Oh Captain my Captain!

In the build-up to the 2003 AMNRL season now only days away, the 8 team captains were asked a series of questions.

1. Who will your team play in the Championship final?
2. Which team is the dark horse of the competition?
3. Which teams will win the Conference on points?
4. Who is the one player to watch from each conference?

Lincoln Conference:

Shayne Mains - Glen Mills Bulls

1. New Jersey Sharks
2. The dark horse of the league will be the Washington D.C. Slayers
3. The conference winners will be The Glen Mills Bulls and the New Jersey Sharks
4. Lincoln Conference player to watch, Marcus Vassilacopulous - Glen Mills, with his professional/international experience he will add some explosiveness to the Bulls.
   Franklin Conference player to watch, Ryan Blake-Media, with this being his second season and coming off of a successful Russian tour, Ryan has gained the confidence and experience needed for him to become one of the top players in the league.

Tim Griffiths - New Jersey Vikings

1. Bulls because I played with them for four years and won four championships and it would be great to beat them for the championship on their field
2. Sharks because they have been so close but nipped by something small each time. They have it out for the championship
3. Knights, Mantarays
4. Lincoln, Dave Niu, Retirement what???, Franklin, Sharks Fred B, He has a heart that wont quit.

Matt Astill - New York Knights

1. Rematch with Glen Mills Bulls, the addition of Vassy and with tons of size and experience, plus wanting revenge on us.
2. Con Wildcats to be dark horses, if they get everyone on the field they should be thereabouts
3. Lincoln Glen Mills, Franklin New Jersey
4. Vassy from Lincoln. Ryan blake from Franklin

Rich Portale - Connecticut Wildcats

1. Got a peak at the Bulls last week. Chief is in fine form, Woody showed why he was missed in Russia and Vassie is the missing link. However, others appeared a bit spoiled by the team's size and depth. If they listen to coach Hansbury instead of whining, they will make the final.
2. The Cats, no one have given them a shot. But a glance at the roster should be telling
3. Either the Bulls or the Cats
4. Franklin Conference = Ryan Blake - Media; proved he was a notch above the rest in Russia. Lincoln Conference = "Sir" Lawrence Raleigh - Cats; class player all the way. Mike McGeachy - Cats; NYAC strongman will crack Tomahawk's lineup. Honorable Mention = Kevin Deal - Bulls; no experience but he bleeds talent and athleticism. If he follows Vassie around the paddock, by year's end he will carve up with the ball in hand.

Franklin Conference:

Jeff Preston - Philadelphia Fight

1. Don't know
2. Conneticut... they have former Knights
3. Bulls and Sharks
4. New player Kevin from the Bulls, Chris Cahill... coming back from injury

Fred Backhaus - New Jersey Sharks

1. The Bulls however the Sharks will the G.M. is in the final. Why? We are on track for another great season, we carry almost all the same players from last season- we train hard and want to win! G.M. will make it because they always find a way to get to the grand final. Its also the greatest rivarly in the competition.
2. D.C. is the dark horse as they as the newest team in the comp. We believe they may have a tough time in the beggining of the season, but will probably make some things happen in the later part of the season.
3. G.M. with Conn. a close secondin the Lincoln Conference. Sharks will win the Franklin Confernece convincingly.
4. The Sharks are looking forward to having Sharks forward Grant Nicholson make great strides in this years competition. He just starting playing league last season and has pick up the game quickly and has trained hard to prepare for this year. Keep your eyes on Grant.

David Divalerio- Media Mantarays

1. Media vs. New York in this years Championship final. I feel that Media has the best Chemistry being that we pull from our Rugby club. As for New York they have the greatest talent pool for which they can recriut players. I would like to see a rematch of last years semifinal, where Media ran out of time during their comeback vs. New York
2. The Darkhorses are the Wildcats and Slayers. Both are new teams with mostly unknown players. No one knows much about D.C. and half of the Wildcats are former Knights. Both teams should surprise some of the others teams in the league
3. The Sharks and the Knights may win their conference points. Both teams will be deep with many players and always play pretty consistent
4. The Franklin conference player to watch has to be Ryan Blake from Media. He has played great on both of the Tomahawk 2003 tours of Australia and Russia and also the Ireland match. He continues to improve every game he plays. The Lincoln conference player should be Danny Bull from the Wildcats. If he is healthy he will be a playmaker for the Wildcats

Ric Dortone - Washington DC Slayers

1. I'm not sure how the playoffs will be set up, but I'm assuming there will be 1 team from each conference in the finals.  If that's the case, I'd have to pick Glenn Mills.  They have the size and strength to get back to the championship, but they are still looking for the leader on the field to replace Niu
2. NY Knights.  It's hard to call the defending champions a dark horse, but they lost half of their team to the expansion team in Conn.  NY has such a big pool of players to pull from, I wouldn't be surprised if they re-tooled and were very successful in the playoffs
3.  New Jersey Sharks.  Their organization will help them be the most consistant week in and week out, especially in the early season.
4.  Kazo Seto - NY Knights  his speed and quickness around the ruck area can take over a game especially late when the markers are tired.

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