Picture of Ball Revere - the Jacks Rangers logo Ranger Picks

A spin off from The Jacks Rangers Show

mlr2025

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    Ranger Picks Week 4 results

    Week 4 results are in, and after a late night and losing an hour the keyboard monkeys employed here at Ranger Picks HQ have crunched the numbers and have the results!

    Only 1 person achieved the always important bonus point this week, and I expect we’ll hear about it in a certain news letter in the morning… Congrats Rugby Morning!

    8 other pickers managed to get 4 out of 5: Week 4 results.

    which keeps the top of the table ever moving:

    Ranger list after week 4.

    Onwards to Week 5 - the form is open: https://rangerpicks.rugby/week5

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    Ranger Picks Week 4

    Here comes week 4. Late with this update again… yikes, once more and it’ll be a habit!

    Apparently, Anthem impressed pickers with their near miss last week - they’re still underdogs, but they have the same number of picks as Houston and Seattle, and more than Miami and LA!

    Chi @ mia and ARC @ ogdc. Hou @ utah and la @ sd.

    The OG Squad and reigning champ Beaver Paw’s picks (missing Ranger Bunny!!) are reasonably consistent. A couple of looks at Houston and Seattle but otherwise unanimously for Chicago, DC and San Diego:

    Og and beaver paw.

    Some more chaos in the picks from the current leaders though!

    Leader picks.
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    Ranger Picks Week 3 results

    Week 3 is in the bag! I think we only saw one upset, and that was the final match of the week. The upset I was hoping for did not happen, although Anthem looked really promising for most of their match up against Miami. While that robbed a some rangers from a bonus point, it did open the door to 4 bonus points:

    Week 3 top results.

    Which has had the knock on effect of some turnover at the top of the leader table:

    Leaders as of week 3.

    Week 4 form is live: https://rangerpicks.rugby/week4

    This form will close on Thursday!

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    Ranger Picks Week 3

    Sneaking in the update just before the first match of the week, here’s how Ranger Picks for Week 3 shape up!

    Unsurprisingly, Miami is a huge favorite over Anthem… spoiler for later but I’m one of the few picking Anthem… this is their best shot at a first win, but I picked before their lineup was released so take that for what it’s worth!

    The Legion is also favored over OGDC even with the long travel and the injuries they picked up last week.

    MIA @ ARC and SDL @ OGDC.

    Utah impressed Ranger Pickers with their dominance over Chicago last week and are expected to beat NOLA. I’m a little surprised that Seattle is ranked as high as they are against Houston even with Houston’s slower than expected start.

    NOLA @ UTAH and SEA @ HOU.

    Finally the Free Jacks are expected to continue their march towards a three-peat, traveling to Chicago and picking up a win.

    Taking a look at how our leader board picked, they’re all very similar. I see where all the Seattle picks came from though!

    Leader picks.

    Taking a look at the OG squad with the addition of last year’s champ, you’ll see my Anthem pick… we’re split 50/50 on SD vs DC… and that’s not a typo - Rugby Morning picked NEFJ but FreeJackFitzy is taking a swing and picking Chicago!

    OG and Beaver Paw.
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    Ranger Picks Week 2 results

    Week 2 results are in!

    Another week, another week with no bonus points for Ranger Picks. Despite this being an upset week for many of us, the zigs paid of for Beaver Paw and Ranger Bunny, who joined only a few others in getting 3 out of 4 correct:

    Week 2 top picks.

    This means several players join Rugby Morning and Ranger Abi at the front of the table, with no bonus points for tie breaks:

    Week 2 leader board.

    Week 3 form is open: https://rangerpicks.rugby/week3. Please try to use the same email and Ranger Name each week.

    Week 3 form WILL close on Thursday.

    Good luck as always!

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    MLR 2025 Ranger Picks Week 2

    Week 2 is just hours away from starting, and of course we have a round up of picks.

    Unsurprisingly, the Legion is a massive favorite over Anthem after dominating Seattle last week. 71% of pickers have NOLA triumphing over Miami, only 15% think that Utah can beat Chicago in the windy city’s home opener. The closest to a toss up is 60% favoring Houston over LA.

    The OG Squad, last year’s winner Beaver Paw, and current (tied) leader Ranger Abi’s picks are below. Big swings for Bozo6 with Utah over Chicago and LA over Houston - no doubt hoping to recover from only 2 points last week. Beaver Paw and Bunny taking a smaller swerve with Miami over NOLA.

    OG, Beaver Paw and Ranger Abi.

    Legion @ Anthem and NOLA @ Miami. Warriors @ Hounds and Sabercats @ LA.

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    Last and final reminder to get Ranger Picks Week 2 picks in!

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    Ranger Picks Week 2

    First results are in. This is going to be a quick one. Several surprises in the match results - no bonus points to kick off ranger picks 2025 but congratulations to Ranger Abi and Rugby Morning who stand on top with 4 correct picks! Everyone got at least 1 point - no goose eggs this week.

    Full results below.

    Week 2 form is open and will be closed on Thursday!

    Week 1 Results.
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    MLR 2025 is here!

    Week 1 Ranger Picks are in, with a strong showing of 39 respondents.

    It seems like the most difficult to pick is OGDC @ Miami - 56% choosing the visitors. Only 25% of pickers chose San Diego to get a home opener win. Is it riding the rivalry history or do we think that there’s been too much change in the Legion to come together in week 1?

    Across the other matches, a solid 85% picked NOLA over Anthem, Houston over Chicago and New England over RFC LA.

    Checking in with our reigning Champ Beaver Paw, he went against the crowd by picking Miami, otherwise picking the favorites.

    This is how the OG squad and Beaver Paw are picking:

    Week 1 OG + BP. OG @ MIA and ARC @ NOLA. CHI @ HOU and SEA @ SDL. NEFJ @ RFCLA.

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    Ranger Picks Way Too Early

    Ranger Picks way too early form has closed just in time for MLR 2025 to kick off. We asked the rangers to predict the win loss record match by match for the Free Jacks.

    The only consensus loss for our New England Free Jacks is the Seattle away match in round 4. Too much travel in the first couple of weeks? I’m not sure - even Matt McCarthy says our Jacks travel well. High expectations for week 1 in LA, but not as high as Anthem and LA at home!

    For our bonus pick, the clear winner for dream away trip is Chicago - memories of the 2023 Shield Final? My Anthem pick came in tied for 2nd.

    We have 3 rangers picking a 16-0 season - Beaver Paw, Ranger Horkan, and Ranger Lil Payne, 1 definitely-a-secret-ranger picking 0-16 (we see you, RugbyMorning!). Otherwise 14-2 is the most popular prediction followed by 12-4 with 13-3, 11-5 and 10-6 all tied for 3rd place.

    Charts below, will give a mid season update if I remember!

    Way Too Early Rounds 1 and 3. Way Too Early Rounds 4 and 5. Way Too Early Rounds 6 and 7. Way Too Early Rounds 8 and 9. Way Too Early Rounds 10 and 11. Way Too Early Rounds 12 and 13. Way Too Early Rounds 15 and 16. Way Too Early Round 17 and Bonus.

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    MLR 2025 Week 1

    Welcome to Week 1 of Ranger Picks MLR 2025 Presented by TJRS!

    Week 1 form is OPEN: https://rangerpicks.rugby/week1. Get your picks in… the form will be closing on THURSDAY.

    Also closing on Thursday will be the Way Too Early predictions - get those in now too! https://rangerpicks.rugby/early

    Good luck to all the rangers and pickers out there!

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    MLR 2025 Ranger Picks presented by TJRS

    Ranger Picks 2025 is (almost) here.

    Because no MLR season is complete without additional complexity - this year introducing mid week matches, we’re going to do something slightly different ourselves.

    Regardless of what MLR is calling “rounds” or “weeks”, Ranger Picks has our own definition. A week is Friday to Thursday. So all matches Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday (there are no Thursday matches) will comprise that week as far as Ranger Picks are concerned.

    This won’t really be an issue until April, so plenty of time to forget about why we’re doing this. I will open the form on MONDAYS the form for the upcoming week will close on THURSDAY before that weekend’s matches. That means there will be weeks where the following week’s form is open before the matches have finished for the current week. After week 1, I will send email reminders to everyone who has participated thus far in Ranger Picks 2025 in addition to the regular blog and social media posts.

    So, mark your calendars - Ranger Picks MLR 2025 Presented by TJRS Week 1 form will open on Monday February 10th 2025 and will close Thursday February 11th 2025.

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    Match Updates or Why You Should Subscribe to the Calendar

    As we get closer to the start of the MLR season, it’s typical to see matches moving timeslots, which is why it’s useful to subscribe to the calendar of your team or the league. I periodically update those calendars as I notice changes. This update is notable as there have been quite a few changes affecting 6 of the 11 teams. I’m not planning on documenting every change, but as this update adds a couple of Friday games, I think it’s notable.

    San Diego Legion

    • The away match against Miami Sharks moves from Saturday May 31st to Friday May 30th.

    RFC Los Angeles

    • The home match against New England Free Jacks moves from Sunday Feb 16th to Saturday Feb 15th.
    • The away match against NOLA Gold moves an hour earlier on Mar 22nd.

    Old Glory DC

    • The away match against Chicago Hounds moves an hour earlier on Saturday Mar 15th.

    NOLA Gold

    • The away match against Miami Sharks moves from Saturday Feb 22nd to Sunday Feb 23rd.
    • The home match against RFC Los Angeles moves an hour earlier on Mar 22nd.
    • The home match against Chicago Hounds moves an hour earlier on Mar 29th.

    New England Free Jacks

    • The away match against RFC Los Angeles moves from Sunday Feb 16th to Saturday Feb 15th.
    • The away match against Miami Sharks moves from Saturday May 17th to Friday May 16th.

    Chicago Hounds

    • The away match against Miami Sharks moves from Saturday Mar 8th to Friday Mar 7th.
    • The home match against Old Glory DC moves an hour earlier on Saturday Mar 15th.
    • The away match against NOLA Gold moves an hour earlier on Mar 29th.

    Miami Sharks

    • The home match against San Diego Legion moves from Saturday May 31st to Friday May 30th.
    • The home match against NOLA Gold moves from Saturday Feb 22nd to Sunday Feb 23rd.
    • The home match against New England Free Jacks moves from Saturday May 17th to Friday May 16th.
    • The home match against Chicago Hounds moves from Saturday Mar 8th to Friday Mar 7th.
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    Way Too Early

    A big congrats to Phil for the TJRS 24 hour marathon raising $4k (the fundraiser is still open: https://www.gofundme.com/f/free-jacks-preseason-player-fundraiser)) for the incoming Free Jacks players. One of the segments in the show was the annual “Way Too Early” predictions for a Free Jacks win/loss for every regular season match.

    For #MLR2025, we’ve decided to do the same! Head over to https://rangerpicks.rugby/early and get your predictions in ahead of the start of the season!

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    Calendars for MLR 2025

    With the league publishing the (first version?) of the MLR 2025 schedule it’s time to start getting excited about the return of MLR!

    If, like me, you want to have the schedule in your calendar do I have the goods for you?! Copy the URL from the list below and then go to your calendar application and add it as a subscription. I’ve created some instructions for Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple.

    Schedule URL
    MLR
    Anthem Rugby Carolina
    Chicago Hounds
    Houston SaberCats
    Miami Sharks
    New England Free Jacks
    NOLA Gold
    Old Glory DC
    RFC LA
    San Diego Legion
    Seattle Seawolves
    Utah Warriros

    To subscribe in Google Calendar:

    1. copy the URL above
    2. go to calendar.google.com
    3. scroll to “Other Calendars”
    4. click “+”
    5. select From URL
    6. paste in the URL you copied
    7. click “Add Calendar”

    To subscribe in OutLook:

    1. copy the URL above
    2. go to outlook.office.com/calendar
    3. click “Add Calendar”
    4. click “Subscribe from Web”
    5. paste in the URL you copied
    6. click “Import”

    To subscribe in Apple Calendar:

    1. copy the URL above
    2. open Calendar
    3. click “File”
    4. click “New Calendar Subscription”
    5. paste in the URL you copied
    6. click “Subscribe”