In AFI’s continuing collaboration with Great Britain’s top American football website – Double Coverage – we present their latest Top 12 rankings.
This year’s Power Rankings for each of the three tiers of the BAFA National Leagues Adult game are being decided EXCLUSIVELY by our Patreon members, so if you want your say on who’s top dog in each tier?
You can join our Patreon for just $1 a month and directly contribute to the growth of the game, and DC’s survival!
Head to https://www.patreon.com/dblcoverage to learn more.
In the meantime, let’s check out how the Patriots of the #BritballNation see things stacking up in the top tier after the weekend’s action:
12. Kent Exiles (1-4-0) | Down One
An Exiles side that peaked this year with a #7 appearance in these rankings following their win over the Aztecs , now find itself pushing up the pile after a loss to the previously winless Farnham Knights. The Exiles looked out of sorts at the weekend, as an offence that’s never really found its mojo this year simply couldn’t get going – losing the battle in the trenches against a very able Farnham D Line.
The Week Ten loss was a big one, for the harsh reality is that were the music to stop right now? The Exiles would be the ones left without a chair, and headed straight back to D1 football.
11. Farnham Knights (1-6-0) | Up One
The Knights lift themselves off the bottom of the rankings, and more importantly out of the Prem South’s drop spot, courtesy of a good-looking outing against the Exiles. Farnham looked more confident than we’ve seen them all season, and a strong day in the office for standout running back, Aaron Sekwalor, saw the Knights put in their best performance of the season, by far.
They were winning the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and this allowed both their ground and aerial attacks to show signs of life. With their home fixtures all used up, the Knights hit the road to the Olympians this weekend and should they be able to put together a second win in a row? They could really shake up the situation in the Prem South.
10. Edinburgh Wolves (1-5-0) | Down One
A disappointing loss for the Wolves at the weekend as personnel losses continue to see their offence underperform. With the Prem North now looking clearly split between three teams contesting the crown, and three seeking to dodge the drop, Sunday’s defeat will have been a tough one for the Wolves to take home to Scotland with them.
However, they’ve got no time to feel sorry for themselves, as they’re straight back on the road this Sunday, travelling south to Sheffield! With their lone win of the season so far coming courtesy of the Giants, and by just a single point, this Week Eleven clash is looking very much like a must-win for the Wolves if they wish to maintain their Premiership status!
9. London Olympians (2-3-0) | Down One
They may have held their own for a quarter on Sunday, but from there on out things started getting pretty ugly for the Olympians, eventually wrapping up the day with a fifty burger sat on them – the fourth the Warriors have served up this season. The Olympians need to rediscover whatever resilience it was they had at the start of the season, as they’re now riding a two-game losing streak, shopping far too many points to their opponents in their last two outings.
These defeats are leaving them with a lot of work to do to defend the #3 spot in the south that they took hold of last season, but they also need to be wary and the suddenly feisty-looking Farnham, who’ll make the trip to the Olympians this Sunday.
8. Leicester Falcons (2-4-0) | Up Two
A crucial late-game victory over the Wolves sees the Falcons fly up a couple spots. It may have taken Leicester the better part of four quarters to put points on the board, but the win will provide a huge confidence boost to a squad that has had its struggles on and off the pitch this season.
With BUCS’ Premiership-bound Marcus Urbanski now starting at QB for the Falcons, the newest addition to the Prem North have had some struggles figuring out what works with them on offence this year – losing their intended starting Quarterback in the preseason, and having had two other starters under centre this season already.
However, where the Falcons finally seemed to come alive was into the fourth when they returned to an offence Falcons fans will have been more familiar with from their time in D1 – a run-first two-back set that provided threat saturation coming out of the backfield thanks to the three stud athletes lining back there! Don’t be surprised to see more of this return to their old playbook this Sunday as they Falcons strive to take advantage of a wounded-looking Tamworth side that took apart Leicester back in Week Eight.
7. Sheffield Giants (1-6-0) | No Change
The Giants lose out to the Nighthawks, but even their shutout defeat doesn’t see them drop further down the rankings just yet.
It’s clear that despite some obvious improvements in form across this summer, as well as some particularly outstanding performances from their defence, that for Sheffield this has now become a fight for survival… making this Sunday’s game against the Wolves, who took their Week Four win by just a single point, an absolutely must-win game for the Giants!
A Giants victory by a margin as small as even 2 points would give them the head-to-head over Edinburgh, and move the Yorkshire outfit out of the drop spot for the first time this season.
6. Bristol Aztecs (2-3-0) | No Change
The Aztecs stay put in sixth, as Week Ten saw them sit back and watch the rest of the Prem South tearing chunks out of one another.
The Knights’ win over the Exiles was a huge boost for the Bristol side, and now they can hit the road to Kent this weekend knowing that a win, even if by less than the Exiles beat them by back in Week Five, should be enough to secure their Prem South status for 2020.
5. Merseyside Nighthawks (5-1-0) | Down One
The Nighthawks might be sat tied with Tamworth at the top of the Prem North table, but they still end up slipping a spot this week, despite their shutout win over Sheffield! It perhaps seems a tad harsh, but it’s, in fact, indicative of another outfit’s rise up the rankings following some of the bombshell scorelines dropped in Week Ten!
In perhaps their most crucial fixture of the season so far, the Nighthawks hit the road to Manchester this Sunday with what could very likely be a postseason trip on the line even with much of the schedule still to play out.
4. Tamworth Phoenix (5-1-0) | Down One
Well, I talked it up a bit last week, but as I said at the time I’m not sure I really saw it coming. Tamworth take their first regular season loss since 2015, and now it’ll be interesting to see how this powerhouse programme look to come back from it – was it the gut-check they needed to get their season onto the right track, or a sign that the Phoenix have simply seen too much of their fire depart for Europe during the offseason?
They head to Leicester for a late kick off that’ll be live-streamed this Sunday, and at this point in the year I think we’re all aware there’s little love lost between these two birdies.
3. London Blitz (5-1-0) | Down One
Wait, wut?
The Blitz aren’t in the #2 spot, but the Phoenix are below them? There’s something very strange going on here.
Yet to hit a fifty-burger on the season, and with one of their wins coming by just a single score, there’ve been some concerns about the Blitz’s firepower this season… and perhaps that’s why a shock scoreline from the north has seen the Prem South outfit leapfrogged?
We doubt they’ll be paying much heed though – as both big London outfits will only have eyes for Sunday’s second leg showdown of Britball’s biggest and best rivalry – Blitz vs Warriors, Finsbury Park, 1600.
2. Manchester Titans (4-1-0) | Up Three
Choo Choo! Everyone aboard the Titans train as an impressive showing on both sides of the ball sees Manchester become the first side to get the better of the Phoenix for the first time since 2015!
It wasn’t even that the Titans won, but to do so with a shutout only adds insult to injury – I’m still hunting back through the archives to figure out when the last time the Phoenix put up a doughtnut might have been…
Now, don’t get too excited – there’s still a lot of football to play out, including a crucial clash with Merseyside this weekend, so I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Manchester settle back down into ranking most likely below the Blitz before too long… But in the meantime, they’re hale and healthy and wholly deserving of their big boost up our Patreon polls!
1. London Warriors (6-0-0) | No Change
For one quarter the Warriors almost looked like a Britball programme, rather than the team that’s proven itself to be a clear cut above any and all opposition so far this season…
They the spell broke, the floodgates opened, and the Warriors stormed away with another fifty-burger outing, their fourth of the year and third-straight.
Truth be told though, each of these three most recent whoppers of wins were just appetisers for the Warriors ahead of this Sunday’s game: their trip to the Blitz with a win on Sunday securing postseason action, as well as all but securing a Prem South title defence.
This year we’ll also be tracking the rise and fall of each team in the rankings throughout the season with this handy graphic:
