AFL Live

I have to admit, I haven't got an easy way for people to gain this achievement. I do have some tips though on how you can make it a little easier.

First up - choose a decent team. As a Richmond supporter, it pains me to say my beloved Tigers just aren't quite good enough to get through and win games on Legend difficulty on a consistent basis.

I picked Collingwood as my team (again, it pains me to say!!) because they are a good team, have a good solid defensive 6, a competent ruckman who can belt the ball out of the middle and a good to very good midfield. And Chris Dawes can kick nice and straight for goal - vital when you don't have a huge number of chances to score all the time.

The other reason I picked Collingwood is because their NAB first round draw is easier. Richmond and Carlton a teams relatively easy to beat. I beat both by 100+ points and had never played on Legend, so it can be done.

Another option for users is the Sydney Swans. Really easy first round NAB Cup games and again, a good solid team with good defence, a fair ruckman and good midfield as well as forwards that kick well for goal. Ironically I played Sydney in the final and it was a tough game for 3 quarters.

A third option is Fremantle. Their back six isn't as good, but their ruckman is a superstar (and 7ft tall), their forwards and midfielders are more than passable.

As Collingwood, I beat Richmond and Carlton to qualify for the next round of the NAB Cup. I got lucky as Adelaide snuck through and I played them next - they are not a great team (beat them by 130 points) so that helped.

Other good teams like Geelong were eliminated in the quarter finals, so I played Hawthorn who were tougher but able to be beaten by 50 points. Sydney in the final was close until late, then it blew out to a 50 point win.

Some gameplay tips to help people who might be struggling:
1 - Tag opposition stars - it makes a difference. I looked to tag the opposition's best midfielder, and perhaps one or two other players. Don't tag too many in the midfield, or your guys will never be in the right spots to get centre breaks.

2 - Don't just tag midfielders - I found it worthwhile to identify the opposition's best forward or two and tag them as well. Against Hawthorn I tagged Luke Hodge in the midfield, but also tagged Cyril Rioli up forward (though he still kicked 11) and Buddy Franklin at CHF. Franklin had no influence on the game, and Hodge struggled.

In the final I tagged Adam Goodes at CHF for example.

3 - Have your ruckman run forward - in the team management screen, set your ruckman option to "attacking". That way, your ruckman will run forward and turn into an extra goalkicker. I found this absolutely invaluable to keep my ruckman in the game throughout, as well as provide another tall marking target up forward.

4 - Balanced gameplay - Have your game style, midfielders, etc set to "balanced" most of the time. This means your team will mind their opposition players, but also make their way to attacking positions on the ground where they can be dangerous. In addition your playstyle doesn't mean you'll be scorched by the opposition on turnovers.

5 - Hit the boundary - If you are outnumbered at a contest or simply not able to get clear, the boundary line is your friend. Use it. Note that in the qualifying rounds you will give away the free for being the last to touch the ball before it goes over the line - use this to your advantage and force opposition players to get last touch or tackle them over the line - thus you'll get possession.

6 - Simple shots at goal - 20m out right in front is your friend. Yes supergoals can be tempting, but just work the basics and hit up a leading forward or get numbers to a contest and crumb.

7 - Spoil, spoil, spoil - The second most important tip I have is to learn how to spoil. Get into position with your defender and just spoil the ball away. If you can direct it to a teammate or, at the least, to a neutral area of the ground, do so. But you have to be able to spoil the ball - the opposition is going to get it into their forwardline plenty of times - and if you can't spoil the ball in one on one contests, they'll kick a massive score pretty quickly.

8 - Tackle pressure and basic footy - Perhaps the most important tip - tackle until the yellow button on your controller is permanently depressed inwards. I was tackling at every stoppage, even if I had the ball I found myself tackling by mistake just to make sure. The ball often spills out after tackles, and if your midfielders run in numbers, you eventually get a bit of breathing space to gather the ball and either kick forward or kick a goal. As for basic footy - handball to space, find teammates with field kicking (which, after some practice, is pretty easy) and kick the ball off the ground! I can't emphasise the last tip enough - every chase for a loose ball I led I ended up kicking off the ground ... it kept the ball moving forward and allowed other teammates to run onto it, or to tackle and force a ball up or spillage. The number of easy goals I got from kicking off the ground to open space was remarkable.

9 - Ruck contests - Don't do anything fancy, just belt the ball forward with a punch. I was winning 80% of my ruck contests by the end of each game, and this is vital because winning the ruck allows you to belt the ball forward for your midfielders to run onto and, in turn, force forward. Get your timing right - with Collingwood, Darren Jolly wins a lot of ruck contests - though Freo's giant Aaron Sandliands and West Coast's Dean Cox would do even better.

I got a lucky run with injuries, but its not something to stress about. For every good player you might lose (I lost 1) your opposition is probably 2-3 guys short. It evens out in the end.