History
Best Finish – Preliminary Final 2023
The Devils entered this year as the team with the least wins in league history across the 8 years of competition. They are still in that position now, but surely that changes over the next 2 years, with Threat Level Midnight and the Pukekos both in their sights. 2023 was the first time they have competed in finals, sneaking into 6th place curtesy of the Puttanesca Chiefs win over MaherShalalHashBaz in round 21 gifting them the spot. With nothing to lose in their first final, they went all out with a monster score to defeat the Lethal Vipers, before then succumbing to Solomon’s Soldiers in the preliminary final. With a 1-1 record in finals to this point, Max will be aiming to get his team above .500 in finals and record a maiden premiership for this very well rebuilt unit.
Current Form/Injury Watch
A season high for the league of 2152 in round 17 against the Roughnecks shows that this team can go nuclear on any given day, however coach Max will be questioning his troops in this last week of the home and away season, with back to back scores under 1700 – well off the pace of the other teams vying for the premiership this year. Izak Rankine will be back after his 3 week suspension this week, and with Harry McKay also set to return there is hopefully light at the end of the tunnel for the Devils.
On the injury front, Jordan Ridley is expected to miss the next 1-2 weeks, and so a first round of finals bye could be crucial for the defence of the Devils, with hopefully a quick return leading to more points on the board again. Blake Acres is the other player the Devils will be keen to see back on the park. Not seen as a top tier player in the Blues midfield, but a fantasy average for the year of 89 shows he’s a valuable member of this squad.
Where a final will be won/lost
The strength of this team is in the fact that they don’t rely on one or 2 huge scorers to be at their consistent best – instead they are a “death by a thousand cuts” kind of team. Only 2 averages beyond 100 for the year (N Martin and Butters – Cripps 99.8 not good enough), but every line has players that would be a walk up start in every team. It’s a well-built roster so that a few players below average don’t kill their chances, but many players certainly have the ability to go big on any given week.
The downside to this approach is as evidenced in the last 2 weeks – only 1 ton on the field round 20, and 2 in round 19, and with not enough of the role players hitting average, scores in the 1600’s can happen. Hopefully for Max this lack of tons is only temporary, as his likely opponents in finals will score better than 1700, so he’ll need to do likewise to have a chance at adding to his single finals win to date.
Predicted finish/finals match-up
Top 2 is certain, and a win over Threat Level Midnight would lock in 1st place. From there, a match against the winner of 4th Vs 5th looks likely, with MSHB locked into one of those positions, and the loser of Defenestrators Vs Roughnecks this week being the other potential match-up. There are no easy games once you get to prelim final weekend, but the Devils will know they are a chance in any game this year.