In the famous words of some NASA employee; “We have lift offâ€. Season 2 of Seasonal Rugby is officially launching and there has been all sorts of stuff going on. Arguments with RLSim, shocking signings, huge announcements, spamming to the maximum and “Gemmell vs all others†arguments. With Season 1 finished, and the Giants lock the trophy in their cabinet but my sources inside the Giants dressing room have told me that Gemmell has secretly tried to steal the trophy for himself. When caught by Club Chairman, CCG and Club Bouncer “Jaws†he said, “I won the final, and therefore the trophy is mineâ€. CCG was not happy, and therefore Jaws had “artistic licenceâ€. CCG has used Jaws as a threat numerous times, but actually use him to bite off Gemmell’s ear? A bit too far some would say. There have been no majorly controversial signings, but the Hurricanes spreading around has been a major talking point. They have all gone to the Giants, Spartans or Vikings, with none going to the Cheetahs. It has been a fairly even spread with 3 going to the Vikings, 3 going to the Giants, 2 going to the Spartans and 2 undecided. They have fetched up a huge sum in salaries already, and are all big parts of there new clubs. We have interviewed the 4 club presidents; Manero, CCG, Marcuss and Swimmerdoog of the Vikings, Giants, Spartans and Cheetahs respectively. 3 of them seem confident about the new season, 1 not so. Red = Marcuss Green = Swimmerdoog Blue = CCG Orange = Manero How do you feel about your new additions? What impact do you think they will have? They will have a massive impact. I could forsee some of the bigger sides getting hammered if they aren't careful enough with their tactics for one, we all saw how close the England Vs Australia matches were. We're quite hopeful that the tactics at least will be working in our favour somewhat. I think that the additions to the Giants squad will lead to a successful season. I'm pretty happy with how recruiting has gone, although I would still like to have two fully active primary Props. I think Luke Pilgrim and Matt Scoble will be excellent at Halfbacks, although a little untested, NK has bags of ability. I'm hoping they'll all have a positive impact, and I think that Sam Green will be the pick of them, closely followed by Jabba and Scoble. Colesy was the bargain of the summer though, great for the clubhouse and excellent backup at 9/10. However, by far my best signing was that of Gary Weaver, the Kiwi Centre. He was a must have, and as already pointed out could turn the competition in our favour should I end up pairing him in the Centres and we click. Not only that but he's a great lad. With the Chiefs and Hurricanes folding the Vikings were very fortunate to gain the signings of a number of skillful players. With the addition of star backs in Damo and Bender it adds a new dimension to our attack which if truth be told was our strong point in our first season. It will be interesting to see if their additions will cause such an impact. I feel that the singing of Humble, Benny and El Nino will be our strongest gains as our forward pack was our weak link in the team last season. Outside those signings, Bedsey has been a solid pick up who can kick goals which will help out Damo throughout the season. They’re the reason we will come first tbh. We’ve brought in players to improve on what we already have, and not to replace them. They compliment the core of our team that we've retained from Season 1. It's a blend of original Spartans and those that've seen the light. Where do you think you will come in the new season? To be honest its either going to be third or fourth, in terms of signings its just been impossible to convince most of the big names to come to our club. Most of our main players weren't known on the site before SR merged, and our position in the last season have been fairly large deterrants in signing the big names. We aren't really looking to this season though, we've been signing on a lot of the newer names to develope some strength for future seasons. As much as I'd like to say winning the Premiership for a second season running, I don't feel we have a firepower front row. Flack is an excellent Hooker, but Skippos isn't a Prop primarily and I think that we won't be as strong at Prop as the other teams and this could lead to our downfall. I'm going 2nd, although if Gazza and I can rip it up in the Centres and the Forwards can lay a platform I think we could still go all the way. I would be rather dissapointed if our team did not finish in the top two. I believe with the signings we have obtained and the improvements of Perry and AVA, our team will be stong candidates for the title. First. Who do you tip to be the star of the season? Well I'd love to tip myself for this, in the friendly match against vikings I was fairly dominant, nothing but big hits and turnovers, and rumours are I'm secretly training as a kicker . But really the big name is going to be Ames. He dominated the season final between Giants and Spartans, without him Giants wouldn't have stood a chance really. I expect Ben Herd to have a big season, and likewise with Gary Weaver. I'm hoping I'll perform this season too, although my pick of all of them has to be Luke Pilgrim. I think he has what it takes to show he's the best Scrum Half in the Competition. This is a tough question. I think for the Vikings, Hunter is bound to have a solid season with a good pack around him. Outside the Vikings I am going to pick Denton to play consistently well all season and put the Spartans in a good position to win the title. I reckon KF Tait will flourish throughout the season. He will have a big part to play throughout the season, and will not doubt, stand up to the challenge and become a key member of the XV by the end of the season Who will meet in the Grand Final? Spartans and Giants are my bets. I reckon it'll be the Vikings and the Giants. If we don't quite go the way I expect it to be the Spartans - Marcuss has assembled an awesome squad there and I fully expect them to contest us closely, but Manero's squad is mouthwatering. If Gazza had gone there, Season 2 would've been a forthgone conclusion already. I think that the Competition will be won at key points, much like England won the Ashes. If we at the Giants can be switched on at those key times and dominate them then there's no reason that we cannot retain our Crown. Spartans will be one of the teams and the Giants and Vikings will fight out for the remaining spot in the final. Spartans and Vikings. aka Spartans v Best of a bad bunch. Who has the best rounded squad to deal with the energy levels? It would be hard to say. My guess would be vikings. They have most of the best players, which makes their contracts some of the highest. I think we at the Giants have the most strength in depth. We have people like Sam Green, Dion Alessi and Jabba Bots all contesting for one spot at the moment, and if someone doesn't perform they're in. We definately are the pick for the Backs. In terms of Forwards, something says the Spartans; I believe this will be the undoing of the Vikings, that they'll have key players tired at the key times. With negotiations still going on I think it is too hard to pick an exact winner at the moment. The Spartans and Vikings have both spent the highest average per a player and have 16 players each so in terms of depth they probably have the best squads at the moment. Whether both teams can stay in positive figures for next season is another question. Only the Spartans and Vikings have any depth at all tbh. Nobody else even has a XV :ninja: And finally, Aus and NZ or Great Britain? Great Britain all the way. Who are by the best Province at this moment in time, and a few handy others. Mind you the Aussies seem to be posting lots, and Gazza has the ability to change the course of the game single handedly. Great Britain. Aus and NZ still have a fair bit of catching up to do I would say. The Aus and NZ team should really out perform the GB side. There is a greater pool of players to choose from. However it will be a tight contest and I would not be surprised if GB won it. Great Britain, easily
Nah just Marcuss. I think generally as a club we are confident. The signing of Eds has defintiely boosted that too.
I kind of guessed that. I know you are very happy with the squad but have never appeared cocky to me about it before.
Hmmmm, yeah was a good read, and the spartans seem to be getting the most kudos across the field, but i think the vikings will show them a thing or two, and let it be known, we arent as short in the forwards as some people seem to think
