WXV: Christchurch Saints

[Koop]

Reserved // TBC

TEAM

D: Mark Blicavs, Tom Langdon, Phil Davis, Conor McKenna, Ed Richards, Robbie Tarrant, Jackson Trengove, Easton Wood, Jack Henry, Lewis Young, Durak Tucker, Jack Payne, Dale Morris, Patrick Ambrose, Tyler Brown

M: Paddy Dow (FWD), Tom Scully, Sam Lloyd, Ely Smith, Liam Stocker, Connor McFadyen (FWD), James Rowbottom, Atu Bosenavulagi (FWD),

R: Sean Darcy, Brayden Preuss, Kieran Briggs,   

F: Jake Stringer, Brennan Cox, Sam B Reid, Harry McKay, Josh Thomas, Josh Daicos, Will Walker, Zac Bailey (MID), Brent Daniels, James Stewart, Dylan Buckley

Spots to fill: 9

[Koop]

CHRISTCHURCH 2019 RUNNING B&F

ROUND 1

5 - Phil Davis - 100
4 - Sam Lloyd - 96
3 - Harry McKay - 87
2 - Brett Deledio - 84
1 - Tom Langdon - 82

ROUND 2

5 - Tom Langdon - 88
4 - Jake Stringer - 78
3 - Paddy Dow - 77
2 - Harry McKay - 72
1 - Connor McKenna - 67

ROUND 3

5 - Connor McKenna - 104
4 - Sam B. Reid - 94
3 - Mark Blicavs - 93
2 - Robbie Tarrant - 90
1 - Jake Stringer - 87

ROUND 4

5 - Tom Scully - 110
4 -  Robbie Tarrant - 93
3 - Phil Davis - 87
2 - Tom Langdon - 80
1 - Sam B Reid - 77

ROUND 5

5 - Harry McKay - 153*
4 - Brayden Preuss - 97
3 - Robbie Tarrant - 95
2 - Mark Blicavs - 94
1 - Tom Langdon - 91



Bold indicates TOTW appearance, * indicates captain



OVERALL

Harry McKay - 10
Tom Langdon - 9
Robbie Tarrant - 9
Phil Davis - 8
Connor McKenna - 6
Jake Stringer - 5
Tom Scully - 5
Sam B. Reid - 5
Mark Blicavs - 5
Sam Lloyd - 4
Brayden Preuss - 4
Paddy Dow - 3
Brett Deledio - 2

[Koop]

CHRISTCHURCH 2019 RUNNING B&F

ROUND 6 - LOSS V CAPE TOWN

5 - Jake Stringer - 89
4 - Mark Blicavs - 87
3 - Tom Langdon - 81
2 - Tom Scully - 79
1 - Harry McKay - 71

ROUND 7 - LOSS V LONDON

5 - Tom Langdon - 94
4 - Sam Lloyd - 92
3 - Mark Blicavs - 87
2 - Jake Stringer - 80
1 - Jackson Trengove - 73

ROUND 8 - WIN V NEW YORK

5 - SIR JACKSON TRENGOVE - 128
4 - Sir Samuel Lloyd - 122
3 - Sir Robert Tarrant - 93
2 - Sir Thomas Scully - 86
1 - Sir Captain Phillip Davis - 80

ROUND 9 LOSS V NEW DELHI

5 - Jackson Trengove - 113
4 - Brett Deledio - 108
3 - Harry McKay - 101
2 - Jake Stringer - 98
1 - Sam Lloyd - 84

ROUND 10 - LOSS V TORONTO

5 - Sam B Reid - 151
4 - Sam Lloyd - 108
3 - Mark Blicavs - 90
2 - Tom Scully - 88
1 - Robbie Tarrant - 80


ROUND 11 - LOSS V TOKYO

5 - Phil Davis - 101
4 - Sam B Reid - 92
3 - Brett Deledio - 91
2 - Brent Daniels - 84
1 - Mark Blicavs - 79

ROUND 12

5 - Connor McKenna - 113
4 - Robbie Tarrant - 102
3 - Phil Davis - 98
2 - Sam B Reid - 93
1 - Tom Scully - 80


Bold indicates TOTW appearance, * indicates captain, caps represents a TOTW appearance in Rd 8.



OVERALL

Tom Langdon - 17
Robbie Tarrant - 17
Phil Davis - 17
Sam Lloyd - 17
Sam B. Reid - 16
Mark Blicavs - 16
Jake Stringer - 14
Harry McKay - 14
Tom Scully - 12
Connor McKenna - 11
Jackson Trengove - 11
Brett Deledio - 9
Brayden Preuss - 4
Paddy Dow - 3
Brent Daniels - 2

Comment: In what may be the closest ever B&F race in WXV history, 6 hopefuls are currently separated by 1 point heading into the final 5 rounds of the season!

Early favourite Tom Langdon is likely out for the year, so ever-dependent-for-an-80 Phil Davis, evergreen Robbie Tarrant and the madman Sam Lloyd are the 3 frontrunners. However snapping at their heels are the ridiculously-consistent Mark Blicavs, and Sam Reid, who seems to have hit his yearly purple patch, almost making it onto the bench for the AAP. Jake Stringer has been plagued by consistent injury issues and faces a period out, while does Harry McKay have another 2 or 3 BOG's in him? Any injury in the next 2 weeks to Tim English will see Jackson Trengove return to a short-priced favourite once again, picking up 11 points in 3 rounds as 1st ruck. The dark horse is Brett Deledio. Who has picked up 7 votes in the last 5 rounds after returning from injury, and seems to be building nicely.

Bye review: As the representative round continues and the byes come to a close, I've been reflecting on the season so far and compiling some notes for EOS. This season can be summed up so far for Christchurch in 2 words. Cautious optimism. I knew that I had my hands relatively tied until August when applying to take over this list, and I've taken the last 8 weeks to assess the list and work out how to go forward. No one expected us to grab a win this year, a feat we celebrated in Round 8 vs. New York. Fantasy football always has a luck element to it, I could lament some poor choices at the selection table choosing between 2 or 3 60-averaging players which cost us the win against Tokyo. I could get angry at Danger's 60pt final quarter to snatch the win from us against Seoul. I could even get mad at more unlucky selection decisions resulting in injuries which cost us against Beijing. (I won't ever doubt you again Brennan Cox, I'm sorry!) Or, I could be stoked that the stars aligned for us to topple New York. I could be very close to losing a priority pick if everything went my way as well, so maybe there's a silver lining there.

Scores have improved over the course of the year. Hitting a high of 132 in Round 5. There have only been 2 scores under 100 too, the last coming in Round 7. Attention now turns to Round 13 against Dublin, and Round 17 against PNL, both away from home. Our best opportunities to secure wins for the rest of the year.

Q.Will Dublin ever stop being dominant?

A. No

From this, to a danger game against us in the space of 3 months? Oh boy!

[Purple 77]

Tremendous!

I love the knighting after a win :P

[Koop]

Tremendous!

I love the knighting after a win :P

It's the least those beautiful men deserve  :-*

[Koop]

ROUND 13 - LOSS V DUBLIN

5 - Mark Blicavs - 115
4 - Phil Davis - 104
3 - Robbie Tarrant - 101
2 - Conor McKenna - 92
1 - Sam B. Reid - 87

ROUND 14 - LOSS V PACIFIC

5 - Brayden Preuss - 140
4 -James Rowbottom - 99
3 - Mark Blicavs - 98
2 - Sam Lloyd - 91
1 - Robbie Tarrant - 90

ROUND 15 - LOSS V MEXICO

5 - Robbie Tarrant - 160
4 - Conor McKenna - 113
3 - Sam Lloyd - 94
2 - James Rowbottom - 93
1 - Jake Stringer - 85



OVERALL

Robbie Tarrant - 26
Mark Blicavs - 24
Sam Lloyd - 22
Phil Davis - 21
Tom Langdon - 17
Sam B. Reid - 17
Conor McKenna - 17
Jake Stringer - 15
Harry McKay - 14
Tom Scully - 12
Jackson Trengove - 11
Brett Deledio - 9
Brayden Preuss - 9
James Rowbottom - 6
Paddy Dow - 3
Brent Daniels - 2

Robbie Tarrant's monster 160 has put some slight breathing room between him and the chasing pack, as well as elevating his last 5 average to 104. however it is still very much a 4 horse race with 2 rounds to go! Mark Blicavs' scores have taken a slight dent with the return of Ratugolea, but you now have to go back to Round 6 for the last time that Sam Lloyd scored south of 70. Don't forget about Phil Davis either, who had an absolute mare against Mexico, but still only has 3 scores below 79 for the entire year. The best & fairest race is still very much alive with not much time left at all!

James Rowbottom is also reaping the benefits of extended midfield minutes and has picked up his first points in the last 3 weeks, as well as Christchurch's likely only Rising Star nomination for 2019. 

[Koop]

ROUND 16 - LOSS V BUENOS

5 - Harry Mckay - 98
4 - Mark Blicavs - 97
3 - Tom Scully - 93
2 - Sean Darcy - 88
1 - Sam Lloyd - 87

[Koop]

CHRISTCHURCH 2019 AWARDS NIGHT



COMPO MEDAL

Credit to Ryno/FTC for the name idea. The Compo is awarded to the Saint who ends up polling the most votes in the traditional 5-4-3-2-1 system over the WXV home & away season. The name gives a humorous nod to the past of the Saints ahead of the journey about to be undertaken.

In future years, winning the Compo will rank up there in terms of respect with actually getting a trade done with Pacific. However all legacy's start somewhere, and the first year of the Compo Medal goes to none other than...

Mark Blicavs!



Big Blitz was an ever present in actually a remarkably stable back line in 2019 for the oceanic side. Getting better as the season wore on, Blicavs relished increased positional versatility and responsibility towards the back end of the campaign, averaging 96 WXV points and picking up 16 Compo votes on the run home after Representative Round to finish with 32 overall for the season. The 28 year old has certainly given the head coach a headache in regards to his trade status heading into the off season, and could very well line up for the black & white once again in 2020.

In second place we actually have a tie! Well done to both Sam Lloyd & Robbie Tarrant (both 26 votes) on securing runners up finishes in the Compo. Like your Year 5 pen license, it's something that they will treasure forever.

Phil Davis (22 votes) and Jake Stringer (20 votes) round out the Top 5. While Tom Langdon finished an impressive 7th despite missing half the season.



COACHES MEDAL

The Coaches Medal goes to the player who has given the coach the least amount of headaches throughout the year. Whether that be through consistent performances in a previous position of uncertainty, a breakout season, a clutch game/s or positional flexibility.

In a season where the Saints have been consistently dogged by inconsistent scores, I've never had to fret when checking one players score while doing my own calculations. While they weren't world-beating scores, much like muting Torp on Discord every off-season, it was always a sure thing. 

It also helps if they're an absolute specimen (just ask Tom), and as such, the winner of the Coaches Medal for 2019 is none other than

Sam Lloyd!



The 29 year old enjoyed something of a career renaissance in 2019. Averaging a career-high 79.6 WXV points to go with a very respectable 32 goals. From Round 6 onwards he averaged 87.83 WXV points while never dropping below 70. In a position that oftentimes found itself with out of position players and sub-40 scores, he did his job quite admirably when called upon, unlike Garry Ballance for the English Test side.

Special mention to captain Phil Davis, who was able to provide us with respectable captain scores on quite a few occasions this year in a career-best season.



WILL MINSON MEDAL

The Will Minson Medal is named in honour of the former Saint of the same name, and is awarded to the player who makes me do my best Rocket (or Nige when GoLions makes a Richmond joke) impersonation throughout the course of the season.  ;D Because lets face it, like PowerBug refusing to set me up with his sister, or elephants pretending to be a co-coach, sometimes people really let you down.

Alright... throwback to Round 11. I'm sitting on the 26th floor of a 5-star hotel in Shanghai. My VPN has shut itself down because of the Tiananmen Square anniversary, it's a Chinese public holiday so there's no point stepping outside the hotel doors to actually do anything productive given I'd already fly-kicked Rocky's hamstring at the club function the night earlier. Somehow FF was accessible, and I was following along with our match v. Tokyo. Unfortunately Tokyo's chief destroyer in Whitfield had gone down with an injury, and along with the triple D's (Davis, Deledio, Daniels) playing fantastic games, had set up a scenario where we were well and truly in the hunt.

Enter...

Jackson Trengove



Fresh off 2 ton's in the previous 3 weeks playing once again as a defacto ruck, Jackson was expected to be a safe option in the heart of defence. The return of Tim English was expected to impact his scores, but not to a catastrophic extent. 

He limped his way to 34, while McKenna sat on the bench with 99 as the Saints went down to the Samurai by 5 points.

Yeah... it's a good thing I was in China, a lot of the expletives and descriptive phrases I wanted to use would've probably had me arrested at the border.



AARON SANDILANDS MEDAL

Sometimes in life and fantasy football, like FTC doing UTG, Purple doing WXV, or Boomz contributing anything meaningful to WXV discussions, things take a huge amount of effort. The Aaron Sandilands medal is named in honour of one of the longest serving Saints, and is awarded every year to the player who's ridiculous effort either drags their team across the line, or gets the team back from the brink, as if they've figuratively grown into the big man themselves.

Round 8, New York are doing everything they possibly can to lose, but the Saints don't have the cattle to capitalise (the story of the season  ::)). Saturday night, the game is well and truly in the balance, heroes needed. Christchurch have the chance to win a game?!?!?!!! Up steps none other than...

Sam Lloyd (122) & Jackson Trengove! (124)





Sinner & saint combine to bring Christchurch home in a blaze of glory, getting their highest scores for the season to drag the Saints across the line for a historic win!



SAM WA-HHH... MEDAL

KB's WXV gig, London rebuilding, trying to cook chicken by phone-light at 2am completely wasted.... sometimes things don't turn out the way you expect. Sometimes they even involve a trampoline! The Sam Wa-hhh... medal (not to be confused with the ShamWow! Medal) is not about recognising any of those things, because unlike the Suns, I won't be saying wow every time I name Sam Walsh. :'(

Nevertheless! This award recognises the best first year player from the Saints. Not that there were a whole lot of options to choose from this year, but either way, I think meow in his wisdom uncovered an absolute gem in...

James Rowbottom!



Rowbottom announced himself as a player of the future with a massive 24 disposals (11 contested), 4 marks, 3 tackles and 99 WXV points in just 52% game time in the Round 14 loss to Pacific, and in turn, solidified himself in Christchurch's future plans. He also picked up a Rising Star nomination for the performance.



As a side note, the Most Improved Medal (name pending) will be operating from 2020, along with a 7th unannounced medal. TOTY and full Compo leaderboard to come. Time to trade!

[Nige]

Nobody was spared huh.

[Koop]

Nobody was spared huh.

Oh I almost forgot,

Dublin are pie.

[Purple 77]

A ripper write up, love the bants haha

[PowerBug]

Geez he rips into Gary Ballance how rude

[Koop]

The Christchurch coaching staff would like to farewell the following players who have either retired, or been delisted by the club so far in the 2019 off-season.

Michael Rischitelli
Jarrod Garlett
Tomas Bugg
Will Langford
Tom Boyd
Kurt Tippett
Brett Deledio
Aaron Sandilands
Tyson Goldsack


With several players, including Dale Morris, Tyson Goldsack & Dylan Buckley still facing uncertain futures, it promises to be an off-season of change for the Saints!

[Koop]

CHRISTCHURCH TRADE PERIOD HUB

IN: Trent Cotchin, Brandon Parfitt, Ricky Henderson, Callum Wilkie, Tom Clurey, Cameron Zurhaar, Callum Ah Chee, Joel Garner, Doulton Langlands, Thomas Murphy, Ben Reid, Cam McCarthy, Brandon Matera, Zaine Cordy, Brendon Ah Chee, Riley Grundy, Nathan Brown, Pick #7, Pick #17, Pick #18, Pick #21

OUT: Conor McKenna, Robbie Tarrant, Sam Lloyd, Jake Stringer, Brayden Preuss, Zac Bailey, Josh Thomas, Will Walker, Connor McFadyen, Atu Bosenvalugi, Pick #1, Pick #19, Pick #20, Pick #38, Pick #56, Pick #74

LIST LODGEMENT

1. Trent Cotchin 443
2. Ricky Henderson 380
3. Mark Blicavs 357
4. Phil Davis 309
5. Sam B Reid 284
6. Tom Scully 280
7. Brandon Parfitt 276
8. Tom Langdon 262
9. Tom Clurey 255
10. Jackson Trengove 248
11. Brandon Matera 232
12. Zaine Cordy 227
13. Sean Darcy   214
14. Easton Wood   212
15. Harry McKay   199
16. Ben Reid   197
17. Cam McCarthy   193
18. James Stewart   193
19. Callum Wilkie   191
20. Jack Henry   190
21. Paddy Dow   182
22. Brennan Cox   181
23. Cameron Zurhaar   178
24. Ed Richards   176
25. Brent Daniels   175
26. Patrick Ambrose   161
27. Callum Ah Chee   159
28. Cam Sutcliffe 153 (Past Player)
29. Brendon Ah Chee 151
30. Nathan Brown   149
31. James Rowbottom   147
32. Josh Daicos   141
33. Lewis Young   132
34. Joel Garner   100
35. Liam Stocker   100
36. Ely Smith   100
37. Doulton Langlands 100
38. Thomas Murphy 100
39. Kieren Briggs 100
40. UNKNOWN
41. Pick 7 100
42. Pick 17 100
43. Pick 18 100
44. Pick 21 100
45. Rookie 1 100 (Assuming the need for a 45th)

Slot 40 is currently unknown. Either one of the list below will survive, or I have an extra list spot to trade down the order. If I need to take 46 who knows haha.

Jack Payne   100
Riley Grundy   100
Tyler Brown   100

Salary: 8.327 million

Modified Minimum Salary Cap: 8.318 million

[Koop]

CHRISTCHURCH DRAFT WRAP

Adding some accumulation and depth to the midfield was the name of the game for the Saints in the WXV National Draft, with the club adding 4 high quality midfielders each with different strengths, and are strongly tipped to add a 5th when the Rookie Draft kicks off in a few days time.

Pick 7: Deven Robertson

Not originally tipped to slide past the first six picks of the draft, circumstances happily changed and the hard-nosed ball-magnet was available for the Saints at Pick 7. Robertson is a hard-working accumulator who was named MVP & All-Australian at both the U16 and U18 Championships. The Larke Medal winner is fleet-footed and defensive at the coalface and racks up the touches for fun. Averaged 30 touches, 7 tackles and 128 SuperCoach points at the U18 Champs, while his numbers as both a underage and top-age player in the WAFL Colts are just as good, averaging 140 and 153 respectively.

Pick 14: Harry Schoenberg

An extremely hard-working inside midfielder from South Australia, Schoenberg was on the mind of the coach when he traded up into the 14th position in the draft. Schoenberg came from absolutely nowhere to win the SA MVP at the Championships, averaging 27 disposals to go with almost 6 clearances a game and 122 SuperCoach points. Extremely intelligent positioning and sublime foot skills under pressure at stoppages compensates for his lack of speed.

Pick 18: Jackson Mead

Smooth-moving balanced midfielder who while doesn't attract the same volume of ball as some other midfielders, makes up for it with lethal decision-making, especially heading inside 50. Built for SC with his disposal efficiency by foot and averaging close to 5 inside 50's per game, Mead also has an adequate defensive game to be a worthy member of a centre-square rotation. Averaged 21 disposals, 5 tackles and 106 SuperCoach points at the Championships.

Pick 35: Ryan Byrnes

Struggled for game-time at the Championships stuck behind Rowell, Anderson, Maginness and the like, Byrnes instead focused on having an extremely consistent season in the NAB League. Byrnes is one of those players who doesn't have an obvious downside, but doesn't have a standout elite trait. The dual-sided inside midfielder averaged 25 disposals for 120 SuperCoach points in 2019.

Rookie 1: Mitch O'Neill?

The Saints are widely tipped to snap up the Tasmanian first up when the Rookie Draft opens in the next few days. O'Neill, a player the Saints would have reportedly had no qualms selecting in the top 25 in the National Draft, had his year dogged by consistent ankle and knee injuries, leading to a slide down the order. O'Neill is a very nice accumulator who also uses it well. Averaged 20 disposals in both the NAB League and the U18 Champs for the Allies.