Crash Tackle, like most board games, uses an element of luck in it's mechanics. The use of luck immediately throws doubt on to the authenticity of the game, especially as a sports 'Simulator', but what most people fail to understand is just how important luck is in the world of sports.
Luck occurs in so many ways - The bounce of the ball, A bad call from a match official, a player injury, an opposition fumble or even weather conditions.
Very often it's the relationship between luck and skill that is misunderstood. Luck and Skill are not opposites, and luck will exist as long as the result of the game is as yet undetermined - the mere fact that the outcome of the game can not be emphatically predicted means that an element of luck is always involved, no matter how much skill is on the field.
Take a board game like Chess, a game percieved to be 100% skill. There are no dice rolls in Chess, or any other game mechanic based on luck, and yet even a Chess master can lose to a rank amateur. So this possibilty of a loss must be influenced by other factors, such as distractions, lapses in concentration, or a fluke move - luck?
The same is true in sport and even the best teams in the world lose to the under dog. The current Super 15 rugby tournament is testiment to that.
So luck is certainly involved in sport, and probably more than you think. So should a team with higher skilled players win every time? In theory, yes. In reality? no.
Why is luck so important? If skill was the only deciding factor then the best teams would always win. Where's the fun in that? Would the stadiums be packed if we all new the outcome? Luck adds variety. It gives hope to the under dog. It's feared by the topdog. It creates excitement and helps level the playing field - it's the reason we enjoy the game!