2024 Nationals - Men's D1 and D2 Preview

Austin, Texas.  A capital city.

Capital in many respects.  It’s a great place to live.  There is some damn good food here.  Some of the best barebque and Tex-Mex I’ve had while grazing God’s green planet have been during one of our four previous trips to Austin for Nationals.

The music scene is really good too, whether you like country or indie or rock or whatever.  They are the Live Music Capital of the world after all.  Maybe the air makes the notes sound sweeter.  Who knows?

It’s slowly becoming a sporting capital as well.  It’s long been the home of the University of Texas, its winning football team, and all of the other college athletics that go with it.  Now they have an MLS club, and verde-clad Austin FC fans have watched their team excel in their first couple of seasons at beautiful Q2 Stadium.  In fact, the USMNT will be playing on Saturday and yours truly and a few others will take a break from football to go watch football.

But over the past decade, Austin has been the home of the winningest Aussie Rules men’s team in the country, and possibly on the planet.  Coupled with potent reserves teams and an up-and-coming women’s program, the Crows became the first club in USAFL history to take out the treble - winning the championship of three different divisions.

And now they’ll get a chance to defend that; and perhaps add a fourth, as they are all part of 45 teams coming to Onion Creek Soccer Complex for the 27th renewal of the USAFL National Championships.

The teams will battle each other - and mid 90’s degree heat - in seven divisions; five men’s divisions and two more for the women.  In this installment, we preview Men’s Division 1 and Men’s Division 2, where the hosts will have to fend off a hungry pack of clubs trying to spoil the party.  

MEN’S DIVISION 1

Six teams, three teams in two pools.  After round robin play on Saturday, the top two advance to the semifinals.

Pool A: Austin Crows (9-0), New York Magpies (6-2), Quebec Saints (5-3)

When you’re on the precipice of setting a record, there’s no place like home.  And for the Austin Crows, Dorothy Gale’s mantra rings true as they host the rest of the league this weekend.  They currently sit tied with the Denver Bulldogs for most Men’s D1 titles at eight.  They’re looking for their sixth flag in a row; uncharted territory for a men’s team, and haven’t lost at Nationals since 2017.

Oh, and for the first time since before the pandemic, they come to the big dance unbeaten, and come off wins over both the Doggies and Golden Gate in Denver to round out the regular season.

The Crows have gotten to where they are not simply on the backs of their Australian talent, but by recruiting Americans who have excelled for club and country.  The amount of national team talent past and present - Zack McKinney, Nolan Cox, Brian Dragus, Sam Gigliotti, and Ben Carpenter-Nwanyanwu amongst them, as well as French national teamer Jean-Baptiste Bouyer - has carried the side in good stead during the tremendous run.  They’ll be full of confidence that they can be the USAFL’s new benchmark club; especially when you consider that they have a chance to better last year’s treble by possibly taking out four different divisions.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  They have five other teams in this division to contend with, each brimming with their own bits of conviction that they can spoil the party and celebrate their own triumph on Sixth Street.

Both New York and Quebec carry the banner for the east coast in this circuit. Both teams faced off in Montreal back in June as a part of AFL Quebec’s annual tournament, with the ‘Pies coming away five point winners.

If you’ve kept up with the Odin Mortgage Top 20 Poll, you’ll know it’s no secret that the boys from the Big Apple feel they’re better than the #4 tag they were given for all bar one of the panels. Indeed, many remember the last time Nationals was in Austin; New York was seeded sixth and last in D1, but fought their way to the final ahead of Golden Gate.

As they look for their first cup in ten years, it’s a largely Australian outfit that wears the black and white. The usual veteran core of Shane Lowry, Adam Franklin, and Connor Delves has been augmented by several consistent local recruits, including Julian Reiss and Matteo Reiss.  Add in stalwarts Tim Arkellian, Mike Murphy and Spencer Riesbeck, and you’ve got a side primed to prove it belongs higher up the ladder.

Between their local AFLQ competition, rep matches, and those who were involved in the National team program this summer, the Quebec Saints have been a busy group. They locked horns with the Ottawa Swans on a few occasions this season, and battled both New York and Boston hard, splitting in matches against those two teams.

It’s a certainty that Les Saints will improve on their 7th place finish in 2023, and they will rile up their rivals from New York and ask Austin a ton of questions. Brett Whyborn and Phil Manassa were amongst the major ball winners in Florida a season ago. Veterans Bogdan Rotaru and Ronan Shaugnessy will also have Northwind player Yacine Bouche and Morgan Whyte to go with Kenneth Boudreau and Matthieu Quinto.

Pool B: Denver Bulldogs (6-4), Golden Gate Roos (6-2), Sacramento Suns (4-4)

Since Austin’s return to the top in 2018, only one club can claim to have gotten the better of them.  That’s the Denver Bulldogs.  The Mile High team picked them off in each of the three previous years, but were unable to replicate the feat at home three weekends ago.  But all of that can change if they can get to the Grand Final.  Twelve times have the Doggies played in the last game of Nationals weekend, and they are aware both in winning and losing efforts that it comes down to how well you play in those two days that can wash away a 6-4 season.

Denver’s success will come down to how well their American unit plays.  Luke Durkin, Joseph Karas, and Nicholas Moretto are multi-talented, and they will hope to have a big weekend out of Channing Hurley and William Loughlin as well. Lachlan Fleet, Matt Howell, and Daniel Duffield provided many offensive heroics in tournaments past, they will need to be on point this weekend if they wish to scale Mount Austin and take back their cup title outright.

One team that was perhaps a pretty strong claimant to title challenger hailed from the Bay Area.  The Golden Gate Roos blew into Denver at 6-0, but losses to both the Crows and Bulldogs seemed a bit Icarian.  They have, however, a couple of wins over Sacramento this year, albeit with a stiff challenge from the Suns, and are still going to be in the conversation once Sunday afternoon rolls ‘round.

This summer was pretty good for the Roos, which saw Dan Livy be named the captain of the All TransAtlantic Cup team, and Tim Lindfeldt be the role of anchor in the backline. David “Ace” Franco, a Revo Alumni, Luis Rayas, Declan McCarthy and Jaxon Sher will be American players to park your peepers on both at the ground and on the broadcast.  Alex Mayberry will be a tough player to stop, as will both Andrew Hazleton and Mackenzie Evans.  The Roos won it all in 2017, and almost pipped the Crows in the cold in Racine.  Can they do the deed in Austin?

Originally known at the Screamers, the Sacramento Suns have come a long way, baby, from their inaugural campaign in 2009. Staving off the charge of the Seattle Grizzlies to hang on to the D2 title last season, the Suns saw their premiere appearance in D1 down the pike and did their best to rise to the challenge. And they came damn close - just five points - to upending the Roos in the Western Regional Grand Final back in June.

Sacto has talent up and down the oval, some of which was shown on the international stage back in August.  Julian David had some timely goals, “Rabbit” Hutchings was a key linkup, and Erik Anderson’s defense helped the Revolution down Ireland in group play. Cody McElligott and Matthew Frederickson earned reserve squad nods and are ones to look to for the future after breakout seasons, and Todd Goodwin and Lucas Hauptman are strong players who rack up possessions. Irrespective of how the Suns do this weekend, this may be the best team they’ve brought to Nationals, and they’ll be proud of how far they’ve come.

MEN’S DIVISION 2

Eight teams; two groups of four teams each, winner of each pool goes to Grand final.

POOL A: Seattle Grizzlies (8-3), Baltimore Dockers (9-4), Austin Crows B, Columbus Cats (5-2)

With seven minutes left in the 2023 Men’s D2 Grand Final, the Seattle Grizzlies found themselves 23-points behind the Sacramento Suns. When the siren sounded, the Grizz were three points and twenty meters short. Though they had come agonizingly close to their first D2 title since 2008, the green-and-black laid the foundation for a deep run this year.  They took out the minor premiership in the BCAFL, and put on a solid 3rd-place finish at Western Regionals.

One of the breakout players that weekend in Utah was Thankakhan “Banksy” Chaichana, who is a hard hitter on the scoreboard and on a Scrabble board. The Grizzlies got a lot of run in this year, and their foreign legion led by Tyral Dalitz, Josh de Grandi, and Max Rennie, will try to maximize chances. Jim Oertel, Trent Loosemoore, and Rob Munn all had fine TransAtlantic Cup tournaments, and will try to get redemption from last year’s close encounter.

Back on the east coast, the Dock Show was also hard at work as they always are. They came up just short of the D2 final back in Florida, and slashed and dashed their way to nine wins. They stood toe-to-toe with a number of tough opponents, and took out the Mid-Atlantic Cup back in May.  Most remember their surprise run to the 2019 D2 decider after winning D4 the season before, and are always in the mix here.

Someone that isn’t acutely apparent in watching Baltimore play is that they are largely an American side - they’re that good. They only have half-dozen Aussies on their team, led by the deft Jack Chalmers, defensive wizard Albert Kobe, and seasoned vet Bryn Hansen. The local recruits are athletic and skilled; Nick Sisca, Jake Moyer, Mike Horney, and John O’Connor.  Isley Autrey has been a midfield sensation, and Albanian-born Val Kafexholli might be one of the Eastern region’s most exciting players to watch.

The Crows are like the Beatles; their A-sides are legendary but their B-sides are outright bangers in their own right. It's the names of old who began this dynasty and in some cases were part of the club’s pre-dominance days. This writer remembers Noor Jenghir running through the raindrops at the 2008 Nationals in Colorado Springs, as an example.  Lalo Herrera, Hamish Pellew, Keith Vosgerau, Jess Aguirre, and Jose Lopes are amongst the familiar monikers that will attempt to challenge and be a part of a possible record-breaking four-cup weekend for this band of Texans.

They might not be as prolific and as well known as the footballers who play in that giant horseshoe, but the Columbus Cats are cagy and athletic and are on the hunt for a first Men’s D2 title in eleven years. They showed well at home in the Super Regionals and showed the toughness that they’ve been known for since they joined the league in 2009. With two exceptions, this is an All-American side with American national team talent on it, and are better than perhaps their eighth-seed suggests.

Mark “Stork” McClure had a glorious week in Toronto, leading the TransAtlantic Cup field with ten goals in five games. Clyde Simpson and Derrick Shotwell also did well for the Revos that week, and lead a midfield grouping that also has the quickness of Stokley Onuba, the solid marking of Chase Beardsley, and the pressure of John Ziegler to it.  Cbus is the sort of team that will make you pay if you make too many mistakes, and they’re hoping to turn that into a finals berth.

Pool B: Boston Demons (5-4), San Diego Lions (6-2), DC Eagles (6-7), Houston Lonestars (8-2)

After two seasons in D1, the Dees are back in D2 and replication of their winning run in 2022. A huge season-ending victory over New York at home gave them a winning record after a challenging ledger.  They are the antithesis of Columbus and Baltimore in that exactly half of their team are Non-Nationals (10 Aussies and Ireland’s Michael Hickey), but that doesn’t dour any of their achievements, as their Americans are sound fundamentally and some have been around even before their D3 win in 2019.

Some of those Americans are ruck/tall specialist Geoff Hamshar and veterans David Moreton, John Cochenour and Michael Matera. Rookies Danny Hanrahan and Connor Lewis (not to be confused with Minnesota’s Connor Jo Lewis) have taken to the sport quickly and look to be a factor when the boys from Beantown take to the ground.  Jarryd Fernandes, Patrick Kean, and Jakob O’Meara Gill will be eying another championship and if they get to the final, the number of intriguing matchups there whets the appetite.

San Diego already has a trophy gleaming in the sunlight of their proverbial cupboard. Winners of the tri-cornered SoCal Cup, the Lions surfed their way to a 6-2 record, and joined up with local rivals Orange County in a spirited regionals effort. At one time the Boston Red Sox to the Denver Bulldogs’ New York Yankees, the Lions are trying to get back into the D1 fold provided they can take out their first D2 flag since 2019.

Lukas Golson lives up to his last name for sure; he has a nose for the goals and looms large in the forward line. Bryan Johnson and Brendan Heussler lead an up and coming group of Americans, with players like David Brewer and Alex Nemerov keys for the Lions’ success.  Michael Coffey was a Roos Medal Winner in that ‘19 victory, and Tony Ballis and John Carpenter's experience could help them leapfrog Boston and the others and onto the final.

D.C.’s challenge, even when they were paired with Baltimore, has been putting together competitive teams in a transient environment. But by and large, they’ve succeeded, especially from their pre-fission days in the late ‘00s through to their D2 win in 2021. After winning the Super Regionals in Division 2 and finishing one game under .500, the birds of the Beltway are there to get back on top.  The Eagles of 2024 are a roster led by Americans who got experience at the National level all through the summer, and who contributed significantly to the Revolution’s success at the TAC.

Luke Myer and Alex Foster played their roles superbly in Toronto, with each using their muscle to get the ball and affect play. Bernardo Berges was the MVP of the D2 deciding match and put in a solid effort in the reserves match, as did Zane Zovak. Paul LaShier and Tom Matthew are Yanks who have been around for some time and are consistent performers.  Adam Bartkowiak and Matthew Woodruff lead the Aussie hub as the Eagles try to swoop away with another cup.

It’s been eleven years since the Lonestars took out Division 3 here in Austin. With eight wins this season, they’re hoping to improve not only on a 6th place finish in D2 a season ago, but perhaps prove the seeders incorrect by putting them down in the 7th slot. They work hard and play hard in H-town, and with only a couple of hours to travel, the Stars would love to come home with a cup in their boot (or trunk, as we call them here).

Houston’s veteran core is largely intact; big-booting Aussie Carey Nolan, Andrew and Simon Craig, and Jarrad Rexilius head up the Australian unit, while Chance Mire’s ruck play and the heads-up crumbing of players like Jeffery Jamnick and Steve Johnson (no not that one, the other one) will help the Lonestars keep the clamps on the other teams in this group.