Harry’s Super League Crystal Ball
A pre-draft prediction.
Welcome back everyone to the Super League reports. As we know everyone always have their own thoughts on how the league is going to go and that every captain has it “figured out” this year and proceeded to bottom of the bracket. After looking at this list of players we have plenty of familiar returning faces yet some dark horses who are coming in who could shake up the draft and cause some real trouble for captains who aren’t aware of who they are (Do your research out here captains). With that said let’s see what that captains pre-draft nominations for marquee and rookie marquee.
East Adelaide Force
Captain: Lachie Eichner
Marquee: Sam Caon
Rookie Marquee: Sol Gunson
The East Adelaide Force being led again by Lachie Eichner. Lachie has struggled to fill the shoes of his big brother Ben Powley to lead the Force to another championship from the greatest force team to be ever made in 2023. With this year Lachie finally having to let go of his right-hand man this year Dan Roberts into the draft he might have to change the strategy of only throwing pie to him in a 3v1 competition and praying that Dan pulls down the disc. With even bigger concerns for the Force with Lachie being out for the first two weeks with a foot stress fractur. In a shorter league this year going without the captain to lead them, can the Force afford to lose games early and still hope to come back and win the league. With losing Lachie early on and losing a main piece of his team from last year.
Eichner has still retain one of the Force greats Sam “The Cannon” Caon. Sam has been a Uni SA Hall of famer who has decided to only come out of hibernation for super league every year. Sam is known for his big throws and calming presences on the field. As many of these “old handler types” like to play, he will be hanging around in the dump place waiting for one of the younger fellas to burn deep to hit in the end zone as we saw last year with his impressive 26 assist.
For whom might be catching all this pie this year for the force, it will be a young Sol Gunson. Sol has been a rapid improving player for SA ultimate with himself finding a spot on this year’s Mountain squad and the Australian junior mixed team. With Sol he will be flying all over the field weather that be burning to the end zone or bidding across to get a block or a rouge disc that has been poorly placed. With many more years to come Sol will be looking to be a primary option and improve from his last years production of 6 Goals. The Force are looking to come back for the title and seeming to try and play their big ball game. If they can seem to hold on early in this season, they have a strong chance to make a return to the title.
Southside Riptide
Captain: Jono Brill
Marquee: Matt Gordon
Rookie Marquee: Ryan Froud
Jono Brill is coming to go back-to-back super league champion. With a tied first record last year of a 7-2 league win Brill will try to retain as many of his old teammates from his winning year with drafting some absolute steals from last year who are now going to go much higher this year.
The marquee Brill is going with this year is going to be Matt Gordon. Matt has been a Riptide through and through with his first year getting picked at the second reserve then moved into rookie marquee and now into the main marquee. Brill is obviously happy with what he is getting out of Matt, picking him over some very experienced players for marquee in Ben Foley, Jack Donaldson and John Perkins. With that being said Matt has been producing at a high clip for the Tide with 28 goals and 13 Ds in last year’s super league. With Matts throwing only getting better every year he will be a tall, fast, white string bean in the end zone that all of the Tide will be hunting for.
For the rookie Brill has picked Ryan Froud. Ryan is an engine for the tide that is willing to turn and burn all game. With a reliable throw on him allowing him to give back to the main handlers and hit the ropes into the end zone. The only sign of concern with Ryan is his last years catch rate dropping below 90% at an 87% which hopefully after a season with Apocalypse, he’s got the butter off his fingers and is ready to produce some more goals for the Tide. With the Tide starting at the top from last year people might say there is only one place to go from there which is down but between this group of lads Brill has pick he will be hoping to prove they can go back-to-back and show the league it wasn't a fluke the first time.
West Beach Titans
Captain: Alfie Edgeworth
Marquee: Joel Pillar-Rogers
Rookie Marquee: Luis Ruiz
Alfie Edgeworth is the one and only new captain this year after Lachlan Earl couldn't seem to get himself off the bottom of the ladder holding the wooden spoon at a tragic 2-7 season last year with one of those wins coming off the last game of the year against the Southside Riptide dead rubber game.
With this being said Lachie hasn't left Alfie shortchanged at all for players to pick from for Marquees. The man standing with Alfie will be Joel “Sermon” Pillar-Roger. Joel last year was effectively the quarter back for the Titans all year. He was calling all the plays and was able to hit anyone from anywhere on the field. Even at 41 years young Joel was able to always get open no matter what young gun defender was on him with his crafty footwork. If I had to compare Joel to an athlete, he would be the Luka Dončić of SA ultimate. Joel moves at his own pace, and the game just flows to him, and he can just make anything work.
Supporting the Titans of Alfie and Joel will be Luis Ruiz. Now honestly, I haven’t play much with or against Luis but one thing I do remember about him is he is a crafty thrower and isn’t afraid of playing hard and fast. Luis is a player that likes to play behind the disc and make some big-time plays. With a low production from last year only producing 2G,2A,3D with 6 throw aways I’m excited to see if Luis is coming back in a big way and is willing to step up to the plate as the rookie marquee and show the Titans he’s here to play. Alfie has the luxury to come into this draft with 0 expectations and only up from here. Alfie is able to command a line and with a good draft might be able to come out in the top half for this year
Northern Flyers
Captain: Oscar Turnbull
Marquee: Ferdy Rahmadhan
Rookie Marquee: Keith Chau
Oscar Turnbull is once again return back to the Northen Flyers and keeping Sean Davis away from his beloved team for another year. With Oscars last year draft, word on the street was he was attempting to just recrate SHU and put it in super league. As shown by final record of a 3-7 finish, the rookie captain struggled to pick a strong team from the draft and the first win only coming after 3 straight losses.
Even with some growing pains in his draft last year this year Oscar has found himself in a very nice place going into the 2026 season. With his Marquee player being a top player from the state in Ferdy Rahmadhan. Last year Ferdy was a facilitator out on the field with 20 assists from last year. Ferdy as we all know is a nightmare from anywhere on the field to either guard or be guarded by. With this being said he did tally up 21 total turnovers which proves even the greats do have their downfalls.
Backing up this dynamic duo is what I believe to be the steal of the rookie marquees Keith Chau. With Keith deciding to take his talents back to Mountain this year and been living in the gym Keith is going to be looking dangerous out there this year. With a 97% completion/catch rate Keith is a calm disc mover who is only on the up and up this year. Expect big things from this team with some hard cutting and pinpoint passing Flyers are looking to put their fingerprints all over this league and make a statement.
Pre-draft Rankings
- Northern Flyers
- Southside Riptide
- East Adelaide Force
- West beach Titans
I believe with the current marquees and captains going into the draft this is the ranking for teams. I think with the Northern Flyers it is really hard look past two Aus reps with Oscar and Ferdy and Keith coming to play some of his best frisbee in years. With Ferdy and Oscar able to play any role the team needs it allows Oscars drafting really easy. Oscar doesn't need to draft by position and bank on getting either strong handlers or strong receivers early in the draft. With Keith being a strong handler between the three of them is already a strong handler core and if they pick up one or two more is just a bonus.
This next one was really hard to pick between the Tide and the Force. Between both these teams they have strong players, but I think with Eichner being out early, Sam not getting and quicker and Sol still having lots to learn the Tide take it. Brill is the last year champion for a reason and between Matt and Ryan only getting better and already showing from last year they know how to win against the Forces big ball I have to give it to the Tide.
Lastly the Titans are starting at the bottom. Even with an ex-Croc with Joel, I feel the Titans are going to struggle. I feel the other teams have more chemistry and bigger engines to run out games. Even with that being said all of the teams are close and a good draft could really change the land scape of the league quick.
Draft Highlights
Now enough of the captains let’s get into the real deal with the draft. Every year people either come out of the draft feeling they got stiffed because they didn't get picked high enough or people panic from getting picked too high and big shoe to fill. I believe this year’s draft will be very competitive from round 1-10. But here are some of my people to look out for in the draft
Dan Roberts
First of all, I know putting Dan here is boring, but I reckon will he be our first pick. I believe Dan is one of these players where you can just plug and play on any team and you know what you’re going to get from him. You’re getting sky ball grabs, layout blocks and a guy that won’t stop running. Dan joins any of these teams and he is going to make them contenders no matter what. With a finishing stat line of 40G,11A,13Ds and winning the Joel Pillar-Rogers award last year he is going in hot to make a statement again
Lachlan Earl
Lachie will be an interesting draftee this year. From being a captain himself to go back into the draft it is always hard to tell where he will end up. Lachie is known for getting injured at any time and becoming unavailable. By the same token he a guy that can really carry the game and be damaging from anywhere.
Andy Badics
Another super league king within Andy Badics. For the last two years Badics has been bound to the Force and has put up some really impressive performances and every year everyone always under value Badics and draft him in the 5th round ready to become rookie marquee. Badics game is built for super league and if he drops to the 6th round, he will be madly undervalued
Camilo Lopez
Camilo is a new hot player coming into SA ultimate and has made an impact early making his way onto the Mountain squad. Milo is one of these players I also like to clarify as a “coin flip” player. Milo is a strong thrower and plays hard and physical defence. Milo will be a dark horse in my eyes as he’s never played a super league before and there is limited knowledge how he will go under the Ulti.tv stream for all aspects of his game to be on display.
Richard Appleby
Lastly Richard Appleby. Now if you didn't watch any super league last year let me tell you Richard was that guy. With going in the last round of the draft Brill picked him for the Tide and man did he show he deserved to be there. I think Richard proved to be a reliable handler and even having a couple bids to keep the disc alive. It would be a disappointing if Richard goes as a reserve this year after his performance last year
Closing Statements
Now with all of this being said it just a theory. With the draft, teams will swing a lot and with all of these marquees and captains a good draft can win them the league. Even then we have seen year and year again players get injured, go on holiday or just overall have bad games. Super league this year is looking SUPER exciting and personally I can’t wait to see who’s going to step up to the plate and play like their broke and rent is due. It's a fun time to play against and with the top talent in the state and get ready for the big open season ahead. If I hurt your feeling in this report, you know where to find me on the 12th. For everyone else best of luck out there and make sure you don’t hold the wooden spoon at the end.
Kind regards
Harrison Mark Buckland