FanFooty Forum

DEF: H.Taylor, S.Mayes, J.Thurlow, J.Hunt

MID: L.Neale, C.Ward, D.Zorko, O.Wines

RUC: B.Grundy

FWD: J.Caddy (M), J.Jenkins, A.Christensen, C.Petracca

I/C: B.Ellis (M), B.Hill (M/F)



DEF: S.Wellingham, J.Scrimshaw, D.Howe (M), C.Byrne, L.Brown, T.Jonas, M.Talia, T.Clurey, N.Broad, R.Smith, H.Lumumba

MID: J.Aish, J.Polec, D.Butler, T.Williamson

RUC:

FWD: K.Lambert, B.Lennon, B.Kennedy, M.Cox, A.Black, T.O'Brien, A.Gallucci, S.Edwards (M), K.LeBois

ROOKIE LIST: K.Stewart (F), T.Stengle (F), E.Irra (M), F.Watson (D), D.Hamilton (M/F)

LTI list:
H.Lumumba (retired)

• Grundy a Rising Star (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1340660.html#msg1340660)  9.4.2014
• Kreuzer's injury woes continue (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1340662.html#msg1340662)  9.4.2014
• Rookie upgrade: Sam Gray (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1346389.html#msg1346389)  14.4.2014
• Injury strikes young guns (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1348340.html#msg1348340)  16.4.2014
• Injury list updated (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1355168.html#msg1355168) 23.4.2014
• Matt Jones misses flight to Brazil (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1356731.html#msg1356731)  24.4.2014
• Aish a Rising Star (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1360975.html#msg1360975)  28.4.2014


• 2014 Trade Period 1 Recap (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1497847.html#msg1497847) 13.11.2014

*denotes LTI

WINS: 3      DRAWS: 0      LOSSES: 11


Round 1: Beijing Thunder (20.15.135) d. Wellington Warriors (17.15.117) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1340651.html#msg1340651) W

Round 2: Pacific Islanders (20.12.132) d. Beijing Thunder (19.17.131) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1340654.html#msg1340654) L

Round 3: Beijing Thunder (17.12.114) d. by Cape Town Cobras (21.15.141) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1340669.html#msg1340669) L

Round 4: Seoul Magpies (17.16.118) d. by Beijing Thunder (20.10.130) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1346367.html#msg1346367) W

Round 5: Beijing Thunder (17.10.112) d. by Toronto Wolves (19.15.129) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1355165.html#msg1355165) L

Round 6: Sao Paulo Pumas (23.13.151) d. Beijing Thunder (19.8.122) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1360963.html#msg1360963) L

Round 7: Beijing Thunder (18.13.121) d. by Moscow Spetsnaz (20.12.132) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1368232.html#msg1368232) L

Round 8: Berlin Brewers (23.12.150) d. Beijing Thunder (19.10.124) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1430904.html#msg1430904) L

Round 9: Beijing Thunder (16.13.109) d. by Buenos Aires Armadillos (21.13.139) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1430904.html#msg1430904) L

Round 10: New York Revolution (17.17.119) d. Beijing Thunder (16.15.111) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1430904.html#msg1430904) L

Round 11: Beijing Thunder (15.14.104) d. by Mexico City Suns (23.17.155) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1430904.html#msg1430904) L

Round 12: Beijing Thunder (20.12.132) d. by PNL Reindeers (21.16.142) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1430904.html#msg1430904) L

Round 13: Dublin Destroyers (22.19.151) defeated Beijing Thunder (17.12.114) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1430904.html#msg1430904) L

Round 14: Beijing Thunder (19.13.127) defeated New Delhi Tigers (15.15.105) (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1430917.html#msg1430917) W

Round 15:

2013:
Rising star nominees: O.Wines (Round 1), Jackson Thurlow (Round 8.), Sam Kerridge (Round 9), Sam Mayes (Round 11), Michael Talia (Round 12)
Best and Fairest: H.Taylor

2014:
Rising star nominees: B.Grundy (Round 2), J.Aish (Round 6)
Best and Fairest: O.Wines

2015:
Rising star nominees: T.Broomhead (Round 3), T.Miller (Round 5), J.Thurlow (Round 6)
Best and Fairest: L.Neale

and last one

I know it looks like shower atm but PhotoShop is broken. :(

Promise it will look better soon... And it's better to have some sort of thread rather than no thread I guess! :P

Post away!

What a thread, what a write up  8)

Get around the Thunder!

That was a great read Toga!

I have a funny feeling about Beijing v PNL this week

Thanks Oz! :)

so what's the deal with membership points in this scenario? If Q or I do that each week we get points? And do we have to post it anywhere else?

Sorry about all the questions, still trying to get my head around the rules haha. :P

Oh and yeah it could be a danger game for PNL. :o

If Mayes & Kennedy can escape the vest, and Gumby gets a game, there's a chance we might surprise a few. A slight chance, but still a chance! ;)

Quote from: Toga on May 29, 2013, 11:50:00 AM
Thanks Oz! :)

so what's the deal with membership points in this scenario? If Q or I do that each week we get points? And do we have to post it anywhere else?

Sorry about all the questions, still trying to get my head around the rules haha. :P

You get 10 points for each week's review! You can do it retrospectively if you like for the previous rounds also...

You will get points for this thread in general also :)

I'm holding of on compiling membership points for a while....

Alright sounds great, thanks for the heads up! :D

Quote from: ossie85 on May 29, 2013, 12:29:27 PM

Quote from: Toga on May 29, 2013, 11:50:00 AM
Thanks Oz! :)

so what's the deal with membership points in this scenario? If Q or I do that each week we get points? And do we have to post it anywhere else?

Sorry about all the questions, still trying to get my head around the rules haha. :P

You get 10 points for each week's review! You can do it retrospectively if you like for the previous rounds also...

You will get points for this thread in general also :)

I'm holding of on compiling membership points for a while....

Do I get the 10 points for my wrap-up thing that's not really a review? It has team sheet, scores and b&f but no actual analysis...

yup

You're welcome!

Those players you have! Was a very, very hard decision for me to let them go but ....

Am loyal to the JayBag, so I hope you are happy with the players I got you!

BTW, what for Kennedy?

Waiting for the edit part ....

Oh yeah, you are our rivals, like it or not!

Tom Rock for Kennedy is a done deal. :P

Ok so there we go, that should sum up most of the season (including the first 7 or so rounds before Q and I took over).

Excuse my lack of punctuation, that was the only way I could get it to work. >:(

News has just come in that Beijing Thunder defender, Harry Taylor, started a club wide brawl at training on Thursday. Taylor apparently told Co-Coach Master Q that the team's performance this year was all his fault, stating that he would be "on his way to a club with potential". Fellow defender, Darren Glass came in to separate the two men, who were standing toe to toe with each other. But this is where things got a little bit crazy.

Harry Taylor then king hit Co-Coach Master Q, which sparked a huge melee between players and staff. There are also strong rumours that Kane Mitchell was kicked in the groin while defending Taylor from fellow team mates, but it is unsure who did such a thing. Kane Mitchell tweeted on Thursday:

QuoteKane Mitchell @DarkKnightWithLongHair 20 Jun
Balls feeling all good. Thanks for the support - up the Thunder!

At a press conference earlier today, when asked about Harry Taylor's future at the club, Co-Coach Master Q said:

"We've received offers... some good ones too. We will consider all our options and take it from there."

Various sources are suggesting that a deal is in the works with the PNL Reindeers, which Co-Coach Toga confirmed at the airport earlier this week - "They have some very nice players, some guys that would be a huge help to our team"

There is a photo spreading over the internet of Master Q, Toga and Chad Wingard having lunch at a local McDonalds restaurant, which adds to these strong rumours of a multi-player deal in the works between these two clubs. Master Q is seen to be eating Chicken McNuggets, but we are unable to depict what the other two men ordered. More to come.

I'm sure Wingard won't be impressed if you are meeting up with him at a Macca's ;D. He has the very best of French Cuisine at PNL ;).

Screw PNL, we want Taylor :P

Trade #1: with Cairo Sands - APPROVED
OUT: Sam Kerridge + Pick #24 (ND)
IN: Danny Stanley + Matt Jones + Lewis Stevenson + Pick #88 (ND)
Change in cap: 19,565 --> 21,749 (2,251 below cap).

Welcome Danny, Matt & Lewis!

---

Trade #2: with Berlin Brewers - APPROVED
OUT: Pick #77 (ND)
IN: Alipate Carlile
Change in cap: 22,761 (1,239 below cap).

Welcome Alipate!

---

Trade #3: with Wellington Warriors - DECLINED
OUT: Harry Taylor + Matthew Spangher + Pick #41 ND
IN: Pick #1 ND + Mitch Golby + Jake Neade + Adam Schneider
Change in cap: 22,908 (1,092 below cap).

Trades completed: 3

We have traded out: Sam Kerridge + Pick #21 (ID) + Pick #59 (ID) + Pick #77 (ID)

We have traded in: Danny Stanley + Matt Jones + Lewis Stevenson + Alipate Carlile + John Butcher + Jared Petrenko Pick #88 (ID)

---

The following players have retired: Daniel Kerr, Brent Guerra, Dean Brogan

The following players have been delisted: Hal Hunter, Patrick Veszpremi, Aaron Cornelius, Ben Speight

---

This leaves us with the following projected XV for the 2014 season:
DEF: Harry Taylor / Danny Stanley / Cale Hooker / Michael Talia
MID: Oliver Wines / Josh Caddy / Matt Jones / Liam Shiels
RUC: Matthew Kreuzer
FWD: Sam Mayes / Eddie Betts / Scott Gumbleton / Travis Varcoe
UTL: Brodie Grundy / Lachie Neale

EMG: Elliot Yeo (DEF) / Matt Rosa (MID) / Ben Kennedy (FWD)

---

In the upcoming National Draft, we have picks: #2, #20, #41
In the upcoming Rookie Draft, we have picks: #2, #20, #41, #59, #77

2013 WXV International Draft results:

#2 Overall: James Aish
With our first pick in the 2013 International Draft we are pleased to announce that the highly talented James Aish will be joining the Thunder.

#20 Overall: Rory Lobb
With our second pick in the 2013 International Draft we welcome the highly athletic ruck man Rory Lobb to the team.

#41 Overall: Mitch Harvey
Man child Mitchell Harvey comes into the team with Pick #41, our third overall! Ready-made for senior opportunities, Harvey will be a dominant power forward in the near future.

Oliver Wines, James Aish, Josh Caddy, Lachie Neale and Kane Mitchell.

Talk about star studded midfield  8)

Quote from: Master Q on December 08, 2013, 11:08:39 PM
Oliver Wines, James Aish, Josh Caddy, Lachie Neale and Kane Mitchell.

Talk about star studded midfield  8)

Some potential, but no stars just yet... ;)

Quote from: CrowsFan on December 08, 2013, 11:11:06 PM

Quote from: Master Q on December 08, 2013, 11:08:39 PM
Oliver Wines, James Aish, Josh Caddy, Lachie Neale and Kane Mitchell.

Talk about star studded midfield  8)

Some potential, but no stars just yet... ;)

Eh fair enough. Give them a NAB cup game or two :P

Quote from: Master Q on December 08, 2013, 11:08:39 PM
Oliver Wines, James Aish, Josh Caddy, Lachie Neale and Kane Mitchell.

Talk about star studded midfield  8)

Add Sam Gray, Liam Shiels, Timmy Broomhead and Tom Temay to that, we've got some talent heading into the future! 8)

Quote from: Toga on December 08, 2013, 11:14:09 PM

Quote from: Master Q on December 08, 2013, 11:08:39 PM
Oliver Wines, James Aish, Josh Caddy, Lachie Neale and Kane Mitchell.

Talk about star studded midfield  8)

Add Sam Gray, Liam Shiels, Timmy Broomhead and Tom Temay to that, we've got some talent heading into the future! 8)

Well now you're just getting desperate! This is what you call a star studded midfield...

Rory Sloane, Chris Masten, Hamish Hartlett, Stephen Hill, David Zaharakis, Kyle Martin, Taylor Adams, Mitch Wallis, Jared Polec, Jonathan O'Rourke, Nathan Freeman all 24 or under.

Quote from: CrowsFan on December 09, 2013, 10:16:24 AM

Quote from: Toga on December 08, 2013, 11:14:09 PM

Quote from: Master Q on December 08, 2013, 11:08:39 PM
Oliver Wines, James Aish, Josh Caddy, Lachie Neale and Kane Mitchell.

Talk about star studded midfield  8)

Add Sam Gray, Liam Shiels, Timmy Broomhead and Tom Temay to that, we've got some talent heading into the future! 8)

Well now you're just getting desperate! This is what you call a star studded midfield...

Rory Sloane, Chris Masten, Hamish Hartlett, Stephen Hill, David Zaharakis, Kyle Martin, Taylor Adams, Mitch Wallis, Jared Polec, Jonathan O'Rourke, Nathan Freeman all 24 or under.

The premier saying they have a better team than 17th is a little redundant CF :P

Haha shush :P

Looking at the positional leaks I thought I'd have a crack at having a look at what our team might look like next year!

Best XV:

D: H.Taylor / C.Hooker / M.Talia / J.Thurlow
M: D.Stanley / O.Wines / J.Aish / M.Jones
R: M.Kreuzer
F: S.Mayes / J.Caddy / E.Betts / S.Gumbleton
I/C: B.Grundy / L.Shiels

---

Reserves:
D: E.Yeo / L.Stevenson / A.Carlile / D.Glass / H.Schade
M: M.Rosa / J.Battersby / S.Gray / K.Mitchell / T.Temay
R: R.Lobb / S.Naismith
F: T.Varcoe / B.Kennedy / T.Broomhead / M.Harvey / J.Butcher / J.Petrenko / R.Tarrant / J.Stewart / T.O'Brien

Really like the look of that team! A big priority for us in trading/drafting was improving our forwards a bit, which we have - a lot more depth this season! But I expect Mayes & Caddy to move back into the middle in the future so think the team structure won't be too unbalanced.

Got some great youth coming through in Talia, Thurlow, Wines, Aish, Kreuzer, Mayes, Caddy, Grundy, Shiels, Yeo, Battersby, Gray, Kennedy, Broomhead, Harvey, Stewart and O'Brien all under 23 y.o.!

Dem forward stocks. o:

Yeah I know, I was super surprised when I saw how many we had! Last year we struggled to get four forwards on at the same time, this year we'll probably be stacked! :o

Wasn't expecting Caddy to get DPP tbh, and I expect both he and Mayes will be mid only maybe as soon as 2015..

We'll take Petrenko and Butcher back then.

Just kidding, they're not welcome back as long as I'm at Cairo.  :P

Haha notice we recruited Mitch Harvey to cover ourselves if when Butcher is delisted :P

Quote from: Toga on December 10, 2013, 02:23:58 PM
Haha notice we recruited Mitch Harvey to cover ourselves if when Butcher is delisted :P

Clever!  :o

Schade isn't on your rookie list remember :)

Bloody hell, I'll get it right eventually!

Thanks CF :)

Thunder starts with a bang

D: H. Taylor (75), C. Hooker (121), D. Glass (74), E. Yeo (75)
M: L. Shiels (VC) (108), O. Wines (145), D. Stanley (80), L. Neale (14)
R: M. Kreuzer (69)
F: S. Mayes (C) (198), J. Caddy (81), E. Betts (78), B. Kennedy (23)
I/C: B. Grundy (80), M. Rosa (128)

Great start to the season for the Thunder with a solid win over last year's wooden-spooners Wellington. While our first round opponents weren't too formidable, Beijing co-coaches Master Q and Toga were expecting of a first-up win for 2014 feeling that it was an important way to set the standards for the year ahead. Although the Thunder's starting lineup is still very young, there were some solid scorers across the board with our midfield in particular showing it is going to be a force in years to come, with young guns Oliver Wines and Liam Shiels among our best, while experienced heads Cale Hooker and Matt Rosa were also serviceable.

Beijing Thunder (20.15.135) defeated Wellington Warriors (17.15.117)
Beijing best: O Wines, M Rosa, C Hooker, L Shiels
Wellington best: B Deledio, M Murphy, S Dempster, T Mzungu

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

Reserves
Shanghai Storm (14.9.93) defeated Wellington Warriors (12.6.78)

Islanders survive storm

D: H.Taylor (86), C.Hooker (111), J.Hunt (41), E.Yeo (72)
M: O.Wines (C) (216), L.Shiels (54), D.Stanley (50), M.Rosa (95)
R: B.Grundy (81)
F: J.Caddy (VC) (71), S.Mayes (81), E.Betts (80), T.Varcoe (120)
I/C: M. Jones (75), J. Aish (77)

A devastating result for us this week with the Pacific Islanders getting up by just one point in a thriller at their home ground. It feels like it was the home ground advantage possessed by the Islanders was what got them over the line, and had the game been played on neutral soil the result might have told a different tale. Travis Varcoe was electric up forwards for the away side, while Cale Hooker and new club captain Oliver Wines were again among our best players. In other bad news Vice Captain and #1 ruckman Matty Kreuzuer has suffered a foot injury that will require surgery, which will see him miss most of the season. This leaves an opportunity for young gun Brodie Grundy to make the club's ruck mantle his for this season and beyond.

Pacific Islanders (20.12.132) defeated Beijing Thunder (19.17.131)
Pacific best: Jack Redden, C Hampton
Beijing best: T Varcoe, C Hooker, O Wines

MVP Votes:
3. Travis Varcoe
2. Cale Hooker
1. Oliver Wines

Reserves:
Port Morseby Iguanadones (17.10.112) defeated Shanghai Storm (6.9.45)

Congratulations to Beijing youngster Brodie Grundy who has been earned the WXV Round 2 Rising Star nomination for his efforts in the nail-biter against Pacific on the weekend. Grundy was recognised for his 30 hitout, 15 possession, 5 tackle game against the Islanders. Beijing's coaches are said to be pleased with his effort on the weekend, but are reported to have told him to work on his discipline, as Grundy's output could have been of a far higher level if not for the 5 frees he gave away during the match.

Grundy showed signs of superstar potential in 2013, playing 6 games and averaging 18 hitouts per match, however he is fast becoming renowned for his work rate around the ground which is very impressive for a player of his size.

In other related news, star ruckman Matthew Kreuzer is said to have suffered a serious foot injury which will see him miss most of the 2014 season.

Disappointing news for the club today with star ruckman Matthew Kreuzer set to undergo surgery on a serious foot injury that will see him miss a majority of the 2014 WXV season. Kreuzer is reported to have had surgery on his troublesome foot at the conclusion of the 2013 premiership season, however scans have revealed that the injury is not healing as was hoped, meaning that club doctors will likely see Kreuzer on the surgeons table again shortly.

This news comes just hours after it was announced that the club's back-up ruckman Brodie Grundy was the recipient of the Round 2 WXV Rising Star nomination, suggesting that the club's tap work will be in capable hands while their marquee player is sidelined.

Kreuzer's return time is listed by the club as between 12 and 14 weeks, which should see him placed on the club's Long Term Injury List, possibly leaving a spot available for a rookie to be promoted. Young ruckman Sam Naismith looks to be an obvious candidate to replace Kreuzer on the senior list, however the club will advise the public of any news in the coming weeks.

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)

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

Some great reads, with harsh but fair criticism

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!

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)

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!

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.

That's a massive loss for us.

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)

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*

Great write up :)

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

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!

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!

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!

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.

Pumas too good for depleted Beijing outfit

D: C.Hooker (VC) (69), H.Taylor (38), E.Yeo (82), J.Hunt (68)
M: O.Wines (C) (190), M.Rosa (61), J.Aish (144), D.Stanley (86)
R: B.Grundy (65)
F: S.Mayes (93), E.Betts (84), J.Petrenko (41), T.Varcoe (72)
I/C: L.Neale (82), S.Gray (52)

A huge performance from young gun midfielder James Aish was not enough to get the Thunder over the line in what was always going to be a tough trip to Sao Paulo to take on the reigning premiers of the WXV competition. The Pumas were well lead from the front by captain Gary Ablett Jnr and emerging superstar Rory Sloane, who were too good for the Thunder on the day. The recently in-form Cale Hooker wasn't able to hit the heights he had in earlier rounds, while the experienced Harry Taylor has some real form worries at the moment. Aish was clearly our best on ground for the weekend, while Ollie Wines again put up a solid captain's performance. Sam Mayes, Danny Stanley and Lachie Neale were all impressive. We hope we can really test the Spetsnaz next week in what should be a hotly contested encounter.

Sao Paulo Pumas (23.13.151) defeated Beijing Thunder (19.8.122)

Best
Sao Paulo best: G.Ablett, R.Sloane, M.Wright
Beijing best: J.Aish

MVP Votes:
3. James Aish
2. Oliver Wines
1. Danny Stanley

Reserves: Rio de Janeiro Jaguars (8.8.56) lost to Shanghai Storm (10.7.67)

Congratulations to young midfielder James Aish who has been awarded the club's second WXV rising star nomination for his huge effort in our Round 6 clash against the Sao Paulo Pumas. In his fifth game for the club, which was easily his best to date, Aish showed just why Beijing decided to draft him with the #2 overall draft pick in the 2013 International Draft. Matched up against the competition's premier midfielder in Gary Ablett Jnr, Aish registered 25 disposals, going at 76% efficiency, along with 8 marks, four tackles and a goal.

Along with a nomination for the WXV rising star award, Aish was also recognised for his feats on the weekend in being named on the interchange in the Round 6 WXV Team of the Week.

Great write ups as usual.  A lot to like about Beijing

Spetsnaz fight off resilient Thunder

D: C.Hooker (102), H.Taylor (106), E.Yeo (41), D.Glass (39)
M: O.Wines (C) (182), J.Aish (61), M.Jones (64.9), M.Rosa (116)
R: B.Grundy (66)
F: S.Mayes (VC) (86), E.Betts (28), T.Varcoe (36), J.Petrenko (67)
I/C: D.Stanley (66), L.Neale (119)

Despite another disappointing loss this week, there were some good signs that Thunder supporters can take away from the defeat. While the rested Matt Jones and everyone in our forward line bar Sam Mayes putting in a disappointing effort this week, there was a lot to like about how some of the boys went about their business. Cale Hooker continued his run as the competition's in-form defender with a classy job on the Moscow forward line, while star backman Harry Taylor returned to form with a bang. Ollie Wines was again serviceable as skipper, however he hasn't been able to hit his usual lofty heights in recent weeks. The big stories from the weekend however were underrated midfielders Matt Rosa and Lachie Neale, who both put in resounding efforts that will have the league on notice heading into the mid-season break. Neale was fantastic playing off the interchange bench, while Rosa battled well against a classy Moscow midfield. Coaches Master Q and Toga are upbeat despite the loss, and think there is a lot to like about the young Thunder outfit, confident that another win is on the card in the coming weeks.

Beijing Thunder (18.13.121) lost to Moscow Spetsnaz (20.12.132)

Best
Beijing best: L.Neale, M.Rosa, H.Taylor, C.Hooker
Moscow best: C.Ward

MVP Votes:
3. Lachie Neale
2. Matt Rosa
1. Harry Taylor

Reserves: Shanghai Storm (2.3.15) lost to Siberian Wolverines (14.11.95)

And woo Kane Mitchell upgraded from Port's rookie list, might be in line for a recall in the next couple of weeks! Had 31 touches in the ressies on the weekend so is in some fine form, could definitely use him at the moment with our injuries!

Kane Mitchell returned to the senior team this week in our Round 8 clash against the Berlin Brewers in resounding fashion earning team-best honours in a dominant display. Despite being named as emergency, Mitchell was recalled to the senior team to replace the unnamed Jared Petrenko, and grasped his opportunity with both hands, amassing twenty disposals, including 15 by foot, along with  eight tackles and two goals.

Kane's return has come at a good time for us, after our depth has been seriously hit by injuries to key players. We hope he can continue his good form into the coming weeks and establish himself as a Best XV player for the Thunder!

Reserved for Round 8 Review

Reserved for Round 9 Review

Reserved for Round 10 Review

In another blow to the club's depth, defensive guru Darren Glass has decided to retire from the game effective immediately. Having been with the club since the origin draft, Glass was an important member of the squad, coming in as a late replacement many times over the three years the club has been playing. Whilst not generally regarded as a Best XV player, Darren has provided much needed depth for us, particularly in the last two seasons where our list has been tested by youth and injuries, however after stringing together a few games this year, ankle and hip injuries have gotten the better of him, and he has decided to retire at 33 years of age.

We thank Darren for his time at the club and wish him all the best for the future!

Some stats for Darren Glass.

- 20 WXV Games, twice named in the best, at an average of 61.15
- 18 Reserves Games at an average of 71.78

Achievements:
- 2012 Reserves All-Worlds Team

ROUND 8:
Berlin Brewers (23.12.150) defeated Beijing Thunder (19.10.124)

MVP Votes:
3. Kane Mitchell
2. Cale Hooker
1. Oli Wines

Reserves: Rhineland Rum-Runners (6.5.41) defeated Shanghai Storm (4.7.31)

---

ROUND 9:
Beijing Thunder (16.13.109) lost to Buenos Aires Armadillos (21.13.139)

MVP Votes:
3. Harry Taylor
2. Lachie Neale
1. Liam Shiels

Reserves: Shanghai Storm (0.6.6) lost to Buenos Aires Armadillos (8.3.51)

---

ROUND 10:
New York Revolution (17.17.119) defeated Beijing Thunder (16.15.111)

MVP Votes:
3. Oli Wines
2. Elliot Yeo
1. Liam Shiels

Reserves: Washington Rebellion (5.2.32) lost to Shanghai Storm (7.6.48)

---

ROUND 11:
Beijing Thunder (15.14.104) lost to Mexico City Suns (23.17.155)

MVP Votes:
3. Eddie Betts
2. Ollie Wines
1. Matt Rosa

Reserves: Shanghai Storm (7.4.46) lost to Mexico City Suns (15.11.101)

---

ROUND 12:
Beijing Thunder (20.12.132) lost to PNL Reindeers (21.16.142)

MVP Votes:
3. Lachie Neale
2. Ollie Wines
1. Matt Rosa

Reserves: Shanghai Storm (3.7.25) lost to Marseille Kings (30.12.192)

---

ROUND 13:
Dublin Destroyers (22.19.151) defeated Beijing Thunder (17.12.114)

MVP Votes:
3. James Aish
2. Ollie Wines
1. Eddie Betts

Reserves: Belfast Braves (15.11.101) defeated Shanghai Storm (6.7.43)

Thunder wins the Billions Cup!

D: H.Taylor (VC) (129), C.Hooker (52), A.Toovey (23)
M: O.Wines (C) (150), L.Shiels (80), M.Rosa (87), K.Mitchell (82)
R: B.Grundy (49)
F: J.Caddy (95), S.Mayes (49), T.Varcoe (54), E.Betts (114), B.Kennedy (123)
I/C: L.Neale (124), J.Aish (31)

Thunder win!! Thunder win!! In what was set to be a close encounter between two of the league's cellar dwellers, a relentless Beijing outfit were able to snap their 9-game losing streak with a win over the New Dehli Tigers. Lead by a mixture of the team's older heads, in Harry Taylor and Eddie Betts, and some of our young stars, namely Lachie Neale and Ben Kennedy, the team fought hard to deliver a 22-point win on our home deck. The win was soured by a season-ending injury to consistent midfielder Matt Rosa, who tore his pectoral muscle in a contest with an opposition player, while youngsters James Aish and Brodie Grundy look to be hitting a late-season wall with their performances gradually dropping over the last few weeks. Coach Toga was quoted saying he was thrilled with the team's performance, in particular the resounding displays put on by small midfielder/forward players Neale and Kennedy, who look to cement their spot in the team ahead of the end-of-season trade period in which the Thunder is sure to be an active player.

Go Thunder!

Beijing Thunder (19.13.127) defeated New Delhi Tigers (15.15.105)

Best
Beijing: H Taylor, L Neale, B Kennedy, E Betts
New Delhi: M Duncan, S Savage

MVP Votes:
3. Harry Taylor
2. Lachie Neale
1. Ben Kennedy

Reserves: Shanghai Storm (5.7.37) lost to Mumbai Elephants (12.7.79)

In a disappointing blow for the club, we have found out over the last couple of weeks that three key members of our team are set to miss the rest of the season with injury.

Matt Rosa suffered a tear to his pectoral tendon in the weekend's clash with the New Delhi Tigers. The experienced wing man has been a central member in the Thunder midfield this season and has polled well in the club's MVP voting, and will be sure to be missed over the remainder of the season. The club will look to fringe players Matt Jones and Sam Gray to fill the void left by the veteran midfielder. Defender and part-time midfielder Elliot Yeo has also suffered a serious injury blow, breaking his hand during a game which will see him miss at least a month of football, however with the right rehabilitation we are hopeful he may be able to return to the team late in the season. His progress will be monitored.

Robbie Tarrant, who has struggled with injury concerns of his own for a majority of the season, has succumbed to a problem with his tibia, and will miss the rest of the season in hope of being 100% for the start of the 2015 season.

Getting towards the pointy end of the season, the club's MVP award is gaining a bit of attention around the clubrooms... So which Thunder players are in the box seat to take out the medal? Here's our ladder to Round 14 of the WXV home and away season:

Player	Votes
O.Wines	22
L.Neale	11
C.Hooker	10
M.Rosa	8
=H.Taylor	8
J.Aish	6
E.Betts	4
=L.Shiels	4
K.Mitchell	3
=T.Varcoe	3
E.Yeo	2
B.Kennedy	1
=M.Jones	1
=D.Stanley	1

Our young captain this year in Ollie Wines is the clear leader in the race for the medal, but Lachie Neale has been impressive in recent weeks so has a chance to close in on Wines. Harry Taylor will be looking to consolidate his position on the leaderboard after winning last year's award, while James Aish would love to place in the top few in MVP rankings in only his first year at the club.

Love the read Toga!

Great work!

And well done to Ollie Wines, whom is guaranteed to win it with only 3 rounds left.

'lot better than stupid spud toumpas, stupid melbourne

Thanks guys! And yep, Winesy has got the MVP all wrapped up ;) Will have to do some other awards after our season finishes to keep it interesting!

Quality work as always Moose.  8)

Thanks bud ;)

Worth finishing off our 2014 B&F Count now I suppose :P


The club best and fairest from last year, Harry Taylor backed up an outstanding 2013 campaign with a solid yet unspectacular 2014 season. The emergence of Cale Hooker took some pressure off Taylor down back, however he had a slow start to the season despite many people tipping him to be the likely captain of the club while sometimes-captain Matt Kreuzer was missing through injury. Harry bounced back strongly over the second half of the season to average close to 120 points per game across the last 6 rounds of the season.

Second place this year goes to one of the underrated cogs of the emerging Beijing midfield. Entering his third year in the system, expectations of Lachie's game were high, and he did not disappoint, producing numbers slightly below his 2013 output, but playing a career-high number of games across the season. Lachie is becoming renowned for standing up when the club needs him most, producing a season-best game against the Royals in the last round of the season which almost single-handedly dragged the team across the line, but saw Lachie snatch second place from Harry Taylor. Scores of 143, 124 and 135 highlight Lachie's ability to stand up when the team needs him. We expect Lachie to improve on his output again next season and push to assert himself among the competition's top-tier midfielders.

pretty confident...

The runaway leader of our best and fairest count in just his second season is the "Quadzilla", Oliver Wines. Congratulations on a fantastic achievement in just your second year in the system!

Playing every game in the club's 2014 campaign, and captaining the Thunder in just about all of these occasions, Wines enjoyed a remarkable increase in his output from 2013, avoiding the much-hyped second year blues. Ollie this year increased his average by a whopping 29 points per game, highlighted by remarkable consistency across the season. Ollie stepped up when the club needed a leader this year and took the captaincy as his own responsibility, and never looked back, starting the season with a bang, and continuing on his good form all year. Congratulations Ollie, we are sure that this will be the first of many club awards for you!

Quote from: ossie85 on August 27, 2014, 05:34:22 PM
pretty confident...

He had it wrapped up after Round 14, probably needn't have bothered tallying up the last few rounds :P

Although it was close between 2nd and 3rd!

Think he played more than 2 games though :P

And if anyone's interested, here is the final leaderboard

Player	Votes
O.Wines	27
L.Neale	14
H.Taylor	13
C.Hooker	10
M.Rosa	8
J.Aish	6
=L.Shiels	6
E.Betts	4
K.Mitchell	3
=T.Varcoe	3
E.Yeo	2
=D.Stanley	2
B.Kennedy	1
=M.Jones	1
=S.Mayes	1
=J.Caddy	1

Just one of a couple of rising star nominees for the club this year, our first pick (#2 overall) of the 2013 International Draft, James Aish, is a more than deserving winner of this award. James finished 6th overall in the club best and fairest award, but was recognised for his solid debut season by opposition coaches, and found himself finishing in third place for the WXV Rising Star Award. He had a slow start to the year but really found his feet against the Pumas in Round 6, where he had the best game of his young career in a 144-point performance. We hope that James can replicate the footsteps of fellow Beijing young star Ollie Wines, who posted similar numbers in his first year before exploding onto the WXV scene in 2014.

We'd also like to recognise fellow youngsters Brodie Grundy (20yo, 13 games, 62 average), Elliot Yeo (21yo, 12 games, 69 avg), Tim Broomhead (20yo, 6 games, 71 avg*), Ben Kennedy (20yo, 8 games, 81 avg*) and Josh Caddy (22yo, 12 games, 96 avg*) for their efforts this season. The future is bright!

*Sub games excluded

Looks great togs

Thanks Oz 8) Hopeful we can improve the list that much more over the offseason so we can be a bit more competitive next year

Dat future though.

Neale looks better in a New Delhi jumper :'(

You wish ;)

Gumbleton joins Glass and Hunt in retirement. Making our delistings easier :P

Add Tom Temay who has now been delisted

Trade 1: APPROVED
Beijing give: Pick #41 ID
Pacific give: Cameron Wood

Trade 2: APPROVED
Beijing give: Rory Lobb + Pick #77 ID
Cairo give: Chris Dawes + Phil Davis

Trade 3: APPROVED
Beijing give: Pick #5 ID + Sam Naismith + John Butcher
PNL give: Matthew Jaensch + Clay Smith + Cameron Shenton

Trade 4: APPROVED
Beijing give: Pick #59 ID
Pacific give: Luke Brown

Trade 5: APPROVED
Beijing give: Matt Rosa
New York give: Aaron Black + Pick #41 ID

Trade 6: APPROVED
Beijing give: Jason Ashby + Pick #41 ID
Seoul give: Maverick Weller + Pick #82 ID

Trade 7: APPROVED
Beijing give: Tanner Smith
Dublin give: Pick #39 ID

Trade 8: PROCESSING
Beijing give: Pick #39 ID + Tim O'Brien
NDT give: Tom Bell

Trade 9: PROCESSING
Beijing give: Clay Smith
Christchurch give: Pick #27 ID

Trade 10: PROCESSING
Beijing give: Kane Mitchell + Alan Toovey + Henry Schade + Pick #82 ID
Toronto give: Tom Jonas

Trade 11: PROCESSING
Beijing give: Elliot Yeo + Max Duffy + Robbie Tarrant
Rio de Janeiro give: Jared Polec



We currently hold International Draft Picks 1, 23, 27, 92

We currently hold Preseason Draft Picks: 1, 23

We currently hold Rookie Draft Picks: 1, 23, 59, 77

The following players have retired from WXV football: Darren Glass, Josh Hunt, Scott Gumbleton

The following players have not been offered new contracts with the club: Tom Temay, Lewis Stevenson, Jared Petrenko, James Battersby

With the first WXV trade period coming to an end, it's time to recap the period and see how the team has changed! Each individual trade listed in the post (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1468823.html#msg1468823) above.


Changes to Best XV:
OUT: J.Hunt, E.Yeo, M.Rosa, M.Jones, B.Grundy, T.Varcoe
IN: M.Jaensch, T.Jonas, J.Polec, A.Black, M.Kreuzer, C.Dawes

We are very happy with how our list has changed over the off-season, feeling like we have improved our depth across the board, but have also added some big names to our lineup, welcoming Matty Jaensch, Jared Polec and Aaron Black to the club. The team will also be strengthened by the return of former captain and star ruckman Matty Kreuzer after a long injury layoff last season, but it was good to be able to retain his replacement in Brodie Grundy despite strong interest from rival clubs.

Besides from the changes we made to the list through trading, we were able to retain some of our core youngsters in Ben Kennedy, Tim Broomhead, Jackson Thurlow, James Stewart and Michael Talia, who we expect to see big improvement from in 2015, and hopefully we will see some of these blokes in the senior side during the upcoming season. We will also be adding at least three youngsters to our list through the 2014 WXV International Draft, where we hold three selections inside the top 30, including the coveted #1 overall selection.

Unfortunately we saw a few retirements over the course of last season, and we farewell Darren Glass, Josh Hunt and Scott Gumbleton. We have also decided not to renew the contracts of Tom Temay, Lewis Stevenson, Jared Petrenko and James Battersby, however Jared and James will continue to train at the club for the time being in the hope of being re-listed by the club.

OUT: R.Lobb, S.Naismith, J.Butcher, M.Rosa, J.Ashby, T.Smith, T.O'Brien, K.Mitchell, A.Toovey, H.Schade, E.Yeo, M.Duffy, R.Tarrant, N5, N41, N59, N77

IN: M.Jaensch, C.Wood, C.Dawes, P.Davis, C.Shenton, L.Brown, A.Black, M.Weller, Tom Bell, N27, Tom Jonas, Jared Polec

New-look team sheet (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1108463.html#msg1108463) and Best XV (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1108469.html#msg1108469) updated!

Quote from: Toga on November 14, 2014, 11:06:48 AM
New-look team sheet (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1108463.html#msg1108463) and Best XV (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1108469.html#msg1108469) updated!

Looks good Toga!
I like the look of your new side, best xv has improved and so has depth, and you still got #1 to come.

Thanks mate! We definitely agree that our best XV has improved through trading but also getting Kreuzer back will be huge for us. Still expecting to see a lot of natural improvement from Wines, Caddy, Aish, Neale, Mayes, Black, Broomhead, Kennedy as well which hopefully help push us up the ladder!

But yes, #1 still to be added in there as well >:D

Quote from: Toga on November 14, 2014, 11:16:06 AM
Still expecting to see a lot of natural improvement from Wines, Caddy, Aish, Neale, Mayes, Black, Broomhead, Kennedy

As well as Thurlow, Talia, Brown, Weller, Bell, Grundy, Stewart and Shenton  :P

Looks great!

Thanks Oz! Hoping with the new look team we will be a bit more competitive next year 8)

Pick 1 (#1 Overall): Christian Petracca
Recruited from: Eastern Ranges
Explosive midfielder/forward with a ready-made body who is ready to play WXV senior football early in his debut 2015 season. Petracca was crowned as this year's Larke Medallist, recognising him as the best Division 1 player at the 2014 U18 National Championships.

Pick 2 (#23 Overall): Touk Miller
Recruited from: Calder Cannons
Small but powerful inside midfielder, renowned for his tackling pressure and leadership skills. Averaged 130SC points at TAC cup level in 2014.

Pick 3 (#27 Overall): Daniel Howe
Recruited from: Murray Bushrangers
Versatile player who excelled as a medium defender in 2014. Ranked equal second in the kicking test at the 2014 AFL combine.

Pick 4 (#83 Overall): Tayte Pears
Recruited from: Tokyo Samurai (delisted player pool)
Versatile defender who has shown good potential early in his career, but has been cruelled by injury in recent years. We were keen on him in the trade period and so are very happy to have been able to pick him up in the draft.

Pick 5 (#91 Overall): Ted Richards
Recruited from: Tokyo Samurai (delisted player pool)
Tall defender who has been a stalwart at Tokyo for a number of years now. Ted is a role player who does the team thing without being a flashy player.

PSD Pick 1 (#1 Overall): Kane Lambert
Recruited from: Northern Blues
One of the better midfielders in the VFL over the last few years, Kane will join our senior list after being selected with the first overall selection in the PSD. A utility type that can play as a midfielder, rebounding defender or small forward, we expect him to push for senior opportunities in 2015.

Rookie Pick 1 (#2 Overall): Roarke Smith
Recruited from: Calder Cannons
Athletic defender will join our rookie list. Roarke is a good size and possesses great athleticism and pace, with a raking left boot.

Rookie Pick 2 (#20 Overall): Braydon Preuss
Recruited from: Surfers Paradise/Townsville
A monster 19 year old from North Queensland who is relatively new to the game. Will take time to develop but has a good frame for a ruckman.

Rookie Pick 3 (#57 Overall): Malcolm Karpany
Recruited from: Cape Town Cobras (delisted player pool)
A classy midfielder/forward with great agility and a penetrating left foot. Comes to us after being delisted by the Cobras after just one year on their list, however we feel as though a rookie spot will not be wasted on Malcolm who has shown glimpses of his potential.

Rookie Pick 4 (#75 Overall):
Recruited from: Dublin Destroyers (delisted player pool)
A lightning quick defender/midfielder who will take time to develop. A project player for the rookie list.

Defenders:
Harry Taylor
Matthew Jaensch
Cale Hooker
Sam Mayes (MID)
Tom Jonas
Phil Davis
Cameron Shenton
Jackson Thurlow
Michael Talia
Luke Brown
Tom Clurey
Daniel Howe
Alipate Carlile

Midfielders:
Oliver Wines
Josh Caddy
Jared Polec
Lachie Neale
James Aish
Liam Shiels
Sam Mayes (DEF)
Christian Petracca (FWD)
Maverick Weller
Touk Miller
Daniel Stanley
Tom Bell
Matt Jones
Sam Gray (FWD)
Kane Lambert (FWD)
Zac Webster*
Jared Ellis*
Roarke Smith*

Rucks:
Matthew Kreuzer
Brodie Grundy
Cameron Wood
Braydon Preuss*

Forwards:
Eddie Betts
Aaron Black
Christian Petracca (MID)
Chris Dawes
Travis Varcoe
Timothy Broomhead
Ben Kennedy
Sam Gray (MID)
Malcolm Karpany*

So that's the end of our drafting for the offseason, pretty happy with our haul as I think we've picked up some ready made players in Petracca, Miller and Lambert, with a few that might be more long-term prospects.

Above is how our list will be broken down for 2015, might change a bit as positions are released!

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-02-16/prized-demon-draftee-christian-petracca-suffers-knee-injury (http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-02-16/prized-demon-draftee-christian-petracca-suffers-knee-injury)

I'm more devastated than you guys I think  :'(

Season is looking great, Kreuzer with a fractured foot that will keep him out of opening rounds and #1 draft pick done for the year already

Horrible luck for you guys :(. What are you doing to them over there in Beijing? :o

Krooz is a spud anyway.  :P

Tracca doe.  :(

Beijing has been dealt a significant injury blow with important defender Matthew Jaensch ruled out for a year with a torn ACL, joining young gun Christian Petracca as the club's second ACL victim this year. Jaensch was one of Beijing's high-profile recruits in the 2015 preseason, recruited from the PNL Reindeers in a deal involving the Thunder's second draft pick (#5 overall) and a swap of depth players. Jaensch had a breakout season in 2014 averaging 89SC points per game, and had backed that up with a solid start to the 2015 season where he was averaging 85 points per game up until his injury with a season-best 114 last week against the London Royals. We wish Matt all the best with his recovery and can't wait to see him back on the field in 365 days time.

Jaensch is likely to be replaced in the backline by emerging youngster Jackson Thurlow who has enjoyed an outstanding past three weeks while playing in the midfield to cover for injured captain Oliver Wines. He was recognised for his efforts last week with a nomination for the WXV Rising Star Award.

In better news for the Thunder, skipper Oliver Wines and former captain Matthew Kreuzer expected to return in the next fortnight.

Trade 9:
Beijing give: Pick #41 ID
Pacific give: Cameron Wood

Wood has averaged an un-subbed 74 points per game so far in 2015, but despite being traded in purely as insurance for Matty Kreuzer he has played a number of games for us early in the season. Pick #41 ended up being Sam Durdin, who is a long way off being a reasonable scorer.

Verdict: WIN

Trade 32:
Beijing give: Rory Lobb + Pick #77 ID
Cairo give: Chris Dawes + Phil Davis

Lobb complemented Cairo's GWS ruck stocks, Dawes and Davis were added to improve what used to be poor depth. Dawes has been very poor this year and has played for us only as a last resort, while Davis has appeared a few times averaging a healthy 74 without the vest. Davis has picked up an injury now that will keep him out for a couple of months though, so this trade hasn't really been a clear win for either team.

Verdict: Meh.

Trade 41:
Beijing give: Pick #5 ID + Sam Naismith + John Butcher
PNL give: Matthew Jaensch + Clay Smith + Cameron Shenton

Probably our biggest move for the offseason. Jaensch only managed 7 games this season before blowing his ACL, but was averaging 85 (slightly down on his 2014 output). Pick 5 got Cape Town Peter Wright, who has played a few games but might be a way off of decent scoring being a big man, which wouldn't help us as we needed immediate help depth wise. Naismith seems to be well down the pecking order at the Swans, Butcher has showed as much as he has in the past - nothing :P - while Smith was on-traded for a decent pick and Shenton has given us a bit more depth.

Verdict: Too hard to tell this year - Jaensch injured and Wright a while off. We'll put this one on hold.

Trade 61:
Pacific give: Luke Brown
Beijing give: NAT Draft Pick #59

Depth trade to help us get above the cap.

Verdict: Not much to say about this one.

Trade 70:
New York give: Aaron Black and Pick 41
Beijing give: Matt Rosa

Rosa has been injured and dropped, Black hasn't gotten games behind Jarrad Waite, Drew Petrie and Ben Brown. Not what either team was hoping for here, but our fwds are definitely a bit weak and would have been better for Black's services had he actually got a game. Let's hope he gets traded at the end of the year.

Verdict: Hard to tell.

Trade 84:
Beijing give: NAT 41 + Jason Ashby
Seoul give: Maverick Weller + NAT 82

Another trade more so for depth than anything else. While Weller hasn't set the world on fire he has prevented us from needing to play an OOP mid a couple of times this year which is a plus. But not really much to this trade.

Verdict: Not much to see here.

Trade 100:
Dublin trade: Pick 39
Beijing trade: Tanner Smith.

Good trade as I think Smith was delisted and re-rookied not long after. Doesn't seem like much of a scorer either and the pick was packaged with a certain someone in the next trade so will call this a win, purely cos of how we used this pick.

Verdict: WIN

Trade 130:
NDT give: Tom Bell
Beijing give: N39 + Tim O'Brien

8). Definitely our best trade! Tommy Bell has gone on to average 95 as a fwd for us which has been huge! Improving 32 points per game since last season - I thought he was going to be good but he has been a real surprise packet. Pick 39 was used on Damien Cavka and Tim O'Brien has struggled for opportunity although the potential is there. Still, can't classify this as anything but a fantastic trade for the Thunder!

Verdict: A big WIN

Trade 131:
Christchurch give: N27
Beijing give: Clay Smith

Potential has always been there for Clay, just needs to stop getting injured. Another ACL early in the season is the only thing that gives us a real win for this trade. The pick was used on Hawks youngster Daniel Howe who has broken in for one game this year but seems to be more of a long-term prospect.

Verdict: Probably a bit early to tell, and may depend on whether Clay Smith returns to play again. Maybe a slight win for the moment.

Trade 136:
Toronto give: T.Jonas
Beijing give: K.Mitchell + H.Schade + A.Toovey + N82

I was deadset keen on Jonas but he's been a bit of a disappointment so far this year. Hopefully he'll come good but Kane Mitchell would've been handy at some points in our fwd line this year.

Verdict: More of a depth trade than anything here but will call it a loss for the time being.

Trade 137:
Beijing give: Elliot Yeo + Robbie Tarrant + Max Duffy
Rio de Janeiro give: Jared Polec

Tough trade to call. Polec has had a navicular injury which has been a real pain, seeing him miss a chunk of the season (averaging 81 points across four games) while Yeo has had something of a breakout, averaging 89 points per game. On face value it has to be a loss for us given Polec's injury, although it will be interesting to see who comes out on top in the long term.

Verdict: LOSS



So, how do you think we went?

I was quite keen on Jaensch at the time, so a bit jealous you have him, despite his injury :P

Bell huh? Damn. Wish I took the gamble on him  :-\

But yeah, just that last one was the one real clear loss in my eyes, in an otherwise pretty good trade season for da thunda!

I remember it was a bit of a bidding war between us for Jaensch! Hopefully he's back Round 1 next year, would give us a back four of Taylor, Hooker, Jaensch and Thurlow which looks pretty good in my eyes 8)

But yeah Bell has been a ripper for us this year, so glad we took a punt on him! I'm hoping that last trade will be pretty even in the long term though given both players will likely be midfielders. Time will tell :P

Pretty good work aside from that last trade.

I definitely think that will be a long-term loss. Polec = Yeo long term I reckon. Then Tarrant finding a new spot as a def means Rio is a real winner and I also rate Duffy when/if he can get a chance.

Our list had too many players so those last two trades were just trying to get our list size down. If Yeo = Polec long term then I'll be happy enough with the trade, Tarrant has been better than I expected but I don't think a player averaging 51 in his last 6 games and someone that hasn't played a game this year makes Rio a clear winner. But as I said only time will tell I guess :P

We might be playing for pride more than anything this weekend with the chance to finish the season on a positive note against NDT, but we'll be doing it without captain Wines :'(

I'm sure he'd love to join his Port brotheren at PNL ;).

Shame he's injured but at the end of the season so guess it wasn't detrimental, but still huge out :(.

Haha just as his good mate Chad wants to cross borders to Beijing ;) One of us will have to budge, can't have them too far apart from one another :P

Yep timing isn't too bad given where we sit but still no good to have him miss another game!

Just to make trade talks easier, here is how our current list sits position-wise.

Defenders:
C.Hooker, H.Taylor, M.Jaensch, J.Thurlow, T.Varcoe, S.Mayes, P.Davis, T.Jonas, M.Talia, L.Brown, D.Howe, T.Clurey, A.Carlile, T.Richards, C.Shenton

Midfielders:
O.Wines, L.Neale, L.Shiels, J.Caddy, J.Polec, T.Miller, J.Aish, M.Weller, M.Jones

Rucks:
B.Grundy, M.Kreuzer, C.Wood

Forwards:
T.Bell, E.Betts, K.Lambert, C.Petracca, T.Broomhead, S.Gray, B.Kennedy, A.Black, J.Stewart, D.Stanley, C.Dawes, M.Harvey, T.Pears,

Rookies:
Z.Webster, J.Ellis, R.Smith, B.Preuss, M.Karpany, Ja.Hunt

One thing I was surprised by when compiling that: only three of our senior players are yet to play a game in 2015!

Petracca (LTI), Mitch Harvey and Tayte Pears

Great count Toga, can't count though :P

Quote from: ossie85 on August 17, 2015, 05:04:45 PM
Great count Toga, can't count though :P

Here comes the results ;)

After a few years in the WXV wilderness where he dropped off the map a little, Liam Shiels returned to form this year in style, posting career-best numbers. Averaging 98.6 points per game, Liam ended the season as our second highest-averaging midfielder, with his 5-week hot-streak between rounds 5 and 13 a highlight for him, hitting the 120+ point mark on 4/5 occasions. Amazingly Liam polled his 24 votes across only 6 WXV matches, at a huge 4 votes per game - however this highlights that consistency is still a key factor that he will have to work on ahead of next year to take his game to the next level.


Our reigning best and fairest winner, Ollie had a bit of a disappointing year by his standards, mainly due to injury, but still finds himself among our better players for the year. Slightly down on his output from last year, but still at a fantastic average of 97 points per game, Oliver was our captain for most weeks over the season - a solid burden for a player in only his third year of WXV footy! The highlight of his season was his 145 point performance in our Round 13 loss to Seoul, however a dislocated wrist and then later a dislocated shoulder ended his season early, and he managed only 13 appearances for the year. Hopefully Ollie can get his body right and play a big part in a push for finals footy next year.


Another big improver for us this year, Cale Hooker was able to elevate himself from the level of consistently-scoring starter to a bona-fide premium defender this season. Averaging a career-best 92.1 points per game, Cale became the cornerstone of our backline after our high profile recruit Matt Jaensch went down with an ACL early in the season. Hooks scored over 105 points on seven occasions this year, and his ability to go big was highlighted by his 133 point performance against Dublin in Round 2. He has been incredibly durable and very consistent over the last few years so we hope he can continue to take his game to the next level in 2016.


A fantastic 2015 season has seen Josh increase his average by almost 20 points per game, from a respectable 77 average as a young midfielder/forward last year to a 96 average playing purely in the midfield this year. Josh really started to hit his straps around midway through the season, a hot streak of form saw him average close to 115 points per game across a seven-round stretch starting with our Round 11 defeat to Berlin. His season was highlighted by a 171 point performance against Tokyo which was the highest individual score by any of our players this year. We hope he can elevate himself to a premium-level midfielder next year and challenge Ollie Wines for the captaincy!


Congratulations to young Lachie Neale who is the winner of our B&F for 2015! Trusted with the captaincy at stages during the year when our regular captain Ollie Wines was injured, Lachie really pushed himself to the next level in 2015. After a few years of threatening to break out into the premium category, Lachie elevated himself to the next level, breaking the 100 points per game average for the first time in his career. A very consistent performer, polling in 12 out of his 17 games during the WXV season, Lachie also put out big scores on a few occasions this year, highlighted by his best-on-ground 170 points in our upset win over premiership contender Mexico City. One of the core members of our young midfield brigade, we are hopeful that Lachie can continue his upwards improvement and take the club to our first finals appearance since rebuilding.

Congratulations Lachie!

And here is the final leaderboard for everybody to take a look at:

Leaderboard:
1. L.Neale (41)
2. J.Caddy (31)
3. C.Hooker (27)
4. O.Wines (26)
5. L.Shiels (24)
6. B.Grundy (18)
7. T.Bell (17)
=E.Betts (17)
8. H.Taylor (14)
9. M.Kreuzer (10)
10. T.Miller (6)
11. J.Thurlow (5)
=T.Broomhead (5)
12. K.Lambert (4)
=C.Wood (4)
13. M.Jaensch (2)
=J.Polec (2)
14. T.Varcoe (1)
=S.Gray (1)

Outstanding work Toges!

Totes nailed the prediction ;)

Should have pursued Hooker a little harder in the last trade period  :-\ I think I did ask about him at one stage.

Looks great Togs

Thanks guys! :)

I definitely valued Hooker as a consistent 80ish performer last year and can remember a few enquired about him... But didn't expect him to improve as much as he has this year! Would be a bonus if he got D/F ;)

Sensed Neale had it in the books. Nice to see Hooker going top 3, certainly started with a bang this season.

With Neale, Caddy, Wines and Shiels all top 4, the future is certainly bright for them 8).

Congratulations to our reserves side the SHANGHAI STORM on winning the 2015 WXV Reserves Premiership. It has been a remarkable turnaround over the past 12 months, which has seen our reserves go from a 17th place finish in 2014 (with 829 points for the season) to premiers this year, scoring 1905 points across regular season games. TOM JONAS has been recognised for his standout performance on the day, winning the best on ground medal.


Yuzawa Yakuza (10.9.69) lost to Shanghai Storm (18.9.117)

Best
Yuzawa: Nil
Shanghai: Thomas Jonas, Touk Miller, Daniel Howe

The Premiership Players:
AARON BLACK
BEN KENNEDY
THOMAS JONAS
JAMES STEWART
LUKE BROWN
CAMERON WOOD
TOUK MILLER
DANIEL HOWE
TAYTE PEARS
TED RICHARDS

And the Premiership Coach:
TOGA

Trade 1: APPROVED
Beijing give: E.Betts + S.Gray + M.Weller
Mexico City give: A.Christensen + T.Hunt

Trade 2: APPROVED
Beijing give: T.Miller + Pick 25
Toronto give: B.Lennon

Trade 3: APPROVED
Beijing give: L.Shiels + T.Varcoe + Pick 6 + Pick 61
Seoul give: B.Ellis + J.Jansen + Pick 8

Trade 4: APPROVED
Christchurch give: D. Zorko + B. Frampton + N31
Toronto give: R. Griffen + C. Ellis + B. Newton + N26
Beijing give: M. Kreuzer + T. Hunt + J. Stewart

Christchurch get: R. Griffen + C. Ellis + N26
Toronto get: M. Kreuzer + T. Hunt + J. Stewart + B. Frampton + N31
Beijing get: D. Zorko + B. Newton

Trade 5: APPROVED
Beijing give: T.Broomhead + P.Davis
NDT give: B.Hill

Trade 6: APPROVED
Beijing give: C.Shenton
NDT give: C.Beams

Trade 7: APPROVED
Beijing give: C.Hooker + T.Bell + N8 + B.Newton
Moscow give: C.Ward + J.Jenkins

Trade 8: APPROVED
Beijing give: J.Jansen + C.Beams + N44
London give: H.Lumumba

Trade 9: AWAITING APPROVAL
Beijing give: C.Dawes
Beijing receive: Pick 50 + Pick 76

Defenders:
H.Taylor, M.Jaensch, J.Thurlow, H.Lumumba
M.Talia, T.Jonas, L.Brown, T.Clurey, A.Carlile, T.Richards, T.Pears

Midfielders:
C.Ward, O.Wines, L.Neale, B.Ellis, J.Caddy, B.Hill
J.Polec, J.Aish, S.Mayes, M.Jones

Rucks:
B.Grundy
C.Wood

Forwards:
D.Zorko, A.Christensen, K.Lambert, C.Petracca
B.Lennon, J.Jenkins, A.Black, B.Kennedy, D.Stanley, C.Dawes

With the conclusion of the first trade period overnight, it's time to have a look at how the team is shaping up ahead of the drafts! After focussing on building our depth at the end of 2014, for the first time since beginning our rebuild a couple of years ago we have been able to recruit a few big-name recruits this year which is very exciting!

We would like to welcome Callan Ward, Brandon Ellis, Allen Christensen, Dayne Zorko, Bradley Hill, Ben Lennon, Heritier Lumumba and Josh Jenkins to the Thunder!


After struggling to field a competitive forward line at times this year, it was a big goal of ours to improve our forward star power heading into next year, which lead us to targeting Zorko, Christensen, Lennon and Jenkins. We also identified the need for another star midfielder, and are stoked to welcome Cal Ward who will join our leadership group next year!

Our team and depth chart now look something like this:
BEST XV:
D: H.Taylor, M.Jaensch, J.Thurlow, H.Lumumba
M: C.Ward, O. Wines, L.Neale, B.Ellis
R: B.Grundy
F: D.Zorko, A.Christensen, K.Lambert, C.Petracca
IC: J.Caddy, B.Hill

RESERVES:
D: M.Talia, T.Jonas, L.Brown, T.Clurey, D.Howe, T.Richards, T.Pears, A.Carlile, R.Smith*
M: J.Polec, J.Aish, S.Mayes, M.Jones
R: C.Wood, B.Preuss*
F: B.Lennon, J.Jenkins, B.Kennedy, A.Black, D.Stanley, M.Karpany*, J.Hunt*

DELISTINGS: Z.Webster, J.Ellis

The above leaves us with 33 players on our senior list and four players on our rookie list. We plan to use the following picks in drafting:
Senior list: N50, N76, N80, PSD5 and three supplementary draft picks at the end of the national draft.
Rookie list: R5, R23

So there you have it! That's our first trade period in a nutshell. How do you think we went?

Quote from: Toga on November 16, 2015, 11:42:00 AM
So there you have it! That's our first trade period in a nutshell. How do you think we went?

Very very well. That midfield is juicey as now. Probably expecting a bit of Petrac and Lambert but they certainly have the talent to hold down those possies

Well done man

Thanks Rico! Stoked with how the midfield is looking 8)

Lambert showed he can score after he came back from injury, averaging 79 unsubbed! Might be asking a bit of Tracca but if he takes a bit of time to come on I'm sure guys like Lennon and Jenkins can step up to the plate.

Yeh Lambert certainly was handy. Out of interest (now that we don't have him), where does Conca fit in the Rich side now?

Quote from: Ricochet on November 16, 2015, 12:53:18 PM
Yeh Lambert certainly was handy. Out of interest (now that we don't have him), where does Conca fit in the Rich side now?

Hopefully he can take that into next year, was actually getting some midfield minutes towards the end of the season as well 8)

I really don't know haha. Midfield is getting pretty deep now, especially if guys like Corey Ellis, Andrew Moore etc show a bit over preseason. Conca could fit in on either of the flanks I suppose but his best position is in the middle, however I think he's fallen down the pecking order a bit now.. Will be interesting to see where he fits in.

Love your work Toges, been a solid trade period for Beijing.  8)

Cheers Nige! Think it played out ok for us, lets just hope we can keep pushing on and knock on the door of the 8 next year :)

Also, if you're not gonna start Ben Lennon, you can trade him to a good home in Cairo where he'll start and be looked after.  :P

BEIJING CAME IN LIKE A PETREKING BAAALLLLLL


Seriously though, the day before he did his ACL, the melbourne camp were reporting he "was miles ahead of Brayshaw"...

The year off for him will have has much benefit as it did for Hulk I reckon, he'll come on a make an impact, 70 averaging midfielder/forward I reckon.

Quote from: Nige on November 16, 2015, 01:36:01 PM
Also, if you're not gonna start Ben Lennon, you can trade him to a good home in Cairo where he'll start and be looked after.  :P

We'll see ;) We gave up a favourite son in Touk for him, so hopefully he repays the faith.

On paper our midfield depth is thin, however all of our 4 starting forwards should have M/F DPP, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Lennon starting if one of them moves into the midfield to cover for injuries/form.

Quote from: Purple 77 on November 16, 2015, 02:54:01 PM
BEIJING CAME IN LIKE A PETREKING BAAALLLLLL


Seriously though, the day before he did his ACL, the melbourne camp were reporting he "was miles ahead of Brayshaw"...

The year off for him will have has much benefit as it did for Hulk I reckon, he'll come on a make an impact, 70 averaging midfielder/forward I reckon.

Everyone about to get #petrekt ;)

Hadn't heard that Purps, but definitely a great thing to hear. He's got the build to be able to have an impact straight away, and his game looks great for SC, so lets just hope his ACL recovery continues according to plan and he can be a valuable member of our XV in 2015 8)

Team list (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1108463.html#msg1108463) updated post-trading! Still a few spots to fill through the drafts.

Pick 1 (#49 overall): Nathan Broad
Height/Weight: 191cm/83kg
Recruited from: Swan Districts
Position: Defender
Bio: Medium-sized defender with elite pace and good endurance. Averaged 19 disposals and 6 marks in 20 games for Swan Districts in 2015. Looks to be a ready made player who can make an impact for the Thunder in 2016.

Pick 2 (#68 overall): Yestin Eades
Height/Weight: 183cm/80kg
Recruited from: North Ballarat Rebels
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Bio: Dangerous small/medium forward with potential to push into the midfield. While he has struggled with consistency at times, he has a real X-factor about him. If he can improve his consistency he has the potential to be a value selection late in the draft.

Pick 3 (#72 overall): Matthew Flynn
Height/Weight: 199cm/101kg
Recruited from: NSW/ACT Rams
Position: Ruck
Bio: Aggressive and athletic young ruckman with the ability to play at either ends of the ground when not in the middle. Clean hands for a big man, Flynn was touted as one of the strongest rucks in his draft class, displaying great ruck nous and the ability to play as a dangerous marking forward.

Pick 4 (#83 overall): Tim O'Brien
Height/Weight: 192cm/83kg
Recruited from: New Delhi Tigers (delisted player)
Position: Forward
Bio: Has taken a few years to develop but came into the system as a highly rated centre half forward in 2012. Was traded from Beijing to NDT as a part of the Tom Bell trade last year but was delisted without playing a senior game in 2015. With the Hawthorn forward line ageing we hope that Tim will be able to push his way into the team and show something as he builds on his slim frame.

Pick 5 (#93 overall): Daniel Butler
Height/Weight: 182cm/80kg
Recruited from: Dublin Destroyers (delisted player)
Position: Midfielder
Bio: Missed a majority of his debut season after having surgery to fix a damaged meniscus. Known as a skilful midfielder with pace to burn, Dan also has the ability to play as a dangerous small forward when needed. Showed a good defensive game in the juniors where he averaged over 5 tackles per game playing in the middle.

Pick 6 (#99 overall): PASS - to be filled by PSD Pick 5

Pick 7 (#102 overall: PASS - to be filled by PSD Pick 16

Pick 1 (#5 overall): Andrew Gallucci
Height/Weight: 178cm/67kg
Recruited from: Williamstown
Position: Forward
Bio: Nippy small forward with elite speed and great footskills. The 22 year old kicked 29 goals from 19 games for Williamstown last year and was rewarded with VFL Team of the Year honours, highlighting his fantastic season. We see him as using his pace and tackling ability to become a contributor in the forward line, however his excellent endurance leaves the potential for some action in the midfield at times.

Pick 2 (#17 overall): Gach Nyuon
Height/Weight: 201cm/81kg
Recruited from: Dandenong Stingrays
Position: Ruck
Bio: Extremely athletic ruckman who is still very new to the game. May take some time to develop but has elite speed for a player of his size, while he also placed in the top two for both absolute running and absolute standing vertical jump. His speed and athleticism make him a tough matchup for opposition rucks around the ground, while his ruck nous is improving with every game he plays.

Pick 1 (#5 overall): Kade Stewart
Height/Weight: 180cm/70kg
Recruited from: South Fremantle
Position: Midfielder
Bio: Small inside midfielder/half-forward with a precise left foot kick. Regarded as a very good user of the ball, and with a strong overhead mark for his size, Stewart will have to put on some size before being able to make an impact at senior level.

Pick 2 (#51 overall): Xavier Richards
Height/Weight: 195cm/91kg
Recruited from: Buenos Aires Armadillos
Position: Defender
Bio: Developing key defender with good speed and decision making skills. Has received limited opportunity so far in his career but we expect him to see more game time in the next couple of years so he makes a good rookie list prospect. Joins his brother Xavier at Beijing.

Positional changes have been announced ahead of the 2016 season, with the Thunder seeing only a few unexpected changes. James Aish's mid/def eligibility is probably the most significant change for the Thunder, however a few that were expected to be midfielders have wound up as permanent forwards or defenders. We are pretty happy with how the list shapes up at this stage however, and it seems unlikely we'll see any drastic changes in the second trade period.

Our team and depth chart now look something like this:
BEST XV:
D: H.Taylor, M.Jaensch, J.Thurlow, H.Lumumba
M: C.Ward, O. Wines, L.Neale, B.Ellis
R: B.Grundy
F: D.Zorko (M), A.Christensen, K.Lambert (M), C.Petracca (M)
IC: J.Caddy, B.Hill

RESERVES:
D: J.Aish (M), S.Mayes, M.Talia, T.Jonas, L.Brown, T.Clurey, D.Howe, T.Richards, T.Pears, A.Carlile, N.Broad, R.Smith*, X.Richards
M: J.Polec, D.Butler, K.Stewart*
R: C.Wood, M.Flynn, G.Nyuon, B.Preuss*
F: B.Lennon, J.Jenkins, B.Kennedy (M), A.Black, D.Stanley, M.Jones, Y.Eades, T.O'Brien, A.Gallucci, J.Hunt*

Wow!

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-02-26/ive-lost-my-passion (http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-02-26/ive-lost-my-passion)

Massive blow for the Thunder  :(

Yeh that's huge :-\

That's a bit of a pain in the ass for us - paid a pretty high draft pick for him but only got about 6 games out of him before his ACL :-\

Luckily we half expected him to miss the first little bit of the season so we tried to improve our defensive depth to counter that. Hopefully our younger boys like Thurlow, Mayes and Aish will be able to hold the fort.

In disappointing news, star Beijing defender Matthew Jaensch has retired from the sport citing a loss of passion for the game as the reason behind his decision. Jaensch was recruited from the PNL Reindeers after a breakout 2014 season that saw the gun rebounding defender average nearly 90 points per game across 22 games. Beijing sent Pick #5 in the International Draft, which was eventually used by Cape Town to select big man Peter Wright, and a package of players to PNL in return for Jaensch's services. Unfortunately Matt only managed 7 games for the club in 2015 at a healthy 85 ppg average before rupturing his ACL in Round 7, in his last game of WXV football.

Jackson Thurlow not looking too great either  :(

This might be a testing year for the Thunder defence  :-\

Not great at all :(

Lucky we had Aish and Mayes unexpectedly keep DPP. Will be relying on them and then some second-choice blokes like Michael Talia, Tom Jonas to pick up from there :-X Would be handy if we had a breakout from a Daniel Howe or Nathan Broad type player!

In another devastating blow for Beijing's 2016 aspirations, young gun defender Jackson Thurlow has been ruled out for the entire season after rupturing his ACL in the weekend's preseason hit out. This is the second huge blow to the Thunder backline in just under a week, with Thurlow joining another first-choice defender in Matt Jaensch in being ruled out for this season (and beyond in Jaensch's case). Harry Taylor will shoulder the load as our backline leader with these losses, however a lot of pressure will be felt by youngsters Sam Mayes, James Aish, Michael Talia and Daniel Howe, who the club will be relying on to cover the holes left in our defence. The recruitment of experienced head Heritier Lumumba now looks to be a good move for the club with the backs now looking a little bit exposed.

So Thunder fans, who are your tips to cement themselves as first-team defenders with the loss of Jaensch and Thurlow?

H.Taylor, H.Lumumba, S.Mayes, J.Aish, M.Talia, D.Howe, T.Jonas, L.Brown, T.Clurey, N.Broad, T.Richards, A.Carlile

Looks like Beijing will need the likes of Daniel Howe to step up this year!

Ted Richards is even handy depth, I reckon he'll get games.

I'll say Taylor, Mayes, Aish and Talia.

Lumumba isn't necessarily a walk up at Melbourne imo  :-\ but he should play more senior games than vfl ones at least

After three preseason hitouts, Beijing has finished the competition in 14th place with a total score of 3,596 points, nearly 500 points behind competition winners New York Revolution. Despite losing young gun Jackson Thurlow to a year-ending knee injury, and not being able to put up a score to compete with some of the competition's heavyweights, there were some pleasing signs for the Thunder. Some younger fringe players have put their hands up for selection - none more so than forward Ben Kennedy (90, 76, 85), defender Daniel Howe (95, 54, 62), defender Luke Brown (71, 35, 90)  and the more experienced Matt Jones (96, 23, 95).

We are pleased with the signs shown by some of our more high-profile recruits; likely captain Callan Ward was very impressive in his one and only trial match with a massive 129, while new forward Dayne Zorko was also impressive with 122, although he now faces suspension for the first week of the premiership season. Brandon Ellis (116, 58, 105) also showed why the club targeted him hard in the offseason.

In the wake of our preseason trials, the Beijing coaching panel has put forward a likely Best XV ahead of our Round 1 clash with the Seoul Magpies. The loss of Jaensch and Thurlow in our back four will be the hardest hole to cover, and our forward line may come under fire if Dayne Zorko and Allen Christensen miss Round 1 as expected.

D: H.Taylor, H.Lumumba, S.Mayes, D.Howe
M: C.Ward (C), O.Wines, B.Ellis, L.Neale
R: B.Grundy
F: K.Lambert, J.Jenkins, B.Kennedy, B.Lennon
I/C: J.Caddy, J.Polec
Emg: J.Aish (d/m), B.Hill (m), A.Black (f)

Zorko and Christensen are expected to be available for our Round 2 clash.

This week will see the announcement of our five-man 2016 leadership group. Who do we think will make the cut, Thunder fans?

Quote from: Toga on March 15, 2016, 12:30:35 PM
This week will see the announcement of our five-man 2016 leadership group. Who do we think will make the cut, Thunder fans?

Cameron Wood gets my vote

Come on Rico be adventurous! Wood is a sure thing ;)

Ward, Wines, Neale, Ellis and Zorks I reckon.

Although Petraccattack will come into it mid-way through the year.

Quote from: Purple 77 on March 15, 2016, 03:03:32 PM
Ward, Wines, Neale, Ellis and Zorks I reckon.

Although Petraccattack will come into it mid-way through the year.

And he's nailed it! Gotta say it's a far cry from two years ago when Harry Taylor was our skipper :o

Beijing is pleased to announce its leadership group ahead of the 2016 season starting next week. Congratulations to the following players on their appointment to the group!


*All sub-affected games have been disregarded.

As you can see we feel as though our five-man leadership group is filled out by some very durable players, with four out of the five playing every possible game last year, and with four of the five members posting an average north of 100 points per game in 2015. We hope the boys can continue to take their game to the next level going into the 2016 season in their leadership roles!

Is Cam Wood currently on an LTI list?

That's actually a really strong group, it ranks up with the best IMO!

Quote from: Ricochet on March 18, 2016, 11:15:06 PM
Is Cam Wood currently on an LTI list?

He's currently on Carlton's rookie list, currently the only thing stopping him from being a lock in our group. Gotta feel for him, such a talent being wasted :(

Quote from: Purple 77 on March 19, 2016, 10:36:25 AM
That's actually a really strong group, it ranks up with the best IMO!

Cheers Purps, our top-end talent is certainly shaping up very nicely at the moment! Just need to hope for some improvement from our 15th-20th best players now with a few tough blows to our starting squad.

Haha thought so

They just keep on coming for our backline! Michael Talia out for around 2 months with a foot injury.

Joins Jaensch and Thurlow on the sidelines. Hoping we might get Lumumba and Ted Richards back from injury this week though.

Quote from: Toga on March 30, 2016, 09:41:20 PM
They just keep on coming for our backline! Michael Talia out for around 2 months with a foot injury.

Joins Jaensch and Thurlow on the sidelines. Hoping we might get Lumumba and Ted Richards back from injury this week though.

I'll wager you may be in La-Lumumba-luck

Quote from: Purple 77 on March 30, 2016, 10:36:47 PM

Quote from: Toga on March 30, 2016, 09:41:20 PM
They just keep on coming for our backline! Michael Talia out for around 2 months with a foot injury.

Joins Jaensch and Thurlow on the sidelines. Hoping we might get Lumumba and Ted Richards back from injury this week though.

I'll wager you may be in La-Lumumba-luck

Never say that again.  :P

Beijing is in La-Lumumba-luck :D

Quote from: Nige on March 30, 2016, 11:15:31 PM
Never say that again

Round 1: W
Seoul Magpies (20.11.131) lost to Beijing Thunder (23.6.144)

Beijing started off its new season with a comfortable win over Seoul despite missing a ruckman. Callan Ward was great in his first game as skipper for his new club, while emerging faces Kane Lambert and Ben Kennedy showed they are ready to step up this year and become first-team regulars.

B&F:
5. C.Ward (142)
4. K.Lambert (130)
3. J.Caddy (116)
2. B.Kennedy (115)
1. L.Neale (109)

---

Round 2: W
Beijing Thunder (22.9.141) def Dublin Destroyers (21.6.132)

Possibly Beijing's biggest win in club history? The Thunder took down WXV powerhouse Dublin in what was a great team effort. Josh Jenkins again pressed his claims for a call up to be a first-team player with a massive game in the reserves.

B&F:
5. D.Zorko (148)
4. Brandon Ellis (109)
=4. Brodie Grundy (109)
2. B.Kennedy (105)
1. K.Lambert (101)
=1. O.Wines (101)

---

Round 3: L
PNL Reindeers (21.7.133) def Beijing Thunder (19.10.124)

A fairly poor team effort with a lot of players failing to deliver. The midfield stood up once again but were let down by the defence and some of the forwards who failed to fire. Some players will be lucky to hold their position going into next week.

B&F:
5. B.Ellis (119)
4. D.Zorko (111)
3. C.Ward (109)
2. L.Neale (100)
1. B.Grundy (96)

---

Round 4: W
Beijing Thunder (23.8.146) def Cape Town Cobras (18.11.119)

A great team effort this week with contributors from every line. Cal Ward was again fantastic as captain, however the backline continues to cause headaches despite a solid showing from Harry Taylor.

B&F:
5. C.Ward (137)
4. L.Neale (120)
3. D.Zorko (117)
2. J.Caddy (112)
1. A.Christensen (106)

Round 5: L
Mexico City Suns (23.9.147) def Beijing Thunder (19.8.122)

Another week underlining our inconsistency with a very poor score against the reigning premiers. We were a little unlucky with injures to Allen Christensen (subbed out) and Brad Hill who only scored 20-odd points after a blazing first quarter due to a leg problem. The defence looked more settled this week as a positive.

B&F:
5. O.Wines (128)
4. H.Taylor (105)
3. L.Neale (104)
2. D.Zorko (102)
1. A.Christensen (90)

---

Round 6: L
New York Revolution (23.9.147) def Beijing Thunder (23.6.144)

A good performance from the boys saw us go down in a close affair with the Revolution, with HGA being the difference. The result could have gone very differently if Kane Lambert had not been subbed off with a rib injury early, which saw him replaced by the underperforming Brad Hill. Had Lambert scored his average, the Thunder would have away with a win but it was not to be. Lambert will miss the next month with a punctured lung.

B&F:
5. C.Ward (132)
4. J.Caddy (123)
3. L.Neale (110)
=3. D.Zorko (110)
1. L.Brown (100)

---

Round 7: W
Beijing Thunder (23.11.149) def Tokyo Samurai (19.11.125)

A great team effort across the board, evidenced by the Thunder posting the highest score of the week despite no players earning a nod in the TOTW, rewarding coach Toga with his first ever coach of the week honours. A lowest score of 59 across all players this week will make it hard for players to force their way in to the team, however forwards Josh Jenkins and Jayden Hunt pushed their cases with 140 and 102 respectively in the reserves.

B&F:
5. L.Neale (124)
4. C.Ward (116)
3. D.Zorko (111)
2. O.Wines (105)
1. J.Caddy (100)

---

Round 8: W
Toronto Wolves (18.10.118) lost to Beijing Thunder (22.8.140)

Another great team performance with our midfield in particular dominant. Dayne Zorko was again terrific, underlining why he has been such an important recruit for us this year. Brandon Ellis and Brodie Grundy had important returns to form, while Lachie Neale was again superb.

B&F:
5. D.Zorko (130)
4. L.Neale (123)
3. B.Ellis (118)
2. B.Grundy (114)
1. O.Wines (99)

---

Round 9: W
Berlin Brewers (19.9.123) lost to Beijing Thunder (22.9.141)

A solid yet unspectacular all-round effort from the boys this week saw us take down a dangerous Berlin outfit. The win was again led by captain Callan Ward, young gun Lachie Neale and star forward Dayne Zorko who have been the picture of consistency this year, with all three averaging north of 114 points per game. Christian Petracca showed us a glimpse of his enormous talent scoring 105 points for the week in an impressive third appearance.

B&F:
5. L.Neale (148)
4. C.Ward (124)
3. D.Zorko (120)
2. B.Grundy (107)
1. C.Petracca (105)

---

Round 10: L
Beijing Thunder (19.6.120) lost to Moscow Spetsnaz (22.10.142)

A really disappointing week from our boys going down to another finals contender in Moscow, which also saw us bow out of the World Idol competition. Despite big scores from a couple of our forwards in Zorko and Christensen, and young gun Lachie Neale once again proving his worth, there were far too many passengers. Our backline depth has been shot to bits and that showed this week, having only three available defenders to choose from.

B&F:
5. L.Neale (118)
4. D.Zorko (114)
3. A.Christensen (113)
2. S.Mayes (86)
1. B.Ellis (85)

Quote from: Toga on April 13, 2016, 12:01:52 AM
Round 2: W
Beijing Thunder (22.9.141) def Dublin Destroyers (21.6.132)

Possibly Beijing's biggest win in club history?

Surely has to be

Might as well promote him to the senior list now Toges, Hunt is making his debut this week!

Been a long time coming; played with Chris Salem and Josh Kelly in the unders and they were once all spoken in the same sentence before injuries struck him.

Got something about him that not a lot of players have! Pure and natural speed. He is a genuine unique  8)

I knew there was a reason to keep him on for another year this year! ;)

I'm excited to see how he goes. Will go about upgrading him now.

Congratulations to young speedster Jayden Hunt who has earned an upgrade to the senior list ahead of this weekend's WXV action. Hunt was recruited in the 2015 rookie draft with our fourth and last pick (#75 overall) after he was delisted by the Dublin Destroyers in the previous year.

Hunt replaces the suspended Tayte Pears on the senior list. We still have two more spots available for upgrade with Jaensch (retired) and Thurlow (ACL) on our LTI list.

The headline is great. This makes me happy.

I aim to please ;)

Jayden Hunt 102 SC against the Suns  ;)

I for one am outraged he didn't play for the Thunder, but there you go I suppose!

Dahh he looked very good today! Could well be getting close to a senior debut if he keeps putting those kind of numbers up. Pity he's not listed as a defender (like he should be!) and our forward line mistakenly couldn't fit in the great Josh Jenkins this week! :-X

Christian Petracca has taken only three senior games to stamp his mark on the World competition, earning a rising star nomination for his 105 point effort against the Berlin Brewers on the weekend. In his third game for the Thunder, the powerful Petracca had 21 disposals to go along with 21 pressure acts, 7 tackles and 442 meters gained. Despite this, a scoreboard result of 0.4 left a little bit to be desired, and Beijing coaching staff acknowledge that while Christian has work to do in that regard, it shows that he still has scope to improve.

Congratulations Christian on joining Beijing's ranks of rising star nominees!

Totes worth the wait  8)

I love #petrekt and everything it stands for

Quote from: Ricochet on May 25, 2016, 09:11:05 PM
I love #petrekt and everything it stands for

It's really hard not to ahaha.

Quote from: Purple 77 on May 25, 2016, 09:07:15 PM
Totes worth the wait  8)

Definitely! Would've been a handy addition to the team last year but I won't complain 8)

Quote from: Nige on May 25, 2016, 09:18:10 PM

Quote from: Ricochet on May 25, 2016, 09:11:05 PM
I love #petrekt and everything it stands for

It's really hard not to ahaha.

Haha I'm glad it's caught on ;D

10 rounds into the new season and it's time to give an update on our results and best and fairest standings.

The Thunder currently sit one game out of the top 4, with a 6-4 scoreline, and sit atop the EurAsia conference with a record of 4-2 against its rival teams.

Danye Zorko and Lachie Neale are currently tied for the Best Individual Performance award, having scored 148 points in a single outing against Dublin and Berlin respectively. Christian Petracca has earned a rising star nomination for his performance against Berlin.

The B&F tally as it currently stands is as follows:
(Standing - Player - Votes)
1. D.Zorko (32)
=1. L.Neale (32)
3. C.Ward (26)
4. B.Ellis (13)
5. J.Caddy (10)
6. B.Grundy (9)
=6. O.Wines (9)
8. K.Lambert (5)
=8. A.Christensen (5)
10. H.Taylor (4)
11. S.Mayes (2)
=11. B.Kennedy (2)
13. L.Brown (1)
=13. C.Petracca (1)

So who do we think will take home this year's B&F award? Will the improved consistency of last year's winner Lachie Neale prevail? Will boom recruit Dayne Zorko's amazing form continue and see him jump ahead? Could captain Callan Ward sneak up on the current leaders? Or will Christian Petracca simply #PETREK everyone and fly up the leaderboard over the second half of the season?

Quote from: Toga on May 31, 2016, 08:29:10 PM
Christian Petracca has earned a rising star nomination for his performance against Berlin.

Not even mad.

Quote from: Toga on May 31, 2016, 08:29:10 PM
So who do we think will take home this year's B&F award? Will the improved consistency of last year's winner Lachie Neale prevail? Will boom recruit Dayne Zorko's amazing form continue and see him jump ahead? Could captain Callan Ward sneak up on the current leaders? Or will Christian Petracca simply #PETREK everyone and fly up the leaderboard over the second half of the season?

Although Ward is a tempting option, I think the answer is obvious.

#PETREKT

ZZZZZZZZORKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Round 11: L
Beijing Thunder (24.7.151) lost to Pacific Islanders (24.8.152*)

We can't possibly be too disappointed with what was probably the best game in WXV history, where our fate was sealed by 1SC point. ONE SC POINT! It would have been nice to take home the bikkies but kudos to fellow up-and-comers Pacific. Josh Jenkins was again enormous, posting the highest individual score for the season with a 171. Lachie Neale was great in his first game as captain for the year, while Callan Ward responded to having the captaincy taken off him for the week very well indeed. A seemingly long-term injury to Allen Christensen soured things a little bit.

B&F:
5. J.Jenkins (171)
4. L.Neale (138)
3. C.Ward (125)
2. D.Zorko (97)
1. O.Wines (94)

---

Round 12: W
Christchurch Saints (20.8.128) lost to Beijing Thunder (21.7.133)

Not our greatest effort but back on the winners list! Lachie Neale showed that he is not invincible, being well held by a tag this week in his second consecutive week of being trusted with captain's duties. Might be time Callan Ward gets the armband again. Our youngsters stepped up this week, with Brodie Grundy, along with inexperienced duo Ben Kennedy and Christian Petracca holding off a last-ditch effort from the Saints. Josh Jenkins starred once again.

B&F:
5. O.Wines (106)
4. H.Taylor (103)
3. J.Jenkins (101)
=3. C.Ward (101)
1. B.Kennedy (94)

---

Round 13: L
Beijing Thunder (20.10.130) lost to Rio de Janeiro Jaguars (27.8.170)

Rio were simply far too good this week with their second-string players really standing up in addition to their stars performing. Far too good. Lachie Neale lead from the front once again, showing why he is one of the club's most important players. Sam Mayes has been performing very well over the past five weeks with an average of 86 ppg, standing up down back when we have been struggling down there, while Nathan Broad was solid in his AFL debut, and we could see him in the seniors sooner rather than later. Josh Caddy's medial ligament injury put a dampener on things as he will now miss a number of weeks.

B&F:
5. L.Neale (149)
4. D.Zorko (108)
3. B.Ellis (107)
2. B.Grundy (106)
1. S.Mayes (97)

Round 14:
B&F:
5. L.Neale (123)
4. O.Wines (99)
3. D.Zorko (94)
2. J.Jenkins (90)
1. H.Taylor (87)

Round 15:
B&F:
5. C.Ward
4. D.Zorko
3. O.Wines
2. B.Grundy
1. B.Hill

Round 16:
B&F:
5. D.Zorko
4. L.Neale
=B.Hill
2. M.Jones
1. B.Grundy

Round 17:
B&F:
5. B.Grundy
=O.Wines
3. C.Ward
=L.Neale
1. J.Polec

LACHIE NEALE wins his second consecutive Beijing Thunder Best & Fairest award.


Top 3:
1. L.Neale (53)
2. D.Zorko (50)
3. C.Ward (40)

Trade 1:
Beijing trade: Pick 29
Christchurch trade: Mason Cox + Sharrod Wellingham
Notes: Wellingham adds to our backline depth, while Cox completes our Collingwood ruckline.

Trade 2:
Dublin trade: Ciaran Byrne
Beijing trade: Braydon Preuss + Pick 47
Notes: Dublin were after Preuss to complete their ruckline, so we identified Byrne as a player of interest. Despite a recent ACL injury we see Byrne as the successor to Carlton's flankers, potentially as soon as next year.


The following players have either retired or been delisted by the club:

• Matthew Jaensch
• Ted Richards
• Alipate Carlile
• Tayte Pears
• Cam Wood
• Gach Nyuon
• Danny Stanley
• Xavier Richards
• Matt Jones
• Yestin Eades

Def: S.Mayes, H.Taylor, J.Thurlow, S.Wellingham
J.Hunt, D.Howe (M), J.Scrimshaw, C.Byrne, L.Brown, T.Jonas, M.Talia, T.Clurey, N.Broad, R.Smith, H.Lumumba, T.Williamson

Mid: L.Neale, D.Zorko, C.Ward, O.Wines, B.Ellis, J.Caddy (F)
J.Aish, J.Polec, S.Edwards (F), D.Butler

Ruck: B.Grundy
M.Flynn

Fwd: J.Jenkins, A.Christensen, C.Petracca, B.Hill (M)
K.Lambert, B.Lennon, B.Kennedy, A.Black, M.Cox, T.O'Brien, A.Gallucci, K.LeBois

Rookie List: K.Stewart, T.Stengle, E.Irra, F.Watson, D.Hamilton

Good old Sharrod has racked up a few frequent flyers in his career

Quote from: Ricochet on October 24, 2016, 09:32:38 AM
Good old Sharrod has racked up a few frequent flyers in his career

Cairo --> New Delhi --> New York --> New Delhi --> Christchurch --> Beijing

Pick 1 (#10 overall): JACK SCRIMSHAW
Recruited from: Sandringham Dragons
Bio: DEF, 194cm/80kg
Notes: A versatile tall defender known for his intercept play and raking left boot, Jack is the perfect fit for the Beijing backline, which has been lacking depth since losing star defender Matthew Jaensch to retirement in 2016. While lightly framed at this point in time, Jack will slot nicely into our backline over the next few years, with scope to move into the midfield in the future.

Pick 2 (#65 overall): TOM WILLIAMSON
Recruited from: North Ballarat Rebels
Bio: DEF, 190cm/79kg
Notes: Williamson is an athletically gifted midfielder who tested extremely well at the National Combine, finishing in the top 10 players for five different tests. Currently listed as a defender given his ability to play on the back flank, Williamson has the traits to become a tall midfielder with some work on his consistency and inside game.

Pick 3 (#83 overall): SHAUN EDWARDS
Recruited from: Essendon Bombers
Bio: MID/FWD, 190cm/84kg
Notes: An exciting utility with blistering speed, Beijing gives Edwards another crack on a WXV list. He will need to work hard on his consistency and effort to feature in the seniors, however he has the attributes to be an exciting player with a lot of x-factor. Listed as a mid/fwd for 2017, however has been tried off of a half back flank at times during his career.

Rookie Upgrade: JAYDEN HUNT
Notes: Jayden is rewarded for a terrific 2016 season by being upgraded to our senior list. Jayden at his best is one of the most exciting dashing young defenders in the competition, however he will need to continue to work on his consistency to become a regular part of the Beijing defence.

Rookie Upgrade: ROARKE SMITH
Notes: Despite being out of action with an ACL injury for most of 2016, we are rewarding Roarke with a position on the senior list ahead of his third year of footy. An athletic medium defender with a good turn of speed, we hope to see Roarke continue in his development in 2017.



PSD Pick 1 (#9 overall): KYM LEBOIS
Recruited from: North Adelaide
Bio: MID/FWD, 175cm/66kg
Notes: Exciting small forward with lots of X-factor. Needs to work on his body to make it at the senior level but has attributes that suggest he could become a dangerous player. Takes a spot on our senior list straight away.

Rookie Pick 1 (#9 overall): TYSON STENGLE
Recruited from: Woodville-West Torrens
Bio: FWD, 172cm/70kg
Notes: Another exciting small forward with similar attributes to LeBois, Stengle occupies a spot on our rookie list ahead of 2017. Coming from some great footy bloodlines, Stengle is known as a goalsneak who booted 49 goals in the SANFL U18s this season.

Rookie Pick 2 (#27 overall): EMMANUEL IRRA
Recruited from: South Adelaide
Bio: MID, 183cm/82kg
Notes: Irra is an explosive and powerful midfielder that was recruited as a Category B rookie given his Ugandan heritage. He is very quick and has developed good football smarts in his years of senior SANFL experience for South Adelaide.

Rookie Pick 3 (#42 overall): FRANCIS WATSON
Recruited from: Claremont Tigers
Bio: DEF, 186cm/79kg
Notes: Watson is a rangy half back who is a great intercept mark with good foot skills on both his preferred and non-preferred boot. A good character who has worked hard for a spot on an AFL list, Watson has senior experience at WAFL level which we hope will hold him in good stead for a spot on our rookie list.

Rookie Pick 4 (#52 overall): DECLAN HAMILTON
Recruited from: London Royals
Bio: MID/FWD, 182cm/72kg
Notes: Developing utility who was recruited as a half-back but played on a wing and through the half forward line this year. Shows good goal sense and great endurance.

Team sheet (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1108463.html#msg1108463) and Best XV (http://forum.fanfooty.com.au/index.php/topic,81342.msg1108469.html#msg1108469) updated!

Trade 1:
Beijing trade: Matt Flynn
Cairo trade: N43

Trade 2:
Christchurch trade: Mitch McCarthy + N62
Beijing trade: N43

Trade 3:
Buenos Aires trade: Taylor Walker + Easton Wood
Beijing trade: Jack Scrimshaw, Sharrod Wellingham + Pick 9

Trade 4:
Beijing give: Christian Petracca + Josh Jenkins + Tim O'Brien
Beijing get: Tom Rockliff + Luke Breust

Mexico City give: Tom Rockliff + Luke Breust
Mexico City get: Christian Petracca + N14 + Tim O'Brien

Pacific give: N14 + N68
Pacific get: Josh Jenkins

Trade 5:
Beijing give: Jared Polec
Toronto give: Jimmy Webster

Trade 6:
Beijing give: Jimmy Webster + Harry Taylor
Buenos Aires give: Marcus Adams

Trade 7:
Beijing give: Allen Christensen + Luke Brown
Beijing receives: Tom Cutler + Daniel Rioli


The following players have either retired or been delisted by the club:

• Mitch McCarthy
• Ben Kennedy
• Heritier Lumumba (retired/shower)
• Shaun Edwards (retired)
• Andrew Gallucci
• Ben Lennon
• Michael Talia
• Declan Hamilton (rookie)
• Kade Stewart (rookie)

Def: B.Ellis, S.Mayes, M.Adams, J.Hunt
T.Cutler, J.Aish, E.Wood, J.Thurlow, C.Byrne, T.Jonas, T.Clurey, N.Broad, R.Smith, T.Williamson, K.Farrell

Mid: L.Neale, D.Zorko, T.Rockliff, C.Ward, O.Wines, B.Hill
D.Howe, W.Powell, C.Porter

Ruck: B.Grundy
M.Cox, C.Coleman-Jones

Fwd: K.Lambert, T.Walker, J.Caddy, L.Breust
D.Rioli, D.Butler, M.Guelfi, A.Black, K.LeBois, S.Switkowski, J.Ross, J.Houlahan

Rookie List: T.Stengle, E.Irra, F.Watson, P.Wilson, L.Baker

Pick 1 (#28 overall): Callum Coleman-Jones
Recruited from: Sturt
Bio: RUC/FWD, 201cm/99kg
Notes: Talented ruck/forward who is a strong contested mark and good ball-winner for his size. Should see games fairly early in his career and will add to our ruck department providing support to #1 big man Brodie Grundy.

Pick 2 (#46 overall): WIL POWELL
Recruited from: Claremont
Bio: MID, 187cm/65kg
Notes: Powell was a big slider in the International Draft and we were happy to pick him up here. Definitely a late bloomer and will take some time to add to his very light frame but is talented and we hope he develops well in the next couple of years. His speed and skills are very good.

Pick 3 (#59 overall): CALLUM PORTER
Recruited from: Gippsland Power
Bio: MID, 180cm/71kg
Notes: Balanced midfielder with good ball winning abilities. Has drawn some comparisons with Luke Dahlhaus that extend beyond the dreadlocked hair. Averaged over 20 disposals and 7 tackles in the TAC cup so has shown a fantasy friendly game that we hope he can take to the next level.

Pick 4 (#61 overall): JACKSON ROSS
Recruited from: Eastern Ranges
Bio: MID/FWD, 193cm/74kg
Notes: Talented tennis player with fantastic running ability. We hope to see him develop into a tall wingman, although he may need some time to develop.

Pick 5 (#75 overall): JORDAN HOULAHAN
Recruited from: Sturt
Bio: FWD, 185cm/76kg
Notes: Exciting general forward with definite X-factor and is known for his high-flying marking ability. Received a perfect score for goal kicking at the combine and tested in the top 5 for vertical leap. We expect that he could push for senior games early in his career.

Pick 6 (#84 overall): MATT GUELFI
Recruited from: Claremont
Bio: MID/FWD, 183cm/75kg
Notes: Genuine utility that has been thrown around to a variety of positions in his junior career. Missed out on being drafted last year as a result of not having established himself in any one position but had a great year in the WAFL to receive his opportunity now. We expect him to develop as an inside midfielder with his elite pace and solid goal-kicking ability.

Pick 7 (#93 overall): SAM SWITKOWSKI
Recruited from: Box Hill Hawks
Bio: FWD, 178cm/68kg
Notes: Dangerous small forward who has spent three years at VFL level before getting his opportunity in the big league. Should be ready to go if the opportunity arises, where his competitiveness and tackling pressure will be an asset given the success of pressure forwards in the league this year.

Pick 8 (#101 overall): KANE FARRELL
Recruited from: Bendigo Pioneers
Bio: DEF, 182cm/74kg
Notes: General defender with one of the better kicks in his draft class. With his rebounding ability and precise left boot could also have the scope to develop into a serviceable wingman. Outstanding performances in the athletic testing at the combine shows he has a few assets to bring to the table.





PSD Pick 1 (#9 overall): PATRICK WILSON
Recruited from: Sturt
Bio: MID, 188cm/88kg
Notes: Tall midfielder who almost gave the game away a few years ago before returning to Sturt and being a key piece in their 2017 premiership. Good ball winner who can also impact the scoreboard who will take up a spot on our senior list in 2018.

Rookie Pick 1 (#9 overall): LIAM BAKER
Recruited from: Subiaco
Bio: MID/FWD, 173cm/67kg
Notes: Another player who played WAFL footy in 2017 after missing out on being drafted the previous year. Baker is a very skilled balanced midfielder with great skills on both sides of his body. Could also be developed as a pressure small forward.

Numerous accusations have arisen that Beijing Coach; Toga has subjected Tom Rockliff to a torturous training week! In fact many believe that Toga has given Rockliff a song to listen to on repeat. We here at the WXV Media can officially confirm that it is Dublin's team song! Questions have arisen about if Toga is putting too much pressure on the new recruit?

(https://i.imgur.com/QVukAk5.png)

Well you can't argue with that!

Can confirm. Hopefully this kicks him into some form ;)

Ironically, it was the same kind of harsh punishment that drove petracca out of the club I hear!