British XV Finals - Week 3 Lodgement and Banter

[GoLions]

So, we have our Preliminary Finals this week! Only one more week to go until the Grand Final, with all 4 of these teams facing off to have the chance to play one more game this year. Last week we saw early premiership favourites in the Hurricanes get knocked out, as well as a high scoring affair between the Werewolves and the Bunnies, which saw the Bunnies being very unlucky to get knocked out after being the 2nd highest scoring team in finals thus far. This week, we see the Dragons hosting the highest finals scoring team in the Werewolves, and the Leeches hosting the Steins...



Week 3 Fixture:

Dragons vs Werewolves: The Dragons have been on a massive winning streak since Round 2, where they suffered their first and only loss to the Owls. Since then, it's been win after win. This week however, they may be in trouble. Zerrett is suspended, Duncan is suspended, Hall could be below his best after suffering a hamstring injury last week, and still may not be named for the Dragons regardless. That is a lot of their scoring power gone, and the real strength of this Dragons outfit has always been their midfield and utilities. Adding to that, their opponent in the Werewolves has been averaging over 2500 this finals series, and showing no signs of slowing down. Their whole side basically is in form, and while they do lose WitherGOAT this week, they have more than adequate replacements in Nic Newman, and possibly Nathan Wilson. With the form that the Werewolves are in, and the outs for the Dragons this weekend, I think the Werewolves will get it done away from home, and make yet another Grand Final!

Leeches vs Steins: Both of these teams have been two of the more consistent teams of the comp this season. Not as many high scores, but not many low scores either, always remaining competitive. Because of this, one of these teams will be playing in the GF next week, which is awesome to see, as both have moved up the ladder a fair bit since last year. The Leeches have probably shown that extra bit of scoring power over the Steins, and will be coming into this as favourites, particularly with HGA on their side. They will be missing their best midfielder and captain in Gary Ablett though, which is a huge loss to any team. Other than that though, they're at full strength and will likely have Clayton Oliver leading the way for them, who has been huge all year. The Steins also will be missing a very important player this week, their first ruck in Brodie Grundy, who has been hit with a 2 week suspension. Luckily for them, they have big Maxy GAWNNNNNNN who will move into the ruck, but with Blakely and Fiorini also out, their depth is being tested a bit, and their scoring will likely suffer. It's such a young side that the Steins have, and unfortunately I think that, along with their slightly larger list of outs, will see them fall short of the Leeches this week.

[kilbluff1985]

Birmingham Dragons

Def: We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit
Mids: We Forfeit (C), We Forfeit (VC), We Forfeit, We Forfeit
Rucks: We Forfeit
Fwds: We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit
I/C We Forfeit, We Forfeit

[iZander]

Birmingham Dragons

Def: We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit
Mids: We Forfeit (C), We Forfeit (VC), We Forfeit, We Forfeit
Rucks: We Forfeit
Fwds: We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit, We Forfeit
I/C We Forfeit, We Forfeit

Werent you thinking about not playing Zerret anyway ;)

[nas]

Stains Steins:

Def: Nick Vlastuin - Callum Mills - Luke McDonald - Luke Ryan
Mid: Josh Kelly (VC) - Lachie Hunter - Marcus Bontempelli (C) - Sam Menegola
Ruck: Max Gawn (EVC)
Fwd: Christian Petracca - Elliot Yeo - Shane Kersten - Lewis Taylor
Util: Brayden Maynard - A M-Tippa
Emerg: A Tomlinson (D) - Nick Robertson (C/D) - Jarman Impey (F)

**Subject to Team Line ups.

Brayden Fiorini out, Sam Menegola to Mids.
A M-Tippa to Util.
James Harmes emerg out & A Tomlinson in.

[kilbluff1985]

Birmingham Dragons

D: Matt Suckling, Conor McKenna, Robbie Tarrant,  Robert Murphy
M: Brad Ebert (VC) , Tom Mitchell (C), Jack Crisp, Tom Rockliff
R: Ben McEvoy
F: Josh Caddy, Josh Jenkins, Luke Breust, Will Hoskin-Elliott
I/C: Sean Darcy,  Aaron Hall

Emerg: Jordan Roughead (R), Shaun Atley (D), Will LangFord (M),  Ben Howlett (F)

[jhello]

Leeds Leeches

D: Alex Rance, Jeremy Howe, Michael Johnson, Dylan Roberton
M: David Mundy, Jack Viney (VC), Clayton Oliver (C), Tom Scully (EVC)
R: Sam Jacobs
F: Isaac Smith, Jack Billings, Jack Sinclair, Taylor Walker
U: Dom Tyson, Sam Kerridge

E: Liam Duggan (M), Tom Stewart (D), Lewis Jetta (F), David Mackay (R)(OOP)

[Rusty00]

Winchester Werewolves

D: Kade Simpson, Michael Hibberd, Luke Hodge, Nic Newman
M: Nathan Fyfe (C), Dayne Zorko (VC), Matt Priddis, Robbie Gray
R: Toby Nankervis
F: Luke Dahlhaus, Jarryd Roughead, Toby McLean, Jack Steele
I: Lachie Whitfield (EVC), James Sicily

E: Sam Gibson (M), Nathan Wilson (D), Ryan Clarke (F), Matthew Leuenberger (R)

[Rusty00]

(Potential) Milestones Games for Semi Finals

Lachie Hunter (Staines) 50 games

[nas]

Stains Steins:

Def: Nick Vlastuin - Callum Mills - Luke McDonald - Luke Ryan
Mid: Josh Kelly (VC) - Lachie Hunter - Marcus Bontempelli (C) - Sam Menegola
Ruck: Max Gawn (EVC)
Fwd: Christian Petracca - Elliot Yeo - Shane Kersten - Lewis Taylor
Util: Brayden Maynard - A M-Tippa
Emerg: A Tomlinson James Harmes (D) - Nick Robertson (C/D) - Jarman Impey (F)

**Subject to Team Line ups.

Brayden Fiorini out, Sam Menegola to Mids.
A M-Tippa to Util.
James Harmes emerg out & A Tomlinson in.

** James Harmes back to the Emerg.

[Rusty00]

flower me Dahlhaus could you actually kick the ball once in a while >:(

[kilbluff1985]

how early was Caddy's  injury

[iZander]

how early was Caddy's  injury

Dunno what time the injury was but he should be sitting at around 20% game time at the end of the game, cant remember if the rule was <25 or <20 though

[GoLions]

how early was Caddy's  injury

Dunno what time the injury was but he should be sitting at around 20% game time at the end of the game, cant remember if the rule was <25 or <20 though

It's 20%, and it'll be very very close :P

[kilbluff1985]

good thing GL made me realize Hall wasnt dropped like expected lol

[Rusty00]

good thing GL made me realize Hall wasnt dropped like expected lol

I was wondering why you named him as I thought he'd done a hamstring.

In other news, we're cooked. Some absolutely terrible scores already. Our only chance is a shocker from Titch which never happens :'(