WXV Round 1: The Debut of Christchurch and Rio de Janeiro

[Purple 77]

Round 1 is just around the corner!

And with it starts the 4th year of our beloved competition; the one that started them all, but without the admin that started it all.

Over the years, we have seen so many coaches come and go, in all XV comps, that these days we might not even bat and eyelid.

But at the end of last year, we saw two of our pioneering coaches and the administrator depart the premium competition that is Worlds, setting up a year of intrigue for 2015.

We saw 2013 premiership coach Crowsfan/Honeybadger step away from his beloved Sao Paulo Pumas, 2012 finalist coach pothead leave his Wellington Warriors, and former-Seoul-coach and administrator ossie85 stepping aside from leading his competition. Subsequently, we saw Wellington and Sao Paulo disband in honour of their veteran coaches.

So it would be fair to say that Worlds has faced major changes in the lead-up to 2015.

But with departures, comes arrivals.

We see the return of popular pioneer coach (and ex-Moscow coach) meow meow to again lead another new team in the Christchurch Saints, the appointment of brand-new coach Levis43 to coach the brand-new Rio de Janeiro Jaguars, and the handing over of the reigns to current Berlin coach of 3 years...

ME! *crowd goes wild*

And not forgetting my assistant in current co-coach of Cairo, Nige! *crowd goes silent*

I'm incredibly excited to be running Worlds, and I will strive to continue on ossie's standard.

But enough of my dribbling... LET THE ROUND 1 HYPE BEGIN!



PARTIAL LOCKOUT

Thursday night: Carlton vs Richmond

Just to re-iterate, this means that all Carlton and Richmond players you choose (or don't choose) to be in your team, will be 'locked' meaning you cannot drop (or select initially un-chosen) players as soon as the first bounce occurs.

Round 1, AFL Round 1, Easter Weekend

Home Team		Away Team	Head-to-Head	Venue
Berlin Brewers	v	Cape Town Cobras	1  v  3	Berlin Olympic Stadium
Cairo Sands	v	Moscow Spetsnaz	1  v  2	Borg El Arab Stadium
Christchurch Saints	v	Tokyo Samurai	0  v  0	AMI Stadium
Dublin Destroyers	v	Pacific Islanders	2  v  1	Crooke Park
London Royals	v	New Delhi Tigers	2  v  1	London Royals Olympic Stadium   EurAsia
New York Revolution	v	Buenos Aires Armadillos	0  v  3	MetLife Stadium, New Jersey   AAP Alliance, Americas
Rio de Janeiro Jaguars	v	PNL Reindeers	0  v  0	Maracana Stadium
Seoul Magpies	v	Mexico City Suns	0  v  3	Seoul World Cup Stadium
Toronto Wolves	v	Beijing Thunder	2  v  1	Rogers Centre

Is this a year-defining match for the Brewers and Cobras? Both teams would be wanting to assert themselves as genuine finals contenders this year to rest of the competition, and the first step in doing so is winning this match. The Cobras have the wood over the Brewers, with Berlin's only win coming from an elimination final in 2013. Both teams would be pencilling this match as a win.

Coming off a heart-breaking 9th placing last year, Cairo don't want to approach the end of the year relying on other results to fall their way. A round 1 win against last year's 6th placed Spetsnaz would not only gain some control for their year, but command greater respect from the competition as a true finals contender. Moscow on the other hand come in as red-hot favourites and would be generally expected to win. Many expect Moscow to make the finals, but a loss here would put them straight back onto level pegging with about 8 other teams looking at 4 spots from 5th to 8th this year.

New Zealand would be a-buzz with their new team in Christchurch making their WXVs debut, after the disappointing results Wellington has faced in the last two years. They would also be excited at having meow meow leading the way after having led Moscow to the semi-finals in 2012. No one really knows what the Saints might dish out in round 1, but Tokyo would be entering this match as favourites, believing they under-achieved in their 13th placing last year.

If a premiership hangover had to apply to anyone, then you would think the men from Dublin would be the ones to have it  :P. Nevertheless, the might Dublin Destroyers would be looking to dispatch the Islanders, but how hard are they willing to go round 1? Who knows? Pacific have improved their list in the off-season, and if the winds go their way then anything could happen. Pacific will be excited at unleashing boom recruit Michael Barlow this weekend.

An interesting match looms between the Royals and Tigers. London, after falling short in the finals race (11th) last year would at this match as an easy win, as New Delhi have had awful, awful previous round 1 scores where they scored 97 (2014) and 81 (2013). But, is this a New-New Delhi? Only EIGHT of their current players have played for New Delhi in a senior match before. So who knows what they will produce?

On paper, you would think a team with three-straight preliminary finals in as many years would be a powerhouse of the competition. But I'm tipping New York to almost double the Armadillos score, after a brutal off-season for both teams where; New York have only TEN current players to have played a senior match for New York, as a result of a savage recruiting drive where some pundits have predicted a top 4 finish is awaiting them. Buenos Aires on the other hand, noticed that their star players were ageing, so in a desperate attempt to salvage some long-term value, traded basically all of them for youth. The Armadillos also go into the 2015 season with ONE ruckman on their list; first year player Sam Durdin. A long season beckons for the dillos.

This is my match of the round. With the mighty Sao Paulo Pumas disbanding, Rio themselves have a similarly strong list on paper and are considered to be top 8 team by most, perhaps pushing for a top 4 berth. PNL have also received similar predictions, and it may turn out that both these teams may make the top 4. It would be one helluva debut for Rio if they were to knock off the luckless Reindeers. But the Reindeers are looking at this season with aims to take it all; a round 1 win is the first step.

The Suns would have been devastated, like any team, at finishing second place to when it mattered most last year. However, it seems they have used this loss as the ultimate platform to push for the flag again, as most predict a top 2 finish is inevitable. Seoul on the other hand would be looking to crack the finals for the first time this year and they believe they have the list to do it. But the Suns should be too strong here.

A shaky start to season proved good enough to make the finals last year for the Wolves, but they certainly wouldn't want to lose to the 17th placed Thunder of last year. ALL the pressure is on the Wolves, as surely they would have noticed the pre-season form of the Thunder, who really could upset in this match. Beijing are expecting an improvement this year, and looking at their list you would think they will indeed do so. But by how much? A year-defining match looms for Beijing.

[Purple 77]

And reminder of some of the rules voted in at the end of last year:

The Sub-Rule is now IMPLIED
Last year, you had to say if you wanted to use it. Now you have to say if you DON'T want to use it.

Co-Captains can still be used
i.e. pick two co-captains and they were be multiplied by 1.5 each. Otherwise you can pick a captain and vice captain as normal.

I'm bringing the Flood/Attack Rule back from last year
Saw no objections to what I said here, and didn't feel it was a big enough drama to do an official vote on. Any objections, feel free to PM me.

Flooding (can use only 3 times a year): 5 defenders, 3 forwards
Attacking (can use only 3 times a year): 3 defenders, 5 forwards

You can still REST
i.e. nominate a player BEFORE the round starts and state them as 'rested'. This player can play the NEXT WEEK ONLY with a 1.1 multiplier bonus. If you don't play your rested player, then you will lose the bonus.



For further clarification on rules, you can look here or shoot me a PM  :)

[Nige]

Thanks for being so kind Purps.  :-*

[Purple 77]

Thanks for being so kind Purps.  :-*

;)

[JBs-Hawks]

If i rest someone and then make them captain the following week does their multiplied score get doubled?

[Purple 77]

If i rest someone and then make them captain the following week does their multiplied score get doubled?

No.

So if you rested Zac Dawson, put him as captain and he scored 120, the 120 is doubled, then 10% of 120 (12) is added so overall he scores you 252.

[Nige]

Thanks for being so kind Purps.  :-*

;)

Just had to fix something.  :P

[Purple 77]

Thanks for being so kind Purps.  :-*

;)

Just had to fix something.  :P

Haha, well that works too  :P

[DazBurg]

Big match first up levi drafted a strong side
but if we want to make top 4 for the first time these are the kind of games we need to win

[Holz]

Much like North will dispose of Adelaide, Dublin to walk over PI.

looking to improve on last year.

[ossie85]

Amazing write up Purps. Looking forward to it all!

[RaisyDaisy]

Libba and Montags out is going to hurt, but surely we can knock off the Dildo's!

[Toga]

On ya Purps, can't wait for the season to begin.

[Jroo]

Libba and Montags out is going to hurt, but surely we can knock off the Dildo's!

Montags a chance to play, I've heard.

[Toga]

Will get in early and chuck a team up now:

Beijing Thunder:
D: H.Taylor, M.Jaensch, C.Hooker, C.Shenton
M: O.Wines (C), L.Neale (VC), J.Caddy, J.Polec
R: C.Wood
F: E.Betts, T.Bell, D.Stanley, B.Kennedy
I/C: M.Weller, J.Aish

Emg: S.Mayes (def), T.Miller (mid), A.Black (fwd)