WXV: Beijing Thunder

[Toga]

Cobras strike unsuspecting Thunder

D: H.Taylor (90), C.Hooker (80), J.Hunt (58), E.Yeo (70)
M: O.Wines (C) (192), L.Shiels (VC) (95), M.Rosa (64), D.Stanley (63)
R: B.Grundy (51)
F: J.Caddy (53), S.Mayes (53), E.Betts (40), T.Varcoe (76)
I/C: A.Toovey (59), L.Neale (55)

After an impressive performance last week, Beijing's coaches this week are left to lament what went wrong in a poor showing at home against an impressive Cape Town outfit. Nothing went right for the team, particularly in the forward line, where none of the usual targets stood up against the Cobras. Ollie Wines and Liam Shiels once again stood up in the middle however it was to no avail against Cape Town's stars, lead by Trent Cotchin who was best afield. To rub salt in the wounds, the Thunder coaches' decision to activate the sub rule played against us, seeing us lose a point with Alan Toovey subbed into the game in place of James Aish after Aish was handed a green vest. The team will be looking for a better result next week ahead of an important game against the Seoul Magpies.

Beijing Thunder (17.12.114) lost to Cape Town Cobras (21.15.141)
Best
Beijing best: Nil
Cape Town best: T Cotchin, T Hawkins, JP Kennedy, J Darling, A Cooney
Beijing subs: A Toovey subbed in for J Aish

MVP Votes:
3. Oliver Wines
2. Liam Shiels
1. Harry Taylor

Reserves:
Shanghai Storm (11.10.76) lost to Cape Town Cobras (13.10.88)

[Toga]

Ok there we go getting some reviews done for the first few rounds, will endeavour to stay on top of these for the season :P

[ossie85]

Some great reads, with harsh but fair criticism

[Toga]

Thanks Oz, was a bit hard to get into the reviews & everything last year only taking over the team part way through the season so I'll give it more of a shot this year. :)

I was happy with our first two performances (both scores over 130), but on the weekend we didn't have anyone score over 100 which is pretty disappointing. I guess we need to expect a bit of inconsistency being such a young side but yeah still need to score better than we did against Cape Town!

[Toga]

Thunder go 2-2 after downing Magpies

D: H.Taylor (62), C.Hooker (107), J.Hunt (100), E.Yeo (82)
M: O.Wines (C) (126x2 = 252), L.Shiels (VC) (96), D.Stanley (51), J.Aish (69)
R: B.Grundy (46)
F: J.Caddy (24), S.Mayes (92), E.Betts (81), T.Varcoe (74)
I/C: M.Jones (104), A.Toovey (58)

Another win on the board! The team responded nicely to criticism from the coaches last week, rebounding from their disappointing loss with a 12 point win over the Seoul Magpies at their home ground. Unfortunately in-form midfielder Matt Rosa was a late withdrawal from the game and did not make the trip across to Korea, however impressive performances from captain Ollie Wines, young guns Liam Shiels and Sam Mayes, and seasoned defenders Cale Hooker and Josh Hunt were enough to get us over the line in the end. Matt Jones was impressive in the middle in his best game to date for his new club, while Danny Stanley will be looking to find some form in coming weeks as his recent form could well see him dropped from the team for our next clash. We take on the struggling Toronto Wolves at our home ground in what shapes to be an exciting affair.

Seoul Magpies (17.16.118) d. by Beijing Thunder (20.10.130)

Seoul best: D Swallow, B Gibbs
Beijing best: O Wines, C Hooker, M Jones, J Hunt

Late change: A Toovey replaced M Rosa in Thunder's starting lineup.

MVP Votes:
3. Oliver Wines
2. Cale Hooker
1. Matt Jones

Reserves
Pyongyang Chollimas (13.7.85) defeated Shanghai Storm (11.9.75)

[Toga]

Rookie upgrade: Sam Gray

In breaking news coming out of Beijing Olympic Park, the Thunder would like to announce that exciting young midfielder Sam Gray has today been upgraded to the senior list in place of the injured Matthew Kreuzer. As reported last week, Kreuzer is expected to be sidelined until at least Round 16 with a serious foot injury, leaving a free spot on the senior list which will now be occupied by Gray until Kreuzer returns.

On the back of his three-goal debut for our reserves side the Shanghai Storm on the weekend, it is becoming increasingly likely that our second overall pick in the 2013 WXV Rookie Draft may make his debut for the senior side this weekend in a big game against the winless Toronto Wolves. Gray had 16 disposals along with 3 tackles and 3.0 on the scoreboard in a 10-point loss in the reserves on the weekend, showing his scoring prowess playing in the forward line.

Listed as a midfielder this year, it is possible that Gray might take the position of out-of-form midfielder Danny Stanley this weekend, however we expect Gray to develop into a forward in coming seasons which will be very handy for our forward stocks in the future.

Congratulations Sam!

[Toga]

Injury strikes young guns

 

In-form midfielder Liam Shiels has been ruled out of action for the next month with an injury to his AC joint in the team's 12 point win over Seoul on the weekend. After a strong preseason, Shiels had a strong start to the season, featuring heavily in our Round 1 win with 108 points to his name, backing this performance up with some consistent scores in the last fortnight. Shortly after the club learnt of Shiels' injury, young gun forward Josh Caddy has been ruled out for between 8 and 10 weeks with a broken foot, which he suffered at training this week. Both injuries are very bad news for the club as our depth will definitely be tested in the next few weeks while these blokes, along with Matty Kreuzer, are sidelined.

Shiels and Caddy will likely be replaced in the side by young rookie Sam Gray, who was upgraded to the senior list earlier in the week, and Lachie Neale, who has pressed strong claims for a spot in the team and is a chance to return to the side.

[Master Q]

That's a massive loss for us.

[Toga]

Thunder fail to strike stuttering Wolves

D: H.Taylor (77), C.Hooker (114), E.Yeo (60), M.Talia (48)
M: O.Wines (C) (160),  J.Aish (55), M.Rosa (87), L.Neale (86)
R: B.Grundy (48)
F: S.Mayes (74), E.Betts (51), T.Varcoe (50), J.Petrenko (76)
I/C: S.Gray (35), M.Jones (59)

A bit of a disappointing effort this week after our second win of the season last week saw us go down to the hot and cold Wolves by 17 points on our home turf. Cale Hooker was again fantastic down back, continuing his great start to the season, however our midfield really lacked grunt, being soundly beaten by the Toronto centres lead by their captain Scott Pendlebury and ruckman Paddy Ryder. Sam Gray wasn't able to live up to his performance in the reserves last week, with a less than desirable WXV debut, however we hope he will be able to bounce back this week. With a bunch of our boys sustaining injuries that will keep them out of the side for the next month or longer, this is the team that will likely take into most weekends, so we need our fringe players in Talia, Neale, Gray and Varcoe to really step up if we are a chance of challenging opponents through the middle part of the season. A trip to Brazil to take in Sao Paulo this week looks as though it will be a very tough challenge missing important parts of our Best XV, but we hope the boys can put up a good fight.

Beijing Thunder (17.10.112) lost to Toronto Wolves (19.15.129)

Best
Beijing best: C Hooker
Toronto best: S Pendlebury, L Henderson, J Riewoldt, P Ryder

WXV debut: S. Gray

MVP Votes:
3. Cale Hooker
2. Matt Rosa
1. Lachie Neale

Reserves
Shanghai Storm (13.7.85) lost to Toronto Wolves (14.8.92)

[Toga]

Injury list updated

The club has released an updated injury list ahead of our Round 6 clash against the Sao Paulo Pumas. This will be a tough clash against the Pumas, made even tougher by injuries to key players in Matthew Kreuzer (who has been placed on the LTI), Liam Shiels and Josh Caddy, along with injuries to a few depth players.

• Liam Shiels (AC joint) - Round 9
• Sam Naismith (knee) - Round 10
• Lewis Stevenson (toe) - Round 12
• Josh Caddy (broken foot) - Round 15
• Matthew Kreuzer (foot) - Round 16*

[ossie85]

Great write up :)

What is the aim for the Thunder this year Toga? 5 wins?

[Toga]

Thanks Oz :)

Good question! I think our goal will be to win 4 or 5 games this year - we've still got to play a lot of the top teams after playing some weaker sides to start the season. When our team clicks I think we can definitely post a score that will push some of the better teams, but our injuries to Kreuzer, Shiels and Caddy is gonna make it hard for us to really challenge, and we can be a bit inconsistent. Looking at the draw though, I think we can definitely push another two or three wins which I would be very happy with!

[Justin Bieber]

Yeah, missing those 3 first XV players has got to hurt. Depth up forward certainly going to be tested, so may have to bring out flooding a few times (3 to be precise :P ) if you're going for wins over the lower teams!

[Toga]

Timmy Broomhead is due back in the VFL this week, and Ben Kennedy has always been thereabouts so hopefully they can break into the team and give us a bit of relief up forwards ;)

But flooding will definitely be on the agenda!

[Master Q]

Matt Jones Misses Flight to Brazil

News has come out of the Beijing camp that Thunder midfielder Matt Jones has missed the team flight over to Brazil. Jones, who has been a key player for Beijing this season, was unable to get to the airport on time after his taxi broke down in immense traffic. The young and inexperienced Thunder have the tough task of playing the Pumas this weekend, one of the league's strongest teams. Earlier in the week, Co-Coach Toga told the press "Jones was a little sore" following their loss to the Toronto Wolves. Instead of flying Jones over on a later flight, Co-Coach Master Q said "We will take this opportunity to give someone else a go, and give Matt a break to recover for our big game against Moscow in two weeks time". We will have to wait till team announcements on Thursday Night to see who will take Jones' place in the 15.