Round 10
Ladder
Position | Team | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Point FOR |
1 | Greek Titans | 8 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 12509 |
2 | Hungarian Hulks | 7 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 13058 |
3 | Russian Roulettes | 7 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 12522 |
4 | Iceland Polar Bears | 6 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 12374 |
5 | Serbian Eagles | 5 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 13552 |
6 | Belgian Bashers | 5 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 12892 |
7 | English Lions | 4 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 11958 |
8 | Macedonian Wolves | 4 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 11939 |
9 | Swiss Storm | 4 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 11583 |
10 | Svalbard Valkyries | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 12220 |
11 | Spanish Stallions | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 11317 |
12 | Croatian Crushers | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 10957 |
13 | Swedish Metal | 2 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 10670 |
14 | Belarus Bison | 2 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 10428 |
Fixture
Macedonian Wolves vs English Lions
Really big game here! These two teams sit 7th and 8th, separated by just 19 points for! The result of this match is crucial with only a handful of games left to play. For the winner, they jump a game clear of their opponent, while the loser remains in danger of dropping out of the 8 and is likely to fall back to the pack of chasing teams. The Wolves did okay last week, but not without a leadership blunder and the fact they still lost while the Lions didn't do too much better but did enough to keep their place over Macedonia on the ladder. Very hard to pick this one as it could be a matter of who turns up and who doesn't, but I think I have to back the higher placed team which is England.
Belgian Bashers vs Iceland Polar Bears
This game is also massive in the context of the season as 4th is hosted by 6th. The Bashers have scored more than the Polar Bears but sit a game behind due to extremely narrow loss to the Storm a fortnight ago. They also seem to have a tad more ability to pump out scores than their opponents. Iceland can't be disregarded though, because as previously mentioned, they're currently in the top 4 and with the wins on the board, they'll be hoping to hang on to the double chance rather than cough it up to those who they may have to face again come finals time. This game should also be really close, but I'm being swayed by Belgium's HGA.
Greek Titans vs Serbian Eagles
Wowee, it finally happened! Last week we witnessed something that nobody saw coming. Greece was #crushed. The Greek men lost their first game of the season last week after a very average performance saw them fairly well beaten. They're now in danger of being brought further back down to earth and suffering a second loss in a row. The team looking to inflict the defeat is the Serbian Eagles, still atop of the table for points score having flexed their muscles last week in a savage display. The Eagles can probably sniff blood and sense they have a real opportunity to jump back into the top 4 and claw the Titans back to the pack. And you know what? I think they'll do it.
Svalbard Valkyries vs Belarus Bison
Svalbard still remain a team that can beat anyone on their day, showing last week that they're better than their ladder placing suggests. A win this week would for the Valkyries and they could catapult into 7th (if England and Macedonia draw) but more likely 8th which is obviously where they'd love to be given they've languished in the bottom 8 for long enough this season. For their opponents, things might just be on the up. Still searching for win number three, the return of Tom Rockliff is a blessing and you can be near certain he's their captain until kingdom come after last week. Given he's back (like, well and truly back), you can't write off the Bison but Svalbard should take the victory here.
Russian Roulettes vs Croatian Crushers
The Roulettes are still sitting pretty in the top 4 and no doubt will want to keep it that way. Their team hasn't had too many issues like some of the competition and they're a fairly consistent outfit, which really goes a long way. In a very un-Russian way, they quietly go about their business and don't make a fuss about anything, but they should probably be a little cautious this week given their opponent. This is the feel good story of the year folks! The Croatian Crushers, a team going through a rebuild were not expecting much success at all, but last week this team managed to defeat the ladder leaders in the Titans who hadn't lost a game. They'll ride that high into this week and dream of another amazing upset. Will Russia be the next team to be #crushed? Time will tell, but I think they'll humble the Croatians.
Hungarian Hulks vs Swiss Storm
The Hulks aren't very happy at the moment despite sitting in second at 7-2 and having the second most points scored. Coach Holz is a tough customer and runs a tight ship over in Hungary and would expect nothing but brilliance week in and week out. He'll see this week as one of those game his men must win and win well to truly establish themselves as a team that can win the flag. Their opponents are the Swiss Storm who are barely hanging on these days. Their grip seemingly gets looser week by week and at this point of the season, finals may just be a pipe dream. A loss last week hurt immensely and the loss of both Tom Hawkins and Jon Ceglar this week to suspension as well as Toby McLean this week is going to be felt and probably mean the Storm are in for a miserable week ahead.
Spanish Stallions vs Swedish Metal
The Stallions have surprised many of the pundits this season with a new coach delivering some nice surprises. Spain are in a similar position to Croatia in that they probably didn't expect to be within striking distance of the top 8, but amazingly that's exactly where they are and a win here could keep the dream alive. Could we witness an absolute fairytale in the making? The Swedish Metal certainly wouldn't mind some luck of their own as they continue to battle away to avoid the spoon. Coach Atto isn't letting the lack of success get him down though, but he'll recognise this as a big chance for a win given the two teams are fairly well matched. This could come down to the home ground advantage the Stallions have, but I might get behind the Swedes for a win here.
Round 10 Spreadsheet Link (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i6tHsoCoO-DT3kIpm1a5u9mS13pHR6pgIMphqAhtpaI/edit#gid=1352253743)
Oh dear, Ceglar and the Tomahawk copped one match bans from the MRP.
Toby Mac might miss with injury too. Looks like it could be a tough week ahead (in a game that was gonna be hard to win to begin with).
At least Conca should be back.
Croatia Crushers
Def: Shane Biggs,Ryan Harwood,Jeremy McGovern,Dylan Roberton
Mids: Rory Sloane(C),Hamish Hartlett(VC),Mitch Wallis,Connor Blakely
Ruck: Ben McEvoy
Fwds: Tom T Lynch,Daniel Wells,Shane Edwards,Chris Mayne
U: Sam Gray,Kane Lambert
E: Callum Mills,Dean Kent,Sam Gilbert,Jordan Roughead
The Stallions are coming...
Def: S Docherty, D Rich, M Baguley, T McDonald
Mid: P Dangerfield (C), J Macrae, L Whitfield, D Parish
Ruck: N Naitanui
Fwd: S Lycett, S Kersten, T Miller, D Lang
Utilities: L Taylor, J Weitering
Emg: P Wright, S May, J Neade, J Impey
Bashers have never lived up to their potential, this week will be another showing of that >:D. Bring it Ele/Rico!
Quote from: Hellopplz on June 08, 2016, 10:26:43 PM
Bashers have never lived up to their potential, this week will be another showing of that >:D. Bring it Ele/Rico!
bashers will score anywhere between 100 and 200
hardest team to predict in the comp
#bewareofcroatia
Probably gonna have to play an OOP ruck it seems, but Witts might get named so I'll probably just name him and cop the OOP player if, or more likely when, he doesn't make the cut.
Swiss Storm
Matt Dea, Alex Rance, Josh Wagner, Taylor Hunt
Ollie Wines, Dion Prestia (vc), Shaun Grigg (c), Kieren Jack
Jarrod Witts
Luke Dahlhaus, Michael Walters, Reece Conca, Daniel Menzel
Ciaran Byrne, Clayton Oliver
Matt Taberner, Danyle Pearce, Orazio Fantasia, Nick Suban
Russian Roulettes
B: Enright, Savage, Burgoyne, Mayes
M: Ablett (c), Boak, Greenwood, Miles
R: Tippett
F: Zorko (vc), Motlop, Montagna, Greene
U: Bontempelli (evc), Kreuzer
Emerg: Garland, Bell, Gorringe, Petracca
The Belgian Bashing, Always Dashing, Icelandic Polar Bears
Backs: A. Mackie, J. McVeigh, C. Dempsey, T. Sheridan
Mids: J. Lewis (C), M. Duncan, A. Swallow, D. Tyson
Ruck: S. Mumford
Fwds: Z. Merrett (VC), J. Westhoff, S. Kerridge, C. Rioli
Int: L. Picken, J. Waite
Emg: J. Harbrow (D), I. Heeney (F), C. Sinclair (R), L. Henderson (F)
IN: C. Rioli, I. Heeney
OUT: N. Riewoldt, J. Waite
Roo out injured so in comes Rioli. Waite has dropped form a bit so narrowly stays in ahead of Harbrow and Heeney. Another mediocre showing and he could find his place slipping from the team :-X.
Quote from: Hellopplz on June 10, 2016, 12:22:33 AM
The Belgian Bashing, Always Dashing, Icelandic Polar Bears
This is brilliant! :D
Great write-ups Nige!
Some interesting choices for the Titans this week...we also have a proper bench for the first time this season!
Marley Williams Rampe Pittard Vlastuin
Sidebottom (C) Hanners Coniglio Libba
Gawn (VC)
Jmart Billings Daniel Tom Phillips
B. Ellis Ross
E: Scully (M) Tomlinson (B/F) Litherland (B) Stanley (R/F)
Fantastic wirte up as usual Nige, always a great read.
your right im sitting 7-2 and despite already doubling my wins last year I feel we should be doing abit better.
my defense is letting me down.
psted my team in the google doc
Quote from: Holz on June 08, 2016, 10:35:19 PM
Quote from: Hellopplz on June 08, 2016, 10:26:43 PM
Bashers have never lived up to their potential, this week will be another showing of that >:D. Bring it Ele/Rico!
bashers will score anywhere between 100 and 200
hardest team to predict in the comp
Can't disagree, would love some consistency!
Svalbard
B: Laird, Bugg, Spurr, Grimes
M: Hunter (C), Ward (VC), Gaff, Ziebell
R: Nicholls
F: Hickey, Watts, A Walker, Johnson
U: Mundy, Caddy
E: Haynes (B), Kelly (M), Lynch (F), Cunnington (R)
We've been battling with our forward line all season :P
Other than lynch our remaining forward cover is: Dawes, Towers, Honeychurch :'(
Couple of changes required
Stallions
Def: S Docherty, D Rich, T McDonald, J Weitering
Mid: P Dangerfield (C), J Macrae, L Whitfield, D Parish
Ruck: N Naitanui
Fwd: S Lycett, S Kersten, T Miller, D Lang
Utilities: L Taylor, B Acres
Emg: P Wright, S May, J Neade, J Impey
Quote from: Spite on June 10, 2016, 02:32:55 AM
Great write-ups Nige!
Some interesting choices for the Titans this week...we also have a proper bench for the first time this season!
Marley Williams Rampe Pittard Vlastuin
Sidebottom (C) Hanners Coniglio Libba
Gawn (VC)
Jmart Billings Daniel Tom Phillips
B. Ellis Ross
E: Scully (M) Tomlinson (B/F) Litherland (B) Stanley (R/F)
Switching Billings out for Stanley, then removing Billings for Langford (M)
Wolves
B: KK, Sutcliffe, J.Gibbo, Zilliams
M: Ebo, L.Shiela(VC), D.Shiela, Bernie
R: Stef
F: Gunner(C), Daisy, Chad, Brooooooost
U: Crisp, S.Gibbo
E: Lyons(F), Leuy(R/F), B.Reid(B)
Sorry, just dropping by so not posted in spreadsheet yet.
BELARUS BISON
Def: Cam O'Shea, Luke Brown, Matt Suckling, Sean Lemmens
Mid: James Kelly (VC), Tom Rockliff (C), Luke Dunstan, Nick Graham
Ruc: Brodie Grundy
Fwd: Jack Darling, Tim Membrey, Jamie Cripps, Andrejs Everitt
Uti: Lachie Weller, Mark Hutchings
Emg: Brad McKenzie (Mid), Kyle Langford (Fwd), Nathan Wright (Def)
Quote from: LaHug on June 10, 2016, 07:02:38 PM
BELARUS BISON
Def: Cam O'Shea, Luke Brown, Matt Suckling, Sean Lemmens
Mid: James Kelly (VC), Tom Rockliff (C), Luke Dunstan, Brad McKenzie
Ruc: Brodie Grundy
Fwd: Jack Darling, Tim Membrey, Jamie Cripps, Andrejs Everitt
Uti: Lachie Weller, Mark Hutchings
Emg: Kyle Langford (Fwd), Nick Graham (Mid); Nathan Wright (Def)
a quick change for Bison. McKenzie in for Graham.
England
Def: Howe, Yeo, Wood, Lonergan
Mid: Steven (C), Armitage, Zaharakis, Shuey
Ruck: Smith
Fwd: Walker, Dixon, Daniher, Vandenburg
Int: Mitchell (VC), Jones
Considering we had Dempsey's shocking 33 in there, reckon I'd take that start of 508 from 4! Lewis and Zerrett the carries but Rioli not hurting his future chances at games with that performance! Dempsey on the other hand :P.
Dahl :'(
Was very close to playing Taberner over Menzel! Looks like Tabs might get a game anyway next week with Dahl sidelined.
Yep, he hurts my DT as well. :(
Well with Swallow injured early and Dempsey's score, too many passengers to put up a big score :(. Belgium had 7 centuries and luckily enough, are on track of choosing the worst performer from their XV as their captain so that's something haha.
Good game, and hopefully I'll get my revenge in the finals!
P.S. We're still dashing.
Lost by 89 to the Hulks, can't help but wonder whether Dahlhaus getting injured cost us the game.
Might be tough to make finals from here. :(
So we lost by basically Russia's HGA :(
I think I played the only team that went worse than me this week. Nice to finally get some luck
pulled out an OK score despite some underperformers :)
I've gotta do the end of round stuff for Worlds now, but I'll try and get this stuff done as well.
I'm pretty sure we have a break over the byes, but I was gonna suggest something to Holz to keep the interest going over the few weeks.
Quote from: Nige on June 14, 2016, 05:28:41 PM
I've gotta do the end of round stuff for Worlds now, but I'll try and get this stuff done as well.
I'm pretty sure we have a break over the byes, but I was gonna suggest something to Holz to keep the interest going over the few weeks.
I'm pretty sure nothing is happening during the byes, but would be keen for something.
Quote from: Atto on June 14, 2016, 05:36:37 PM
Quote from: Nige on June 14, 2016, 05:28:41 PM
I've gotta do the end of round stuff for Worlds now, but I'll try and get this stuff done as well.
I'm pretty sure we have a break over the byes, but I was gonna suggest something to Holz to keep the interest going over the few weeks.
I'm pretty sure nothing is happening during the byes, but would be keen for something.
we will doing something.
North v South is back.
or I may look at North v South v East v West in a round robin style comp. Only issue is 14 teams means uneven numbers.
Round 10 results
Macedonian Wolves 158 defeated English Lions 132
Belgian Bashers 147 defeated Iceland Polar Bears 135
Greek Titans 127 lost to Serbian Eagles 134
Svalbard Valkyries 143 defeated Belarus Bisons 121
Russian Roulettes 142 defeated Croatian Crushers 137
Hungarian Hulks 138 defeated Swiss Storm 130
Spanish Stallions 140 defeated Swedish Metal 129
Greece the only home team to lose!
Pretty much every winning team won fairly comfortably.
Ladder after Round 10
Position Team Wins Draws Losses Points Points FOR
1 Hungarian Hulks 8 2 32 13058
2 Russian Roulettes 8 2 32 12522
3 Greek Titans 8 2 32 12509
4 Serbian Eagles 6 4 24 13552
5 Belgian Bashers 6 4 24 12892
6 Iceland Polar Bears 6 4 24 12374
7 Macedonian Wolves 5 5 20 11939
8 Svalbard Valkyries 4 6 16 12220
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9 English Lions 4 6 16 11958
10 Swiss Storm 4 6 16 11583
11 Spanish Stallions 4 6 16 11317
12 Croatian Crushers 3 7 12 10957
13 Swedish Metal 2 8 8 10670
14 Belarus Bison 2 8 8 11646
Some pretty big moves!
The Hulks are now 1st (cue Holz reaction in 3... 2... :P).
Titans have now slipped to 3rd!
Svalbard have jumped into the 8.
A costly loss for the Lions sees them fall to 9th.
>Sweden were higher than Belarus pre this round.
>Sweden scores more than Belarus in Round 10.
>Somehow Sweden are now lower than Belarus.
Not that I really care but just pointing it out.
Quote from: Atto on June 14, 2016, 06:51:07 PM
>Sweden were higher than Belarus pre this round.
>Sweden scores more than Belarus in Round 10.
>Somehow Sweden are now lower than Belarus.
Not that I really care but just pointing it out.
Blame Sir Nigel, who forgot to add on Sweden's score from this week :P
Quote from: GoLions on June 14, 2016, 06:52:26 PM
Quote from: Atto on June 14, 2016, 06:51:07 PM
>Sweden were higher than Belarus pre this round.
>Sweden scores more than Belarus in Round 10.
>Somehow Sweden are now lower than Belarus.
Not that I really care but just pointing it out.
Blame Sir Nigel, who forgot to add on Sweden's score from this week :P
To be fair, I copied the ladder straight from the spreadsheet and just rearranged the positions because they're muddled in the spreadsheet's ladder.
I have no idea what happened.
Quote from: Nige on June 14, 2016, 06:54:29 PM
Quote from: GoLions on June 14, 2016, 06:52:26 PM
Quote from: Atto on June 14, 2016, 06:51:07 PM
>Sweden were higher than Belarus pre this round.
>Sweden scores more than Belarus in Round 10.
>Somehow Sweden are now lower than Belarus.
Not that I really care but just pointing it out.
Blame Sir Nigel, who forgot to add on Sweden's score from this week :P
To be fair, I copied the ladder straight from the spreadsheet and just rearranged the positions because they're muddled in the spreadsheet's ladder.
I have no idea what happened.
You still haven't added on Sweden's score
Quote from: GoLions on June 14, 2016, 06:57:55 PM
Quote from: Nige on June 14, 2016, 06:54:29 PM
Quote from: GoLions on June 14, 2016, 06:52:26 PM
Quote from: Atto on June 14, 2016, 06:51:07 PM
>Sweden were higher than Belarus pre this round.
>Sweden scores more than Belarus in Round 10.
>Somehow Sweden are now lower than Belarus.
Not that I really care but just pointing it out.
Blame Sir Nigel, who forgot to add on Sweden's score from this week :P
To be fair, I copied the ladder straight from the spreadsheet and just rearranged the positions because they're muddled in the spreadsheet's ladder.
I have no idea what happened.
You still haven't added on Sweden's score
I'm aware. I'm trying to work out why their score from this week hasn't automatically added itself to the ladder which is automated.
Quote from: Nige on June 14, 2016, 06:40:34 PM
The Hulks are now 1st (cue Holz reaction in 3... 2... :P).
Happy to claim the top spot.
I still think Serbia are clearly the best team in the comp just have been very unlucky.
I would love to avoid playing them.
Nah Sorry guys I knew we weren't playing during the byes so I haven't added in the code for the 'Points For' column for this week, which I'll do after my exams end soon
Wolves go bang! Hopefully it's a sign of things to come!
**** News Flash*****
Insider logistic and strategy experts are advising that Belarus are poised and set for their late push into the top 4.
"Unbelievable" say skeptics, before they are taken out the back and shot.
#therevolutionisuponus!
Quote from: Atto on June 14, 2016, 06:51:07 PM
>Sweden were higher than Belarus pre this round.
>Sweden scores more than Belarus in Round 10.
>Somehow Sweden are now lower than Belarus.
Not that I really care but just pointing it out.
Same happened to me in AXV this week. Scored the highest in the round out of anyone and Mongolia leap frogged me!
Quote from: T Dog on June 14, 2016, 08:53:14 PM
**** News Flash*****
Insider logistic and strategy experts are advising that Belarus are poised and set for their late push into the top 4.
"Unbelievable" say skeptics, before they are taken out the back and shot.
#therevolutionisuponus!
Can confirm. The return of healthy Mitchell and Rocky after the byes to combine for 400 a game will get us there.
Quote from: LaHug on June 14, 2016, 10:58:38 PM
Quote from: T Dog on June 14, 2016, 08:53:14 PM
**** News Flash*****
Insider logistic and strategy experts are advising that Belarus are poised and set for their late push into the top 4.
"Unbelievable" say skeptics, before they are taken out the back and shot.
#therevolutionisuponus!
Can confirm. The return of healthy Mitchell and Rocky after the byes to combine for 400 a game will get us there.
I'll believe it when Belarus are above wooden spoon favourites Sweden on the ladder.
I've got a good feeling svalbard is going to start having all our lines fire soon :P
#kneejerkcaptainhoneychurch
Quote from: Ziplock on June 15, 2016, 02:37:05 AM
I've got a good feeling svalbard is going to start having all our lines fire soon :P
#kneejerkcaptainhoneychurch
havent you had that feeling for the last 5 years?
Yep, it's all just been leading up to this :p
Quote from: JBs-Hawks on June 14, 2016, 10:46:53 PM
Quote from: Atto on June 14, 2016, 06:51:07 PM
>Sweden were higher than Belarus pre this round.
>Sweden scores more than Belarus in Round 10.
>Somehow Sweden are now lower than Belarus.
Not that I really care but just pointing it out.
Same happened to me in AXV this week. Scored the highest in the round out of anyone and Mongolia leap frogged me!
Quote from: Spite on June 14, 2016, 07:11:51 PM
Nah Sorry guys I knew we weren't playing during the byes so I haven't added in the code for the 'Points For' column for this week, which I'll do after my exams end soon