Media Qox Sports presents State of Game - S26

[spookism]

​

It's back baby. A simple overview of the off-season moves made by each club and a small note how they're sitting as we enter the second half of the Sweet FA's first 50 seasons.

As a side note: The Poster's section from last season has been replaced with amount of posters voted into the Top 60 of the S25 MVP count. A more accurate account, however as you'll see, it's not without it's flaws.
I also considered a rookie 'active' if they posted more than 5 times in the first round. If I do a mid season update, the average will need to be at least 10 to be considered active.

Now without much further ado, let's have a look at the moves and recruitment from this most recent off-season.

​

Some dot points:

34 Rookies Brought into the comp. 11 by the Bears themselves, none by the Hawks or Royals. Of the 34, 15 managed to post more than 5 times in Round 1, with 10 of them going above that (some going well above.)

26 Players moved clubs, which is up on the 19 from last season. The Furies lost the most with 5 players moving clubs, while the Gumbies recruited the most with 5, with the Hawks and Bombers not far behind on 4 each.

6 players returned from the wilderness, while 9 players avoided delisting by officially stating they were retiring. 33 players didn't avoid that fate and were unceremoniously dumped by their respective teams.

Most teams kept roughly the same amount of Top 60 posters in their line ups, although the Furies didn't replace the two that they lost and were clearly the biggest hit.

Next: Team overviews.

 

[spookism]

Firstly, the Baghdad Bombers in their least controversial off-season in a few seasons has seen them not slow down on turning over their list. They brought in the league average of 6 players, while being equal second in poaching players from other sides. KohPhi should be rather impressed with the off season, with some great mid-tier posters joining. They really only lost okeydoke7 and no one from last season's MVP, meaning they increased that figure with Cheval leaving the Swamprats for the Baghdad, in what was clearly a work transfer. The one rookie recruit has yet to make a real appearance.


The team that made the biggest change to their line up was the Las Vegas Bears, who turned over a huge 40% of their list. Full props to JoshWoodenSpoon for giving this a go, however it could be fraught with many issues. We all remember what happened when the Bombers delisted almost half their squad a few seasons ago. Anyway, the Bears removed 10 posters worth of dead-weight, brought in one-third of this season's entire rookie class, while brahj also returned to his spiritual home. Most of the eleven rookies showed up for Round 1, but only 4 managed to get around more than a post a day and, in fact, were mostly hyper-active, including the enigma @kdaava . How the rest of the season plays out will be anyone's guess.


Next, we have the Mount Buller Demons. They had a standard off-season by bringing in 5 and losing 4. Yakker will feel the loss of RodneyDangerfield the most, while the ins are okay and manangatang has certainly made his presence known, the three rookies have not made an early impact on proceedings. A list that will keep on plodding on, but could use a partial reboot in the next season or two.


Now, for everyone's favourite team to discuss in the off-season The Dragons FFC. Captain's Hatchy1992 and Blaze Storm need to acknowledge that there is problems and that there has been for a while. Have they done things to change this, or at the very least move in a positive direction? A first glance, they've definitely added talking points in their recruitment and non-recruitment of established players already. The had a massive out with The Half Back moving on, but they also brought in six rookies, two of whom have made big inroads early. So the signs are okay after round one and hopefully they can keep it up. Must also sign a big name before the start of the next season, preferably two.

 

[spookism]

The Fighting Furies are clearly the side hit hardest by established players leaving and moving onto new teams. No less than five Furies uprooted and left the nest, while two stalwarts in Equus and flaps announced their retirements, leaving skipper NaturalDisaster with a huge job.

Wait… ND is captain? s**t, hey.

Anyway, he brought in a known melter and someone that is on different timezone, so the result could be interesting. Giving the Furies more hope is the couple of rookies who have shown up. The Furies have lost a huge chunk of the known and are left with a lot of unknown. Strong engagement this season is a must, otherwise…


The East Side Hawks, what can I say about these gods of the Qooty world that hasn’t been said? But, seriously, another strong off-season for the team that had the highest score in last seasons MVP and they will likely be around the same mark with the recruitments of posters such as THB and Golumless. This is despite the huge losses of brahj and BRAB , two posters who could easily keep the most mundane thread moving and avoided spamming at the same time. The Hawks were one of only two teams not to draft at least one rookie in, meaning Loonerty is clearly happy with his lot and expecting a sustained performance from last year’s rookie batch.


The other team that didn’t recruit one of this season’s 34 rookies was the Gold City Royals. There was some confusion about who is captain, but I don’t think new recruit 3121 premiers has taken the reigns from Blacky yet. They also brought in RodneyDangerfield , who could be a huge in. The losses aren’t earth-shattering, especially when Mr Poopybutthole retired mid-season anyway.

A strong showing for a team that has promised to be one of the top dogs in the comp for a few seasons to come.


Speaking of same-old same-old, the current premiers, in the Roys FFC have decided that a Back to the Future approach is best. The least list changes in the Sweet FA for the season. They didn’t recruit from other teams, instead fitzroybowiedog instead brought back Freakie and Broken and one rookie to the list. They lost a couple of big-number posters and Wise Guy Sam finally got too old for that s**t. Freakie and Broken, if they return to their best, are potentially two of the biggest recruits of the season. The Roys do seem to scrape through every season with only the smallest list changes, but they’re also almost invisible with only 3 posters in the Top 60 and they lost two of them to other teams. A more pronounced presence outside of match threads is a must.

 

[spookism]

My old team, The Sin City Swamprats, are the next cab of the rank. Expect much of the same as the last few seasons, as they’ve recruited a couple of rookies and brought in two posters with SarahSmiles and the returning I Dont Care able to turn a match thread over quickly. Both of ant bear’s new rookies made a showing in the match thread, which is a good sign. Every match thread made it to over 1,000 posts in Round 1, with the Swampies thread topping the pile at over 2,000 – expect much of the same for the remainder of the season.


The biggest move the Coney Island Warriors made in the off-season was the changing of the Captains from Wooshette back to Frankston warrior . Will the grumpy campaigner’s attitude be viable for a second stint at captaincy? Time will tell. In regard to the list changes, they lost the hyper-active BLERN and while they have one rookie make an impact, they’re a bit light on. They’ve managed to keep four posters from the Top 60, so they do have a base to work from. Franky will need to work some magic this season to keep this team together and then adding on it come Christmas time.


And then we have the Geelong Gumbies, who I’ve been too lazy to change the alphabetical order of since they returned from the Wolves. This season sees Fryer Tuck take on the poisoned chalice of Gumbie Captain as Golumless moves on. The rest of the seven outs were all list cloggers, so with the Gumbies starting from the bottom, the in’s can only add to them – but, will they add enough to make them even slightly relevant?

The biggest knock on the Gumbies was there performance at last season’s MVP – they had a measly two posters in the top 60 and the top vote getter SM retired to mine the salt farms halfway through the season. So, bringing in BLERN and BRAB are huge gets and will have to lead from the front, and they managed to snaffle 3 other posters from clubs, making them the team that recruited from the league the most. The American rookie import seems to have failed, but they had at least one rookie make a showing.

This really is a make or break season, if anything goes wrong – it will be goodnight.


Finally, the team I’m experiencing first hand this week – the West Coast Wonders. haydo is again in charge and keeping in tradition with most of the other clubs this season, he changed over his squad by 4-5 players. A few established posters have moved on, but they were mostly mid-tier so they could be replaced with a rejuvenated ShaunDuggan and the one time teen-angst king okeydoke7 who have both moved to the Wonders. Haydo’s one rookie made a decent showing in the first round, so there is hope there. The Wonder’s will continue to be a decent mid-tier squad

 

[Fizzler]

That’s all well and good but the only “State of” I’m interested in is State of Origin

 

[spookism]

That’s all well and good but the only “State of” I’m interested in is State of Origin

State of Origin died a long time ago friend.

 

[fitzroybowiedog]

Speaking of same-old same-old, the current premiers, in the Roys FFC have decided that a Back to the Future approach is best. The least list changes in the Sweet FA for the season. They didn’t recruit from other teams, instead fitzroybowiedog instead brought back Freakie and Broken and one rookie to the list. They lost a couple of big-number posters and Wise Guy Sam finally got too old for that s**t. Freakie and Broken, if they return to their best, are potentially two of the biggest recruits of the season. The Roys do seem to scrape through every season with only the smallest list changes, but they’re also almost invisible with only 3 posters in the Top 60 and they lost two of them to other teams. A more pronounced presence outside of match threads is a must.

I'll pronounce you outside of the match thread.

behind the bushes after class, lets go.

 

[spookism]

I'll pronounce you outside of the match thread.

behind the bushes after class, lets go.

I heart you too... sometimes.

 

[fitzroybowiedog]

I heart you too... sometimes.

sometimes......



.....crushed.

 

[U2tigers]

​

It's back baby. A simple overview of the off-season moves made by each club and a small note how they're sitting as we enter the second half of the Sweet FA's first 50 seasons.

As a side note: The Poster's section from last season has been replaced with amount of posters voted into the Top 60 of the S25 MVP count. A more accurate account, however as you'll see, it's not without it's flaws.
I also considered a rookie 'active' if they posted more than 5 times in the first round. If I do a mid season update, the average will need to be at least 10 to be considered active.

Now without much further ado, let's have a look at the moves and recruitment from this most recent off-season.

​

Some dot points:

34 Rookies Brought into the comp. 11 by the Bears themselves, none by the Hawks or Royals. Of the 34, 15 managed to post more than 5 times in Round 1, with 10 of them going above that (some going well above.)

26 Players moved clubs, which is up on the 19 from last season. The Furies lost the most with 5 players moving clubs, while the Gumbies recruited the most with 5, with the Hawks and Bombers not far behind on 4 each.

6 players returned from the wilderness, while 9 players avoided delisting by officially stating they were retiring. 33 players didn't avoid that fate and were unceremoniously dumped by their respective teams.

Most teams kept roughly the same amount of Top 60 posters in their line ups, although the Furies didn't replace the two that they lost and were clearly the biggest hit.

Next: Team overviews.

Isn't SunshineTiger from the Royals a rookie as well?

 

[Dav]

Isn't SunshineTiger from the Royals a rookie as well?

I think he's a returning player.

 

[spookism]

Isn't SunshineTiger from the Royals a rookie as well?

I think he's a returning player.

Correct

 

[SunshineBoy]

Correct

Isn't SunshineTiger from the Royals a rookie as well?

I think he's a returning player.

First time player guys

 

[SunshineBoy]

Just because I’m the best doesn’t mean I have played before

 

[U2tigers]

First time player guys

thought so. Cheers

 

[SunshineBoy]

thought so. Cheers

I’m still the best though

 

[Reardo]

Nice write up spookism, very insightful. Will you revisit this thread at the conclusion of S26?

 

[Sterge]

Who were the 2 top 60 Furies that left?

 

[spookism]

Just because I’m the best doesn’t mean I have played before

Should speak to your Captain then. Has you as a returning player in the team registration thread.

Nice write up spookism, very insightful. Will you revisit this thread at the conclusion of S26?

I will try to do a mid - season and end of season review, yes.

Who were the 2 top 60 Furies that left?

Fumbles and manangatang

 

[Sterge]

Fumbles and manangatang

So 42 and 57, would have thought those 'lofty' numbers would be offset by the stunning return of a former top 17 poster

Truth be told I looked at the list saw Fumbles and didn't even realise manangatang had left that's how much of an impact he made

 

[spookism]

So 42 and 57, would have thought those 'lofty' numbers would be offset by the stunning return of a former top 17 poster

You would think so, but no...

 

[Sterge]

You would think so, but no...

I'll go and break the bad news to them

Another strike on NaturalDisaster's record

 

[spookism]

I'll go and break the bad news to them

Another strike on NaturalDisaster's record

If there is one thing that we can guarantee to go up, it's that tally

 

[Yakker]

didn't even realise manangatang had left that's how much of an impact he made

manangatang is killing it at Mt Buller. Seems it didn’t take long to wash the Furies off him at all. An A grade acquisition for the Dees that’s for sure

 

[manangatang]

So 42 and 57, would have thought those 'lofty' numbers would be offset by the stunning return of a former top 17 poster

Truth be told I looked at the list saw Fumbles and didn't even realise manangatang had left that's how much of an impact he made

I did my best work when you were threatening to ban anyone who tagged you in match threads.

Good memories.