WXV Round 12: Moscow and Cairo Battle

[ossie85]

Round 12      AFL Round 14   
         
Mexico City Suns   v   Cape Town Cobras   Fireball Stadium   AAP Alliance Premiership Match
London Royals   v   Pacific Islanders   London Olympic Stadium   
Toronto Wolves   v   Wellington Warriors   Rogers Centre   AAP Alliance Premiership Match
Sao Paulo Pumas   v   Seoul Magpies   Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay   
Moscow Spetsnaz   v   Cairo Sands   Luzhniki Stadium   
Berlin Brewers   v   Tokyo Samurai   Berlin Olympic Stadium   EurAsian Premiership Match
Buenos Aires Armadillos   v   New Delhi Tigers   Estadio de River   
New York Revolution   v   Dublin Destroyers   MetLife Stadium, New Jersey   
Beijing Thunder   v   PNL Reindeers   Beijing Olympic Park   EurAsian Premiership Match
         
Mexico City v Cape Town

A replay of the 2012 Final! A win to Cape Town would really make making the finals easier, but the Suns have few flaws to exploit.

Mexico City run home:
12   H   Cape Town Cobras
13   A   PNL Reindeers
14   H   London Royals
15   A   Dublin Destroyers
16   H   Toronto Wolves
17   H   Cairo Sands

A tricky run home actually, playing 6 team all in finals considerations. The Minor premiership isn't guaranteed.

Cape Town run home:
12   A   Mexico City Suns
13   H   London Royals
14   A   Toronto Wolves
15   H   Sao Paulo Pumas
16   A   Moscow Spetsnaz
17   H   PNL Reindeers

The Cobras play 6 teams all in finals calculation, and they may need to win as many as 5 to qualify for the finals. Looks tough.

London v Pacific

The Royals got lucky last week, and wouldn't want to play that way again. The Islanders meanwhile got unlucky, and will be hoping for a rare win.

London run home:
12   H   Pacific Islanders
13   A   Cape Town Cobras
14   A   Mexico City Suns
15   H   Toronto Wolves
16   A   Sao Paulo Pumas
17   H   Beijing Thunder

Royals will need to beat Pacific and Beijing, and at least 2 of the rest.

Pacific run home:
12   A   London Royals
13   H   Toronto Wolves
14   A   Sao Paulo Pumas
15   H   Moscow Spetsnaz
16   A   Berlin Brewers
17   H   Dublin Destroyers

Tough run home, with London and Berlin looking the best chance for an upset win.

Toronto v Wellington

The Wolves have almost recovered from a slow start to the season, but still have a long way to go. Wellington have improved lately, and they wouldn't want a drop in concentration.

Toronto run home:
H   Wellington Warriors
A   Pacific Islanders
H   Cape Town Cobras
A   London Royals
A   Mexico City Suns
H   New York Revolution

The Wolves have a decent run home, they'd pencil in 3 matches and fancy themselves against both Cape Town and New York. Mexico City the tough one.

Wellington run home:
12   A   Toronto Wolves
13   H   Sao Paulo Pumas
14   A   Moscow Spetsnaz
15   H   Berlin Brewers
16   A   Buenos Aires Armadillos
17   H   New Delhi Tigers

Warriors have a very tough run home, and may need to beat New Delhi in the last round to avoid the wooden spoon.


Sao Paulo v Seoul

The Pumas are under immense pressure to keep its top 4 spot, with PNL, Moscow and Cairo gunning for its spot. While Seoul find themselves out of the 8, and a big scalp like this would give them the confidence for the rest of the season.

Sao Paulo run home:
12   H   Seoul Magpies
13   A   Wellington Warriors
14   H   Pacific Islanders
15   A   Cape Town Cobras
16   H   London Royals
17   H   Buenos Aires Armadillos

A good run home, with the Pumas having 2 bottom 4 teams, potentially tricky clashes against Seoul, Cape Town and London but would be favoured to win all 3, before a final round clash against Buenos Aires that could decide how the top 4 is shaped.

Seoul run home:
12   A   Sao Paulo Pumas
13   H   Moscow Spetsnaz
14   A   Berlin Brewers
15   H   Buenos Aires Armadillos
16   A   New York Revolution
17   H   Tokyo Samurai

Scary run home, with none of the next 4 guaranteed wins at all, and its final 2 games come against New York and Tokyo who can have good days.


Moscow v Cairo

Match of the round! (Happy Cairo?). Both teams in great form having averaged 154 and 150 respectively over the last 4 rounds. Hard to call! Both holding on hope for a top 4 spot.

Moscow run home:
12   H   Cairo Sands
13   A   Seoul Magpies
14   H   Wellington Warriors
15   A   Pacific Islanders
16   H   Cape Town Cobras
17   H   Berlin Brewers

This week's game against Cairo the most tricky, but will start strong favourites in each of the next 5 - not guaranteed at all, but they may need to win all 6 to get into the 4.

Cairo run home:
12   A   Moscow Spetsnaz
13   H   Berlin Brewers
14   A   Buenos Aires Armadillos
15   H   New York Revolution
16   A   Beijing Thunder
17   A   Mexico City Suns

Tricky run home, and if things go bad for Cairo they may find themselves struggling for the 8, let along the 4. The Sands should be good enough.


Berlin v Tokyo

Tokyo's final dreams are over, but Berlin still has hope. Both teams recently ravaged by injury, and Berlin can't drop this one.

Berlin's run home:
12   H   Tokyo Samurai
13   A   Cairo Sands
14   H   Seoul Magpies
15   A   Wellington Warriors
16   H   Pacific Islanders
17   A   Moscow Spetsnaz

The Brewers are at 5-6, and likely they'll need to win 5 of the remaining 6 to make the finals, and with Cairo and Moscow in its way, that could prove very difficult

Tokyo's run home:
12   A   Berlin Brewers
13   H   Buenos Aires Armadillos
14   A   New York Revolution
15   H   Beijing Thunder
16   A   PNL Reindeers
17   A   Seoul Magpies

On a 6-match losing streak, Tokyo will look to play for pride over the last 6 rounds and maybe cause some upsets.


Buenos Aires v New Delhi

The Armadillos should break a 2-match losing streak against a struggling New Delhi... but imagine if they didn't?

Buenos Aires run home:
12   H   New Delhi Tigers
13   A   Tokyo Samurai
14   H   Cairo Sands
15   A   Seoul Magpies
16   H   Wellington Warriors
17   A   Sao Paulo Pumas

Armadillos lost its grip on the minor premiership but are still a lock for the top 4. Have 2 bottom 4 games, 2 should wins and 2 tough matches against Cairo and Sao Paulo.

New Delhi's run home:
12   A   Buenos Aires Armadillos
13   H   New York Revolution
14   A   Beijing Thunder
15   H   PNL Reindeers
16   A   Dublin Destroyers
17   A   Wellington Warriors

The Tigers poor percentage still has them in wooden spoon calculations, but they have 3 good chances of victory remaining for the season. They can still salvage this season somewhat.


New York v Dublin

New York have a new direction, but are still ravaged by injury. The Destroyers will likely show no mercy.

New York run home:
12   H   Dublin Destroyers
13   A   New Delhi Tigers
14   H   Tokyo Samurai
15   A   Cairo Sands
16   H   Seoul Magpies
17   A   Toronto Wolves

Tough run home for New York, with New Delhi and Tokyo its best chance for victory.

Dublin run home:
12   A   New York Revolution
13   H   Beijing Thunder
14   A   PNL Reindeers
15   H   Mexico City Suns
16   H   New Delhi Tigers
17   A   Pacific Islanders

The Destroyers are a lock for the top 4, and will be gunning for the Minor Premiership. A Great run home with FOUR bottom 6 teams to play, but have tricky back-to-back matches against PNL and Mexico City.


Beijing v PNL

The Thunder are only a few points away from the bottom of the ladder, and need to start showing some solid form. PNL also need every single point in a race for the 4 that could come down to percentage.

Beijing run home:
12   H   PNL Reindeers
13   A   Dublin Destroyers
14   H   New Delhi Tigers
15   A   Tokyo Samurai
16   H   Cairo Sands
17   A   London Royals

The Thunder have 2 good chances of victory against New Delhi and Tokyo, and maybe London on a good day.

PNL's run home:
12   A   Beijing Thunder
13   H   Mexico City Suns
14   H   Dublin Destroyers
15   A   New Delhi Tigers
16   H   Tokyo Samurai
17   A   Cape Town Cobras

Looking to qualify for the finals for the first time, and maybe even a top 4 spot, the Reindeers need to win probably 4 matches to guarantee a top 8 spot, and maybe all 6 for a top 4. Back to back matches against Mexico City and Dublin prove the biggest stumbling blocks.

[Ringo]

Injuries at Royals will make the task that much harder as well. Hanners looks like gone for 4 weeks, Brown definitely out this week.

[Ricochet]

Gonna be a tough wkend for NDT

[kilbluff1985]

Tokyo

D: Ibbotson, Suckling, Broughton, Carlisle
M: Jack (C), Shuey, Judd, Miles
R: Simpson
F: Parker (VC), Motlop, Dahlhaus, Ambrose
I/C: Scooter, Ross

[Jukes]

Spetsnaz

D: L. Dunn, H. Shaw, P. Seedsman, J. Frawley
M: C. Ward (vc), D. Heppell, J. O'Meara, R. Griffen
R: N. Naitanui (c)
F: D. Martin, A. Monfries, J. Jenkins, S. May
U: J. Thomas, Z. Clarke

Emg: S. Docherty, D. Fletcher, N. Vlastuin

[Justin Bieber]

Prepare to get smashed Toga/Q :P. Need a warm up for my upcoming matches against the Suns and Dublin :-X.

[AaronKirk]

Dublin has a bye this week  :-[ Need some forwards to be named desperately.

[ossie85]

If selected this week, we have THREE players playing its 50th match this week.

Cape Town's Josh P Kennedy

Average of 114.78
Named in the best players 37 times.
Captained Cape Town 18 times.
26 Jim Stynes Votes
10 Teams of the Week
Played 4 finals, including 2012 Grand Final
Played 8 representative matches for the AAP Alliance (3 matches) and Africonia (5).
2012 Cape Town Best & Fairest
2014 Cupido-Saad Medal
2012 Cupido-Saad Medal


Mexico City's Jordan Lewis

Average of 96.21
Named in the best players 19 times
Captained Mexico City 1 time.
10 Jim Stynes Votes
2 Teams of the Week
Played 6 finals, including 2012 and 2013 Grand Finals
Played 3 representative matches for Vic Country and the Americas.
2012 Premiership Player

Sao Paulo's Rory Sloane

Average of 109.86
Named in the best players 35 times
Captained Sao Paulo 2 times.
17 Jim Stynes Votes
8 Teams of the Week
Played 5 finals, including 2013 Grand Final
Played 2 representative matches for Vic Metro
2013 Premiership Player
Finals Champion 2013 QF: MCS v SPP

[Nige]

Match of the round finally!  :o ;D :P

[CrowsFan]

Woo Rory Sloane!! ;D

Barring no injuries or suspensions next week against Wellington the Pumas will have Ablett, Roughy, Houli, and Minson all playing their 50th games for the club! Big celebrations in Brazil!

[Toga]

Harry Taylor now in doubt as well for us... ::)

[kilbluff1985]

Tokyo

D: Ibbotson, Suckling, Broughton, Richards
M: Jack (C), Shuey, Judd, Miles
R: Derickx
F: Parker (VC), Motlop, Dahlhaus, Ambrose
I/C: Ross, Suban

Emerg Rivers (def), B Murdoch (fwd), Townsend (mid)

Sub rule in play

[Purple 77]

So I just get Conca back... but Saunders dropped. Meaning by my rough calculations, I still have 15 to chose from!

This game could be over before it starts... with my season on the line  :'(

[AaronKirk]

New York Revolution

Backs: C.Dempsey, T.McKenzie, L.McDonald, S.Atley         
Mids:  T.Liberatore (C), M.Stokes, A.Treloar (VC), J.Macrae         
Rucks: M.Pyke         
Fwds: T.Cloke, A.Black, W.Hoskin-Elliott (OOP), K.Stevens (OOP)         
Interchange: H.Bennell, D.Armitage         
         
Emg: S.Lycett, K.Kolodjashnij, J.Batchelor         

Sub Rule

Resting Allen Christensen.

[Master Q]

Caddy back... but Yeo, Taylor and Aish out.

We cannot catch a break.