WXV Round 9: Reserved

[Purple 77]

Right.

Port Adelaide and Gold Coast players! They have a pesky bye.

The score that will count this round, is the score they will get in AFL Round 11 (two weeks from now).

If you name a Port Adelaide or Gold Coast player, and they DON'T play, then players from the other 16 teams will 'move up' in your starting XV without penalty.

For example,

Berlin

.
.
F: Lance Franklin, Charlie Dixon, Mark LeCras, Jay Kennedy-Harris
U: Jobe Watson, Jack Trengove
E: Shaun Burgoyne, Michael Walters, Joel Smith

If Dixon doesn't play, LeCras will move to F2, JKH will move to F3, Walters will move to F4, Smith will move to E2, and according to my list preferences, the next player on my list that has played is Dylan Grimes, so he will move to E3.

If you rest a Port or Gold Coast player, you will receive their rested bonus in WXV Round 10. Yes, this means that their resting bonus might have to be retroactively removed, if the Port or Gold Coast player doesn't play in AFL Round 11.

Please ask me questions if you don't quite understand, or see any potential grey areas you'd like resolved.

Now, back to something familiar...

Round 9, AFL Round 9 + AFL Round 11 Scores from Port Adelaide + Gold Coast

Home Team	Away Team	Venue	Head-to-Head (Seniors)
Port Morseby Iguanadons	Durban Pirates	BSP Stadium, AAP Alliance, Africonia	2  v  3
Copacabana Capuchins	Mexico City Suns	Maracana Stadium, AAP Alliance, Americas	1  v  2
Washington Rebellion	La Plata Armada	MetLife Stadium, AAP Alliance, Americas	2  v  3
Marseille Kings	Wellington Weta	Stade du Ray	2  v  1
Belfast Braves	Windsor Warriors	Crooke Park	4  v  1
Siberian Wolverines	Yuzawa Yakuza	Luzhniki Stadium, EurAsia	4  v  1
Shanghai Storm	Rhineland Rum-Runners	Beijing Olympic Park, EurAsia	2  v  3
Alexandria Hieroglyphics	Imperial Princes	Borg El Arab Stadium	2  v  3
Pyongyang Chollimas	Mumbai Elephants	Seoul World Cup Stadium, EurAsia, Asia	1  v  4

Oh hail our latest king, long may they rain. The Iguanadons have been outstanding this year and have totally dispatched their opponents on a regular basis, bar that Round 3 clash against Mumbai. Port Morseby sit 2nd on the points ladder and when the likes of Sam Gibson, Matthew Leuenberger and Lee Spurr are leading 7 other hungry Iguanadons just last week, it's easy to see why. The Pirates are having a year to forget; sitting 15th on the points ladder and one worse in the real one. How can a team that tonned up in Round 2 (and lost) score just 6 in Round 7? Their opponents in both that game and last week showed no mercy; Jake Carlisle & Tom Papley could almost be seen crying after facing 7 Rum-Runners by themselves. Durban might be getting a little more help this week at least, but I can't justify tipping against the Iguanadons.

I reckon last year still hurts for the Capuchins; a dominant constant of the fixture, only to fall at the last September hurdle against Wellington. Copacabana played a key role in that inspiring Rio run to glory and not enough credit is given to the team that kept premiership players Danyle Pearce, Brendan Whitecross and Andrew Mackie honest. This year however, they sit just outside the eight, after last week losing tough in a 4 (WXV) point loss to Shanghai making finals just that little bit harder. They'll look to respond against the Suns this week though whom are nothing but easy beats. No respect is given to this team as they sit 2nd last in both the real and points ladder, and REFUSE to change their name to be different to the seniors and spread the wealth over at Mexico. Melican must have been spittin that Newman got a late call up; condemning him to face Durban with only Baguley backing him up. You're a different kettle of fish in this comp Mexico City, and I hope this week to make you, and you're buddy Dublin, to feel bad about it. Capuchins will massacre them.

The Rebellion is sticking close to the Revolution, in that they also sit in top 4 (2nd) and demand to be a force to be respected. Washington opened the year with an impressive 5 tons to net 5 wins, but the last 3 weeks have fallen in the 70-90 range and slipped up against the number one team, Port Morseby in the process. Reserves gun Sam Reid was at it again last week; his 3rd ton in 3 games; and Washington officials are thrilled that he continues to get games. You'd like to think the Armada are pretty good at this comp given the Dillos field the pretty ordinary players on the list in the seniors. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Sitting 16th in the points ladder, La Plata have only netted wins against Pyongyang in Round 2, but rallied hard to win against Alexandria last week with a great 99! That would have beaten Washington in the past 3 weeks, so look out! The Rebellion, though, easy.

Marseille are kinda like PNL in a way, well, at least up until Round 6 this year; terrible, but more so. The winless 'Kings' are anything but, sitting last in both the real and points ladder. The tall trio of Patton, Schache and Casboult fronted up with Crozier last week against Washington, and it wasn't pretty. To make matters worse, one of them will probably get the call up for Rioli for the Reindeers, which makes the match-up against Wellington this week hard to look at. The reigning premiers actually haven't been TOO great this year; sitting 10th, but 6th in the points ladder, but hey, I guess they get to go home to a loving trophy in the former Warriors headquarters. The Weta had a special treat last week with Sam Mitchell resting and leading the way in their DEMOLITION of Mumbai last week, a treat that's probably not going to happen again.  It's not like he's required this week anyway. A Weta win.

The Braves remain the perennial cellar dwellers of the competition and continue to be a blight of this fine competition. Although it should be said that the players here and paid much less than other clubs, given the greediness and disrespect shown by those at Dublin. But, they did flog Mexico City last week... if only the same could be said about the seniors. All 7 Braves were reasonably young though, so I guess it's not all bad. Windsor have been similarly struggling this year; sitting 14th in both the real and points ladder. They only narrowly lost to Pyongyang last week; a win which would have been nice to square the ledger. I'm not sure if Windsor will make finals this year, or that the seniors would normally have a chance against those of the Braves, but here is where they can put Ireland to shame (and just quietly, the seniors too).

Russia unite! What a performance by Siberia last week to compliment Moscow’s second consecutive win. Siberia are form team of the competition with an incredible average of 161 over the past 3 weeks. Twelve furious Wolverines dismantled the well respected Princes in what was clearly game of the round; enough to do Hugh Jackman proud. Their well intimated opponents this week in the Yakuza haven’t topped the ton yet this year and have been slowly declining since Round 5... just like the morale in the seniors. Still, sitting 3-5 and the 12th highest scoring team of the comp means they aren’t an opponent to get complacent against. They’ll need more help for McInnes if they are any hope of winning, otherwise the Wolverines might just quadruple their score this week.

Fourth takes on fifth, Shanghai hosts Rhineland and China needs a distraction from its capital in what I dub my RESERVES MATCH OF THE ROUND! The Storm has lit up the competition in the past month with FOUR consecutive tons to net 4 wins against quality opposition. Lambert (86) and O’Brien (80) have maintained excellent form during this time, who were joined by 7 other Stormies in their amazing win over the Capuchins (4 WXV Reserve points). The Rum-Runners know how this comp works; we are both familiar with cold drafts of the cellar and the dizzying heights of a preliminary final. So it’s only natural that we know how to time our... run... during the season, evidenced by sitting 5th despite scoring the 9th most amount of points. A performance like last week would have just overcome the Storm (despite two less players), which promises for a juicy match-up that may decide top placings in the pointy end of the season.  I’ll back my Rum-Runners, only coz I love saying their name.

When I think of this competition, I’m often reminded of the fierceness of Alexandria back in 2013, and how they failed to go on with it in the finals series. They haven’t quite been the same since, evident by their 12th placing from 10th in the points ladder. Not one Hieroglyphic scored more than 50 last week in their loss against La Plata, so just as well the seniors got up. This lot will be expected to suit up again and drastically improve when they take on the Princes whom have always been a respectable force in this competition. This year is no exception, sitting in the top 4 of both the real and points’ ladder. Flaunting 2 centurions in Towers and Hartung amongst 10 players last week, the Princes might get raided by London this week who are struggling in the seniors. Even then, I think the Princes got this one covered.

Pyongyang will welcome at least one Magpie this week with the return of Toby Greene likely to send Myers or Weller to a team that could do with their help. Sitting 7th from 8th in the points ladder, the Chollimas are in a nice position to make the finals and have already displayed their scoring power from 4 consecutive tons in Rounds 3-6. Two sub 60 scores in the past two weeks is not the form they want to have entering into this match, facing the might of Mumbai. The Elephants mirror the Tigers as the number 1 scoring team of the comp and, really, there isn’t a better position India could be. The opposite is true for their financial position, though, with the salary cap sure to hit hard come the end of the year. But that’s future Ricophants problem. Right now, Mumbai need to address at how they’ve managed to fall down to 6th in the ladder. They’ve lost 3 of the past 4 matches where their opponent has scored 146, 180 and 153. Damn haha, that’s unlucky. I’m not willing to bet that will happen again this week, so I’ll back MUMBAI!

[Nige]

Everything about this is terrible.

[Nige]

Damn it Purps, it's Adelaide not Adeliade.

[Purple 77]

 ;D

Damn it Purps, it's Adelaide not Adeliade.

... I'll remember that you said this, Nige :P

[Holz]

Since when is 4-4 Cellar dwellers?

I guess the Demons are Cellar Dwellers this year then.



Belfast will look alot better if Treloar and Hill are back.

L.Plowman, Ed-Vicker Willis, M.O'Connor
K.Murtimer
T.Menzel, H.Greenwood,  S.Durdin, J.Parsons

actually looks ok.

[Purple 77]

Since when is 4-4 Cellar dwellers?

I guess the Demons are Cellar Dwellers this year then.

Hehe, I was also referring to your past, so yes, I would totally classify the Dees as cellar dwellers. When we finish in the eight, that's when we remove the tag IMO.

Also wanted to get stuck into the teams that are traditionally awesome in the seniors :P

[Holz]

Since when is 4-4 Cellar dwellers?

I guess the Demons are Cellar Dwellers this year then.

Hehe, I was also referring to your past, so yes, I would totally classify the Dees as cellar dwellers. When we finish in the eight, that's when we remove the tag IMO.

Also wanted to get stuck into the teams that are traditionally awesome in the seniors :P

Its not greedy dublin that makes belfast bad its a flawed cap system :P

just getting that dig in early this year.

[upthemaidens]

Depending on whose named Thursday night, a possible Port Morseby team could look like this..

L Spurr, A Tomlinson, A Allir, C Hampton, J Kolodjashnij, B Williams
A Swallow, S Gibson, L Duggan
M Leuenberger
A Fasolo, B Howlett, C Ah Chee, M de Boer, J Murdoch

[Adamant]

This is your time to shine meow.

[Toga]

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

Emg: D.Howe (d/m), J.Aish (m), T.O'Brien (f)

SHANGHAI STORM
D: J.Thurlow, T.Jonas, T.Clurey, L.Brown
M: D.Howe, J.Aish, T.Williamson
F: T.O'Brien, A.Black

Pending selection: (K.Stewart (f), B.Lennon (f))

[GoLions]

This is your time to shine meow.

;D

[meow meow]

Dempster, McVeigh, Griffen, Lever (maybe), Mzungu, Roughead (maybe), Petrie all out injured with McKenzie, ANB, Langford and probably Corey Ellis not being selected means our depth is pie. We're not at Moscow level injuries but we've been hit quite hard. Reigning (not raining) premiers won't look supreme but we'll sweep away our opponents with ease this week.

[meow meow]

Prove you're a better coach than me by naming my team in addition to your own this week!

I struggle with M4, U1 and U2

Mitchell, Gibbs and Blakely locked in the mids for me. Wells, Masten, Fiorini or SPS for the remaining 2-3 spots?

I'm thinking Waite, Steele, Higgo locked in the forwards. WHE, Lester, McLean, Smith, Boyd or Lord Stewart for the F4? Jed won't be considered. Do I pick one of these guys for U2?? Surely Lester doesn't get ignored again, does he?

Sandi lock. What if Roughy plays, is he a U2 option? Vardy maybe?

Bob, Joey locks. Silvagni's form too good to ignore but he'll spud if I pick him, I know it. Lever, Andrews or Wilson? Conor McKenna maybe? Nah.

And who to captain out of Mitchell, Gibbs, Sandi, Higgo? ANB unlikely to get a call up so cannot be considered.

[RaisyDaisy]

Christchurch Saints

D: Montagna, Bob, Silvagni, Wilson
M: Gibbs (VC) Mitch (C), Blakely, Wells
R: Sandi
F: Waite, Steele, Higgins, WHE
I: Masten, SPS

[Adamant]

I expect this to be the team you use now meow. :P