BAFANL Predictions, Week 11

National League South Central

Milton Keynes Pathfinders at Maidstone Pumas

The Pumas are having a season to forget, a season in which they could break a record for the most points conceded in a season. We hope it doesn't come to that, but for now Milton Keynes will roll over those Pumas and make them purr.

Milton Keynes by 5 scores.

Premiership North

Nottingham Ceasars at Sheffield Predators

Perhaps one of the winners of the restructure, the Sheffield predators managed to avoid a season slicing through division one like a hot knife through butter and instead find themselves playing with the bigger boys. They have been more productive in the North than their final rivals from last year, the Saxons, have been in the South. The Ceasars on the other hand have looked frankly dismal. 

Sheffield to win by 6 scores

Premiership South

South Wales Warriors at Cambridgeshire CatsA long away game for the Warriors, as the two teams on either end of the Geographical spectrum of the premiership south square off. Cambridge swept aside Sussex last weekend by just outscoring them, and with South Wales looking in worse shape than Sussex, the Cats should have no problem clawing out this victory, however they will want to show some pride, and try not to concede anything.

Cats to win by 5 scores


Berkshire Renegades at London Blitz

The London Blitz have taken to the habbit of outscoring the London Warriors in as many games as they can. The Renegades faced a brutal 71-0 defeat and if the Blitz are wanting to stay in the continued outscoring form, they will be looking to better than. Spirits may be somewhat higher in the Renegades camp after a good outing against the Olympians, but the Blitz, the Olympians are not. (#yoda)

Blitz by ten scores and a safety


Bristol Aztecs at London Olympians

Our shout for game of the week right here. With the Cats snapping at the heels of these two teams, one can't help but feel this will be the decider for the third place in the South. The Aztecs have looked on great form, with Gareth Thomas finding his rhymn in the last game throwing for over 300 on Sussex. The Olympians have been a little off the beat, not being able to put away the lower ranked teams in the same fashion as the Blitz, Warriors and even Aztecs. One thing riding in the O's favour is being at home, and that could well swing the balance. Both teams will have circled this as potentially their biggest game of the season from the get go, with away trips to Scotland in the playoffs on the mind of both teams, it's a must win affair. 

This one will go down to who wants it more, and which team can pull out the better line play (the big difference between a good team and a great team).

The Olympians have been at #3 all year for the reason that we think they will end up there.

O's to win by a score.

Premiership Power Rankings

Now that we’re a considerable way into the season, we felt that it was time for a change with our Premiership rankings. Therefore, we’ve decided to combine the two rankings together, as well as introducing a writer’s power ranking from next week.

So sit back, enjoy our rankings and post your comments if you don’t agree with them. (Stupid comments will be deleted.)

1. London Blitz (3-0)

Despite not having a game this weekend, the Blitz come out as the #1 team in our new and improved Premiership ranking. With the Renegades coming up this weekend, the Blitz will be using this game as good preparation before their London derby against the Olympians the following week.

2. London Warriors (7-0)

With a 7-0 record, the Warriors could easily be the number one team on this power ranking, but for now, they claim the #2 spot. With their final three games spread over the next nine(!) weeks, the Warriors won’t be moving down our rankings any time soon.

3. East Kilbride Pirates (4-0)

A 39-7 road win over the Lancashire Wolverines cemented the Pirates place as the third best team in the country. With their next game coming up against the undefeated Sheffield Predators, the Pirates may be in a battle to retain their spot for another week.  

AFL Week 10 Preview

Saturday 22nd June

JCL Graz Giants @ Danube Dragons - 16:00 GMT

Whilst it's almost a forgone conclusion that the Dragons will make the playoffs, this game offers them the chance to at least make an attempt on overtaking the Giants for third place and in doing so a playoff spot against the leagues number two seed. The Giants won the first meeting between these two all the way back in week two with a score of 49 - 36 and the Giants running game dominating. This means that if the Dragons do want a shot at that third place then need to win by at least 14 points this week.

Will Good and the Giants option game get the better of the Dragons again?
© Kellner Holly Thomas/Gridiron Photography

The Giants run in to the playoffs is possibly the toughest in the league with both the Dragons this week and the undefeated Vikings the weekend after and so there's a very realistic chance that if they drop their game this weekend that they could be knocked down into fourth place and be the lowest seeded team going into the playoffs, which is a situation they would want to avoid.

The result will most likely be decided once again by the team that has the better running game and with both teams having fantastic athletes at both the running back and quarterback positions I doubt there will be a lack of yardage gained on the ground. The two key players that need to be kept tabs on during this game are Tunde Ogun for the Dragons and Alex Good for the Giants, Ogun was unleashed on the Raiders last week and is a big reason that the Dragons managed to put up 31 points and Good is always the catalyst of a strong Giant option run game so keep an eye on what these guys manage to produce and it may give you a good indication of who took the win.

Prediction: Another high scoring affair, but the Giants put up their sixth win 41-35.

Euro American Challenge

Europlayers in partnership with EUROstopwatch, MMX and CDFL is pleased to announce the Euro American Challenge on December, 20th 2013.

This friendly game will be played in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (USA) with 70 players from Europe and America with a live stream web cast and exposure to NFL and CFL Scouts to give these elect players the chance to live their dream. The American team will be made of current professional football free agents whereas the Euro squad will consist of the top American football players in Europe.

To select the best 35 European players combines will be organized throughout Europe from September to November. These 35 European players will fly to the United States in December to play in the Euro American Challenge game.

National League Power Rankings, Week 10

1. Colchester Gladiators (4-0)

No game for the Glads this week so they remain top for another week but the Thrashers and Nighthawks are chasing them down hard.

2. Solent Thrashers (5-0)

Not a convincing win this weekend but the Solent Thrashers remained unbeaten with a 20-6 win over the new boys, the Swindon Storm. They’re taking the South by storm, the newly rebranded Solent side, and they’ll be looking to continue in good form until the end of the season.

3. Merseyside Nighthawks (5-0)

A 22-8 win over Staffordshire got the job done for Merseyside but it’s far from a pretty score line. Are the injuries we heard about starting to take a toll on the Nighthawks? Or was this just a one-off slip? Or is that we’re being disrespectful to the Surge on a great showing? Up next for Merseyside is the Bombers in Lincolnshire.