USAFL Season Preview Week - Central South

Deep in the American heartland, the game of footy continues to grow with new teams challenging old stalwarts in each of the top two Nationals divisions.  This year's Nationals will be held in Austin, so you know that all three Texan squads will be licking their chops to hoist hardware on home soil.

With the recently played College National 10s Tournament, a new door has been opened for clubs to hopefully recruit athletes from nearby colleges to help grow the game on and off the pitch.  The fruits of their recruitment will be put to the test in what should be some entertaining matchups across the Midwest.

Twice the Austin Crows have hosted the National Championships, twice they hoisted hardware.  The last time they did so, it was the John Harrell Cup as champions of Division I.

Last season looked like another banner year, as they went unbeaten against some formidable competition.  They took the Texas Cup, getting by Dallas and Houston, en route to an unbeaten season.  Three Crows also represented the club at the International Cup: Jeff Talmadge, Christian Merritt, and Ben Carpenter.

Arriving in Dublin, however, it fell apart on Saturday afternoon, as they were outkicked by the eventual runners up from Orange County, and were shut down offensively by Denver in the final game.

2015 presents itself as largely the same for the Crows.  Ben May and Wes Mitchell lead the way, and the club will hope to have the services of the lightning-quick Noor Jenghir come Nationals time.   One big loss will be Carpenter, who is heading to Melbourne to play for Montrose of the Eastern Football League, but he should also be back come October.

The matchups with the Texas teams are always fun to watch, and they’ll have Denver again this season in a game the ‘Doggies will want to exact revenge in.

Onion Creek Soccer Complex has always been friendly to the murder from the Texan capital.  Last year will sting, but their home field advantage should shine through.  Definite Grand Final contenders.

Preseason Nationals Projection: Middle-to-High Seed, Division I.

The Tigers from the Pelican State have had a rough geaux of it (see what I did there?) the last few seasons, with numbers just enough to satisfy metro standards.  The game is receiving a bit of a boost thanks to the number of Australian punters that are going through that city’s university.  But it’s still not translating to a boost for the team, sadly.

All of that said, their biggest battles have been against Atlanta; they split their games in 2014, each winning at home.  The Kookaburras are a pretty good barometer of where they are competitively, but they enter the new year still trying to draw from the pool of potential recruits from LSU.  Their help in organizing an LSU team for the College 10s this fall should help drive things a little bit.

Baton Rouge sent just two players, Neil Stebbing and president Josh Cartmill to Dublin, and they played with Houston’s reserves in Division 4.  This year’s Nats will be closer to home, so while a better turnout is expected, they’ll be paired up with another club once again in Austin.

Preseason Nationals Projection: Division IV.

From 2009 through 2012, no team saw a more meteoric rise through the ranks at Nationals than the Dallas Magpies.  They rose their way to the top of all three Divisions over the course of four years, winning through playing a tough brand of footy but hitting their spots when needed and wearing down the competition.

We all know what happened in 2012 that saw their Division I Grand Final vacated.  After a year away from Nationals during which they saw some turnover deplete the side, the Magpies took to the field in 2014 looking to exorcise any demons that may have still circled them.

Dallas took the rocky road to Dublin during the regular season.  They went 4-9 overall, six of those nine losses came against teams that would compete in D1 at the end of the year.  At Nationals, the slide continued, as they scored just 25 points over three games in a winless effort.

New leadership in 2015 will see the ‘Pies rebuild through recruiting, and they have already snapped up some promising Aussie and American talent to wrap around their core team.  The multi-faceted Craig Storer leads them out of the middle, combining with Jarred Rexilius and Jake Williams.  Sophomore players Patrick Pryor and Derek Epperson will be joined by Mike Mayne, who comes back after spending 2014 hobbled with an injury.  And the ever dangerous Brenn Miller continues to lurk up front.

As we head into the year, Dallas appears to be the team on the bubble for demotion down to Division 2.  Their performances against Austin, Houston, and a road encounter at New York will be the key decider in what happens.  They are still capable of D1 quality football, but they’ll need to prove it from game one.

Preseason Nationals Projection: Low Seed, Division I.

Though their in-state rivals in Dallas and Austin have set pretty high marks in establishing themselves on the footy scene, the club from the Energy City is rapidly catching up with them.  2015 may be the year they do finally rise to the occasion.

Now, that’s a pretty bold statement when you consider that both Texas sides had their way with the Lonestars in 2014; in full squad matches, they went 1-5 against the Magpies and Crows, combined.  But they competed well in split squad matches against both sides early in the year, and the play of Michael Rix and team Best and Fairest Stu Job stood out as the team prepared for Nationals.

Having won the Division flag a year earlier, the ‘Stars came to Dublin having been tipped as favorites to win a very tough group in Division 2.  But after winning their first two matches, they fell heartbreakingly short against Columbus, going down by five points on Sunday morning.

But there is a great amount of hope in Houston for the sport and the club.  The Lonestars made a good amount of inroads in recruiting players from the University of Houston to play in November’s College National 10s tournament, and are looking to further draw on the large Aussie population living in the city.

Just as in last season, they’ll focus their attention on playing Dallas and Austin, preparing for a better Division 2 run just up the road in the capital.   With L.A. moving up, they have to be considered favorites again.

Preseason Nationals Projection: High Seed, Division II.

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon

And life has, unfortunately, caused a great deal of turnover within a team that played in Division II as recently as 2010.  A number of key Australians have gone home since then, numbers have dwindled, and the Power were relegated to helping out the Denver Reserves at Nationals the last couple of seasons.

But for KC, the quality still remains, and there is still a very good core group of players for a resurgence to happen.  The Leyva bothers, Justin and Christiaan, were one of five Power players on the roster that joined with the Bulldogs “B” team that came up just short in the Division 4 Grand Final.

The boys from Cowtown will face strong tests from Tulsa and Des Moines this season, which should help them getting ready for Nationals.  The only question will be recruiting to keep the numbers up.  With Nationals not too far away distance-wise, a good showing and a good turnout in October could see the team move up.  But like Atlanta, those are big “ifs”.

Preseason Nationals Projection: Division IV.

Based right up the road from Lexington, the Fury were formed in late 2014 and have started to recruit for the future.  It may prove to be a bit difficult considering their proximity to Cincinnati and Louisville, but with the University of Kentucky in their backyard, there should be a good pool of converts in the offing.

2015 will be a building year for them, with hopes to begin play in 2016.

Emlington Park in downtown Nashville emerged early in the USAFL’s history as one of the best and most imposing grounds to play on; the latter description moreso for opponents of the Nashville Kangaroos.  After a year away, the ‘Roos will return there for 2015.

Despite posting a 5-3-1 regular season record overall, Nashville suffered from a lack of production from their forward line.  That fact is evidenced by the fact that their leading scorer, Cliff “Nugget” Consnahan, played most of the year in the middle of the field.  Losses to Columbus and Chicago in September led to a disappointing three-and-out finish in Division II at Nationals.

President David “Frosty” Harris and the rest of the Kangaroos’ board has been hard at work this offseason revitalizing the team for the future, both immediate and distance.  They have a coach, something they didn’t have last year, and they will be expanding their Metro competition in hopes of cultivating some homegrown talent in one of the most underrated sports cities in America.

Evan “Colonel” Ling and famed goalkicker Luke Nemeth head the veteran group of this bunch into a year that should hopefully produce more “W”s for the boys from the Music City.  Just as in last year, the Swans and Jackaroos will be their biggest tests of where they are in comparison to the other Divvy 2 sides.

Either way, it’ll be another hopeful season in Smashville.

Preseason Nationals Projection: Middle Seed, Division II.

Born from two guys kicking a footy around on a rugby ground several year ago, Tulsa president Dustin Brasel has built a club that is versatile enough to handle both the 10s and 18s formats, mostly using the 2x20 game system.  Though they were clearly overmatched in games against Dallas and Denver during the season last year, they scored big wins over Des Moines and Minnesota’s reserves.  In a metro game against Kansas City, they connected for a league-best 46 scoring shots; though only 19 found the big sticks, it was a pretty impressive performance nonetheless.

The Buffs are one of the great up-and-coming club stories in the USAFL, and they enter 2015 looking to continue the momentum from Nationals.  They were one of only two full, non-reserve clubs to play in Division 4, and made a great run on Saturday before falling to the Power/Bulldogs Reserves combo on Sunday morning.

Brasel, reigning club MVP Andrew Rose, and the Rasbolds twins, Stephen and Andrew, lead the boys from the banks of the Arkansas River into an ambitious campaign that will see them travel all over the Midwest once again in search of experience -- and wins.   New coach Andrew Sneed will have over 30 players at his disposal this year, and a sister club in Oklahoma City is a testament to the amount of recruiting that Tulsa has done. 

This is a club that continues to grow, and the intrigue of the team grows when you consider that the Buffs will be travelling 6000 or so miles to play their matches this year.   Another season of Division 4 for Tulsa will do this club very well, but their ascension further into the Nationals stage is not too far away.

Preseason Nationals Projection: Division IV