next round (and before your outgoing player’s value starts to drop too far).

A great trading strategy is using your playing list like a stock portfolio – buy inexpensive players on the rise, and then trade them later when their value skyrockets.

If a player’s price goes up while they’re on your list, the extra value they earn goes into your salary cap to spend if you trade them. So you can buy a promising rookie at the beginning of the year, watch his stats and value improve through the season, and then trade him later on for one of the game’s superstars.

On the flipside, players can also lose value if their form tapers off. So choose your players wisely, especially those worth big money.

Be careful with your trades, however. While you can trade up to two players between each round, you only get a maximum of 24 trades for the whole season.

Just like every other footy club, your Dream Team will be battling it out for the premiership in your very own league. You and 15 of your mates will have a fixture, ladder and top-eight finals series.

This year, you can be in up to five different leagues, so you can compete against friends, workmates and family members in different competitions, all with the same team.

Each week, with the exception of the five rounds in which three AFL clubs have the bye (rounds 4, 5, 6, 16 and 19), your team will come head-to-head against one of your mates' teams. If your players get a higher combined score than the opposition line-up, then the four ladder points are yours and you're another step closer to the finals.

On top of your mates, you'll be pitting your charges against hundreds of thousands of other competitors in the competition for the major prizes. Here it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's a simple race to the top – your weekly scores are added together and the highest total at the end of round 24 wins.

The first 262,144 entrants will be put into a giant tennis tournament-style draw of head to head Dream Team combat. Score more than your opponent for the round and you’re through to the next round. Score less than them and you’re out of the Eliminator. This continues until there’s one person left standing!

The winner of the 2011 Toyota AFL Dream Team competition wins a Toyota FJ Cruiser. There are also weekly cash prizes for the highest scoring team of the round.

afl.com.au is the home of Toyota AFL Dream Team, and the only place to access your team, league, scores and results.

Follow the Toyota AFL Dream Team links on the homepage, or go directly via http://dreamteam.afl.com.au

Each week there will be live scores for your own team (as well as your opposition) as the round unfolds over the weekend.