WXV Round 12
Rep RoundAFL ROUND 13Richmond v Port Adelaide
Essendon v CarltonFremantle v HawthornBrisbane v St KildaNorth Melbourne v GWSCollingwood v MelbourneAFL ROUND 14Richmond v Carlton
St Kilda v Essendon
Port Adelaide v Sydney
West Coast v Geelong
GWS v Western Bulldogs
Gold Coast v Adelaide
Representative Round, AFL Round 13 scores from Brisbane, Collingwood, Fremantle, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne + AFL Round 14| Home Team | Away Team | Venue | Head-to-Head |
| EurAsia | AAP Alliance | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 6 v 4 |
I love this part of the calendar! We are approaching the 11th instalment WXVs biggest annual blockbuster and tensions have never been higher. We have two brand new coaches ready to take the reigns of each side of the world; one is looking vengeful, and the other vulnerable.
For the newbies, there is 1 (and a half) too many AFL rounds to fill a WXV fixture, and as such the H&A fixture takes a break over the second half of the bye rounds. During that time, we split the competition in 2 by geography, and select the coaches of these two sides by whomever is highest on the WXV Ladder so far in the year. They get to pick a side of 19 out of the players of the teams whom fall within their allocated geography.
The peak of EurAsia dominance was Holz' 2020 team, whom scored a fearsome 189 and brushed aside a helpless AAP. This was in response the famous AAP victory in 2019 where up-and-comer Reilly O'Brien came from the clouds to take down a much more fancied EurAsia.
The scales were evened in 2021, thanks to a rise within the Alliance ranks which included eventual premiers Mexico City. Alas, EurAsia was too good on the day, thanks to a masterclass captaincy selection by JBs-Hawks backing in at-the-time maligned Lachie Neale to lead EurAsia to a great victory.
Enter 2022, and a MASSIVE shift has occurred over the past 12 months. What EurAsia was in 2020, AAP is in 2022 and enter this match as the clear favourites, where ALL of the top 4 teams form part of the Alliance ranks:
| EurAsia | | AAP Alliance |
| 5 | New Delhi Tigers | 1 | Buenos Aires Armadillos |
| 6 | PNL Reindeers | 2 | Rio de Janeiro Jaguars |
| 7 | Rome Gladiators | 3 | Mexico City Suns |
| 9 | Beijing Pandas | 4 | Pacific Islanders |
| 13 | Seoul Magpies | 8 | Toronto Wolves |
| 15 | London Royals | 10 | Christchurch Saints |
| 16 | Berlin Brewers | 11 | Cairo Sands |
| 17 | Tokyo Samurai | 12 | New York Revolution |
| 18 | Dublin Destroyers | 14 | Cape Town Cobras |
Congratulations to new representative coaches KB (New Delhi) and iZander (Buenos Aires)! Both bided their time at the bottom, stayed true to their vision and will now be rewarded with the keys to world. Great stories!
iZ's AAP have a score to settle clearly, angry that EurAsia lead 6-4 on the ledger on the back of winning 5 of the past 6 match-ups. It's almost poetic that iZ would be the one to turn the tide, given it was his own Reilly O'Brien that pinched 2019.
But KBs EurAsia don't scare easy.
DefenceThe Alliance have the top 3 defenders to choose from this year, none better than Christchurch's own George Hewett. He, Sicily (Mexico City) and Stewart (Cairo) all average 113+ and will likely feature if fit. KBs own Jack Sinclair will almost certainly fly the flag for EurAsia, being the best perfoming defender for his massive side, but the odds will be against him to outscore this fancied AAP bookend.
MidfieldArguably the most vital players to select, it's all about who has the highest ceiling out of the mids and which player is going to go BIG on rep round day. It was Beijing's Lachie Neale that was the hero for EurAsia last year, and he is the #1 player going into this match, followed closely by Seoul's Clayton Oliver. But then it's the Alliance who follows behind them, with the next 4 highest scorers headed by Pacific's Rory Laird. Maybe iZ will think outside the box and select his own Ollie Wines? He has produced big games this year (155) after all. It's pretty even, but I think the Alliance might have the advantage here.
RuckEurAsia have traditionally been spoilt for choice in the ruck department, but probably only have 2 genuine options in #1 ruck Tim English (London) and #2 Max Gawn (aw yeah), fresh off a mammoth 198. The Alliance have clearly addressed their ruck situation, with Pacific's Witts (119.5), Cairo's Preuss (110) and the infamous ROB (102.9) all presenting as genuine options. Still, this continues to be EurAsia's strength.
ForwardEurAsia have the clear advantage in the forward line this year, boasting the top 3 (and it's a clear top 3) options, including the aforementioned Tim English (121), Tokyo's Josh Dunkley (112) and PNL's Will Brodie (107). AAP follow-up with Toronto's Heeney (100.5) and Pacific's Taylor Walker (100), but then have to look to the likes of Cairo's Tom J Lynch (92.6) and Jeremy Cameron (91.4), whom are prone to the odd-mare. I suspect iZ will have the most creative license in the forward line, and he'll need to nail them in order to even the ledger against EurAsia here.
My tip? I don't think AAP knows how to beat EurAsia anymore. They got lucky in 2019, and 3 of their 4 wins have been by 30 SC points or less. Even with all the momentum, they won't know what to do with it.
EurAsia 3-peat!
HISTORY2021 (JBs-Hawks): AAP Alliance (28.6.174) lost to EurAsia (29.6.180)
2020 (Holz): EurAsia (30.9.189) def AAP Alliance (27.10.172)
2019 (FTC): AAP Alliance (29.6.180) def EurAsia (29.6.179*)
2018 (Purple77): EurAsia (28.11.179) def AAP Alliance (26.10.166)
2017 (Ricochet/elephants): AAP Alliance (25.8.158) lost to EurAsia (26.7.163)
2016 (Holz): EurAsia (27.11.173) def AAP Alliance (23.11.149)
2015 (JROO8): AAP Alliance (26.12.168*) def EurAsia (26.11.167)
2014 (Nails): EurAsia (24.11.155) lost to AAP Alliance (25.18.168)
2013 (Ringo): AAP Alliance (25.22.172) lost to EurAsia (27.21.183)
2012 (CrowsFan): AAP Alliance (28.8.176) def EurAsia (27.11.173)
So with that said, tell us what you think! But more importantly, put forward your players to KB and iZ and get involved! Ensure that one of your players isn't a Salty Second
ROLLING LOCKOUT PERMITTED / FOUR EMERGENCIES PERMITTED
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