No wildcard preview, busy with work and other aspects of real life, so you'll have to be patient

Prediction: Another battle with Cheesy Philly, can we finally get the monkey off our backs and get a victory against them? History would say no, we are 0-5 against them, and 0-3 in the postseason. We really need to get over the hump that is our postseason failures, and over the hump that is not beating a team like Cheesy Philly. We need something positive to come out of a great season like this. It can't end on a failure note... can it?

[WILDCARD RECAP]

PENRITH, NSW - Following the conclusion of Penrith's 2030 season, the Lions' 2031 first-round pick is set. Penrith will hold the 23rd-overall pick in the upcoming draft and is slated to make their eight first-round pick in a row.

After finishing the regular season with a franchise high 13 victories and a second straight divisional title, the Lions unfortunately fell at the first hurdle in the postseason, again to Cheesy Philly, and have secured the 23rd-overall pick based on that 13-3 record.

Penrith has never made a selection at 23, with the closest being last season when they selected center David Munoz with the 21st-overall pick. The Lions did hold the 24th-overall pick back in 2023, before trading that selection to the Stockholm North Stars, which the Lions used the subsequent selections on defensive end Paul Buckley and defensive tackle Peter Gant in 2024.

James Dooley, Michael Lyon, Dan Ryczek and Arthur Cantrell are among some of the players who have been selected with the 23rd-overall pick in recent years.

The Lions most recently selected center David Munoz and running back David Haskins with their two most recent first-round selections.

PENRITH, NSW – With the beginning of the new league season, the Penrith Lions have made a series of roster moves to begin building the roster for the upcoming league season.

RT Randolph Campbell, CB Clifton Massengale and RT Nathan Peterson have all decided to end their careers and retire from the sport. On behalf of everyone associated with the Penrith Lions, we thank these three players for their years of service to the franchise and wish them all the best in the next phase of their lives. They will forever be part of the Lions family.

Following completion of the season, the Lions have elected not to offer new contracts to the following players, and as such, they are now free agents and can sign with another club with no compensation offered to Penrith in return. The players include LT Enrique Little, RG Fred Lawson, LDE Ernest Delcambre, RDE Seymour Clinkscales and SLB Lance Holt.

The Lions thank all of these players for their commitment to the organization and wishes them the best moving forward in their careers.

Following on from the season launch earlier today, the league office along with all the 32 teams have released the upcoming 2031 schedule for the fans to begin their plans to travel and follow their team, supporting their quest to become the next champion of the Electrosports Football League. With weeks to go until the draft and then the season itself, fans will want to know what is coming up for the two-time defending divisional champions

So, another division title. What does our division games look like this season?
Following on from an impressive division title, and also our first clean sweep of the division, we were lucky this season to manage only two back-to-back divisional games this season, that being in Week 6 when we visit Compton and then the following week (Week 7) when the Florence Fools come to town, followed by Week 10 and 11, when we first head off to North York to face the Wildcats, followed by a home game against Compton. We start the divisional slate of games back in Week 4 with a home fixture against North York, and end in Week 14 against Florence in their backyard.

Preseason has to be kind to us, right? Did we get anybody there that we will face in the regular season?
Actually, for the first time since 2027, our preseason opponents will not face us again in the regular season, so we have four great matchups to witness. Sadly, it’s ten in a row starting away from home as we head to face the Al-Asfoor Oryx in Week 1, with them coming off an impressive division win as well, it will be a tough start to the season. Week 2 will see us at home against the Reasonable Lengths, a team we have only gone up against three times in league history, followed by a visit to Minnetonka to take on the Timberwolves, who we will be looking to square up the head-to-head against. Our final preseason hit out will be at home, taking on the Hurlingham Herons, who made it to the postseason for the very first time last season.

So, what two divisions do we have to face this season?
Within the rotation, we are in the fourth cycle of a division within our own conference, so like it was back in 2028, we are facing off against the FB South, with our first match in Week 2 against the Zena Rumberos away from home, followed by another away game, this time in Week 5 against the Santiago Chiles. Week 9 gives us the first of our two home games, that being against the High River Rangers, and we end the season at home against Cheesy Philly, hoping that we can not only get revenge against them for knocking us out of the postseason two straight seasons now, but also our very first win against them. The other division we face is BC South (we are in the third rotation of divisions in the other conference), so we secured home games against Stockholm in Week 8 and Cape Town in Week 3, while we will visit Montevideo in the opening week of the season and Genoa in Week 15 to round out our away trips for the season, of course, pending any postseason games.

The opening month of games must be tougher now than ever before, being a two-time defending division champ?
It doesn’t get any tougher than this, as we head away from The Lions Den in the opening two weeks, a season opening against a Montevideo Screamers side that will be looking to avenge the 2029 preseason loss to us, but also we will be looking for our third straight win over them. Our second week sees us taking on the Zena Rumberos, who wiped us off the map last season, so we will be looking for a better performance than that this time around. Week 3 sees us head home for the first time this season, as we face off against the Cape Town Rhinos, a team on the up and up and who will be looking to keep the ledger on their side, as they too are a team we have failed to taste victory against so far. Week 4 sees us welcome the Wildcats to town as we look to make it seven straight in the division and five straight against them.

Please did we finally get away from those crazy away trips?
We pretty much did avoid any long-term away trips this season, the most that we got was two games away in a row, so the schedule was very kind to us this time around. Alongside facing Florence, Compton and North York away, we also have that opening two week trip to Montevideo then Zena, plus we also head off to face Santiago, Heliopolis and Genoa away from home. We did however, get a three game home stand in the middle of the season, with Weeks 7 to 9 being at home, where we will look to extend our home record over the last three seasons from it’s current record of 18-6

What do you think this season will be for us?
Well, there are rumours around that the Lions are about to make a massive splash in not just free agency, but in the trade market; there are some rumblings that a few players have been told that they will be shipped around in the hope of finding a suitor to take them on while the Lions try to stack themselves with some draft picks across a number of seasons. The talk is also that they may also be in the market and interested in acquiring a few players who could be a vital cog in a postseason push once more. Time will tell, but looking at the schedule and the team as it currently stands, well before the draft, I think we could be looking at another 10+ win season again. There are some very tricky games in the schedule, but an 11-5 season is not out of the realm of possibility.

PENRITH, NSW – In a big splash, the Penrith Lions and Stockholm North Stars have agreed to a trade, sending a four-time Electrobowl winning quarterback to Penrith.

The Penrith Lions have arguably made the biggest splash in the early stages of the offseason, with the Lions acquiring the services of four-time Electrobowl winning quarterback James Marrero, whilst only having to give up a future third round draft pick in 2032 and a second-round draft pick in 2033. The 12-year veteran is coming off a slow season, only managing 11 touchdowns and his lowest QBR since 2023, but is coming off another title-winning season, his fourth and second in a row. Marrero joins the Lions with a career 68.5% pass completion percentage, 22,307 passing yards and 128 touchdowns (to only 81 interceptions) and a career QBR of 85.84, having not once gone under 2,000 passing yards in a season.

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Quotes attributed to General Manager Leam Mark Farrar

“We had heard talk that Stockholm were interested in shipping Marrero off to another team, that they were looking at possibly beginning a new phase in their franchise, working alongside a younger quarterback and building their future around a refresh of their roster, and we had made it known that we could be a suitor, and someone in the market to maybe make a splash in free agency, looking at maybe trying to acquire the talent through trades and free agency that could give us that extra push to get over the postseason bump that we seem to be stuck at, and through discussions, it looked likely that gaining Marrero would not be as difficult as first thought, so the questions were asked and we were pretty lucky to have managed to get a deal done very quickly.”

Quotes attributed to Head Coach Roy Rodriguez

“I think James will be a great addition to the roster and to the franchise. I think that John [Decaro] can learn a lot from him, and while many may now be talking about a quarterback controversy brewing, I feel that we have a better competition for the quarterback spot that we have been lacking over the last few seasons. We’ve gone into the last couple of seasons already knowing who our starter would be, and I feel that bringing James into the room will not only improve the quality of play that we will have, but I think it will spur both William [Bradley] and John on to improve and to fight for the position even more. It’s going to create a healthy competition and I think that just between those three, it will spur on the rest of the roster to improve beyond what they think they can do”

PENRITH, NSW – Following on from the Stockholm trade, the Penrith Lions have moved on from one quarterback, sending him to a division rival while acquiring further selections in the upcoming draft.

For the first time since 2024, the Lions have made a trade with a divisional rival, this time it’s the North York Wildcats who are welcoming quarterback William Bradley to their roster, while sending to the Lions center Julio Howerton as well as a fifth-round and sixth-round draft pick in the upcoming draft.

Bradley, who didn’t play a single snap in the regular season for the Lions last season after arriving through free agency on a three-year deal, only played a number of snaps during the preseason, finishing with only 395 yards from 71 pass attempts, 7 sacks and only 4 touchdowns (to a single interception). He will look now to resume his career with the Wildcats and hope to play in a regular season game for the first time since 2027.

Howerton joins the Lions off the back of a season where he played in 12 games, but only managed 92 plays for a Wildcats team that went 2-14 overall, having been supplanted in the position by Jerry Attrick. He joins the Lions with 1,506 plays, 791 pass blocks, 902 run blocks in his 55-game career.

The Lions now also hold a total of eight selections in the upcoming draft, starting with pick 23 overall, but have made notice to other teams that they are open to considerations for those draft picks to move around and maybe look to acquire additional picks over future seasons.

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Quotes attributed to General Manager Leam Mark Farrar

“We appreciate everything that William [Bradley] has done for us last season, he played his role with high distinction and worked hard every single day, not only to be ready for anything should something have happened to John [Decaro] but also to provide John with his years of knowledge and experience in the role, to guide him through the rough patches and be there when he needed that extra bit of support. We know that William is the ultimate professional when it comes to his job and while he didn’t see the field for us in the regular season, we know that his contributions to our season will not go unnoticed.”

Quotes attributed to Head Coach Roy Rodriguez

“It’s always tough when you come into a team and there is that understanding or knowledge that there is a clear starter, and William knew that, but he also knew what his role was going to be when we signed him. He was that one person who John [Decaro] could go to and ask questions of at any time of the day or night. They worked so hard together on and off the field that I feel that not only did John grow as a quarterback, but William did too. He worked hard every day to be ready in case we needed him, and he provided great understanding and support to the coaching staff on the sidelines every single game, and he never once let the frustration of not playing get to him, he knew what the goal was all season”

“Julio joins us in almost the same way that William did, he is going to fight every day at practice for his position and I feel that it is going to be more of the same, that he is going to lift the rest of the offensive line to be better, which is going to make our jobs even tougher in trying to sort out who starts and who slots in where on the depth chart. It’s never just about who has the most experience or who can do the role better, but who is going to be the best at it, and Julio coming in ensures that we have the best of the best and the best opportunity to evaluate everyone and ensure we have the best fit for our depth chart and our roster.”