BAFA Premiership Power Rankings Week 4

After only two games were played in week 3 of the BAFA Premiership, this week’s fixtures - including our first glimpse of the 2025 Manchester Titans who have had a significant impact on our rankings. So, starting from the top, let’s jump straight into it:

Same old story in the south?

After the Bristol Aztecs (#2) demolished the Amsterdam Crusaders in their CEFL debut last week, I was asked what more they had to show to take the #1 spot in my ranking. The answer was simple: beat the London Warriors (#1). After leading for the majority of the game, and despite WR Tim Lukas continuing his exceptional run of form, adding another TD to his tally, it simply was not enough as the Warriors rallied in the fourth quarter to secure a 24-13 victory, giving the team from Croydon early control of the division. In the end, star QB Dee Williams proved to be the difference: finding WR Henry Rowland in the endzone twice before rushing in for one himself. When these two sides meet again on August 9th, Bristol will need to overcome a 2 score deficit if they hope to take the #1 seed and home-field advantage into the playoffs. This is of course, presuming that both the Warriors and Aztecs remain undefeated until the end of the regular season, and no doubt the London Blitz (#3) will feel as though they have the quality to insert themselves in the playoff picture for the first time since 2019. For both teams, Bristol’s visit to Finsbury Park on May 18th could prove to be a key game of the 2025 season.

All to play for in the North

After only 4 weeks of football in the Premier North, there are already no undefeated teams. The previously undefeated East Kilbride Pirates (#4) fell to 2-1 after a defeat on the road to the 1-2 Nottingham Caesars (#8), and the Manchester Titans (#6) started the George Foster regime with a disappointing defeat to the now 2-1 Coventry Phoenix (#5). This season promises to be one of the most closely-contested seasons that the Premier North has ever seen. There will certainly be lots of movement in these rankings before the season is done.

Titans falling, Phoenix rising (excuse the puns), and Vikings…on holiday? 

Amongst the movement this week, I have the Coventry Phoenix (#5) up two spots from the last edition, thanks to their back-to-back wins against last year’s Premier North playoff qualifiers. Last week, they travelled to the Newcastle Vikings (#7) and left with a 17-10 victory, their first win of the 2025 season. However, it is difficult to take much consequence from this game, as Newcastle’s star QB Donovan Pacatte missed the match,  not through injury or suspension; he was reportedly on holiday in Tenerife. WR Matt Wilson (who notably caught the Vikings’ only TD in their last game) filled in at QB. Only losing by one score in these circumstances makes me eager to suggest that when a more tanned Pacatte leads his side out at Butt’s Park on June 1st, Newcastle will be brimming with confidence.

In the first edition of this power ranking, I remarked that it felt strange to be using the term “rebuild year” when referring to a Manchester Titans (#6) team who have been so dominant over the Premier North in recent years. However, their first season under new HC George Foster and new starting QB Charlie Martin got off to a less than ideal start this weekend. Despite a first quarter long TD pass to WR Connor Greenhalgh seeming to get the Titans up-and-running, they were unable to add any more points for the rest of the game as the Coventry Phoenix held on for a vital home win. Phoenix QB Ollie Sweeney is no doubt the person most relieved with the result, seeing his defense rally to hold the Titans usually prolific offense to only one score despite throwing five interceptions (only a week after throwing two against Newcastle). In fact, there is no doubt that this match was a defensive masterclass. Both offenses struggled to get anything going, and if it was not for the aforementioned single deep connection between Martin and Greenalgh, and two botched special teams plays, gifting the Phoenix a safety and a series deep in the red zone, this game could easily have finished 0-0. Manchester have a lot of work to do if they have any hope of retaining their Premier North title, and their fans will be hoping that Sunday’s performance can be explained away as game-one rust. Coventry, meanwhile, will be hoping to continue building on these back-to-back wins, but the priority must be limiting the amount of offensive turnovers.

Hey, Nottingham wasn’t built in a day, and the Knights Rally

The challenge for any newly promoted team, regardless of sport or level, is simply to avoid going straight back down. This seems to have been forgotten in the Premiership (especially in the Premier North, where, last year the Vikings managed to clinch a playoff berth in their first premiership season). This week marks an important moment in the story of the 2025 campaign. Both newly promoted teams won their first game.

Despite a promising start, and competitive performances in their first two games, the Nottingham Caesars (#8) came into this week’s home game against the East Kilbride Pirates (#4) with an 0-2 record, and left with a convincing 28-12 win. Despite Struan Bailey adding another two receiving TDs to his 2025 tally, the Pirates were simply overpowered by a Caesars team who demonstrated their excellent backfield depth, recording 4 rushing TDs from 4 different players, led by RB Wellington Tafireyi. If Nottingham hope to build on this result, they will have to continue putting the emphasis on playing physical football and dominating at the line of scrimmage, just as they did this week. However, the Pirates find themselves one spot up from last week in spite of this weekend’s result; this is simply due to the rise of a Phoenix team who they overcame in week 1, and the subsequent slide of the Titans. But to compete in this division, they need to prove that they can win south of the border, and they will get their next chance on May 17th against a struggling Titans side.

Similarly, the Rushmoor Knights (#9) came into this week with an 0-2 record, having been given the unfortunate task of taking on the Warriors and Aztecs in their first two games since returning to the Premiership. Hosting a Hertfordshire Cheetahs (#11) team who they have an extensive and turbulent history with. A very young Knights team were able to overcome a slow start to record a 14-9 victory which pushes them up both the league table and this power ranking. Having not started the game, QB Ky Holmes was called upon deep in the second quarter and took over, rushing for a touchdown just before halftime before finding WR Connor Thomas in the endzone during the 3rd. Despite an excellent performance from WR Jaiden Abraham, who caught a late consolidation TD, the Knights’ defense had a solid outing, with good performances from DT Bradley Bloedorn, LB James Owen, and S Charles Chemali, which is a very promising step in the right direction after conceding 112 points over the previous two weeks. The Cheetahs next game is at home to a Blitz team who currently sit at the top of the Premier South standings, and an exceptional performance will be needed to get a result there, especially considering their growing injury list.

Promotion Watch

Reporting on the Premiership simply can’t be done without keeping an eye on Division 1. Here’s a brief selection of results from this week’s action that I believe are notable in the battle for promotion to the top tier:

• Yorkshire Rams  32 - 21 Scunthorpe Alphas

• South Wales Warriors 18 - 17 Solent Thrashers

• Kent Exiles 12 - 15 London Olympians

• Northants Knights 20 - 3 Staffordshire Surge