Brantford Harlequins Rugby Football Club Season Preview The 2017 Season is officially on - kickoff at Home this Saturday - and with that the Quins are both a win out of first place, and a loss out of last. And on goes the fight. Mckelvey and Howard have kept up a good winter paddock at Goodrow Stables and the horses have been training Rocky Russian Winter style. A first inning rain delay meant an extra 2 weeks left in the stall for good measure. Expect both teams to be hot to trot on Saturday. The captaincy moves up 2 jerseys and an age grade to the other McDonell brother. Expect a lot of plays to run through #13 again - and people named McDonell to score tries. The front row has expanded - while still looking trim. Matt Lindsay takes a summer vacation to open up some game time for Cullen, Big George and Johnny Evans - while Mahar looks to rotate across to the hooker position to give him more energy to explore creativity in his loose play. Yikes. The Van Horne's come off a bulking cycle and straight into the season, and are being pushed hard by intern Killboy Francis who has been hitting bags in the basement all season. The back row will see a good mix of young and old, with a side of Bouk - expect a lot of rotation on either side of McKelvey. Halfbacks, we have a few of 'em. Schouten, Piatek, Boeyenga and MacArthur can form a multiple of 9/10 combinations - we'll probably test all of them just for fun. And the backline just continues to roll, some new additions to show off beside the usual stalwarts - the whole group is versatile enough that they'll all see time somewhere. The goal for the season is to continue to raise the bar - and to do so faster and higher than the other team on the park. There's 80 minutes to do it, so lets get it done. Sunday May, 2017 Week 1 Saturday May 13, 2017 Marshall Premiership First XV Try Bns Scr Bns PF PA Wins Loss Tie Tot Pts 1 Aurora Barbarians 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Balmy Beach 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Brantford Harlequins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Crusaders Rugby Club 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Lindsay RFC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Markham Irish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Stoney Creek Camels RFC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Toronto Scottish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Marshall Premiership Second XV Try Bns Scr Bns PF PA Wins Loss Tie Tot Pts 1 Aurora Barbarians 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Balmy Beach 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Brantford Harlequins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Crusaders Rugby Club 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Lindsay RFC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Markham Irish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Stoney Creek Camels RFC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Toronto Scottish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Marshall Championhip First XV Try Bns Scr Bns PF PA Wins Loss Tie Tot Pts 1 Ajax Wanderers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Barrie RFC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Brampton Beavers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 London St George 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Oshawa Vikings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Peterborough Pagans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Toronto Nomads 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Waterloo County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Marshall Championhip Second XV Try Bns Scr Bns PF PA Wins Loss Tie Tot Pts 1 Ajax Wanderers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ORU Standings ORU 2 Barrie RFC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Brampton Beavers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 London St George 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Oshawa Vikings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Peterborough Pagans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Toronto Nomads 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Waterloo County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ontario Women's League Try Bns Scr Bns PF PA Wins Loss Tie Tot Pts 1 Aurora Barbarians 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Guelph Redcoats 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Markham Irish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Niagara Wasps 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Toronto Saracens 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Toronto Scottish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Waterloo County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Yeomen Lions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Week 1 Saturday May 13, 2017 Marshall Premiership Stoney Creek Camels RFC at Brantford Harlequins Crusaders Rugby Club at Lindsay RFC Markham Irish at Aurora Barbarians Balmy Beach at Toronto Scottish Marshall Championship Brampton Beavers at Waterloo County Peterborough Pagans at Ajax Wanderers Toronto Nomads at Oshawa Vikings Barrie RFC at London St George Ontario Women’s League Toronto Scottish at Niagara Wasps Aurora Barbarians at Waterloo County Preview Yeomen Lions at Toronto Saracens Guelph Redcoats at Markham Irish Week 1 at stoney creek The Harlequins Fields are closed to the Senior teams this weekend, so we've had to make a quick flip of fixtures and will be playing away at Stoney Creek this weekend, and we've moved to a Friday Night kick off to boot. The 1's play Friday @ Saltfleet High School at 6:45pm. 2's will travel down next Tuesday May 16th for a similar night fixture. With weather wreaking havoc on the fields, the Quins are a little bit behind in their pre-season prep. Combine that with a last minute kick off change, and a few changes in availability, and game 1 is already a bit of a hill to climb. All of that being said, good teams win - no excuses. And with that, we'll start the season. The front row turns over a few spots, Boos and Bocock jumping up the depth chart to start off the 2017 campaign. Eric Howard finds himself back in the mix for the first game of the season. Having come off the bench in his last appearance for the Quins, Eric was 'really excited' to get the starting nod this week. Kid's been training like a professional since January just waiting for the opportunity. The 2nd row sees TVH push his twin out to make room for little brother Killboy Frances packing down to provide some stability in the Lineup:XV First sets and nails around the park. JVH slides over to showcase his range in the back row, wearing 6, and likely full bunker gear on Friday. Casey Bouk splits his 14 jersey in half to take a run at 7 - expect him to secure a lot of ball for the backline. Graham Mckelvey is once again full value and holding onto that 8 jersey for another season. The backline looks so fast we had to slow it down just to read the names. Friday May 12 2017 Week 1 at stoney creek Will MacArthur earns a start at 9, and spins to Nate Boeyenga at fly half. This combo has been playing some exciting rugby as of late, and it will only benefit the guys outside them. The DJ Stevie P jumps back into the centre pairing, and no doubt there will be some battles over the radio as the Captain generally prefers his country tunes. Good thing we've never known Hugh to get angry in that 13 sweater. We picked the fastest wings we could find to keep up with the wheels on the 15 spot. Mundy and Newman won the foot race, and blew a little smoke of their own on the way. They'll slot in on either side of Rory McDonell. Get these guys the ball in space and get out of the way. The bench... is a bit thin due to some last minute availability requests. Ryan Blunt puts his hand up to be counted - kid looked in great shape at training on Tuesday and earns himself a spot on the bench just for looking the part. Mike Slifierz has also impressed early and will be brought in for 2nd row/back row cover. Connor Fitzsimmons got here in a hurry and it looks like he'll run his way off the bench at some point in the back three. McIssac, Walsham and Walker combine for utility back cover, while Adam Schouten will keep Lineup: Second XV an eye on the situation and inject himself when needed. There's the team that starts the new season. It's the first of 14 games before we shuffle into the fall cup run - and it promises to be one of the best Friday nights of the season. Friday May 12 2017 Week 1 at stoney creek George Bocock Eric Howard Graham Boos Loosehead Prop Hooker Tighthead Prop Tom Van Horne Kolby Francis Left Lock Right Lock Casey Bouk Adam Schouten Blind Side Flanker Graham McKelvey Open Side Flanker Eight Man Will McArthur Scrum Half Nathan Boeyenga Outside Half Steve Piatek Inside Center Hugh McDonell Outside Center Joe Newman Dylan Mundy Blind Wing Rory McDonell Open Side Wing Fullback Reserve 16 Ryan Blunt Reserve 20 Walsham Owen Reserve 17 Mike Slifierz Reserve 21 Josh Van Horne Reserve 18 Connor Fitzsimmons Reserve 22 Dave Neill Harlequin First XV Reserve 19 Mitch McIsaac Reserve 23 Friday May 12 2017 Week 1 at stoney creek The lead up was less than perfect, but the Harlequins men opened the season in a big way against their local Darby opponent the Stoney Creek Camels on Friday night.