EurAsia v AAP Alliance: A Shift in Power

Purple 77 · June 06, 2022, 08:33:20 PM

WXV Round 12
Rep Round

AFL ROUND 13
Richmond v Port Adelaide
Essendon v Carlton
Fremantle v Hawthorn
Brisbane v St Kilda
North Melbourne v GWS
Collingwood v Melbourne

AFL ROUND 14
Richmond 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.

Defence
The 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.

Midfield
Arguably 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.

Ruck
EurAsia 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.

Forward
EurAsia 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!

HISTORY

2021 (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 8)

ROLLING LOCKOUT PERMITTED / FOUR EMERGENCIES PERMITTED

PowerBug · June 06, 2022, 08:45:47 PM

Time for the Jezza Cameron show

kilblufftwo · June 06, 2022, 11:11:59 PM

EurAsia

D: Jack Sinclair, Sam Docherty, Dan Houston, Jordan Dawson
M: Lachie Neale (VC), Clayton Oliver (C), Touk Miller, Ben Keays
R: Max Gawn
F: Josh Dunkley, Will Brodie, Stephen Coniglio, Timothy English
U: Josh Kelly, Zach Merrett

E: Darcy Cameron (F), Andrew Brayshaw (M), Jack Crisp (D), Todd Goldstein (R)

DazBurg · June 07, 2022, 07:16:26 AM

3 PNL named and 2 emergencies :D

kilblufftwo · June 07, 2022, 09:07:07 AM

Quote from: kilblufftwo on June 06, 2022, 11:11:59 PM
EurAsia

D: Jack Sinclair, Sam Docherty, Dan Houston, Jordan Dawson
M: Lachie Neale (VC), Clayton Oliver (C), Touk Miller, Ben Keays
R: Max Gawn
F: Josh Dunkley, Will Brodie, Stephen Coniglio, Timothy English
U: Josh Kelly, Zach Merrett

E: Andrew Brayshaw (M), Darcy Cameron (F), Jack Crisp (D), Todd Goldstein (R)

iZander · June 11, 2022, 09:59:59 AM

Def: Hewitt, Stewart, Sicily,
Mid: Laird (C), Mills, Macrae, Guthrie
Ruck: Witts
Fwd: Heeney, Gresham, Cameron,
Int: Walsh, Sean Darcy (VC)

Emg: , ,Zac Bailey,

Purple 77 · June 11, 2022, 04:48:02 PM

Reps in progress

Starting off the clash, we have EurAsia's Will Brodie (PNL) on the field and Andrew Brayshaw (Dublin) waiting at first drop, ready to jump in if he salutes today.

For AAP, we have James Sicily (Mexico City), and the man mountain from Christchurch playing the crucial VC role, Sean Darcy.

This clash has the potential to set the tone for AAP especially if Darcy goes big.

iZander · June 12, 2022, 01:24:28 PM

Quote from: iZander on June 11, 2022, 09:59:59 AM
Def: Hewitt, Stewart, Sicily, Dale*
Mid: Laird (C), Mills, Macrae, Guthrie
Ruck: Witts
Fwd: Heeney, Gresham, Cameron, Walker*
Int: Walsh, Sean Darcy (VC)

Emg: Brad Crouch, Duncan, Zac Bailey, Hall

kilblufftwo · June 13, 2022, 01:03:33 AM

Quote from: kilblufftwo on June 07, 2022, 09:07:07 AM
Quote from: kilblufftwo on June 06, 2022, 11:11:59 PM
EurAsia

D: Jack Sinclair, Sam Docherty, Dan Houston, Jordan Dawson
M: Lachie Neale (VC), Clayton Oliver (C), Touk Miller, Ben Keays
R: Max Gawn
F: Josh Dunkley, Will Brodie, Stephen Coniglio, Timothy English
U: Josh Kelly, Brodie Grundy

E: Andrew Brayshaw (M), Darcy Cameron (F), Jack Crisp (D), Todd Goldstein (R)

upthemaidens · June 13, 2022, 05:33:40 PM

Bruce Laird taking captaincy honours, nice. Scored 115+ in 8 out of 10 games this year.
Witts could make a case for captain himself. Hasn't gone under 113 in the last 7 weeks.

kilblufftwo · June 15, 2022, 12:42:21 PM

Quote from: kilblufftwo on June 13, 2022, 01:03:33 AM
Quote from: kilblufftwo on June 07, 2022, 09:07:07 AM
Quote from: kilblufftwo on June 06, 2022, 11:11:59 PM
EurAsia

D: Jack Sinclair, Sam Docherty, Jordan Dawson, Michael Hurley
M: Lachie Neale (VC), Clayton Oliver (C), Touk Miller, Ben Keays
R: Max Gawn
F: Josh Dunkley, Will Brodie, Stephen Coniglio, Timothy English
U: Josh Kelly, Brodie Grundy

E: Andrew Brayshaw (M), Darcy Cameron (F), Jack Crisp (D), Todd Goldstein (R)

Purple 77 · June 16, 2022, 07:06:43 PM

After Round 13

Good start to EurAsia! Gutsy and great call by KB to back in Captain Clarry

	EurAsia					AAP Alliance
POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ	POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ
D1	Jack Sinclair (New Delhi)	0		0	D1	George Hewett (Christchurch)	0		0
D2	Sam Docherty (Rome)	0		0	D2	Tom Stewart (Cairo)	0		0
D3	Jordan Dawson (New Delhi)	0		0	D3	James Sicily (Mexico City)	116		116
D4	Michael Hurley (Dublin)	0		0	D4	Bailey Dale (New York)	0		0
M1	Lachie Neale (Beijing)	123		123	M1	Rory Laird (Pacific)	0		0
M2	Clayton Oliver (Seoul)	141		141	M2	Callum Mills (Cape Town)	0		0
M3	Touk Miller (London)	0		0	M3	Jack Macrae (Toronto)	0		0
M4	Ben Keays (PNL)	0		0	M4	Cameron Guthrie (New York)	0		0
R1	Max Gawn (Berlin)	70		70	R1	Jarrod Witts (Pacific)	0		0
F1	Josh Dunkley (Tokyo)	0		0	F1	Isaac Heeney (Toronto)	0		0
F2	Will Brodie (PNL)	82		82	F2	Jade Gresham (Christchurch)	0		0
F3	Stephen Coniglio (Beijing)	0		0	F3	Jeremy Cameron (Rio de Janeiro)	0		0
F4	Timothy English (London)	0		0	F4	Taylor Walker (Pacific)	0		0
U1 (MID)	Josh Kelly (Rome)	0		0	U1 (MID)	Sam Walsh (Mexico City)	0		0
U2 (RUC)	Brodie Grundy (Beijing)	0	DNP	0	U2 (RUC)	Sean Darcy (Christchurch)	91		91
E1 (MID)	Andrew Brayshaw (Dublin)	135		135	E1 (MID)	Brad Crouch (Rio de Janeiro)	0	0	0
E2 (FWD)	Darcy Cameron (PNL)	103	0	0	E2 (MID FWD)	Mitch Duncan (Cape Town)	0	0	0
E3 (DEF MID)	Jack Crisp (Seoul)	119	0	0	E3 (MID FWD)	Zac Bailey (Pacific)	49	0	0
E4 (RUC)	Todd Goldstein (PNL)	104	0	0	E4 (DEF)	Aaron Hall (Mexico City)	94	0	0
C	Clayton Oliver (Seoul)	141		141	C	Rory Laird (Pacific)	0		0
VC	Lachie Neale (Beijing)	123		0	VC	Sean Darcy (Christchurch)	91		0
		Total:	692	5			Total:	207	2

Purple 77 · June 16, 2022, 07:09:53 PM

Up next

EurAsia
Sam Docherty (Rome)

AAP Alliance
George Hewett (Christchurch)
Sam Walsh (Mexico City)

Purple 77 · June 19, 2022, 12:10:49 PM

With just Gold Coast v Adelaide to go...

	EurAsia					AAP Alliance
POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ	POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ
D1	Jack Sinclair (New Delhi)	105		105	D1	George Hewett (Christchurch)	103		103
D2	Sam Docherty (Rome)	128		128	D2	Tom Stewart (Cairo)	95		95
D3	Jordan Dawson (New Delhi)	0		0	D3	James Sicily (Mexico City)	116		116
D4	Michael Hurley (Dublin)	0	DNP	0	D4	Bailey Dale (New York)	87		87
M1	Lachie Neale (Beijing)	123		123	M1	Rory Laird (Pacific)	0		0
M2	Clayton Oliver (Seoul)	141		141	M2	Callum Mills (Cape Town)	138		138
M3	Touk Miller (London)	0		0	M3	Jack Macrae (Toronto)	155		155
M4	Ben Keays (PNL)	0		0	M4	Cameron Guthrie (New York)	115		115
R1	Max Gawn (Berlin)	70		70	R1	Jarrod Witts (Pacific)	0		0
F1	Josh Dunkley (Tokyo)	114		114	F1	Isaac Heeney (Toronto)	124		124
F2	Will Brodie (PNL)	82		82	F2	Jade Gresham (Christchurch)	125		125
F3	Stephen Coniglio (Beijing)	113		113	F3	Jeremy Cameron (Rio de Janeiro)	94		94
F4	Timothy English (London)	110		110	F4	Taylor Walker (Pacific)	0		0
U1 (MID)	Josh Kelly (Rome)	65		65	U1 (MID)	Sam Walsh (Mexico City)	109		109
U2 (RUC)	Brodie Grundy (Beijing)	0	DNP	0	U2 (RUC)	Sean Darcy (Christchurch)	91		91
E1 (MID)	Andrew Brayshaw (Dublin)	135		135	E1 (MID)	Brad Crouch (Rio de Janeiro)	80	0	80
E2 (FWD)	Darcy Cameron (PNL)	103	0	0	E2 (MID FWD)	Mitch Duncan (Cape Town)	90	0	90
E3 (DEF MID)	Jack Crisp (Seoul)	119		119	E3 (MID FWD)	Zac Bailey (Pacific)	49	0	0
E4 (RUC)	Todd Goldstein (PNL)	104	0	0	E4 (DEF)	Aaron Hall (Mexico City)	94	0	0
C	Clayton Oliver (Seoul)	141		141	C	Rory Laird (Pacific)	0		0
VC	Lachie Neale (Beijing)	123		0	VC	Sean Darcy (Christchurch)	91		0
		Total:	1446	12			Total:	1352	12

We have a pressure cooker on our hands!

Thanks to the heroics of Toronto's Jack Macrae, AAP are within striking distance of EurAsia, with all eyes on captain Rory Laird to deliver the goods.

EurAsia's 94 point lead will be defended by Dawson, Miller and Keays against an-all Pacific force of Captain Laird, Witts and Walker.

Can the Islanders take AAP to the promised land?

Stay tuned!

Purple 77 · June 19, 2022, 07:38:06 PM

AAP ROB themselves of a certain victory

A devastating result for the much fancied AAP, going down to EurAsia by 15 SC points :o my lord, there was so many marginal calls that decided this result!

The biggest one clearly is iZander doubting himself, picking the highest averaging ruck at his disposal in Witts instead of his own ROB, who would have been the difference in a 2ND AAP win.

On the otherside of the ledger - when EurAsia's lead was being chased down furiously by the Pacific trio - it was KBs own Jordan Dawson who STOOD UP TALL AND HELD OUT! His massive 140 was truly game defining, delivering his coach a much deserved victory for EurAsia. But perhaps the most crucial call that KB got correct was that of captaincy, going on to pick Seoul's Clayton Oliver (141) who ended up being BOG for EurAsia. So close was KB choosing other players, but he backed in his analysis and it was a game winning call.

There was plenty of coaching prowess on show for AAP too - correctly keeping its emergencies off the field on its way to a massive 1739. Toronto's Jack Macrae and his 155 was simply amazing and pegged back the Oliver lead that would give AAP a shot going into Sunday. iZ was also able to actually outscore the highly credentialed forward line of AAP with his own forwards, but ironically it was EurAsia's comparative weakness in defence which significantly outperformed AAPs by 91 points, and played a major part in the result.

Congrats to KB for notching up his first win as coach of EurAsia! Commerisations to iZ, whom I'm sure will never ever (nor any future AAP coach) dare omit EurAsia's kryptonite again.

EurAsia (28.7.175) def by AAP Alliance (28.6.174)

Best
EurAsia: Jack Sinclair, Sam Docherty, Jordan Dawson, Jack Crisp, Lachie Neale, Clayton Oliver, Touk Miller, Josh Dunkley, Stephen Coniglio, Timothy English, Andrew Brayshaw
AAP: George Hewett, James Sicily, Rory Laird, Callum Mills, Jack Macrae, Cameron Guthrie, Isaac Heeney, Jade Gresham, Sam Walsh

Late Changes
EurAsia: Michael Hurley & Brodie Grundy replaced by Jack Crisp & Andrew Brayshaw
AAP: Nil

CLAYTON OLIVER wins the EURASIA Medal
JACK MACRAE wins the AAP ALLIANCE Medal
JACK MACRAE wins the WORLDS Medal

	EurAsia					AAP Alliance
POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ	POS	Traditional	SCO	PEN	ADJ
D1	Jack Sinclair (New Delhi)	105		105	D1	George Hewett (Christchurch)	103		103
D2	Sam Docherty (Rome)	128		128	D2	Tom Stewart (Cairo)	95		95
D3	Jordan Dawson (New Delhi)	140		140	D3	James Sicily (Mexico City)	116		116
D4	Michael Hurley (Dublin)	0	DNP	0	D4	Bailey Dale (New York)	87		87
M1	Lachie Neale (Beijing)	123		123	M1	Rory Laird (Pacific)	114		114
M2	Clayton Oliver (Seoul)	141		141	M2	Callum Mills (Cape Town)	138		138
M3	Touk Miller (London)	100		100	M3	Jack Macrae (Toronto)	155		155
M4	Ben Keays (PNL)	68		68	M4	Cameron Guthrie (New York)	115		115
R1	Max Gawn (Berlin)	70		70	R1	Jarrod Witts (Pacific)	68		68
F1	Josh Dunkley (Tokyo)	114		114	F1	Isaac Heeney (Toronto)	124		124
F2	Will Brodie (PNL)	82		82	F2	Jade Gresham (Christchurch)	125		125
F3	Stephen Coniglio (Beijing)	113		113	F3	Jeremy Cameron (Rio de Janeiro)	94		94
F4	Timothy English (London)	110		110	F4	Taylor Walker (Pacific)	91		91
U1 (MID)	Josh Kelly (Rome)	65		65	U1 (MID)	Sam Walsh (Mexico City)	109		109
U2 (RUC)	Brodie Grundy (Beijing)	0	DNP	0	U2 (RUC)	Sean Darcy (Christchurch)	91		91
E1 (MID)	Andrew Brayshaw (Dublin)	135		135	E1 (MID)	Brad Crouch (Rio de Janeiro)	80	DNP	0
E2 (FWD)	Darcy Cameron (PNL)	103	DNP	0	E2 (MID FWD)	Mitch Duncan (Cape Town)	90	DNP	0
E3 (DEF MID)	Jack Crisp (Seoul)	119		119	E3 (MID FWD)	Zac Bailey (Pacific)	49	DNP	0
E4 (RUC)	Todd Goldstein (PNL)	104	DNP	0	E4 (DEF)	Aaron Hall (Mexico City)	94	DNP	0
C	Clayton Oliver (Seoul)	141		141	C	Rory Laird (Pacific)	114		114
VC	Lachie Neale (Beijing)	123		0	VC	Sean Darcy (Christchurch)	91		0
		Total:	1754	15			Total:	1739	15