WXV Round 11: Berlin to Do or Die

[Purple 77]

Thought I'd get in early to explain how these bye rounds are going to pan out.

ROLLING LOCKOUT

WXV Round 9
WXV Round 10 - is finished
WXV Round 11
WXV Representative Round



AFL Round 11

Thursday Night
Port Adelaide v Hawthorn

Friday Night
Geelong v Adelaide

Saturday
Gold Coast v West Coast
GWS v Essendon
North Melbourne v Richmond

Sunday
Fremantle v Collingwood

AFL Round 12

Thursday Night
Sydney v Western Bulldogs

Friday Night
Adelaide v St Kilda

Saturday
Hawthorn v Gold Coast
Brisbane v Fremantle
Essendon v Port Adelaide

Sunday
Carlton v GWS

Monday
Melbourne v Collingwood

AFL Round 13

Thursday Night
West Coast v Geelong

Friday Night
North Melbourne v St Kilda

Saturday
Richmond v Sydney
Port Adelaide v Brisbane
Gold Coast v Carlton

Sunday
Western Bulldogs v Melbourne

Round 11, AFL Round 11 + AFL Round 12 Scores from Brisbane, Carlton, Melbourne, St Kilda, Sydney, Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide + Gold Coast

Home Team	Away Team	Venue	Head-to-Head
Seoul Magpies	Cape Town Cobras	Seoul World Cup Stadium	1  v  4
New Delhi Tigers	London Royals	Wipro Stadium, EurAsia	2  v  3
Berlin Brewers	Cairo Sands	Berlin Olympic Stadium	4  v  1
Moscow Spetsnaz	Beijing Thunder	Luzhniki Stadium, EurAsia	5  v  1
Toronto Wolves	Tokyo Samurai	Rogers Centre	2  v  3
Christchurch Saints	Dublin Destroyers	AMI Stadium	0  v  2
Buenos Aires Armadillos	PNL Reindeers	Estadio de River	3  v  2
New York Revolution	Rio de Janeiro Jaguars	MetLife Stadium, AAP Alliance, Americas	0  v  3
Pacific Islanders	Mexico City Suns	BSP Stadium, AAP Alliance	0  v  5

The Magpies just can’t quite seem to crack that 160 barrier. They certainly got off to a good start against Dublin with Captain Danger leading the way, but as has sometimes been their criticism, the rest of the team didn’t follow suit. The trio of midfield guns that is Danger, Oliver and Kelly have seen to it that Seoul is a safe 140+ per week proposition, and that will take them to finals. But, given Dublin taught them a lesson last week, they are still looking to see if they can beat the big teams. Cape Town hit back with their third 130+ score of the year last week with a comfortable win over Buenos Aires, where it was good to see someone else pitch in and help JPK out (Blicavs, LMac). It was a reasonably solid performance all round from the Cobras, where they will have to try and bank most weeks and pray that their other midfielders can another step up. I’m not sure this is a safe reliance to make, and as such will back the Magpies.

I can’t help but notice New Delhi might just be running out of the stamina that saw 150+ scores a regular feature. Assuming they will in Round 9, the Tigers will have only done so once in the past 5 weeks; allowing teams such as Pacific, Rio and even Berlin to surpass their scoring output. Have the Tigers peaked too early? Are they concerned with Robbie Gray’s hot and cold nature? You’ll also notice that the number of their 100+ averaging players have now reduced to three. Interesting. Meanwhile, the Royals would like that problem at the moment. The late withdrawal of Luke Shuey against the Reindeers last week cost them the match in the end in an embarrassing score-line for both teams. They just need to return to that early season mindset that they can upset their opponents on any given week; just look at Moscow! But I’ll have back the Tigers.

As alluded to in the thread title, this week I will know if Berlin are the real deal. The Brewers have their backs against the wall in their Round 9 match against Beijing as well as coming up against the in-form Sands. Sitting at 5-4 and with many more noteworthy opponents to come than the mere Sands, going into that period 5-6 could almost spell the end for Berlin. However, the return of big Max or even Spencer is totally possible which would be of phenomenal help. In trems of wklnaig on the tarerin of wahetevr jrenouy a taem mkaes, snad ins’t all too disimlsiar to drit; an aorppprtaie mohetapr wehn asssseing Criao tihs week.  Wtih praehps epxtceion to Aadms, Baems and Mfumrod, nmeas lkie Rbtooern, Svteens, MGcveron and Nnewes are the kndia scoend-teir nmeas yuo’d aciasoctse wtih a scoend-teir taem. Tihs ‘sipne of spuertarss’ hvae tkean Cirao to the dptehs of ttaol uflitnaiarmiy â€" the top ehigt â€" in crncimastuces taht srprisue tehm as mcuh as it deos teihr cacoh, wohm sluery dind’t epcxet mcuh of tihs yaer gievn siht all was dnoe at the tarde prioed to a taem taht fshniied lsat. Rdgaesrles of the rsulet, wichh may eevn ponit to a lielky Cirao vcotiry hree and eevn a fianl top 8 plcinag, tehy wlil act to the top temas lkie taht of the sprpiuotng srctuutre of tohse who bllody satnd on the WXV arnea; drit. 

This bloody comp ey?! The Spetsnaz have just won their 4th consecutive match which has claimed the scalps of New Delhi & Mexico City. flower, me. This is the same team that averaged 115.5 in the opening month of the competition and has had vital players struck down with injury on a long and ongoing basis. Just, bravo. But why stop there?! Why not continue against the most unluckiest team of 2017 in the Beijing Thunder? This team has lost every time they’ve posted 140-150 and even timed their bad match of the year to cruel perfection against the Wolves whom went insane that round. Beijing are in prime position to win in Round 9 against Berlin, but that’s not a certainty and neither is this game. This has just been a year to forget for the men from China and all they can do now is fight for a respectable win loss ratio. I actually think they will be the ones to stop the unstoppable Spetsnaz, and start to turn things around this week with two wins.

DO YOU KNOW?! That whenever Toronto has scored more than 133, they have won? Well, I know Round 9 is going to invalidate that fact, but Pacific scored 133 last week, and Toronto scored more than that. Yes, you deduced correctly, the Wolves beat the Islanders! Things have definitely looked up ever since coach Ada declared that their best XV were on the park at it seems obvious to me that this team can compete with those expected to make finals this year. That win was huge for Toronto, and will be remembered as an important milestone in their rebuild. The Samurai were outclassed by the premiership favourites last week, but it was once again a lack of leadership that headlines their result. I feel like the Samurai are due any moment now to at least go 140+ and upset an opponent, and I’d like it to be very, very soon (before Round 14, please). Once Parker, Dahlhaus, Williams and JJ all synchronise their good scores, I reckon the Samurai will win regardless of their opponent. I think Toronto might just be that opponent.

The Saints are also facing a defining week this week; awaiting to see if PNL will come from behind and beat them in Round 9 and whether they can topple the Destroyers to avoid going into the rest of the season 4-7 and essentially out of the race. If, however, they manage to be 6-5... I reckon they can keep it going personally, because they are performing better and I think they can win 4 of their last 6. As meow keeps saying, the key is selecting the right players out of an inconsistent bunch where the winning formula is there, they just need to find it. The Destroyers - after me declaring they were sliding - have gone BANG with two likely 160+ back to back scores.  To this I say, welcome back to the premiership race! But the moment they score another sub-130 is the moment doubt sets back in and really, it’s all about timing for this team that lacks a little bit of depth. I actually think the Saints will get up here, because surely that Dublin midfield can’t go ballistic for the 3rd consecutive week?

Tex Walker certainly is a gamble that the Dillos can probably afford to take. The player with the highest ceiling on the list is also one that has scored sub-30 on two occasions without injury. 4 of the last 5 Armadillo scores have been sub-120 and, given the recent turnaround at Moscow and that Beijing have just been plain unlucky, it’s probably fair to say Buenos Aires are rightfully favourites for the spoon. Given they will go into most matches as the underdogs, giving the C to a player that can go big make sense; giving them a chance where they are otherwise expected not to have. But if their opponents score like they did last week, then they definitely are a chance. The Reindeers got oh-so-lucky against the Royals where neither team scored more than 120. It does however, even if you pencil their Round 9 match as a loss, mean that the Reindeers have won 3 of their past 4 and have made a turnaround of sorts. If they win this match and lose as expected in Round 9, they’ll be 5-6; the dream would still just be alive. But you know what? I like the Dillos here. Walker to respond!

Two top 4 aspiring teams go head to head in my MATCH OF THE ROUND! The Revolution are slowly starting to come together, but they are still searching for that first 150+ score to make their top 8 compatriots take notice. With a win against Buenos Aires all but assured in Round 9, the Revolution really only need 2 more wins to start pencilling in finals but the road ahead isn’t that easy. For example, more than just Joel Selwood has to get a century to beat the real contenders, like their opponents Rio this week. The Jaguars didn’t reach the same heights last week as they have been achieving this year, but they still managed an important win against Christchurch. Sitting 6th with only New York as the only team left to play that sits above them, the Jags are well placed to make a finals assault and consolidate a place in the top 4. A win against New York is CRUCIAL for that ambition; a win might seem Rio in the 4 by the end of the week; a loss might make it too hard to achieve. This game has stakes, and I like it. New York for me!

The Islanders are quickly building an association of high quality games. Their wins are quality, but so are there losses where they now find themselves 9th on the ladder, sitting 5-4 despite being the third highest scoring team of the comp. The loss against Toronto last week was certainly unexpected; their lowest score of the year timed against them.  The Islanders should win in Round 9 but they won’t score amazingly well, which means they well score sub-140 two weeks in a row. A concern? Maybe, give it one more week. The team with real concerns is that of Mexico City, whom dropped an otherwise regulation match against Moscow. The Suns actually could find themselves 6-5 after this round, where there Round 9 match against Rio is no certainty to win. That match won’t thrill either, and will mean that the Suns have scored one score above 140 in the past 5 weeks. What a strange formline. It’d be typical luck for the Islanders if they lost this match in a 300+ point epic, but I have real doubts about the Suns which I don’t share them, so Pacific for me.

[Purple 77]

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[Torpedo10]

Can we loophole?

[Nige]

Oh, Berlin vs Cairo.

Guess that means Berlin will not do.

And I guess that means Berlin will die.

You're all invited to the funeral of the Berlin Brewers and their coach Purple 77 at the conclusion of WXVs Round 11. If it's any incentive to come along, drinks are on MajorLazer.

[Nige]

Also Purps, you said "Port Adeliade" again, but I got your back buddy.  8)

[Purple 77]

Can we loophole?

You most certainly can

[Purple 77]

Alrighty Nige, that does it. You will know my wrath.

[Nige]

Alrighty Nige, that does it. You will know my wrath.

[MajorLazer]

Invalid

[Toga]

We'll find a way to lose this :P

[meow meow]

Wtf is this shower? A home game? Must be some kind of mistake...

[meow meow]

Can we name 9 emergencies?

[upthemaidens]

Islanders keep finding a way to lose.  Big home game this round against Mexico, followed by Dublin the week after.
    If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. :)  Bring it on, the Bont is overdue for a big one.

[Ringo]

Can we name 9 emergencies?

This is probably a fair point so how many emergencies can we name given being played over 3 rounds.

[Holz]

Islanders keep finding a way to lose.  Big home game this round against Mexico, followed by Dublin the week after.
    If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. :)  Bring it on, the Bont is overdue for a big one.

looking forward to playing you should be a good challenge.

pretty boring for me I essentially have a bye this week and then not playing the week after.

Dublin boys might get a little rusty after putting up back to back 160s.