Season Preview
So after the drama of last year and all the hype and hyperbole about every team in the pre-season, where do we really stand for BIQL 2012?
Obviously no-one truly know. The game of Quidditch is too brutal and its fortunes too fickle to ever be predictable. My earlier posts on each team give a concise but more valid predictive view on how each team might go, but who is truly likely to stand on the glory dias at the end of the season? The bookmakers' odds are a good place to start:
2012 British and Irish Quidditch League Betting Odds
1.Wimbourne Wasps: 1G 13S 22K
2. Tutshill Tornados: 3G
3. Montrose Magpies: 4G 6S 26K
4. Puddlemere United: 4G 16S 28K
5. Ballycastle Bats: 9G
6. Appleby Arrows: 9G 9S 15K
7. Holyhead Harpies: 14 G 16S
8. Wigtown Wanderers: 26G
9. Falmouth Falcons: 30G
10. Pride Of Portree: 49G
11. Caerphilly Catapults: 75G
12. Kenmare Kestrels: 89G
13. Chudley Cannons: 201G
Clearly it is all about the 'Big Four' in the pre-season reckoning this year. Any of them have every chance of winning the League Cup. The Wasps have the clear standout team across the board. The Tornados at their best are unmatched and come into 2012 as champions. The Magpies have experience and smarts in spades. United are a breed of freakish youngsters for whom the sky is scarcely the limit.
It would be a major surprise if any team outside this 'Big Four' was to win the League Cup. But such is the nature of the questionable McIntyre Finals System (which was recently dropped by Australia's National Muggle Rugby League, leaving BIQL as the final major sports competition internationally to understand its magic), anything can happen. One fluky run combined with a liberal helping of luck can result in a team finding themselves preparing for Grand Final Day before they know what's hit them. 2007 was a case in point, when the scratchy 5th placed Puddlemere were champions, beating the 8th placed Pride of Portree who made a freak run to the Grand Final after going within two goals of missing the Top Eight entirely. And of course no-one will ever forget the Kenmare Kestrels' last League Cup in 2007, when they were winless after five rounds and 11th at the half way stage. Then came a run of nine consecutive wins which saw them scrape into the finals in 7th then run through all above them to be champions.
The Arrows and Harpies are traditional powerhouses and both will want to improve drastically on the disappointment of last season. The Bats are particularly enigmatic, having performed so impressively last year but still lacking that cutting edge needed to actually become champion. The Wanderers and Falcons are always thereabouts early on but rarely challenge when it matters. The Prides, Catapults and Kestrels are inexperienced and look likely to struggle. Most assuredly one can rely on the Cannons to be last or somewhere very close to it. They are a mammoth 89 Galleons just to make the finals.
Round 1 Preview
Although we have been denied a Grand Final rematch in Round 1 like in recent years, there is still plenty of excitement to be had ahead of this weekend. First and foremost comes the season opener between the Tornados and Wanderers. On the surface the Tornados should be comfortable favourites, but the Wanderers are somewhat of a bogey team for the reigning champions. Theircompact in-your-face defensive style doesn't suit Tutshill's weaving but narrow Chaser formations. In recent history the Tornados have comfortably outperformed the Wanderers on the table, but it's been a very different story in one-on-one clashes, which have been split four apiece since 2006. They faced off in the Semi Finals last year and it was a tight and spiteful encounter which the Tornados won from behind.
The intrigue continues on Saturday with three encounters that capture the attention for very different reasons. Most notable is the rematch of last year's marathon Preliminary Final between the Ballycastle Bats and Montrose Magpies. But before they lift off, the Pride of Portree face the Chudley Cannons. This is a friendly but fraught draw for both teams. The Prides were one of only two teams Chudley beat last year. If they can pull off a similar result it will likely consign Portree to another anonymous season. If the Prides can score an emphatic win though, momentum may carry them anywhere, meanwhile the Cannons will sigh and prepare for the usual season-long doldrums. The third game in a stunning triple header sees the League's two most violent teams, the Falmouth Falcons and Appleby Arrows, facing off in what is guaranteed to be a vindictive and borderline disturbing encounter.
Sunday has a feeling of anti-climax with the two games both likely to be fairly uncompetitive hitch's. But there is still intrigue. The Holyhead Harpies were disappointing last year and a dominant performance against the Kenmare Kestrels will help kickstart their comeback to form. The Wimbourne Wasps will want to justify their favouritish by taking no prisoners against the Caerphilly Catapults.
Round 1 Betting Odds
Tutshill Tornados: 2G 13S - Wigtown Wanderers: 4G 16S (Wanderers +110)
Pride Of Portree: 2G - Chudley Cannons: 5G 16S 28K (Cannons +300)
Montrose Magpies: 2G 6S - Ballycastle Bats: 3G 16S (Bats +100)
Falmouth Falcons: 4G - Appleby Arrows: 2G 15S (Falcons +60)
Kenmare Kestrels: 4G 16S 28K - Holyhead Harpies: 2G 12S (Kestrels +130)
Caerphilly Catapults: 7G - Wimbourne Wasps: 1G 11S 27K (Catapults +470)
Game Of The Week
It is very hard to overlook the Tornados-Wanderers clash, especially for the added spectacle being the season opener brings. But the clear standout in my levels of anticipation is the Bats vs the Magpies. Their fifty-two hour epic last year was the stuff of legend and both teams are still raw from the result. The Bats were devastated at such a trying end to what had been an unexpectedly stellar year. The Magpies retain their bitterness at the Bats for their stodgy defensive tactics. By successfully prolonging the game for so long, complete with an unending physical barrage, they unwittingly ensured the Magpies were far too fatigued to be able to match the Tornados in the subsequent Grand Final. Montrose must enter the match as favourites, but the potential for greatness is there. Maybe we'll even get another three-dayer.
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