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<blockquote data-quote="contepomi" data-source="post: 24477"><p>Okay, been playing a lot of World League, and seeing as I put so much effort into it, I thought I'd report back a little, it just feels great to put it all into words......</p><p></p><p>First season was a bit of a disgrace, newcomers Leinster arrived on the Third Division scene without a single International class player among their ranks, and to boot, an inexperienced manager. After scraping together a couple of decent results, the first player incoming was All Black and Highlanders hooker Anton Oliver, and on his debut he managed to grab a try. But good performances and inventive play in the backs were/was hard to come by, and mid season saw the worst possible run of results, with the Irish province losing 37-17 to Brescia, 34-10 to Glasgow, 15-12 to Treviso, and the most embarassing of all, the 52-22 cuffing at the hands of the Cats</p><p></p><p>Only near the end of the first season did things start to look a little brighter, this coinciding with the arrival of Piri Weepu from the Hurricanes, and with him came finally a little reliability with the boot. A couple of good results in the final two games earned Leinster some credibility, and they finished the season in a fifth place, that really masked an altogether poor first season in charge for Paul Mullaney. But it was all to change when the second season came around.</p><p></p><p>But there was not to be an immediate turnaround. As results were still mediocre at the turn of the season, the manager realised that changes had to be made. A deal taking strong scrummager Afoa from the Blues was completed, and this sparked a turnaround in style of play, which involved keeping the ball tight to the forwards, and trying to break the line with the likes of Oliver and the newboy Afoa. Weepu's consistency with his place kicking continued, and this saw Leinster rise to the upper reaches of the Third Division table, and into a position to challenge for the ***le. Their position was only strengthened with the arrival of pacy centre Ranby from the Chiefs, and it was his try from a beautifully orchestrated set play that sealed a crucial away win against Ulster, 12-6. Come the final two games, there were still four teams in contention for the top two places, and the promotion to Division two. Leinster had to beat the Dragons at Newport in their penultimate game, and although it was tight they came out on top 25-21. Other results went their way and they headed into the final game of the season four points behind Ulster, but with a game in hand. Unfortunately, the Queensland Reds found themselves in the same position. This inevitably led to a nervy performance from Leinster against a stubborn Neath Swansea Ospreys outfit led by intelligent kicking from Gavin Henson, but a late flourish saw them score the two tries to gain them a bonus point and guarantee their promotion to Division Two. The celebrations were put on hold until the Reds result came through, but the champagne was only on ice for a short time, as the news came through that the Reds had in fact lost to the cats at the Queensland Oval. </p><p></p><p>The Third Division Championship was theirs, and with it promotion, and 40 bonus points to add to their current amount of 31 points. In came young versatile back, Paul Mullaney ( me ) and Barbarians, Stormers and South Africa flanker Schalk Burger.</p><p></p><p>( A good tip here is to create a player, and to give him incredible stats, but only give him an average goal kicking stat, and no special abilities. Mullaney, who I created, has stats in the 90s for passing, speed, handling, acceleration and kicking, but is only worth 26 trade points, plus 6 for maintenance cost. )</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="contepomi, post: 24477"] Okay, been playing a lot of World League, and seeing as I put so much effort into it, I thought I'd report back a little, it just feels great to put it all into words...... First season was a bit of a disgrace, newcomers Leinster arrived on the Third Division scene without a single International class player among their ranks, and to boot, an inexperienced manager. After scraping together a couple of decent results, the first player incoming was All Black and Highlanders hooker Anton Oliver, and on his debut he managed to grab a try. But good performances and inventive play in the backs were/was hard to come by, and mid season saw the worst possible run of results, with the Irish province losing 37-17 to Brescia, 34-10 to Glasgow, 15-12 to Treviso, and the most embarassing of all, the 52-22 cuffing at the hands of the Cats Only near the end of the first season did things start to look a little brighter, this coinciding with the arrival of Piri Weepu from the Hurricanes, and with him came finally a little reliability with the boot. A couple of good results in the final two games earned Leinster some credibility, and they finished the season in a fifth place, that really masked an altogether poor first season in charge for Paul Mullaney. But it was all to change when the second season came around. But there was not to be an immediate turnaround. As results were still mediocre at the turn of the season, the manager realised that changes had to be made. A deal taking strong scrummager Afoa from the Blues was completed, and this sparked a turnaround in style of play, which involved keeping the ball tight to the forwards, and trying to break the line with the likes of Oliver and the newboy Afoa. Weepu's consistency with his place kicking continued, and this saw Leinster rise to the upper reaches of the Third Division table, and into a position to challenge for the ***le. Their position was only strengthened with the arrival of pacy centre Ranby from the Chiefs, and it was his try from a beautifully orchestrated set play that sealed a crucial away win against Ulster, 12-6. Come the final two games, there were still four teams in contention for the top two places, and the promotion to Division two. Leinster had to beat the Dragons at Newport in their penultimate game, and although it was tight they came out on top 25-21. Other results went their way and they headed into the final game of the season four points behind Ulster, but with a game in hand. Unfortunately, the Queensland Reds found themselves in the same position. This inevitably led to a nervy performance from Leinster against a stubborn Neath Swansea Ospreys outfit led by intelligent kicking from Gavin Henson, but a late flourish saw them score the two tries to gain them a bonus point and guarantee their promotion to Division Two. The celebrations were put on hold until the Reds result came through, but the champagne was only on ice for a short time, as the news came through that the Reds had in fact lost to the cats at the Queensland Oval. The Third Division Championship was theirs, and with it promotion, and 40 bonus points to add to their current amount of 31 points. In came young versatile back, Paul Mullaney ( me ) and Barbarians, Stormers and South Africa flanker Schalk Burger. ( A good tip here is to create a player, and to give him incredible stats, but only give him an average goal kicking stat, and no special abilities. Mullaney, who I created, has stats in the 90s for passing, speed, handling, acceleration and kicking, but is only worth 26 trade points, plus 6 for maintenance cost. ) [/QUOTE]
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