Brisbane-based 27-year-old teacher Thommo Aitken is a humble bloke but when you win both SuperCoach BBL and NBL Fantasy in the space of a few months, you clearly know a thing or two.

Thommo says: “I think lightning struck twice and it might not happen again, but it’s quite handy!”

Originally from NSW, the Sydney Sixers supporter opened up to Honeyball about the recipe to the success of his team, known as The K-Dog, named after his girlfriend Kelsea, who he says lets him watch a bit of cricket so she deserves the team name.

HB: We’ve got to ask first up, how’d you spend the $25,000?!

Thommo: What was the prize?! I can’t remember! But I got it when COVID-19 hit so I’ve not spent any of it. Literally as soon as I got it, the world shut down. Sorry that’s boring!

HB: All good, let’s talk about how you got the money?

Thommo: Sure. I like to have just a strong squad. Some people discard their bench but like to have a strong squad that I can move around and be a bit flexible.

A few moves I can remember, there was a rain affected week where the Sixers had a double. Instead of bringing in Sixers players, I moved all my Sixers players out or didn’t trade any in. They had one game against Hobart that was abandoned and the other one they got beaten pretty comprehensively, so in a week when lots of people would’ve brought in Sixers, I thought I’d do the opposite and that paid dividends.

Towards the end I had some good captain scores. I had Wade who went big in a double game round and I had Aaron Finch who had a couple of handy knocks including one against the Sixers. I was up there in the rankings but I don’t think I was in the top 10 or 20 per se. Having Wade and Finch gave me a bit of a shot in the arm for the last few weeks. My last round score was rubbish but I managed to hold on.

HB: That Sixers example, you must’ve been sweating on the forecast?

Thommo: I think it was being discussed around social media. You never know in cricket. During the early rounds, bad weather meant some cancellations and we saw during finals more bad weather. It was mooted that it was going to be horrendous weather so I thought I might as well.