C. D. FERRAINOLA CUP PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE

The Wildcats and Slayers will host the First Round of the C.D.Ferrainola Cup Playoffs, which will benefit each club significantly in their quest to move on to Round Two.

The Philadelphia Fight will make the long trip to Connecticut to face the reigning Cup Champions,whilst the Raiders will face a longer trek from Norwalk to the Nations Capital to take on the Slayers at home.

Wildcats v Fight

The return from a hamstring injury by Danny Bull has been a welcome sight for Wildcats fans. The 2003 AMNRL MVP is a major strikeforce in already potent lineup and his ability to break the line and offload will create plenty of headaches for the Fight this weekend. Both sides have exciting attacking weapons but defence will hold the key to who moves on to the next round.

The Wildcats have talent across the park. The combination of Mike Mulvihill, Brock Mathers and Danny Bull will create plenty of options and the finishing speed of Gareth Griggs and Nate Smith could prove to be too much for the Fight.

The Fight have some exciting attacking players of their own, with Conway Maraki and Louis Tulio a constant danger against all teams throughout the year.

Greg Stelutti and Ben Mathers will stiffen up the Wildcats defensive line and both have delivered some crushing blows that have left ball carriers wounded on numerous occassions.

Rich Portale has adjusted well to the role of dummy half as a result of the hand injury to regular hooker Dave Lloyd, and scored a number of tries slipping out of dummy half and supporting the big Wildcats forwards.

The Fight have a huge task ahead of them, but it is a challenge their player/coach Jeff Preston has not faced before. Expect a Wildcats victory but not before the Fight make them work all the way to the final whistle.

Slayers v Raiders

The Raiders face a formidable challenge as they take on the Slayers at home to determine who will face the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs. 2004 has been an exciting season for the Raiders under the guidance of Ben Kelly and the opportunity to cause an upset in this match has not been lost on the underdogs from Connecticut.

The Slayers are a formidable outfit at home and beating them should prove to be a tough assignment for the Raiders. With their inspirational leader, Marty O'Donoghue returning from a shoulder injury, the Slayers will be a totally different team then the side that fell to the Raiders at Sea Isle earlier in the month. The matchups in the backline between Ric Dortone and Marty O'Donoghue with the Slayers against Marty O'Connell and Dan Powers of the Raiders could be the deciding factor. For the Raiders and the AMNRL Competiton, Marty O'Connell has proven to be one of the most gifted players to play in the Ferainola Cup Competition. He will be a threat to the Slayers with ball in hand, off the boot, and has speed to turn a half chance into points. His plans to remain in the USA, could significantly impact the ability of the Tomahawks to move to the next level on the international stage.

Up front the Slayers will rely heavily on the go forward of David Faimanifo to set their halves alight, and his confrontation with Ben Kelly and Jamie Rose will be a highlight of the match.

Keep an eye on a couple of future Rugby League stars for the Raiders in the shape of Matt Dupay and Jeremy Kosbob. Both are young and talented, and play well beyond their weight. This should be a tough encounter with not much separating either team.

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