WXV: Sao Paulo Pumas

[CrowsFan]

(click on photo for player information)

A. Walker	B. Houli	B. Waters	D. Roberton
S. McMahon	M. Buntine	R. Harwood	B. Whitecross
S. White	A. Silvagni	T. Armstrong	Z. Jones

G. Ablett	R. Sloane	C. Masten	H. Hartlett
S. Hill	D. Zaharakis	K. Martin	T. Adams
M. Wallis	B. Jacobs	J. Polec	A. Riley
	J. O'Rourke	N. Freeman

W. Minson	S. Jacobs	M. Daw	L. Lowden

J. Roughead	J. Gunston	M. Wright	D. Smith
J. Porplyzia	J. Stringer	L. Sumner	M. Paparone

S. Kersten	M. Wood	B. O'Hanlon

J. Kelly	B. Newton	J. Hall	B. Johnson
(Defender)	(Midfielder)	(Forward)	(Forward)

[CrowsFan]

2014 Season

Fixtures/Results

Round	Home	Away	Stadium	Result	Notes
1	Sao Paulo Pumas	Mexico City Suns	Colombia	138-157	GF Replay - Neutral Ground
2	Sao Paulo Pumas	Moscow Spetsnaz	Estadio do Pumas	133-140
3	Berlin Brewers	Sao Paulo Pumas	Berlin Olympic Stadium	122-156
4	Toronto Wolves	Sao Paulo Pumas	Rogers Centre	147-154
5	New York Revolution	Sao Paulo Pumas	MetLife Stadium	113-145
6	Sao Paulo Pumas	Beijing Thunder	Estadio do Pumas	151-122
7	PNL Reindeers	Sao Paulo Pumas	Stade de Gerland	138-159
8	Sao Paulo Pumas	Dublin Destroyers	Estadio do Pumas	158-174
9	New Delhi Tigers	Sao Paulo Pumas	Tata Stadium	108-136
10	Sao Paulo Pumas	Tokyo Samurai	Estadio do Pumas	185-124	Record Puma Score
11	Cairo Sands	Sao Paulo Pumas	Borg El Arab Stadium	168-148
12	Sao Paulo Pumas	Seoul Magpies	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo	159-120	Played in Uruguay due to FIFA WC
13	Wellington Warriors	Sao Paulo Pumas	The Basin Reserve	136-164
14	Sao Paulo Pumas	Pacific Islanders	Estadio Nacional, Lima	149-114	Played in Peru due to FIFA WC
15	Cape Town Cobras	Sao Paulo Pumas	Newlands Cricket Ground	154-145
16	Sao Paulo Pumas	London Royals	Estadio do Pumas	122-120
17	Sao Paulo Pumas	Buenos Aires Armadillos	Estadio do Pumas	150-121	Rhythm Cup
QF	Mexico City Suns	Sao Paulo Pumas	Fireball Stadium	164-165
PF	Sao Paulo Pumas	Buenos Aires Armadillos	Estadio do Pumas	168-128	Rhythm Cup
GF	Sao Paulo Pumas	Dublin Destroyers	MCG	145-156

History
Established on October 16, 2011, the Sao Paulo Pumas are the second oldest club in the World XVs with only the Tokyo Samurai being created before them. As one of 18 cities around the world to be chosen for this prestigious competition Sao Paulo is doing all it can to welcome it's newest sports team and introduce the sport of AFL to a country dominated by the round ball game. Passion, flair and a love to salsa or samba the night away is how the Sao Paulo community lives and it is these three aspects that we plan to integrate into the playing philosophy of the mighty Pumas.


Home Strip
The traditional Brazilian colours of yellow, blue and green have been used to to represent the pride of Brazil, as it is not just the city of Sao Paulo supporting us, but all 192 million Brazilians!




The Stadium
Initially the Pumas agreed to a deal with the Sao Paulo soccer club for shared use of their stadium, Estadio do Corinthians. However after securing the sponsorship of Banco Bradesco, the bank has issued a large sum of money so that the Pumas can build their own specialty stadium for the upcoming competition. After hiring a large number of architects and designers the stadium design is complete and under express construction to be ready for the first season. Fittingly the stadium will be named Estadio de Pumas, which roughly translates to the stadium of pumas. An artists view of how the stadium will look when completed is below.


Trophy Cabinet


Gato Grande
Sao Paulo Pumas Best and Fairest
Will Minson - 2013
Gary Ablett - 2012

Team Awards
2013 WXV Premiers
2013 Champions League Winners
2012 Pre Season Cup Champions
4 X Rhythm Cup (Round 1 2012, Qualifying Final 2012, Round 5 2013, Preliminary Final 2013)

WXV Individual Awards
Gary Ablett - 2012, 2013 Jim Stynes Medal
Andrew Walker - 2013 MVP
Mitch Wallis - 2012 Rising Star
LumumbaMedal (Best Player in Rhythm Cup)
Gary Ablett (Round 1 2012, Round 5 2013)
Matthey Wright (Qualifying Final 2012)
Will Minson (Preliminary Final 2013)

[CrowsFan]

Information
For a team that is only one season old the reserves of the Sao Paulo Pumas certainly has plenty of history. Starting out as the Puma reserves a few weeks in to the season they relocated to the nearby city of Campinas and rebranded themselves the Campinas Oncillas. Similar to the story of the senior side the Oncillas had a great home and away season finishing the ladder in second place and looking strong for the finals. Unfortunately two consecutive losses knocked them out in the semi final.

Another rebranding of the club occurred before the start of the 2013 season with the team now moving out of the Sao Paulo state altogether and settling in up the coast in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The idea behind the move was to involve a larger area of Brazil rather than just Sao Paulo. Calling themselves the Rio de Janeiro Jaguars for the upcoming season the players are certainly looking forward to improving on last years results and fighting for spots in the Pumas side.

Guernsey


Home Stadium - Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium

Opened in 2007 with a capacity of just under 47,000 seats the Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium will provide ample space for the crowds to flock to the Jaguars home matches.


2014 Season

Fixtures - TBA

Previous Seasons

2013
Ladder - 7th (10 wins, 7 losses)
Finals - Elimination Final loss to Imperial Princes (144 - 107)

2012
Ladder - 2nd (14 wins, 3 losses)
Finals - Semi Final loss to Mexico City Suns (114 - 130)

Gatinho
Rio de Janeiro Best and Fairest
Mitch Duncan - 2013
Mitch Duncan - 2012

[Maca24]

Love your home and away jumpers!  8)
Your clash is certainly out there ;)

[CrowsFan]

Pumas Look Towards Youth

With the drafting of players close to completion and already 38 players selected to represent the Pumas in the inaugural WXV season, a clear strategy appears to be emerging from the Sao Paulo camp. With an average age of just 21.89 years old amongst the 38 players and with 23 of them 22 or younger it appears youth is the order of the day in Brazil.

"Youth was something we rated very highly when considering the draft prospects," said club president, coach and everything else, CrowsFan. "We wanted to select a group of players that would be able to challenge for the WXV title for many years and not fade out early. Obviously we also wanted to be competitive in the first season as well, and even though the squad is very young I believe we will be very strong next year. We have a lot of experience in the centre of the park, with players like Ablett, Cross and Sewell, who are all outstanding talents."

With just 7 picks left, plus one in the rookie draft, CrowsFan has confirmed that he will stick with the youth policy in recruiting, with a lot of future talent left in the draft. It is only early days, but it does look like the Pumas are in it for the long haul in this competition.

In other news, the alternate/heritage strip for the Pumas has been released. A draft had been released earlier, but recently it has been tweaked to look much sharper, with a cleaner design.

Stay tuned for updates from the Puma camp in the future.

[CrowsFan]

Drafting Over - Let the Season Begin

Today marked the end of an epic few months of drafting for the WXV inaugural competition. 46 players were chosen by each club, resulting in 828 players being selected in total, unfortunately a couple of players missed out on selection and will have to try and impress during the year in the AFL and hope to be selected next season.

The Pumas believe they have selected a great group of guys for the first season and they are all hard at work, or should I say training? The 46 man Puma herd consists of 40 senior players and 6 rookies who are hoping they can earn a spot on the senior list in the coming seasons. Although publicly saying that he is very happy with the group, CrowsFan has been overheard chatting with some of the senior players that he thinks they may be lacking just one more big name in the forward line. The removal of forward status for Duncan and de Boer being the cause of his concern. With whispers circulating that their could be a trade period before the season starts, rumour has it that CF will be on the lookout for another forward to fill his roster.

Whatever happens between now and the start of the season there is one thing clear. And that is that the season can't come soon enough!

[CrowsFan]

Pumas Pounce in Trade Week

With the trade period having opened on Thursday the Pumas were quick to get their trades completing, finalising all four of their allotted trades in just 2 days! Joining the revolution in the town of Sao Paulo is veteran defender Sam Fisher, tough nut defender Beau Waters, exciting midfielder Rory Sloane, and deadly accurate kicker Jason Porplyzia. President, coach and everything else at the club, CrowsFan had this to say regarding the recent acquisitions.

"We at the Pumas are very pleased with the players we have brought in during the trading period. Sam Fisher is a class backman who adds some strength to what could have perhaps been a weak back line. Even though he is turning 30 this year we feel we will still get a few good years out of him, before he is replaced by our promising youngsters.

Sloane is a very exciting prospect, at just 21 years of age he certainly has his best years ahead of him, and we are sure he will represent the club with pride. He joins the long list of promising midfielders, including Dan Hannebery, Mitch Duncan and Mitch Wallis. We are sure that we wont have any trouble gaining points through the middle of the park for a long time!

The other two trades are more risky than Fisher and Sloane, but we feel they could pay off. As everyone knows Beau and Jason have had careers riddled with injuries so far, but when fit they are both terrific players and leaders on and off the field. We have a great set of doctors and physios who will be doing their best to keep these two on the park so that we can see the very best from them.

Obviously by bringing in these four players we have had to say goodbye to a couple of original Pumas. Leaving the country of Brazil for another challenge are midfielders Brad Sewell, Bernie Vince, Matt de Boer and defender Cheynee Stiller. We are very sad to see them go and wish them the best with their future endeavours. Overall we are very happy with the trades done in Puma land, strengthening both the back and forward lines, whilst also bringing in a future star.

Thank you very much for your time."

Well there you have it guys. How do you think the Pumas have fared in the transfer market? Did they get some bargains or get ripped off? Also how do you think the Pumas will go in the first season of the WXV? The Pumas look forward to hearing your comments :)

[ossie85]

Vince, De Boer, Sewell and Stiller for Sloane, Porplyzia, Fisher and Waters


Reckon you've plugged a couple of wholes nicely without any significant loss, nicely done

[CrowsFan]

Pumas Kick off Season in Samba Style

In the eyes of the supporters the season could not have started any better for the Pumas from Sao Paulo. Undefeated and two trophies already on display in the cabinet. The Pre Season Cup was the first competition to be contested and after winning the round robin matches against PNL Reindeers (98-88) and the Toronto Wolves (104-83) it was off to the final to face off against the in form Beijing Bears. The final proved to be a tightly contested yet high scoring game, where under the leadership of Gary Ablett jnr the Pumas were able to hold come from behind after trailing at 3 quarter time to win 137-134!

As you would expect the whole city of Sao Paulo celebrated win, and as a result the Pumas became the first team in WXV history to win a trophy. Although the city celebrated, head coach CrowsFan kept a lid on the victory and made sure his team would be solely focused on round 1 of the season proper, which incidentally was rivalry round where another trophy would be contested. This trophy, originally known as the South American Cup, but then renamed to be called the Rhythm Cup signifying the flair and style of the continent was to be fought out between the Pumas and their neighbourhood rivals the Buenos Aires Armadillos. Once again lead by Ablett the Pumas mauled their opposition and came out winners with the final score at 153-128!

So 4 matches played, 4 wins and 2 trophies. Things could not have started better for the Pumas, however the dream start could end this weekend when we face our toughest challenge yet. Hosting a much stronger Wolves team than we faced during the pre season, this will be the first time the locals will get to watch the Pumas live in the breathtaking new stadium Estádio do Pumas. CrowsFan has acknowledged this will be a tough test, but attains that no matter the result the future looks bright for the boys from Brazil!

[ossie85]

Early confidence from the Pumas :)

Pride becomes before the fall though! And the Magpies have a lot of outs to come back in!

[FisherSaints]

Nice writeup CF

[CrowsFan]

Early confidence from the Pumas :)

Pride becomes before the fall though! And the Magpies have a lot of outs to come back in!

Bit of early confidence yes, but as stated it could all come crashing down this weekend. I have also got a couple of players due to come back in to the side, some fringe, some best 15. Such as Roughy, Silvagni and Armstrong. Plus players like Motlop are showing vast improvement in their output from last year and he could be pushing for a spot in the 15 if some of the other players don't keep up the scoring.

A few injuries to key players though could see the season derailed just like that, so at the moment just taking it one week at a time (excuse the lame sporting cliché) ;)

[CrowsFan]

Pumas Reserves Get Their Own Bite

After months of planning and scouting the Sao Paulo Pumas are proud to announce that the location of the Pumas reserve side has been agreed upon. In an aim to bridge out further in to the Sao Paulo state the team will not be located in Sao Paulo city like the senior side, but instead it will be situated in Campinas. Campinas is located north of Sao Paulo and is the third most populous city in the state of Sao Paulo and the fourteenth in all of Brazil. The infrastructure required to host a WXV side is already in place and there is a great deal of tourist attractions for fans to go and see, making it a perfect location for the reserves to play their games.

The mascot for the reserves will be the Oncilla, a small spotted cat. We felt this was appropriate as it can be seen as the small cat next to the larger Puma. So from this day forth the Sao Paulo reserves will be known as...

Campinas Oncillas

[ossie85]

Mitch Wallis is in good form CF, he pushing for a spot in the XV?

[CrowsFan]

Yeah he did play very well yesterday with Griffin and Boyd copping heavy tags. Will have to wait and see if he gets selected again since that was only his second game of the year, but with Ablett out chances are he could get a call up, although we have a few fighting for some spots in the team :)

If I play him maybe I will get him nominated for the rising star :D