British XV Round 12 Lodgement and Banter

[GoLions]

A couple of interesting results last week! The Dragons got over the Werewolves after a shocking performance from The Magician, the Knights destroyed the Owls, and the Leeches handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the year :o

Round 12 fixture:



Rams vs Dragons: Well, we have a new ladder leader! The Dragons have just overtaken the Hurricanes on percentage to grab that first spot, and will want to make sure that they keep it. They come to Liverpool this week to face a Rams outfit that has now just lost their star captain Dayne Beams, and is extreeeemely short on mids, and could be looking at 2 OOP mids again this week. The Rams have their gaze set to 2018, where they will be hoping to attract another midfielder or 2 to the club, and perhaps bring in a bit more youth. Dragons by a lot.

Hawks vs Steins: Ooh, the two highest scorers of last week meet in a head-to-head clash this week, with both battling for that 8th spot! The Steins currently hold it by percentage, and a loss to either team would be a massive blow to their finals chances. You could almost say that this is an elimination final actually, with so much riding on this game, and so many other teams competing for this spot. Even a draw could be costly. The Steins could be welcoming back Hogan this week, after Gawn made his return last week. These are both huge additions to their team. The Hawks however will hold the home ground advantage, and if they can get some consistent performances from their lower tier players, that could be an even bigger advantage. I think the Steins might have just that little bit of extra firepower if Hogan gets up, so I'll go with them.

Werewolves vs Hurricanes: Well, both of these teams absolutely blew it last week, with the chance to break into the top 2 and head towards a home final in week 1. Zorko was horrible for the Werewolves, while the Hurricanes lost Joel Selwood to concussion, and could be missing him again this week. Both of these teams have the firepower to deliver some huge scores, but it has been their consistency that has seen them at the top of the ladder over the last few years, and neither of them showed that last week. I'm expecting both to bounce back, but a lot could fall down to whether Jelwood gets up for the game this week or not. If he doesn't, I'd have to back the Werewolves for sure. If he does...well, then we should be in for an absolute ripper of a game! I'll still back in the Werewolves though.

Knights vs Breakers: The Knights???!!! Massive upset against the Owls last week, which keeps them right up there in finals contention. They still sit outside the 8 by percentage, and have a really good chance to knock off the Breakers this week, who are pretty much out of the race now, after a big loss to the Steins on the weekend. With Dangerfield at the helm, it's hard to see the Knights losing this one, and I'd expect them to stay in the hunt for finals! Knights to get a comfortable win here.

Giants vs Leeches: Unfortunately, the Giants missed out on a good chance to get a win against the Bunnies last week, and that was probably their last chance to stay in the finals hunt. They now sit two games out, plus a fair chunk of percentage, so now their mission will be to make it difficult for all their opponents battling for a spot. The Leeches managed to knock off the Hurricanes quite easily on the weekend, and now sit a game outside of the top 2, and with the Hurricanes coming up against the Werewolves, a win could see them in with a chance of a top 2 finish, especially with their superior percentage over the other top 4 sides. I'm backing them to do so, especially if Gaz is to return this week.

Owls vs Badgers: Gee, the Owls really let one get away on the weekend! Would have been a great chance to stay right in touch with the top 4, but now they'll be fighting to stay in the 8, such is the closeness of our competition this year. They do come up against a disappointing Badgers side this week however, and with home ground advantage as well, so will be looking to lock this one in. The Badgers put in their worst score of the season against the Hedgies last week, and things don't look like getting any better, losing Hurn this week and having LeCras missing another week. Boyd and Rischitelli are also no certainties to return, and they'll likely be forced to play a few youngsters this week. This should make for a comfortable win for the Owls, but they'll still need to show up.

Bunnies vs Magic: A wise man once said "this is a very big game!!", and boy is he right about this one. Bunnies hosting the Magic. 6th hosting 5th. 7th on total points hosting 6th on total points. The Magic sit a game clear of the Bunnies, and a game outside of the top 4. The Bunnies sit a game clear of the massive queue of teams lining up down to 11th for a spot in the 8. The boys from Manchester locked in a solid win against the Hoods last week, and were one of the highest scoring teams of the round. The Bunnies didn't score as well as they would have liked, but got the job done against the Giants, and that's all they needed to do. So much is riding on this one. If the Bunnies can win, then the Magic can say goodbye to their last hope for a top 4 finish, and the Bunnies will be looking at a home elimination final just about locked away. If the Magic win? Well, they will stay in touch with the top 4 still, and if they can win big and the Werewolves suffer a bad loss...might even be able to break in there this week. And the Bunnies will be struggling to even make finals if that is the case, depending on other results. This just seems too close to call, but I feel like with the Magic having a big one last week and the Bunnies a poor game, things might just reverse the other way, along with the Bunnies holding HGA, so I'll back them in an extremely tight contest!

Hedgies vs Hoods: The Hedgies weren't all that impressive against the Badgers last weekend, but as I've said about so many teams so many times before, they did enough to get the win, and sit outside of the 8 by percentage aha. The Hoods...well, they were actually pretty good last week. Their score would have beaten teams such as the Hurricanes, Werewolves, and the Owls, just unlucky to come up against the Magic who were the 3rd highest scoring team in the end. This one looms as a real danger game for the Hedgies, and, honestly, I'm not that confident that they'll be able to get the win. However, the Hoods have just been informed that they will be without star forward Tom T Lynch this week (i.e. the worse one), AND as the badgers coach I don't want to finish last, which means I need them to continue losing. So, up the Hedgies! ;D

[nas]

I think the Leeches Steins might have just that little bit of extra firepower if Hogan gets up, so I'll go with them.

[GoLions]

I think the Leeches Steins might have just that little bit of extra firepower if Hogan gets up, so I'll go with them.

Fixed :P

[iZander]

Werewolves vs Hurricanes: Well, both of these teams absolutely blew it last week, with the chance to break into the top 2 and head towards a home final in week 1. Zorko was horrible for the Werewolves, while the Hurricanes lost Joel Selwood to concussion, and could be missing him again this week. Both of these teams have the firepower to deliver some huge scores, but it has been their consistency that has seen them at the top of the ladder over the last few years, and neither of them showed that last week. I'm expecting both to bounce back, but a lot could fall down to whether Jelwood gets up for the game this week or not. If he doesn't, I'd have to back the Werewolves for sure. If he does...well, then we should be in for an absolute ripper of a game! I'll still back in the Werewolves though.

I think this is the first time youve tipped against me... :(

Werewolves poor came off the back of a terrible captain score where as the Hurricanes score came off the back of countless poor performance and lack of ability to cover injuries. Losing Salem against this week. Assuming Jelwood does get up, i still dont think we are likely to get up :(

[nas]

Staines Steins.

Def: Brayden Maynard - Nick Robertson (D/M) - Callum Mills - Luke McDonald.

Mid: Josh Kelly (VC) - Lachlan Hunter - Marcus Bontempelli (C) - Connor Blakely.

Ruck: Brodie Grundy.

Fwd: Christian Petracca - Elliot Yeo (EVC) (F/M) - Lewis Taylor - Jesse Hogan - Jarman Impey

Util: Max Gawn (R) - Sam Menegola.

Emerg: A M-Tippa (D) - B Fiorini (C) - Jake Spencer (R) - Jarman Impey - Shane Kersten - Ryan Davis (F).

**Subject to Team line ups.**

[GoLions]

Werewolves vs Hurricanes: Well, both of these teams absolutely blew it last week, with the chance to break into the top 2 and head towards a home final in week 1. Zorko was horrible for the Werewolves, while the Hurricanes lost Joel Selwood to concussion, and could be missing him again this week. Both of these teams have the firepower to deliver some huge scores, but it has been their consistency that has seen them at the top of the ladder over the last few years, and neither of them showed that last week. I'm expecting both to bounce back, but a lot could fall down to whether Jelwood gets up for the game this week or not. If he doesn't, I'd have to back the Werewolves for sure. If he does...well, then we should be in for an absolute ripper of a game! I'll still back in the Werewolves though.

I think this is the first time youve tipped against me... :(

Werewolves poor came off the back of a terrible captain score where as the Hurricanes score came off the back of countless poor performance and lack of ability to cover injuries. Losing Salem against this week. Assuming Jelwood does get up, i still dont think we are likely to get up :(

Haha, I wanted to last week, almost did. But yeah, usually hard to tip against you guys :P

[GoLions]

Hurn and Lecca ruled out for this week, what a flowering joke

[kilbluff1985]

Birmingham Dragons

D: Matt Suckling, Grant Birchall, Martin Gleeson , Robert Murphy
M: Tom Rockliff (VC), Tom Mitchell, Zach Merrett (C), Mitchell Duncan
R: Tom Bellchambers
F: Josh Caddy, Josh Jenkins, Steven Motlop, Will Hoskin-Elliott
I/C: Jack Crisp, Brad Ebert

Emerg: Ben McEvoy, Will Langford (M), Luke Breust (F), Conor McKenna (D)

[kilbluff1985]

cant decide who to field McKenna vs Gleeson

[Rusty00]

(Potential) Milestones Games for Round 12

James Kelly (Grope Lane) 50 games
Jamie Macmillan (Grope Lane) 50 games

[SydneyRox]

Not to pre empt the write up, but for the Bunnies this is a very big game!!

[GoLions]

Not to pre empt the write up, but for the Bunnies this is a very big game!!

Huuuge game. Will hopefully finish them tonight, busy basically all day.

[GoLions]

Not to pre empt the write up, but for the Bunnies this is a very big game!!

Huuuge game. Will hopefully finish them tonight, busy basically all day.

Donion rings :)

[GoLions]

Bradford Badgers

DEF: Jarrod Harbrow, Tom Cutler, Matthew Boyd, Jason Castagna
MID: Trent Cotchin (VC), Luke Shuey (C), Rhys Mathieson, Dion Prestia
RUCK: Jarrod Witts
FWD: Shaun Higgins, Tom Papley, Tom J Lynch, Wayne Milera
UTIL: Sir Daniel of Caleb, Brennan Cox

EMG: Tom Liberatore, Jack Darling, Eric Mackenzie, Michael Rischitelli

[iZander]

Bradford Badgers

DEF: Jarrod Harbrow, Tom Cutler, Matthew Boyd, Jason Castagna
MID: Trent Cotchin (VC), Luke Shuey (C), Rhys Mathieson, Dion Prestia
RUCK: Jarrod Witts
FWD: Shaun Higgins, Tom Papley, Tom J Lynch, Wayne Milera
UTIL: Sir Daniel of Caleb, Brennan Cox

EMG: Tom Liberatore, Jack Darling, Eric Mackenzie, Michael Rischitelli

Statement or tanking? ;)