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Coney Island Warriors - Sweet F.A.
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Two sides that share the same elevator / maintenance access ladder. Occasional encounters in Los Carraras Shopping Centre. Suspicious, resentful glances over the fountain. There’s a tension. But this Sunday the opportunity is there for one to banish the other from Sweet F.A. relevance for the season. The two take to the skies between Nou Camp and Subiaco with their seasons and a $50 gift voucher on the line. There will be no holding back.
Season Overview
Las Vegas Bears
The Bears carved out a decent kind of overhaul in the offseason following a disappointing conclusion to their campaign of Season 25. A swathe of rookies lined up to get their opportunity with the popular outfit, and along with some experienced club legends, a famously good blend was being concocted. After a stellar beginning- scoring a record-setting 193 points- their form was bouncy as their erratic and possibly non-existent gameplan was exhibited. A strong stretch of three wins by an average of 53 points signalled some hope, but the back end of the Home & Away domain spelled some disappointment as they were unable to secure wins in close games.
Sin City Swamprats
The Swamprats didn’t really find their feet on-field for any great stretches, and as Grand Finalists from last season, come into this series as wildcards. Their percentage is unimpressive, despite a 74-point victory in Round 8 and only two losses creeping past 40 points. Their offence has to be questioned, as they accrued the third least points in the competition, and 86 points less than any other side featured in the Top 8. Whilst some of these signs don’t point favourably, the Swamprats no doubt see a great opportunity to cause a shake-up, and find out a few things about their emerging leaders.
Form & Playing Style
Las Vegas Bears
Hailed as a glass cannon operation for much of the early period, the back end of the season involved plenty of re-tooling in an attempt to sharpen a defensive edge. Reliable stalwarts in Miguel Sanchez, reggie and Magruder have toughened up the outfit but it remains to be seen if this recalibration will come off as the Bears lost 6 of their last 8. The only solace here is that their total score differential over this period was still +15. The Bears need to find a way to hold on to these close matches, and with an inexperienced crew, composure and execution in critical circumstances may prove a key if they want to have any impact in finals.
Sin City Swamprats
The back half of the year is where the Swampies did their best work. Over the last 8 games, they inverted the Bears’ outcome recording 6 wins in that stretch. Their conservative and stifled play-style may suit finals qooty, and although one might think to see it function poorly on the typically dry and dusty deck of The Stadium in the Sky, the corresponding fixture of the regular season had the Rats prevailing by 14 points. The Rats will need to find more avenues to goal, and looking across their forward line, it’s evident that those are going to need to be sourced in the midfield.
Margin Chart
Stats & Facts
Head to HeadSeason Overview
Las Vegas Bears
The Bears carved out a decent kind of overhaul in the offseason following a disappointing conclusion to their campaign of Season 25. A swathe of rookies lined up to get their opportunity with the popular outfit, and along with some experienced club legends, a famously good blend was being concocted. After a stellar beginning- scoring a record-setting 193 points- their form was bouncy as their erratic and possibly non-existent gameplan was exhibited. A strong stretch of three wins by an average of 53 points signalled some hope, but the back end of the Home & Away domain spelled some disappointment as they were unable to secure wins in close games.
Sin City Swamprats
The Swamprats didn’t really find their feet on-field for any great stretches, and as Grand Finalists from last season, come into this series as wildcards. Their percentage is unimpressive, despite a 74-point victory in Round 8 and only two losses creeping past 40 points. Their offence has to be questioned, as they accrued the third least points in the competition, and 86 points less than any other side featured in the Top 8. Whilst some of these signs don’t point favourably, the Swamprats no doubt see a great opportunity to cause a shake-up, and find out a few things about their emerging leaders.
Form & Playing Style
Las Vegas Bears
Hailed as a glass cannon operation for much of the early period, the back end of the season involved plenty of re-tooling in an attempt to sharpen a defensive edge. Reliable stalwarts in Miguel Sanchez, reggie and Magruder have toughened up the outfit but it remains to be seen if this recalibration will come off as the Bears lost 6 of their last 8. The only solace here is that their total score differential over this period was still +15. The Bears need to find a way to hold on to these close matches, and with an inexperienced crew, composure and execution in critical circumstances may prove a key if they want to have any impact in finals.
Sin City Swamprats
The back half of the year is where the Swampies did their best work. Over the last 8 games, they inverted the Bears’ outcome recording 6 wins in that stretch. Their conservative and stifled play-style may suit finals qooty, and although one might think to see it function poorly on the typically dry and dusty deck of The Stadium in the Sky, the corresponding fixture of the regular season had the Rats prevailing by 14 points. The Rats will need to find more avenues to goal, and looking across their forward line, it’s evident that those are going to need to be sourced in the midfield.
Margin Chart
Stats & Facts
Played: 20
Las Vegas Bears: 10
Sin City Swamprats: 10
At The Stadium in the Sky
Played: 6
Las Vegas Bears: 3
Sin City Swamprats: 3
Last Five Matches
Rich (BB code):
S26 R11 Las Vegas Bears 17.11 (113) lost to Sin City Swamprats 19.13 (127)
S25 R16 Sin City Swamprats 10.10 (70) lost to Las Vegas Bears 11.13 (79)
S25 R05 Las Vegas Bears 21.12 (138) defeated Sin City Swamprats 15.9 (99)
S24 R07 Las Vegas Bears 22.13 (145) defeated Sin City Swamprats 15.7 (97)
S23 R15 Sin City Swamprats 17.8 (110) lost to Las Vegas Bears 17.10 (112)The Four Points
• Las Vegas Bears are the SFA's highest scoring team so far this season, averaging 112.82 points per game. Sin City Swamprats are ranked 10th in this statistic with an average of 89.65 points per game. However, the 'Rats have fared much better in away games, scoring 101.11 points per game away from Underground Stadium.
• The Bears have won three of their last four matches at The Stadium in the Sky against the Swamprats although they lost the most recent fixture at the venue by 14 points in Round 11 this season.
• The winning team has kicked 100 points in 10 of the last 11 matches between Las Vegas Bears and Sin City Swamprats.
• Las Vegas Bears and Sin City Swamprats have met twice in finals matches with the Swamprats leading the ledger 2-0. One of those games was the Season 06 Grand Final which the 'Rats won by 17 points.
In the Know: Season 26 is the fourth consecutive season and the fifth occasion in the last six seasons that Las Vegas Bears and Sin City Swamprats have finished in consecutive positions on the ladder at the end of a home and away season (Season 26 - 6th & 7th, Season 25 - 8th & 7th, Season 24 - 11th and 12th, Season 23 - 3rd and 4th, Season 21 - 7th and 8th).
Coming into the competition with unrivalled tenacity and work-rate, it’s little wonder Argas has found so much success on the wing and around the ball in his debut year. Leading the League in disposals and placing second for EXIE, the Rats will have be set a challenge in keeping the Tuft away from the pill and also in avoiding his combatting presence.
Matera92 (Las Vegas Bears)
Premiership Captain Mateflon found himself back on his prized left wing to round out the season, and he did not let his team or his reputation down. Collecting the ball, taking marks and laying out campaigners, Matera has finally earnt back the respect of his teammates after a defection to the Hawks in the offseason. Expect ‘The King of Vegas’ to be a commanding figure in this Sunday’s proceedings.
philreich (Sin City Swamprats)
Seemingly subdued and affable off the field, philreich has been a mainstay when considering consistent midfield output over the last few seasons. phil has a highly diverse game and can impact in so many ways that he’s hard to keep out of the action. Finishing the year 8th in EXIE speaks to his productivity and also quite probably to his capacity for drawing frees. Look for him to make amends after a toiling but quiet Grand Final last season.
ant555 (Sin City Swamprats)
Nuff said.
Predictions
INCREDIBLE STAT: Whilst the scores conceded by Sin City didn’t much vary between home games and away ones, their offence is on average more than 24 points better when they travel. Mirroring this, the Bears scored at a clip 24 points the lesser when playing at home! Supplementing @JoshWoodenSpoon’s record as the worst final’s captain around and the youthful makeup of the Bears’ side, one could readily see things getting messy again for the home side.
Thanks to kdavva74, JoshWoodenSpoon (write-ups), Barrybran (graphics) and Ljp86 (stats) for their work on these OPs.
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