Preview
First, let's look at how we did last year. Well, we couldn't have been more right, in a sense, because we said there were no clear favourites to win the title and there were no outright contenders. Instead, we dumped four teams into the Second Tier for high-flyers: the Idyllwild Coronae, the Llandy Bulls, the Mawrystwyth Phoenix and the Maynard Andromeda. The top three was made up of three of these teams, with the exception of Mawrystwyth Phoenix who finished 8th. The other three all qualified for the finals, with the Llandy Bulls eventually winning it all. We were right about there being no clear favourites, as a further two teams came very close to spoiling the top 3 party.
Instead of looking at the tiers, which will look a lot like last year's as there isn't a lot of movement between teams and a lot of teams are fairly equal, let's look at each team's three additions this year. Every year, every team may add three players to their team who can play from day 1. Every addition after that may only play the second half of the season. All of these players come from the second divisions or the development league. Let's say this: there is a lot of talent and teams mostly addressed their needs, but barely any team was successful in signing three key additions. The Greencaster Galaxy had one immediate upgrade, one depth player and we just don't see this third signing, and the same goes for Maynard Andromeda, Willowbourne Foxes, Ansonville Comets. Probably the best trio are coming to the Tarrashall Travellers, with probably the best addition of them all, as well as two depth players. The Mawrystwyth Phoenix went solely by need in terms of position, but these are players that we couldn't be to enthusiastic about. Every other team falls somewhere between these extremes. The Penstead Bears probably had the second best choices, choosing three players that are starting-XV-quality but not necessarily future national teamers.
This time around, we're going to discuss the teams without putting them in tiers.
Ansonville Comets The worst spine in the Union, but making up for that by putting good players in nearly every other position. The forwards are fine and there is a lot of talent in the back, but getting the ball there in the right time and place is too hard for this team most of the time. Masahiko Morimoto, switched from League, is a huge upgrade at centre.
Aubury Swans Decent weight in the scrum but very top-heavy. Proper halves and alright backs, but no stars to carry this team in a pinch. 70 out of 80 minutes should not be a problem for this team, but maintaining a tiny lead or winning from behind needs character sometimes, and I have my suspicions about this team.
Eaglebury Aquila have put some decent players next to worse ones, but keeping the incredible duo of Whithingham at halfback and Sheehan on the wing intact. That duo will have to carry this team once again, though this time there are fewer weak spots.
Greencaster Galaxy what a signing. Going from one of the most unreliable halves to scouting one in rugby league, and nailing the contract. Greencaster, as a big city team, have to perform every single year and this is probably just about the biggest turnaround possible through a single choice, including attacking structures involving a lot of options, carrying over from the francophone rugby league teams. Ba Vasseur might just take the Union by storm.
Idyllwild Coronae they've mostly added weight to their team, in order to be among the top few teams for an extra year. The scrum will be a little better, but they've mostly kept the great players in a position to do well around the sides of the field. Solid additions, but no spectacular players - not that they need to, they still have Weddall, Alardice and Scenay in the second row, on the wing, and at fullback.
Llandy Bulls also followed the example of keeping your best players and surrounding them with players who make fewer mistakes. yMhalmawm and yTewnchaeg remain Ko-oren's best forwards, but the entire scrum is now superb. The biggest missing link was at fullback, but they've now signed the very young yFfewlchewm to that position.
Mawrystwyth Phoenix poor additions, after a season where they've thoroughly disappointed. We can't exactly say that this team is much better than last year, but they're all still very young so if they can live up to last year's hype with last year's team + one year, they'll be better than 8th.
Mayara Wanderers-Cassiopeia again leaning fully on their backs, there is now a fullback to match the backline with Leauntherinthen. A bit of a mediocre roster for the rest of it, and there are about four players that could be replaced on a whim, but not enough quality to coach those guys or correct their errors.
Maynard Andromeda this team continues to build slowly towards a better team. Even if some players are about to retire, they don't make haste to have one good season and jeopardise the future. Andromeda have always been a well-built team, and they even landed rugby league's Finisterran centre Viveiros - not a particularly spectacular player but a decent addition to their backs.
Penstead Bears are also not a team of splashy signings and big ups and downs. The second biggest home advantage in the Union also helps, and their remote location also means that there is never a lot of pressure on the team - although there is a lot of local pride involved. Two effective players have been added, and the Bears are absolutely getting near top-6 material. yDdofcaech is their new half, not as good as Vasseur but better than most halves in the Union.
Tarrashall Travellers are the team with the largest home advantage and a lot of local feelings. The Travellers are often a fun team to watch, and in a land that should bring great forwards they have incredible firepower at the back instead. The Travellers have a hard time signing talent not from West Strand Riding given how far away they are to the rest of the country, but they once again have a respectable team. Bilaranora, the new fullback, immediately competes as one of the best fullbacks in the Union.
Willowbourne Foxes like Greencaster, the Foxes always have to be good. Unlike Greencaster, they have no way to get there and they have made suspect decisions in new players once again. It's like this team is trying to be bland in a position where it's so easy to draw attention... Centre Carrington is the closest they get to being interesting.
Standings
KRUL Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Maynard Andromeda 22 12 3 7 337 261 +76 54 Grand Final
2 Ansonville Comets 22 12 2 8 192 144 +48 52 Semifinals
3 Penstead Bears 22 12 1 9 253 220 +33 50 Semifinals
4 Mayara Wanderers-Cassiopeia 22 12 0 10 220 230 −10 48
5 Greencaster Galaxy 22 11 2 9 241 174 +67 48
6 Aubury Swans 22 11 2 9 190 162 +28 48
7 Idyllwild Coronae 22 11 1 10 189 168 +21 46
8 Eaglebury Aquila 22 10 2 10 244 264 −20 44
9 Llandy Bulls 22 10 1 11 237 256 −19 42
10 Tarrashall Travellers 22 9 1 12 156 193 −37 38
11 Mawrystwyth Phoenix 22 8 0 14 160 265 −105 32
12 Willowbourne Foxes 22 6 1 15 205 287 −82 26
Finals
Semifinal:
Ansonville Comets 20–13 Penstead Bears (HT 3-13)
Drop goals: 5' Morimoto, 66' White / 23' 39' yDdofcaech
Penalty Goals: - / -
Tries: 71' 78' Finnerty / 30' yBhaddras
Conversions: 71' 78' Morimoto / 30' yDdofcaech
Grand Final:
Maynard Andromeda 11–21 Ansonville Comets (HT 8-7)
Drop Goals: 48' Wilmer / -
Penalty Goals: 22' Wilmer / -
Tries: 18' Prater / 5' 55' Finnerty, 59' Morimoto
Conversions: - / 5' 59' Morimoto, 55' White
Analysis
As suggested by the close standings, the average score this year was 10-10. Or rather, 10-9.9, which surprisingly still realised a very decent home win percentage (53%). As close as the average score is, home teams were the favourites, and away teams struggled to get points (40% wins). The remaining 7% were draws.
It's been extremely close all season, so the final matchday results have had a big impact:
Maynard Andromeda 9–32 Mayara Wanderers-Cassiopeia - Mayara would've made it in if not for the Bears win, on H2H, with a negative PD! Huge service done by Andromeda.
Llandy Bulls 17–10 Mawrystwyth Phoenix - no impact
Greencaster Galaxy 13–6 Idyllwild Coronae - kept the Coronae out, if it weren't for the Bears Galaxy would've been in.
Tarrashall Travellers 8–15 Aubury Swans - also kept the Swans in the conversation.
Eaglebury Aquila 7–24 Ansonville Comets - secured the Comets.
Penstead Bears 12–7 Willowbourne Foxes - landed the Bears in the finals with a lot of teams just out! They were lucky to play the hapless Foxes at home on the last day.
For every team between 4th and 8th, there are multiple moments where a different bounce could've seen different finals, in every single game.
Derbies
Ansonville Comets 7–6 Greencaster Galaxy
Greencaster Galaxy 5–6 Ansonville Comets - Here's the difference between the Galaxy in the finals versus Comets in the finals.
Greencaster Galaxy 13–10 Willowbourne Foxes
Willowbourne Foxes 14–8 Greencaster Galaxy - this derby has lost some of its shine, but even the Foxes in 12th get the upset. The Galaxy would have made the finals with the win...
Maynard Andromeda 15–7 Idyllwild Coronae
Idyllwild Coronae 10–24 Maynard Andromeda - Two wins for Andromeda, over contenders Coronae, there's how you secure first place.
Idyllwild Coronae 0–5 Aubury Swans
Aubury Swans 7–3 Idyllwild Coronae - with differences so tiny, two Swans wins landed them over the Coronae, and kept the Coronae out of the finals!
Maynard Andromeda 16–0 Aubury Swans
Aubury Swans 10–0 Maynard Andromeda - two one-sided games, one for each team.
State of Origin
Mawryshire 20 - 24 WSR
Surbourneshire 24 - 11 Gehrenna
Gehrenna 16 - 21 Mawryshire
WSR 17 - 18 Surbourneshire
WSR 22 - 33 Gehrenna
Surbourneshire 22 - 32 Mawryshire
MAW 2-1 +11
SRB 2-1 +4
GEH 1-2 -7
WSR 1-2 -8
Team of the Year
Props: Moore (Ansonville Comets), Luckett (Maynard Andromeda)
Hooker: yBhaddras (Penstead Bears)
Second row: Knight (Maynard Andromeda), Bashford (Aubury Swans)
Locks: yDdwffrell (Penstead Bears), Meahon (Idyllwild Coronae)
Eight: Atkinson (Ansonville Comets)
Halves: Wilmer (Maynard Andromeda), Vasseur (Greencaster Galaxy)
Centres: Morimoto (Ansonville Comets), Denrenaundhen (Mayara Wanderers-Cassiopeia)
Wings: Finnerty (Ansonville Comets), Alardice (Idyllwild Coronae)
Fullback: Ewell (Greencaster Galaxy)
Dev Leagues
GWU: Seameet, WSU: Regenton, MU: Llandy