After a great Round 3 by the lake in Lausanne, a shift in the schedule will have the reserves open play Saturday on the turf in Vessy. The furthest corner of Suisse-Romande has been kind to the hosts so far in AFL Switzerland history with Geneva perfect on home soil, including the 2019 Grand Final. The road teams will be looking to change that while also working to set up their chances to play in this year’s Final.
Reserves
Game 1 – Geneva Jets vs. Northern Bears
A complete Jets reserves roster will be fresh and ready to go for a home game. And it is a big one for the club as they will be celebrating the final match of reserves stalwart Greg Arnold and his boy, Lex, before they return to the land down under. The Bears will be less than complete with some injuries keeping players at home. It will be a tough test for the group and they will need players like Svenja Mueller Byrnes to step up and play a key role if they are to stay in the game. With Geneva having a full roster for both seniors and reserves, they will have lots of run out and the midday heat will likely not factor into their play.
Bold prediction: An inspired and together Jets squad will be too much for a light Bears group. Geneva by 10 goals.
Seniors
Game 2 – Geneva Jets vs. Zurich Giants
Having lost two straight games, Zurich needs a boost and it appears as though they will not get it for round 4. With some injuries still lingering from the last round, Zurich’s numbers will be low and a loss to Geneva would all but eliminate them from Grand Final contention. Geneva having the home game will mean a bolstered lineup and the return of Seb Permain, Rhys Allen and Rami Kais to the roster is bad news for the Giants. The Jets will be hoping to put on a show for the home crowd and lock up a top two spot with a big win. Zurich’s key to keeping this one close will be their always strong midfield winning lots of clearances and it will require straighter kicking than they mustered in Lausanne in Round 3.
Bold prediction: Geneva’s strong lineup matched with Zurich’s shortened roster means the Jets will run away with this one.
Game 3 – Basel Dragons vs. Winterthur Lions
Already forfeit due to a lack of bodies for Basel, this game will be a scratchy with the Lions taking on a ragtag team of whomever wants a kick. It may be a chance for some new players to show off some skills and a chance for the development of some young Swiss players. Basel captain Nils Schmitt suffered a season-ending injury during the European Championships and their already depleted roster just couldn’t be replenished in order to have a fair match. The forfeit and automatic win guarantees that the Winterthur Lions will play in their first ever AFL Switzerland Grand Final in September.
Bold prediction: Well, no need for a prediction as the Lions already get the 4 points, but should be a fun match to close out the day.
Coming into round 3 following their first loss since 2019, the Jets were looking to rebound and regain a top 2 spot. A quick start from Basel with a shot on goal after about 12 seconds of game play perhaps put this goal in doubt as Basel fielded likely their strongest roster of the season highlighted by Dave Shannon in the ruck. Perhaps this quick start poked the proverbial bear and woke the Jets up, as they went on to dominate this match from start to finish.
Tommy Ross had a huge start out of the middle and kicked a few early goals. The Jets middle was solid with Nick Hart battling in ruck contests against Shannon and winning his fair share of the taps. The Jets used support from the wings and half back to help move in the right direction after stoppages. The return of Nat Robbins to the Jets roster provided another target down forward and he led the team in scoring on the day.
The real stars of the day were what has become to be known as the Baby Jets, a group of young rugby and soccer converts who are starting to develop into footy stars. The local boys took the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of friends and family and shine a bright light on the future of AFL in Switzerland. It wasn’t just the Jets who had Swiss players really showing their development though. Basel stalwarts Keelan Senn and Svenja Mueller Byrnes created difficulties for the Geneva forwards all match long. Manu ‘not Lin-Manuel’ Miranda was also big for his club, taking home the best non-Aussie of the day award and first-gamer Tiff Endress quickly looked comfortable and got more than a few touches of the ball. The Jets had first goals from Yanis Locatelli and Adrien Foster, while Clemens ‘not so’ Bourgeois showed why he is earning a spot on the Swiss national team.
Geneva’s skill and sharing was on display in all four quarters, with all but three players kicking goals in the game. We won’t name them here, but they know who they are. The Jets ran away with this one in the end, regaining second place on the ladder.
Zurich Giants vs. Winterthur Lions
6.19.55 – 16.23.119
In what was the match of the day and a highly anticipated first meet-up between geographical rivals Zurich and Winterthur, hard battles and contests for every ball were the theme. The first quarter was a teeter-totter battle with the Lions winning the ball in the middle and Zurich defending hard and using their transition game well to keep things close.
After a close first quarter, just 4 points separated the teams and it looked as though we were in for a nail-biter. An injury to key Giant Brendan McCormick early in the second quarter deflated the Giants and with the team lacking slightly in numbers on the day, fewer rotation options were available, leading to a Winterthur advantage. The game stayed relatively close despite Jacob Brownley starting to pile on the goals again, with a few behinds mixed in for fun. Max Slavnic was good in the ruck for the Giants as the Lions were without tall man ‘Welly’.
In the third, Zurich lost their juice in the heat and with players called on to do a lot, the energy faded. The opportunities Zurich did get were thwarted by solid Lions defense and some inaccurate kicking. Although the Lions missed quite a few shots at goal as well, the numbers added up and they really took control of the game with contributions coming from everyone on their roster, especially veteran Swiss players Noah Weber and Chris Lauener. Second gamer Jonas Pfluger used his immense size to clear space for his teammates and created a lot of scoring opportunities for the Lions, while Brownley continued his separation on the leading goalkicker ladder with another 10.
The Lions are really asserting themself as the team to beat in AFL Switzerland this year with another convincing win. Zurich will be going home hoping to get healthy and have a strong unit to return to the Leman region for a key matchup against Geneva.
Reserves
Geneva Jets vs. Northern Bears
15.13.103 – 4.20.44
Leadership, sportsmanship and fun were the themes of the day in the reserves competition. As the seniors teams took a dip in the cool Leman waters and got on the beers -some more heavily than others- the Reserves teams prepared for the rubber match in what is turning out to be a great race for the premiership. With the Jets looking to take back the top spot on the ladder and the Bears hoping to continue their momentum from a tight win in Round 2, it was a highly anticipated match. It turned out to be a special day of footy with the Jets being closer to home and able to field a true reserves squad with many first gamers, and the return of reserves veterans like Paul Garwood, Tim Seiler and James Olle. The Bears were shorter on numbers as they came south, but also had a good mix of first-gamers and veterans.
While there were lots of teaching moments in the game, both teams really gelled and produced some wonderful passages of play. Muller-Byrnes was a star for the Bears and should have earned some votes from the umpires as she led the Bears well through the midfield. Endress had a strong outing in her first reserves match and Lars Mathis put his knowledge of the game to use moving the ball forward for the Bears. For the Jets, Sophie Heading, James Malar and Rachel Perotti took a bunch of marks up the ground, creating lots of chances at goal. Heavy rotations meant lots of opportunity for everyone to try new positions and develop new skills in the game. Goals were easy to find amongst the group and the Jets took an early lead as usual and never looked back. This time, there was little fightback from a tired Bears squad as Geneva tore open the game in the second half and everyone had a piece of the scoreboard with Mete Temurcin, Alex ‘new alex’ Wadlow, Yaron Lavy and Mathias Seiler all scoring their first goals in footy. This was punctuated by Seiler’s passage in the ruck where for about two minutes he didn’t let anyone else touch the ball and kicked 3 goals that went at least 50 metres each, forcing the goal umpire to go ball searching in the long grass way behind the field. Another highlight was the second and third effort of young Lavy as he picked up the ball multiple times and finally got a kick away to snag his first footy goal.
The Jets fresh legs helped them cruise to what was an easy win full of sportsmanship, humility and good ol’ footy energies!
Round 4 will bring some intense heat to Geneva on July 2nd with a big 2nd place battle between Zurich and Geneva highlighting what should be a fun-filled day.
Boat Race
Winterthur came prepared for this week’s boat race and with the Jets lineup including all new players, the stakes were high. Basel and Zurich have disappointed in this area so far this season, so were hoping the beautiful backdrop and wearing budgie smugglers would help them out. In a very tight race again, the Lions pulled out in front and took home two victories on the day, closing Geneva’s boat race ladder lead.
