WXV Grand Final: Mexico City v Pacific

[Purple 77]

After Saturday

Boy oh boy! We have a game!

It's a tightly contested affair - not the shootout we predicted - but that just means there's more glory to be had by the big performers. And there has been none bigger than Mexico City co-captain Nic Naianui!

His 165 has been the difference so far - Pacific hold a delicate 25 point lead with 1 extra played. However, Laird aside, they've had their best players already play and will be looking for Wright, McPherson and Taberner to find their best selves. Wright certainly has big weaponry, can he win the Islanders the game?

For Mexico City - they still have former premiership players Mundy and Hall to come, whilst Jake Stringer is capable of putting in a match winning performance too.

All signs are pointing to a Mexico City flag in 2021, but like the AFL has shown us yesterday, anything can happen in the last quarter!

	Mexico City Suns					Pacific Islanders
POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ	POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ
D1	Jacob Weitering	94		94	D1	Rory Laird	0		0
D2	Nic Newman	128		128	D2	Aliir Aliir	85		85
D3	Hayden Young	0		0	D3	Bailey Williams (WB)	65		65
D4	Thomas Cole	30		30	D4	Andrew McPherson	0		0
M1	Christian Petracca	85		85	M1	Marcus Bontempelli	67		67
M2	Sam Walsh	87		87	M2	Tom Mitchell	127		127
M3	David Mundy	0		0	M3	Jarryd Lyons	113		113
M4	Lachie Hunter	81		81	M4	Andrew Gaff	64		64
R1	Nic Naitanui	165		165	R1	Zac Smith	82		82
F1	Aaron Hall	0		0	F1	Peter Wright	0		0
F2	Shai Bolton	80		80	F2	Harrison Himmelberg	81		81
F3	Jake Stringer	0		0	F3	Tom McCartin	56		56
F4	Aaron Naughton	42		42	F4	Matt Taberner	0		0
U1 (MID)	Jack Graham	77		77	U1 (MID)	Harry Perryman	90		90
U2 (MID)	Luke Davies-Uniacke	0		0	U2 (MID FWD)	Zac Bailey	92		92
E1 (MID)	Bradley Hill	0	0	0	E1 (FWD)	Tim O'Brien	73	0	0
E2 (FWD)	Mitch Georgiades	34	0	0	E2 (MID)	Devon Smith	0	0	0
E3 (RUC)	Nathan Vardy	46	0	0	E3 (DEF)	Harry Edwards	60	0	0
E4 (DEF MID)	Jordan Clark	0	DNP	0	E4 (RUC)	Lloyd Meek	0	0	0
CC	Christian Petracca	85		43	CC	Marcus Bontempelli	67		34
CC	Nic Naitanui	165		83	CC	Tom Mitchell	127		64
		Total:	995	10			Total:	1020	11

[Purple 77]

MEXICO CITY: 2021 WXV PREMIERS

Mexico City Suns (23.11.149) def Pacific Islanders (22.8.140)

Best
Mexico City: Nic Newman, Hayden Young, Nic Naitanui, Aaron Hall, Jake Stringer     
Pacific: Rory Laird, Tom Mitchell, Jarryd Lyons     

Late Changes
Mexico City: Nil
Pacific: Nil

WXV Debut
Mexico City: Nil
Pacific: Nil

Club debut
Mexico City: Nil
Pacific: Nil

MEXICO CITY are the 2021 WXV PREMIERS!
PACIFIC finish 2nd



The premiership co-captains:
NIC NAITANUI
CHRISTIAN PETRACCA

NIC NAITANUI wins a FINALS CHAMPION Medal

The premiership coach:
PKBALDY

The premiership players:
JACOB WEITERING
NIC NEWMAN
HAYDEN YOUNG
THOMAS COLE
CHRISTIAN PETRACCA
SAM WALSH
DAVID MUNDY
LACHIE HUNTER
NIC NAITANUI
AARON HALL
SHAI BOLTON
JAKE STRINGER
AARON NAUGHTON
JACK GRAHAM
LUKE DAVIES-UNIACKE



That was a legacy defining win for the Mexico City Suns! A massive congratulations to Pkbaldy for leading Mexico City to its 3rd Premiership! He adds to the 2012 and 2015 triumphs, but this team - PKs team - is unrecognisable to those outfits. He did it his own way and, coming from 11th last year, showed list management mastery balancing the pursuit for trades and backing in his current list.

The Grand Final STORY:
- The Suns left themselves vulnerable with low scores from Naughton and Hunter, but the Islanders failed to capitalise, notably co-captain Marcus Bontempelli who put in his worst performance of the year.
- Pacific's second co-captain Tom Mitchell righted the ship, but could only get Jarryd Lyons to come with him as other semi and prelim final heroes couldn't reach the same heights. Alas, the game was back on a level playing field, until...
- NIC NAITANUI! The almost-non co-captain provided ultimately the BOG performance in a game-turning display to give Mexico City the edge going into Sunday. But it wasn't over yet.
- Hayden Young-Gun capped off his remarkable final series for Mexico City with a ton early on Sunday, and when it wasn't matched by Islander Taberner... the end was approaching.
- Islander Peter Wright (99) tried to lead the fightback, but Sun Jake Stringer (105) matched him.
- Going into the final game, Pacific needed everything to go right. Laird and McPherson would need to put together quite a score, and Hall and LDU needed to choke.
- Laird answered the call! The Pacific Islander veteran put in a showing for the ages - posting 140+ to put the pressure back on the Suns! McPherson (80) also was able to ask the question.
- But Aaron Hall - one of the two former WXV premiership winning players on the field (along with Mundy) - stood up! His 135 allowed LDUs 75 to get the Suns over the line in an unforgettable win!
- The victory places Mexico City alongside Dublin as the most successful clubs in WXV history (3 flags each). That rivalry will never die.
- PK took over the side at the end of the 2019 season from JROO8, who was 3 years into the Mexico City rebuild. PK brought in 5 of the eventual premiership winning XV, as well as holding onto a raft of young talent that would have attracted very tempting offers.
- But what is elation for one club, is heartbreak for the other. The Islanders finish runners-up in consecutive years in what will be an incredibly bitter pill to swallow. Having showed ruthless brutality throughout the finals series to get here, they couldn't find that top gear a 3rd week in a row, and will unfortunately have Bontempelli to be the face of that.
- It was Pacific's 2nd loss of the season where it scored 140+
- 8 centurions took part in the match (5 v 3). Laird, Mitchell and Lyons will all go down in history for Pacific, but Nic Nat will be remembered by all!

[Purple 77]

Commiserations to Pacific, who produced some fearsome performances to earn its 2nd Grand Final appearance. It'd be bloody tough to cop, 2 years running. A very professional outfit, which will undoubtedly make finals again next year.

[Purple 77]

IMPERIAL: 2021 WXV RESERVES PREMIERS

It's great to have had an even contest for this one! It was a genuine 11 v 11, and I'm very confident the teams selected are above board. It was just a genuine contest, and it was the Princes who rose to the ocassion! Lachlan Fogarty was BOG, but Keidan Coleman was able to inspire the rest of his teammates.

Congrats to England!

Imperial Princes (23.11.149) def Pyongyang Chollimas (19.10.124)

Best
Imperial: Alec Waterman, Conor Nash, Dylan Grimes, Jack Bytel, Keidean Coleman, Luke Dahlhaus, Max Holmes   
Pyongyang: Lachlan Fogarty, Levi Casboult     

IMPERIAL are the 2021 WXV PREMIERS!
PYONGYANG finish 2nd

Premiership players:
DYLAN GRIMES
LUKE DAHLHAUS
CHARLIE SPARGO
MAX HOLMES
DARCY MACPHERSON
ALEC WATERMAN
KEIDEAN COLEMAN
CONOR NASH
KYLE HARTIGAN
JACK PETRUCCELLE
JACK BYTEL



And ze proof:

Player	WXV Club	F4
Conor Nash	London Royals	99
Keidean Coleman	London Royals	87
Alec Waterman	London Royals	82
Dylan Grimes	London Royals	80
Max Holmes	London Royals	76
Jack Bytel	London Royals	74
Luke Dahlhaus	London Royals	70
Darcy MacPherson	London Royals	62
Charlie Spargo	London Royals	61
Kyle Hartigan	London Royals	40
Jack Petruccelle	London Royals	14
Lachlan Fogarty	Seoul Magpies	96
Levi Casboult	Seoul Magpies	70
Curtis Taylor	Seoul Magpies	68
Liam Henry	Seoul Magpies	64
Tom Wilson	Seoul Magpies	61
Charlie Curnow	Seoul Magpies	54
Jed Bews	Seoul Magpies	51
Oscar Clavarino	Seoul Magpies	49
Darcy Fogarty	Seoul Magpies	47
Jordon Butts	Seoul Magpies	44
Bailey Scott	Seoul Magpies	17

[Purple 77]

And ze proof:

	Mexico City Suns					Pacific Islanders
POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ	POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ
D1	Jacob Weitering	94		94	D1	Rory Laird	149		149
D2	Nic Newman	128		128	D2	Aliir Aliir	85		85
D3	Hayden Young	112		112	D3	Bailey Williams (WB)	65		65
D4	Thomas Cole	30		30	D4	Andrew McPherson	80		80
M1	Christian Petracca	85		85	M1	Marcus Bontempelli	67		67
M2	Sam Walsh	87		87	M2	Tom Mitchell	127		127
M3	David Mundy	68		68	M3	Jarryd Lyons	113		113
M4	Lachie Hunter	81		81	M4	Andrew Gaff	64		64
R1	Nic Naitanui	165		165	R1	Zac Smith	82		82
F1	Aaron Hall	139		139	F1	Peter Wright	99		99
F2	Shai Bolton	80		80	F2	Harrison Himmelberg	81		81
F3	Jake Stringer	105		105	F3	Tom McCartin	56		56
F4	Aaron Naughton	42		42	F4	Matt Taberner	54		54
U1 (MID)	Jack Graham	77		77	U1 (MID)	Harry Perryman	90		90
U2 (MID)	Luke Davies-Uniacke	75		75	U2 (MID FWD)	Zac Bailey	92		92
E1 (MID)	Bradley Hill	62	DNP	0	E1 (FWD)	Tim O'Brien	73	DNP	0
E2 (FWD)	Mitch Georgiades	34	DNP	0	E2 (MID)	Devon Smith	148	DNP	0
E3 (RUC)	Nathan Vardy	46	DNP	0	E3 (DEF)	Harry Edwards	60	DNP	0
E4 (DEF MID)	Jordan Clark	0	DNP	0	E4 (RUC)	Lloyd Meek	48	DNP	0
CC	Christian Petracca	85		43	CC	Marcus Bontempelli	67		34
CC	Nic Naitanui	165		83	CC	Tom Mitchell	127		64
		Total:	1494	15			Total:	1402	15

[GoLions]

Congrats PK!

[JBs-Hawks]

Well done PK! Too good!!

[Urbaninfinnity]

congrats pk!

[DazBurg]

congrats PK great list still dynasty incoming?
unlucky UTM i'm sure you'll be up there again next year

[Pkbaldy]

Cheers everyone!
Great season and great game UTM.
And thanks Purpz for another year of running this comp.

And a special thanks to Com Tole, without him I wouldn't have gotten this far.

[upthemaidens]

Well done Mexico.  The boys just didn't have another big score in them.
   Devon Smith 148 hey, where was that all season, blah.