AXV: Mongolian Lambs... Moved to a new home.

[Toga]

Yep just to clarify pickers DID offer me the Cruisers in British but I want to keep in touch with all of you Asians lads since your top blokes, and taking another team would probably prevent me from being an Asians coach in the future... So I WAS offered a very reasonable compromise, full credit to pickers, but think it is in my best interest to just wait for an Asians team :)

And yep, up to you pickers whether you want to explain your decision or not :)

[Toga]

Head coach picker_man is pleased to announce that after the happenings of last week he will be offering Toga a temporary position as assistant coach of the Mongolian Lambs while he searches for another head coach role elsewhere in Asia. Toga is reportedly very happy with the decision, and would like to thank picker_man and the board at Mongolia for the opportunity.

[Toga]

Bad news today with Steve Johnson having surgery to clean up his knee this morning. His recovery time is as of yet unknown but we hope he will be fit and firing again soon enough.

This leaves our forward line a little depleted, with injuries to fellow key player Nathan Bock and Kurt Tippett's well-publicised suspension leaving our second-tier players in Josh Hill and (superstar) Dennis Armfield needing to step up to keep our top four hopes alive.

[Toga]

In another turn of events at Mongolia, picker_man has unexpectedly handed in his resignation to the board this morning, citing time restraints as the reason for his decision.

The board has made a quick decision given the timing of the resignation, and have announced Toga will once again be taking over the head-coach role at Mongolia.

Toga was unavailable to be contacted at this time, but is reported to be happy to be back on the scene.

[Nails]

With the club surrounded by such turmoil do you feel this will hurt your chances seeing as you are playing premiership favourites this week?

[Toga]

Good question Nails! :P

I don't think it will, to be honest... I mean we were always going to be underdogs given the injuries we have sustained leading into the season to Steve Johnson, Brian Lake, and Nathan Bock, along with the suspension to Kurt Tippett.. So we were always gonna have a slow start to the season.

I might've come in a bit unprepared this week, and in my rush to name the team I overlooked Dennis Armfield and named Hayden Crozier instead which was a bit of a mistake, but I think we can still give you a run for your money! A strong performance from Jack Riewoldt last night helps a bit, I just hope some of the other guys in the team can really step it up this week so we can get a win on the board!

[Toga]

Preseason CW Cap Review

CW Cap: Round 1

Mongolian Lambs (12.10.82) defeated Manila Folders (10.8.68)
(Exhibition - Lord's Cricket Ground, London)

Mongolia kicked off the first round of the inaugural AXV Preseason competition, the CW Cap, with a nice win against rivals the Manila Folders, coming home in the end with a fourteen point victory. With the 'youth captain' rule set in place, the side was captained this week by Jon Giles, who performed well in his first game for the club.

GOOD: Bachar Houli starred in defence, while youngsters Hayden Crozier and George Horlin-Smith were serviceable up front and in the midfield. Matt Priddis was as solid as always in the midfield, and is looking good after a solid off-season on the track.

TOP SCORERS:

   

Ryan O'Keefe (103)

Jack Riewoldt (90)

Matthew Priddis(82)

BAD: Steve Johnson is in the bad books only days after being traded to Mongolia after an incident involving serial Folders pest Hayden Ballantyne has left him suspended for the first round of the Home and Away season. Upon review, Lambs coaches are unhappy with the decision handed down by the MRP, but acknowledge that Johnson's poor record could lead to further disciplinary action if the sentence was appealed.

CW Cap: Round 2

Mongolian Lambs (20.12.132) defeated Tibetan Llamas (17.13.115)
(Exhibition - Gliderol Stadium, Glenelg)

Sitting comfortably in CW Cap finals contention after a comfortable win over the Folders last week, the Lambs came up against young up-and-coming team the Tibetan Llamas at Gliderol Stadium in Glenelg. While on paper the Lambs have a more experienced and elite side compared to the Llamas, this game was up for grabs for both teams with almost half of Mongolia's best XV missing, and the 'youth captain' rule playing heavily into the hands of the youthful Tibetan side.

GOOD: Preseason captain Jon Giles again stood out in a dominant display, clocking up 118 points in his second week captaining the side. Seasoned players Marc Murphy and Scott Thompson both topped 100 points each in a good effort, but it was youngsters Jack Newnes and Aaron Young who were the real standouts this week, bursting on to the scene with more than 90 points a piece.

TOP SCORERS:

   

Jon Giles (118)

Scott Thompson (109)

Marc Murphy (106)

Aaron Young (98)

BAD: Stand-in forward Josh Hill was disappointing this week scoring only 16 points. The player who was thought to be a shoo-in as Kurt Tippett's replacement for the start of the season while he sits out his suspension is now in danger of losing his spot in the side to impressive youngsters Hayden Crozier and Aaron Young, with Nathan Bock expected to return in coming weeks as well. Hill is expected to step up his game this week in order to impress coaches ahead of round one of the Asian's season.

CW Cap: Third-Place Playoff

Mongolian Lambs (24.10.154) d. Bangladesh Bears (17.15.117)
(Exhibition - Westpac Stadium, Wellington)

Excited to be undefeated so far in the CW Cap Preseason competition, but a bit disheartened to have not made the final of the competition on percentage, some of the Lambs bigger names were back in the side this week, ready to show Asia what it can expect from the Lambs this season. A blow to the side, however, was the resting of preseason captain Jon Giles, who took the week off, leaving the captaincy to Hayden Crozier, who has had a solid preseason to date.

GOOD: Utilities Jared McVeigh and Nathan van Berlo had massive games, with McVeigh scoring a huge 168 points, and van Berlo with a very solid 132. Others to impress were Steve Johnson, Nick Malceski, Bachar Houli and youngster Jack Newnes, all of whom had terrific matches.

TOP SCORERS:

   
   

Jared McVeigh (168)	Bachar Houli (135)	Nathan van Berlo (132)	Steve Johnson (116)
Nick Malceski (114)	Jack Newnes (112)	Jack Riewoldt(105)	Ryan O'Keefe (102)

BAD: This week's captain, Hayden Crozier, who was reportedly excited with his naming as captain for this weekend's game was unfortunately used as the sub, and was therefore down on his usual output. Drew Petrie and Aaron Young were also quieter than usual this weekend.

[Toga]

Round 1 Review

Mongolian Lambs (25.14.164) defeated by Taiwan Dolphins (26.15.171)
(Home - Bird's Nest Stadium, Beijing)

The Lambs inaugural game in the AXVs competition this week unfortunately resulted in a loss to Taiwan, despite a solid showing from many of our players and having the home game advantage. It was a disappointing loss for Mongolia, as it seemed we might've had the upper hand, with Lambs players Ryan O'Keefe, Scott Thompson and Pearce Hanley setting us up with good scores. But our sense of impending victory was shortlived - Dolphins skipper Gary Ablett Junior (192) came out and put on an unstoppable display, ensuring victory for our opposition.

GOOD: Captain Marc Murphy (145x2=290), and sometimes Vice-Captain Ryan O'Keefe (153), along with Scott Thompson (144) and Matt Priddis (127), put on dominant displays in the middle. Defender Pearce Hanley (114) was also serviceable.

TOP SCORERS:

   
   

Ryan O'Keefe (153)	Marc Murphy (145)	Scott Thompson (144)	Matt Priddis (127)
Pearce Hanley (114)	Jared McVeigh (106)	Nick Malceski (95)	Jonathon Giles (85)

BAD: Some administration errors really did cost us this week. Steve Johnson and Brian Lake were named in the team this week, despite their well-publicised injuries keeping them from playing this week, and the cover named for these guys was a bit less than ideal (we had Charlie Dixon available down back, and Dennis Armfield up forwards). This could well have cost us the win against the Dolphins.

[Toga]

Round 2 Review

Mongolian Lambs (30.14.194) defeated by Hong Kong Dongs (31.16.202)
(Away - So Kon Po Stadium, Hong Kong)

The Lambs travelled to So Kon Po Stadium in Hong Kong this week to take on premiership favourites the Hong Kong Dongs. In what was a high-scoring afair, the Dongs ended up downing our boys by just 8 points in a heartbreaking loss. It turned out that the home ground advantage held by the Dongs this week would be pivotal in their win, with supporters almost singlehandedly dragging their team across the line. While disappointed with the loss, we are happy to know that we can match it with some of the best teams in the competition despite some big outs for the team, and we will look to improve our position on the ladder next week when we take on the up-and-coming PNG Head Hunters next week in another away match.

GOOD: Massive games from defenders Pearce Hanley (169) and Charlie Dixon (146), along with leadership group members Jared McVeigh (178), Jack Riewoldt (166), and Scott Thompson (151) helped us challenge the Dongs right down to the wire.

TOP SCORERS:

   
   

Jared McViegh (178)	Pearce Hanley (169)	Jack Riewoldt (166)	Scott Thompson (151)
Charlie Dixon (146)	Jared McVeigh (106)	Drew Petrie (126)	Matthew Priddis (116)

BAD: A poor effort from defender Bachar Houli (41) was a bit of a let down and could well have cost us the win, while a less-than-admirable performance from utility Nathan van Berlo (80) was a bit of a let down, and his spot in the XV is under threat from emergency Adam Cooney (146), who was dominant in the reserves.

[Nails]

To be fair, if neither team got HGA we still won, so you seem to overrate the HGA there ;)

One of the top 3 favourites going down 0 and 2 this early in the season

Get your act together Lambs.

[Toga]

Haha yeah Nails, I thought about that as I was writing it, tried to make that clear though when i said "almost singlehandedly dragging their team over the line" haha

But yes, for anyone wondering, even if the game was neutral, the Dongs would've won by one point! :P


And yeah, bit disappointing going 0-2 to start the season, but to be fair that was always going to be pretty likely facing some strong opposition and having some senior players out. :P

[Justin Bieber]

Wow look at these flowering write up's. Wow wtf.

[Toga]

Round 3 Review

Mongolian Lambs (32.13.205) defeated PNG Headhunters (31.13.199)
(Away - PMRL Stadium, Port Moresby)

In our second consecutive away match, the travelling Lambs headed down to Port Moresby to take on the in-form PNG Headhunters, who were currently sitting at the top of the premiership ladder after strong performances in the first two rounds. After two disappointing losses to start the season, the Lambs were out to get our first win of the season, and that's exactly what we did, downing PNG by one straight kick. We look to build on a winning streak next week against the highly-rated Australian Ales, before playing some younger teams in the coming month.

GOOD: Another huge game from Jared McVeigh (162) has him a favourite with the bookmakers for a maiden Best and Fairest award at the lambs, while defenders Pearce Hanley (148) and Nick Malceski (142) were again serviceable out of the backline. Jack Riewoldt (142), and our midfield leaders were strong once again, while we were buoyed by a strong return from livewire Steve Johnson (115)

TOP SCORERS:

   
   

Jared McViegh (162)	Ryan O'Keefe (154)	Marc Murphy (150)	Pearce Hanley (148)
Jack Riewoldt (142)	Nick Malceski (142)	Bachar Houli (134)	Matthew Priddis (120)

BAD: A poor effort from Drew Petrie has him on notice as he fights it out with Josh Hill for his position in the team upon the return of Kurt Tippett. No other negatives to take from this weekend's game apart from a knee injury to Nathan van Berlo which will keep him out of the side for at least two weeks.

[Toga]

Round 4 Review

Mongolian Lambs (30.27.207) defeated Australian Ales (25.26.176)
(Home - Bird's Nest Stadium, Beijing)

Hot off of our first win of the season against the Headhunters last week, this week we faced the Australian Ales at our home ground in Beijing. Going into the match as underdogs, with the Ales sitting at 4th on the ladder, we had a lot to prove to the competition as we attempt to push ourselves back up into the top-8: where we belong. The game turned out to be a high scoring affair for us, and we ended up downing the Ales by a tidy 31 points, however the margin could have been a lot closer had the Ales' captain, Josh P. Kennedy, have had more of an influence on the game. Bring on the Llamas next week!

GOOD: Big games from Nick Malceski (167) and Adam Cooney (163) were the standouts of the weekend, while our dominant forward-line consisting of Steve Johnson (146), Drew Petrie (138) and Jack Riewoldt (121) put on a masterclass for our supporters. Marc Murphy (157) and Jared McVeigh (139) were the standouts of our men in the middle.

TOP SCORERS:

   
   

Nick Malceski (167)	Adam Cooney (161)	Marc Murphy (157)	Steve Johnson (146)
Jared McVeigh (139)	Drew Petrie (138)	Jack Riewoldt (134)	Scott Thompson (117)

BAD: It's always one or the other, isn't it? Josh Hill put in a crap performance this week, and is obviously only capable of scoring reasonably well should he be playing a pushover opposition. He had better pick up his game before Kurt Tippett returns. A coaching error saw loss of points after Scott Thompson was named skipper for the week - never again! Marc Murphy is the permanent captain from now on! The win was slightly soured by a knee injury to star defender Pearce Hanley, however we are hopeful he will be ok to play next week.

[Nige]

Dearest Toga,

Lambs are stupid.

Lots of love,

Neadey.

;)

(He held me at gun point and made me post it for him :P)