WXV Round 6: Beijing to defend season

[Purple 77]

Normal lockout week that spans across Friday to Sunday :D

Round 6, AFL Round 6

Home Team	Away Team	Venue	Head-to-Head
Beijing Thunder	Toronto Wolves	Beijing Olympic Park	3  v  2
Buenos Aires Armadillos	Dublin Destroyers	Estadio de River	2  v  4
Cairo Sands	Moscow Spetsnaz	Borg El Arab Stadium	2  v  3
Cape Town Cobras	Mexico City Suns	Newlands Cricket Ground, AAP Alliance	1  v  7
Christchurch Saints	Tokyo Samurai	AMI Stadium	2  v  0
London Royals	Seoul Magpies	London Olympic Stadium, EurAsia	2  v  3
New Delhi Tigers	Berlin Brewers	Tata Stadium, EurAsia	1  v  4
New York Revolution	Pacific Islanders	MetLife Stadium, AAP Alliance, John McCarthy Cup	2  v  4
PNL Reindeers	Rio de Janeiro Jaguars	Stade du Ray	1  v  1

Beijing’s season is really under threat. Coming off an honourable loss against New Delhi last week, Beijing sit 1-4 despite being 7th on the points ladder. History tells us that you need 10 wins to make the finals, sometimes 9, but Seoul showed last year that 10 wasn’t enough for the first time ever. If we accept that as an outlier, than Beijing can really only afford to lose to Rio in Round 8, Seoul in Round 13 and Dublin in Round 17, basically meaning that every other match is a crunch game that they dearly cannot afford to lose. Match 1; Toronto. The Wolves could have really shocked the competition last week had it taken advantage of a poor score from the Suns; it’s average of 129.75 in the first 4 rounds would have been enough to claim a club-defining win. Instead, we were reminded that the Wolves are still in the early stages of its development and are still prone to the sub 120 score here and there. I expect the Wolves to rebound, but I’ll back in the desperation of the Thunder to keep their season alive.

The Dillos charged last week! Alas, the HGA of the reigning premiers took a would-be win away from the Dillos to condemn them to remain as the only winless team in the comp. But the 129 they scored last week was real sign that this team can still be competitive a perhaps break the hearts and hopes of their finals-bound opponents. Three centurions last week means I’ll stop counting... except maybe that Oliver has 5 centuries, and Parish has none #noregretsiZander. Dublin did what Dublin does best and that was obliterating their opponent; a required feat mind you, coming off their worst score in years. All 6 of their mighty midfielders were finally all present and combined for a 113.5 average; enough to make even Beijing or flag favourites New Delhi blush. However, Stephen Hill will be unavailable for the short term and now might expose the biggest concern over Dublin; depth. I see a vulnerability is all, just not in this match. Dublin for me.

I think I may have just been dead wrong about Cairo going into this year. I’ll let you know Nige that I sat back in the trade period, fully expecting Cairo to trade either or both of its top draft picks and was actually kinda disappointed you didn’t, because I didn’t think Cairo would be much otherwise this year. How wrong was I? Sitting at 8th spot in both the real and points ladder at 3-2, the Sands have twice proven they can step up against the quality opponents and last week, showed that they could still win on an off week... getting that Cobra off their backs would have been nice too. The Spetsnaz, like the Dillos, were better last week despite not doing enough to win. If we were focusing on the positives, Moscow’s best two scores have been in the last two weeks and they have each improved on the score before them. They just gotta keep believing they can win on their day, and really, Cairo is the perfect kind of opponent to topple, because it’d be DEVASTATING for them. That’d be my motivation, at least. But in the meantime, I’ve gotta back the Sands.

It’s been a lean month for the Cobras, a surprising one given such promise they showed against Beijing in Round 1. The loss against bitter arch rivals Cairo might just be the spark they needed in facing the Suns this week, whom aren’t without their vulnerabilities at the moment. Toby Nankervis can only do so much unfortunately; JPK is the only other Cobra to be averaging more than 86, and when Jack, Hunter and Miller combine for only 128... it’s no wonder they lose. However, surely those guys will be looking to respond this week? An improved effort from this troublesome trio in conjunction with a worthy JPK captain score will see the Cobras seriously challenge the Suns. I’m actually starting to look at the Suns a little differently these days... you can still see that elite, professional outfit there, but they are losing their consistency, which I guess was the impact Harvey & Bartel leaving had. Are we nearing the end of the Mexico City arc of dominance that started in 2012? The twilight zone perhaps? Maybe, just maybe. However, right now they are still relevant, and I will back them to get the win over the Cobras.

The Saints are in desperate need of some scoring injection. I would have though Wells would have seen to that (and he did), but like always, there are just too many passengers at Christchurch from week-to-week. Albeit in the perfect world some of these players wouldn’t be playing the best XV, the Saints seem to be lacking in a player with a really high ceiling that can drag the rest of the team along. What’s Bryce Gibbs doing these days? Not enough if you ask me, and I call for him to step up on Christchurch’s behalf. The Samurai have been quite solid for the most part of this year and would consider themselves unlucky not have notched up another win. Still, they have played (and lost to) three highly rated teams this year which means their draw should open up at least a little. This game is a really good test for them, because on form, they should win but it is far from guaranteed. These are the kinda games they need to win to make the finals else, like their honourable efforts against Seoul & Mexico City, it counts for nothing. I actually think the Saints are due here.

The London run came to an abrupt stop at the hands of a merciless Dublin. Still, that was probably part of the plan and that doesn’t really have any bearings on the hopes of London this year. Despite sitting 16th in the points ladder, the Royals sit just outside the 8 at 9th spot; setting themselves up for a chance to make the finals if everything falls into place. London should go into every match thinking that they are a chance (maybe except last week) and really, facing the #2 undefeated team in Seoul this week is no different. Although the Magpies have been a picture of 140+ consistency... surely they’re due for an off game? That’s where London will hope to strike every, single, week this year, and all the best to them. Five consecutive 140+ scores this year means that Seoul have not only been undefeated, but sit 5th on the points ladder! Seoul have been expertly navigated by OliveField this year, which just goes to highlight how important leadership is to a team. Contrary to what I just said, it kinda feels like Seoul can’t put in a stinker because of the OliveField and the general elite youth over at Magpies... I’m just a big fan, really. Seoul for me.

Oh jeez. Just flowering look at New Delhi’s past month: 161, 166, 162 and 150. I mean, what else can I say? Last week I guess was a good win against a challenging opponent, but that’d be the third opponent that has scored in the 140-150 range that New Delhi has accounted for. The only blemish, and concern for the Tigers is the Round 1 performance against Dublin to which it choked and won’t be able to rectify until September. I’ll point out that New Delhi has HGA here, and that it in all my time coaching Berlin in... flower, my 96th game as coach, that the Brewers will have an OOP ruck. It flowering disgusts me that this flowering game flowers me over and every flowering opportunity it flowering gets... *sigh*. I just want a premiership, you know? Something to show for the 95 games I’ve coached? You know how depressing it is to make fun of New Delhi only two years ago only for them to come across a shoot right by you? Well, joke’s on me I guess! Can’t tip against the Tigers here.

The stage of the John McCarthy Cup, two teams on a mission and an admin to not disappoint means that this is my MATCH OF THE ROUND! The Revolution are coming; Tippett is back, Lewis returns this week and Heeney is rested up and ready to cause trouble. New York will finally get together the team that they want to be judged on and there really isn’t many better teams that they could test themselves out against. Although, it should be mentioned that Joel Selwood was the only centurion for the Revs last week; a good one at that as its captain. But really, to me that just says to me that they’ll look to ‘rebound’ and pump out 150+. The Islanders have a couple of games on record where they have lost by scoring in the 140-150 range and it would be CRUSHING to say the least if that were to happen a third time. The team #3 on the points ladder will also be looking to pump out a 150+ score to ensure that doesn’t happen, and with Bont overdue for a Bont kinda game... I just have really high hopes that 300+ points will be scored in this bad boy of a game. I think I’m actually liking the Revs here!

The Reindeers reverted back to their sub-130 games, sucking a little hope out of their supporter base that a 2016-like turnaround was again on the cards. Not one midfielder registered a ton last week and really, that’s unacceptable for any team that wants to win. Sitting 15th on both the real and points ladder, and with my grim outlook for them, I don’t think the men for France will be featuring in this year’s finals series, but it can certainly make efforts to ensure its opponents don’t either, especially the Jaguars. This really is looking like a 2015-year-incarnate for the Jags, whom sit 6th on the points ladder but 2-3 and 11th, and they only just over the Dillos last week. A win here is CRUCIAL for Rio and a return to at least the 140+ range will serve the comp a friendly reminder that the reigning premiers will look to make finals yet again. I can’t help but notice that finals superstar Patrick Cripps seems to have dropped dramatically; perhaps suffering from the premiership hangover still, but wow, the form of 100-gamer Brad Ebert?! Rio’s best player isn’t even in the Leadership Group, for shame. The Jags for me. 

[Torpedo10]

If Cairo is ever going to smash us, this is probably the week they'll do it.  :-\

[Holz]

Dublin

Tom McDonald, Alex Rance, Lachie Plowman, Jacob Weitering
Rory Sloane (C), Adam Treloar Vc,  Dustin Martin, Brad Crouch
Todd Goldstein
Jack Reiwoldt, Jack Gunston, Tom Hawkins, Justin Westhoff
Nathan Jones, Jack Silvagni.

Henry Schade, Kurt Murtimer, Brayden Preuss


Special Mention: K.Murtimer , i finally have a mid only playing on my bench. What an amazing day.

[JBs-Hawks]

If Cairo is ever going to beat us, this is probably the week they'll do it.  :-\

They already have beaten you twice...

[Toga]

Looking forwards to the write up Purps but yep it's gonna be a crucial match for Jing. A loss would make finals a long shot, and Toronto are a very good team on their day.

[Toga]

BEIJING THUNDER
D: J.Hunt, S.Wellingham, S.Mayes, T.Williamson
M: D.Zorko (C), O.Wines (VC), L.Neale, C.Ward
R: B.Grundy
F: J.Jenkins, J.Caddy, C.Petracca, B.Hill
IC: B.Ellis, J.Polec

Emg: A.Black (fwd), D.Howe (def/mid), K.Lambert (fwd)

[Torpedo10]

If Cairo is ever going to smash us, this is probably the week they'll do it.  :-\

They already have beaten you twice...

Yeah I made a mistake.

Edited.  :-X

[meow meow]

AINTS

B: Bob, Montagna, Andrews, McKenzie
M: Gibbs (vc), Mitchell, Wells, Masten
R: Sandi (c)
F: Higgins, Steele, ANB, WHE
I: Clay, McLean

E: Fiorini, Wilson, Boyd

[Purple 77]

Previews are in!

Which reminds me, if any of you are interested to make your voices heard, or to shut up mine, I'm looking to once or twice this year get someone to write some previews just to get a fresh outlook outside of my Cairo bashing, Dublin kiss-arsey and Berlin desperation I churn out each week  :P

[GoLions]

Kate Upton Cobras

DEF: Jasper Pittard, Callum Mills, Luke McDonald, Lachie Hansen
MID: Josh P Kennedy (C), Dion Prestia (VC), Mark Blicavs, Lachie Hunter
RUCK: Toby Nankervis
FWD: Blake Acres, Peter Wright, Dean Kent, Timothy Broomhead
UTIL: Touk Miller, Taylor Garner

EMG: Jake Carlisle, Jack Bowes, Griffin Logue

[meow meow]

Parker to finally so something this week. Picked him in my real SC and he's been less than impressive. Gotta be due for an enormous game and what better time than against us?!

[Ricochet]

Purps you have too many guys i want to do well

Fyfe, Johnson and Walters because, well, Freo
Watson for AF
Burgoyne for Asians
Buddy and Fyfe for SC
annd Hibberd as an upgrade target next week

Oh jeez. Just flowering look at New Delhi’s past month: 161, 166, 162 and 150.

Told you Cloke is the difference :'(

[Nige]

Previews are in!

Which reminds me, if any of you are interested to make your voices heard, or to shut up mine, I'm looking to once or twice this year get someone to write some previews just to get a fresh outlook outside of my Cairo bashing, Dublin kiss-arsey and Berlin desperation I churn out each week  :P

Ya boy will do it, just so Berlin cop it just a little.  ;)

[Jukes]

Compo if Hoges doesn't play?

[Holz]

Compo if Hoges doesn't play?

I would think the pleasure of seeing Cairo win would be compensation enough.

Go Cairo Go