AXV: Round 4 Match Report

[BB67th]

Manila Folders 2007 def. Bangladesh Bears 1769

Late Changes
None

Best
Folders: T.Cloke, D.Swan, B.Goddard, B.McLean, A.Mackie, C.Mayne
Bears: J.Selwood, N.Riewoldt, D.Cross, N.Fyfe

The top of the table clash was always going to be an interesting affair, and it certainly didn't disappoint. After several coaches thought that the Folders were lucky to be where they were on the ladder, they came out and scored and emphatic victory over the Bangladesh Bears. Travis Cloke scored a whopping 224 points to be currently tied with Justin Westhoff for the coveted Jade Ring award. Skipper Dane Swan also silenced the critics with a strong game. Able support was had from most of the players, but they were still a few disappointing performances and several players could find themselves on the block this week.
For the Bears it was just a case of not having the class to go with the Folders in the big moments. Key backman Jared Rivers (55) struggled playing on the big man Cloke. Scores were solid all around but no one managed to go really big and Shane Tuck (48) also disappointed. After a few very good games in the 2s, does Brent Moloney get himself a place in the XV next week?

UAE Tigers 1884 def. by Sri Lanka Strikers 1901

Late Changes
None

Best
Tigers: H.Hartlett, R.Douglas, C.Yarran, J.Harbrow, J.Ziebell, T.Greene, C.Sylvia
Strikers: B.Goodes, S.D.Thompson, J.Westhoff, S.Gibson, M.Walters

This was a very close match and a great one to watch for all of those that made their way to the UAE to see this match. Sri Lanka skipper Justin Westhoff (171x2) was the difference in the end, slotting the winning goal in the dying seconds of the match after again dominating the contest. Other big games were had by Brett Goodes (152), Scott Thompson (140) and Sam Gibson (154). They all combined well to get the Strikers an important away win. Westhoff is looking like the best pick in the draft at this stage.
And on the other side, the Tigers put up a very good fight, but even with the home ground advantage, just went down to a rampant Sri Lanka. There were big games from every player except for the leadership group with Deledio (194) and Griffen (151.5) doing poor jobs leading the side. Credit does have to go to the defence with all four players down there scoring 115+. While Brett Deledio will probably keep the captaincy, does Ryan Griffen see himself demoted after Richard Douglas once again had a big game?

Laos Elephants 1677 def. KL Crocodiles 1585

Late Changes
Laos: Lachlan Hansen replaced Stweart Crameri
Crocodiles: Shane Savage & Phil Davis replaced Harley Bennell & Graham Johncock

Best
Laos: T.Boak, S.Selwood, O.Wines, J.Redden
Crocodiles: H. Taylor, T.Liberatore

With Laos head coach Whatlez being one of 3 AXV head coaches suspended this week, in a great act of sportsmanship, KL coach Ricochet named the Elephants lineup for the week. The Elephants got the job done at home however with their young midfield performing very well. While the defence was very bad, Ollie Wines (131) showed again why he is favourite to take out the inaugural Rising Star Award.
Late changes hurt the Crocodiles with Davis having to cover out of position up forward. Captain Scott Pendlebury couldn't do enough to get the away win, and despite big games from Harry Taylor (148) and Tom Liberatore (147), no one else offered any real resistance and the Crocodiles just couldn't get the scores they were after.

Taiwan Dolphins 1828 def. Bangkok Crabs 1449

Late Changes
None

Best
Dolphins: J.Adcock, G.Ablett, C.Jones
Crabs: A.Treloar, H.O'Brien

Taiwan won quite comfortable here, and why wouldn't they, having skipper Gary Ablett have Jack Steven to go against. The Dolphins had some good scores all around, and managed to get through alright without a ruckman, although Alwyn Davey might have a tough time if he has to play there for much longer.
For the Crabs, there were some encouraging signs through their scores with VC Adam Treloar scoring quite well among others. They will have a killer forward line in a few years with Darling, Hawkins, Motlop and Stringer, but they were well held this week.

Vietnam Vipers 1487 def. by Tibet Llamas 1668

Late Changes
None

Best
Vipers: D.Myers, R.Palmer, J.Howe, M.LeCras
Llamas: P.Dangerfield, C.Wingard, J.Pittard, J.Trengove, B.Matera

Well things are going from bad to worse for Vietnam with a loss to the Llamas at home being a new low for them. Not even breaking the 1500 barrier, they lacked the will and drive to go out there and actually get a win. They now remain on the bottom of the ladder as the only winless team. Jeremy Howe did treat us to another special mark, and LeCras and Myers were good, but its players like Sub (19), Chaplin (38) and Hill (43) who are really letting the team down at the moment and need to lift their game.
Meanwhile a coachless Llamas cruised to another win. This time naming Chad Wingard as VC instead of Ty Vickery, they got some decent performances all around, which is all they needed to record their first win.

Hong Kong Dongs 2091 def. Kathmandu Eskimos 1611

Late Changes
Dongs: Will Schofield replaced Luke McPharlin
Eskimos: None

Best
Dongs: K.Cornes, L.Franklin, B.Stanton, J.Grimes, L.Montagna, Ja. Roughead, J.Schulz
Eskimos: M.Hibberd, D.Hannebery, C.Rioli

A huge victory here for the Dongs who complain of injury troubles, but are still setting the benchmark for the competition, scoring the highest individual team score for the season. Kane Cornes continues to show he is the best midfielder of the year so far with able assistance from all the players. A late out to Luke McPharlin was never going to ruin any of Hong Kong's plans.
Kathmandu meanwhile just couldn't cope against a much better opponent. A couple of players stood up in the courageous Hannebery and the delicious Rioli, but they didn't have the scoring support from the rest of the players, especially the forwards.

Mongolia Lambs 2007 def. Australian Ales 1760

Late Changes
Lambs: None
Ales: Sam Butler replaced Brent Guerra

Best
Lambs: M.Murphy, N.Malceski, A.Cooney, J.McVeigh, S.Johnson, J.Riewoldt
Ales: G.Birchall, L.Shuey, C.Masten, L.Breust, N.Jones

Mongolia was the third team to managed a 2000+ score this week, led by skipper Marc Murphy and a strong effort in rebounding defence by Nick Malceski. All the olders heads in Cooney, McVeigh and Johnson also played very good games. Rivals Manila and Mongolia both scored the same this week, so their matchup will be a highly anticipated one in a few weeks time.
For Australia, despite a huge effort from Grant Birchall (198), they lacked the finish to knock over the Lambs at home. Shane Mumford (65) played poor and this meant that Mongolia got on top early in the midfield and never looked back from there, getting the first use of the ball a lot of the time.

PNG Head Hunters 1673 def. Turkish Gazelles 1618

Late Changes
PNG: Colin Garland replaced Tyson Goldsack
Gazelles: None

Best
PNG: D.Heppell, T.Rockliff, J.Garlett
Gazelles: J.Watson, D.Mundy

This was quite a low scoring affair, but still turned out to be a close one. PNG were lucky to get the win seeing as they only went in with 14 players in the end, with amazingly no other player on the list available to cover for the vacant ruck position. Tom Rockliff was very good in the forward line, along with the pressure provided by Jeff Garlett.
For Turkey, skipper Jobe Watson was again very good along with David Mundy. Ivan Maric (114) played well in the ruck, but some might wonder why he did not do better seeing as he had no opponent.

The Premiership Ladder



Next Week

Round # 5 - 26th April 2013

BEARS v TIGERS
FOLDERS v ELEPHANTS
STRIKERS v DOLPHINS
CROCODILES v VIPERS
CRABS v DONGS
LLAMAS v LAMBS
ESKIMOS v HEAD HUNTERS
ALES v GAZELLES

[Colliwobblers]

very good BB, but the crabs have yet to win either :)

Beams will be back one day.... there is hope yet

[Toga]

Nice work BB! :)

Pearce Hanley gonna miss this week's clash :'( Hopefully Brian Lake can come back into the side to cover for this week, otherwise we might be a bit short! :o

Can we pulverise the Llamas and pull ourselves back up into the 8? :o

[KoopKicka]

PNG this week is a massive game for us. Lose, and all finals hopes are basically over.