NQL

The Macarthur Weasleys beat us to the punch and have already published an article about their games for the day, which you can find here.

University of Sydney Unspeakables 70* – 30 Sydney City Serpents

Cameron Caccamo – Manager, Sydney City Serpents

The University of Sydney Unspeakables have, for the first time, defeated reigning NSW Champions Sydney City Serpents in an absolute thriller. USyd’s Alex Cunningham caught the snitch shortly after the snitch entered the game, giving USyd a 70*-30 victory and first place in the NQL Divison 1 rankings.

From brooms-up it was clear this would be a very physical game, with an opening drive from Brandon Frison barely stopped by a bludgerless Serpents defence. USyd continued to pepper the Serpents defence with drive after drive, with Keepers Max Brenner and Nicholas Albornoz working in tandem with point-Chasers Frison and Cooper Fitzgerald to muscle their way through to score. The Serpents defence, with the inclusion of Raj Kapoor and Luke Derrick returning to Beating, did well to restrict USyd to just four goals.

USyd were just as strong on defence, with a star-studded Serpents line-up finding it difficult to execute under such pressure. Samantha Chittenden was especially unrelenting, leading the way to restrict the Serpents to the lowest score of the season.

The Beating game was glorious to watch, with Derrick and Harry Jones having another scintillating face-off to the delight of the crowd. USyd’s Breanna Lee also showed off excellent defensive skill against a far more experienced player in Rhiannon Gordon, consistently denying her a bludger late in the game as the Serpents threw everything at USyd to regain bludger control just before snitch-on-pitch.

This top-of-the-table clash was the third heart-stopping encounter between these two teams I’ve been a part of, and the first one the Unspeakables have been able to clutch out. The roar from the sidelines and the jubilation from USyd after the catch was called showed just how much this win meant to them. With so much history between the two sides, you can guarantee that this rivalry will continue to throw up classic games like this one.

Ana Barciela – Captain, Macquarie Marauders (AR for this game)

There’s nothing worse than refereeing a game as exhilarating as Unspeakables vs Serpents, as you do not get to properly appreciate the high quality of their game play. The clash between, in my opinion, the two top teams in New South Wales, is always anyone’s game, and twenty-plus of adrenaline for both players and spectators.

I can mostly comment on beater play, as that was what I was watching, though it seems to me as it was what controlled the game. Every goal seemed to stem from the chasers perfectly reading and taking advantage of an opening made by the beater battle. This game saw the return of Luke Derrick to his main position, which gave us beautiful moments of Derrick v Harry Jones, a fight of both strategy and skill, and mostly even throughout the game. You could tell that Derrick hadn’t been beating for a while, but even on an off day he still sits comfortable amongst the best. However, Dropbear reserve Jones is one of the players that can, and will, challenge him, as we very well saw in incredible plays that felt impossible to referee with how quickly the beats were being thrown around.

Of course, this was only made possible by the high calibre beater rotations on both sides, to clean up or back up the havoc these two can cause. There is strong talent on both sides, that may not always be noticed due to their main beater’s shadows but having to watch solely beater play it was very apparent that those two players are not the sole reason behind both team’s general beater dominance.

Recent addition to the Unspeakables, Harry Huang, proved he deserved the upgrade, fearlessly challenging the opposition in their zone, and participating in a good number of possession changes. On the Serpents side, Rhiannon Gordon refuses to stop improving, covering for chaotic plays at moments, and leading successful beater attacks in others.

This is all I can say from an AR’s perspective, but I do hope to be a spectator for the rematch of this game!

Newcastle Fireballs 70* – 40 Macquarie Marauders

Ana Barciela – Captain, Macquarie Marauders

Macquarie and Newcastle are destined to be each other’s closest games this season, as this game has shown. The game was low scoring, due to a combination of Newcastle’s physical defence making it hard for Macquarie’s still unpolished offense to score, and in return Macquarie’s successful implementation of the Baylor defense (three players each guarding a hoop, fourth is a roving point defender) forcing Newcastle out of their usual offensive game and making it harder, though not impossible, for them to score. An unfortunate – from our perspective, of course – goal from Newcastle right before Macquarie’s snitch catch send the game into overtime (I’m sensing a trend starting for Mac?). Overtime started in Macquarie’s favour, with the team gaining possession of the quaffle and holding tight onto it, relying on the snitch catch to win the game. With intense beater battles around the snitch, it was anyone’s game for a while – until a red card deprived Macquarie of one of their beaters, making defending their seeker and beating the oppositions nearly impossible. The game ended with a catch from Newcastle, bringing the score to a tight 70*-40.

University of Sydney Unspeakables 220* – 90 Australian National University Owls

Cooper Fitzgerald – University of Sydney Unspeakables read more

The Macarthur Weasleys beat us to the punch and have already published an article about their games for the day, which you can find here.

University of Sydney Unbreakables 250 – 80* University of Sydney Unforgiveables

Anita Granger – University of Sydney Unforgiveables (with additional reporting from Cameron Caccamo)

Despite coming from the same club, the USyd Unbreakables did not take it easy on their Unforgivable stablemates, using defensive seeking to ensure a maximum points differential win in their quest to top Division 2.

The Unbreakables did not have a perfect start, with two quick Unforgiveable goals leading to a 20-all scoreline early in the game. The depth of the Unbreakable squad started to show soon however – with dynamic beater pairing Haydn Johanssen and Julia Baker giving the Unbreakables plenty of breathing space in the chaser game and leading to quick points. read more

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Ana Barciela – Macquarie Marauders

For Div 1, I’d say at the Serpents are the best at the moment. After all, they are a team comprised of top level, committed players, who take the sport seriously and train accordingly, all seemingly well versed in quidditch strategy and passionate about it. Their strict recruitment is understandable when you want to play in a team where all the players take the sport seriously. I hope they are paving the way for more competitive, high level community teams to rise, but right now they have that edge on all other teams. I think there’s a clear distinction in Div 1 between the top four (Serpents, Unspeakables, WSQC and ANU) and Newcastle and Macquarie.

Although any of the top teams could challenge Serpents for that first place, especially with the plethora of experience and national and state players they have between them, I consider the Unspeakables their biggest threat. They escape the curse of university teams, that have to work around a squad of players with different level of commitments, due to their ridiculous numbers and three teams. This gives the Unspeakables the advantage of fielding the most competitive, committed and talented players, mirroring what I previously said about Serpents training ethics. Their match up this weekend will be thrilling to watch! 

“Any of the top teams could challenge Serpents for that first place, especially with the plethora of experience and national and state players they have between them”

As for what the teams outside the top four need to do move up, it’s different for each team. Newcastle has been in a consistent level for quite some time now, and I attribute that to a combination of using the same tactics repeatedly, and a reliance on the same players. For elite teams, their pattern is easy to pick up and counter, as they have both the player skill and tactical knowledge to do so. A dynamic change could help Newcastle catch up. As for Macquarie, they’re one of the three teams that had to rebuild after a mass exodus, but the only one in division one. Although a lot claim this to be ‘unfortunate’, it is a great chance to train the new squad up by being thrown in the deep end. As they’re starting back basically from scratch, what they need at the moment is patience, and a lot of training, and to finding the right balance in doing so as to not overwhelm new players and at the same time not bore the experienced ones.

It’s harder for me to pick the best team in Div 2. I think it’s a tight fight for the first spot, but I’m putting my money on Weasleys at the moment. They have worked hard throughout the years to bring themselves to a competitive level, and it was shown last year with them giving top teams close games, and even upset victories. Their relentlessness and unwavering acceptance of all players in the past has provided the team with enough experience and skill to push for that top spot.

That being said, they will face quite a challenge from other teams. The Unbreakables have a very solid chance of topping the division as well, now that USyd has made a split between a B and C team. They have shown promising plays in the games I have watched, and have some stand out players, that hopefully don’t get poached by the Unspeakables so that they can help bring the team up. They’re certainly relentless, and some of their plays in offence are quite risky and unadvisable against elite teams, though mostly successful in their division. Playing against equal teams this year will give them plenty of opportunity to learn hands-on strategy and the right calls to make in a game. We can also not discount UNSW or UTS. Their recent turnover of players makes it hard to predict how well they will do this year, but their history as strong teams, and the coaching of veteran players could guide them to the top of division as well.

My hot take? There are quite a few rematches this tournament of games that did not go well at all in the previous ones, and this is the tournament that will smooth things over and solidify rivalries.

Cooper Fitzgerald – University of Sydney Unspeakables

I’d say the Serpents are the strongest side in NSW right now. Their sheer depth and experience place them above all the teams in NSW. Their chaser game is incredibly powerful and can muscle through any defence if their beaters get the upper hand.

However, the Unspeakables have the ability to challenge the Serpents. Both Serpents and Unspeakables won all of their round 1 games out of range, with the Unspeakables beating Western Sydney out of range, the team who seems likely to place third. The Unspeakables have an upper foot on the Serpents in terms of all round beater play, and the chaser play isn’t too much weaker. The game this Sunday will be very telling as to how the rest of the season will go.

The Unspeakables have the ability to challenge the Serpents.  The Unspeakables have an upper foot on the Serpents in terms of all round beater play, and the chaser play isn’t too much weaker. read more