Do We Have Parity in the Prem North?

Guest Writer
May 25
9 min read

We are almost halfway through the 2025 BAFA Adult Contact season. Let's take a deep dive into what is shaping up to be one of the tightest conferences across all the divisions this year - the Premiership North.

Two months into the season, no team has played more than four games, remarkably no team remains undefeated and no team remains winless. At first glance it would appear that anybody can beat anybody else on their day. Just three weekends ago the North's early pace setters the East Kilbride Pirates took their undefeated record down to the David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham and were comprehensively beaten by the previously winless Caesars. That same weekend last year’s Prem North champions, the Manchester Titans, were upset by a team that finished in the bottom half of the conference last year.

So what is afoot in the Prem North? Are the five teams really as closely matched as it appears at this point in the season? And which teams are most likely to break out of the pack and make the playoff spots by the end of the summer?

We've crunched the numbers, ran the data, and come up with a team-by-team breakdown of where things stand, and how we got there:

Coventry Phoenix - current record 2-1-0

The Phoenix are a team that will have ambitions to improve on last season's finishing position and compete for a playoff spot this time round. This is Head Coach Neale McMaster's second year in charge of the programme - he took over with a multi-year plan to bring stability and success to the club, and seems to be delivering exactly that. They recruited well over the winter and have built a competitive roster for 2025.

Coventry started the season with an 18-16 reverse at EKP, where they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with some questionable clock management late in the game. They put that defeat behind them in their next outing with a good performance and a 17-10 away win at one of last season's playoff teams, the Newcastle Vikings. The Phoenix then took on last year's conference champions, the Manchester Titans, in their first home game of the season in front of a big crowd at the impressive Butts Park Arena. Coventry overcame an alarming five interceptions on the day to narrowly win the game 9-7, relying on a strong performance from their defense and some poor play from the Titans' special teams.

Quarterback Olly Sweeney has certainly had some turnover problems in this early part of the season, but he has also thrown four touchdown passes, receiver James Schofield has hauled in two of them. Running back Bami Olupona has been the workhorse on the ground. The team's strengths up to now, though, have been a stingy defense, led by Dan Shodipo up front and Dan Schofield with a Prem-leading three interceptions in the secondary, and strong special teams play. Their four offensive touchdowns have been supplemented by four safeties and a special-teams touchdown.

Coventry have made a good start to their campaign. Can they find a spark to ignite their offense in the three week break they have and then push on to contend for the title?

Manchester Titans - current record 2-1-0

After being crowned National Champions in 2022 and 2023, and then going undefeated through the 2024 regular season whilst averaging more the 40 points per game, the Titans fell to a somewhat surprising defeat in the Premiership playoff semi-finals last autumn. In the weeks following that game, several of the Titans' most experienced and talented players and coaches announced their plans to either retire or move on. And so, the 2025 Titans have a new look. They are younger and perhaps less experienced, but still have a high level of talent throughout the roster. Anything less than a conference title would be seen as a disappointment.

Manchester had to wait until week five to make their first appearance with their revamped team. Things didn't quite go to plan. They travelled to Coventry to take on a tough Phoenix side, took an early lead, but failed to trouble the scorers again for the rest of the game. To make matters worse, special teams misfires led to a Phoenix TD and a safety. They finished the game with a 9-7 loss, their first regular-season defeat for over two years. They certainly bounced back in style just a week later, travelling to Newcastle and coming away with a 66-0 victory, completely dominating the Vikings from the first snap to the last. Their third game in three weeks saw them make their first appearance of the campaign at Belle Vue Stadium, hosting East Kilbride. The first half was tight, but the Titans took advantage of a tiring Pirates roster later in the game and eased to a 36-7 victory.

New starting quarterback Charlie Martin has shown what a strong arm he possesses, throwing seven TD passes so far. They have a speedy wide receiver group capable of stretching the field horizontally and vertically. Connor Greenhalgh and Eugene Ndlovu lead the wideouts with two TDs each. They also have a bruising ground game, helped by having such a large stable of running backs. The Titans' defense has only given up two touchdowns in their opening three games, whilst snagging an impressive ten interceptions, two of which have been returned for TDs. Jack Mayfield and Djoss Balela have two picks each. The special teams unit, which cost them dearly in game one, seems back on track.

The Titans won't have been happy with their start to the season, Since then, however, they seem to be refocused and resurgent. They have put themselves right back in the mix, who would bet against them taking the Prem North title again?

East Kilbride Pirates - current record 2-2-0

The Pirates finished just outside the playoff spots last season, and no doubt have hopes of improving on that in 2025. They would have been boosted over the winter break with the news that the only other Scottish Premiership side, the Edinburgh Wolves, were pulling out of the league. This meant that Head Coach Matt Davies was able to strengthen the roster with the addition of several ex-Edinburgh players looking for a new home.

EKP began this season with a very close 18-16 home victory over the Coventry Phoenix at the GHA Rugby Stadium, needing two second-half touchdowns to overcome a ten-point deficit and snatch the win inside the final minute. They had a much more comfortable 31-12 victory over the Nottingham Caesars, once again at home, in their next fixture. Week 5 saw them travel down to Nottingham for their first away game, and whilst the wheels didn't completely come off, they certainly had a wheel nut or two loosened whilst dropping to a 28-12 defeat. They endured more misery on the road in their fourth game, falling to a 36-7 defeat at the Manchester Titans.

Wide receiver Struan Bailey has caused plenty of problems for defenses so far and leads the Prem with four TD receptions. Quarterback Logan Gallacher has shown he is a real threat with six passing TDs, They have a strong run game when Greg Black is available, averaging over 20 carries per game. Defensively, they started the season stoutly but have shown vulnerability in their two most recent outings, both away from home. Two-way player Mark Stewart has scarcely been off the field so far, shouldering a heavy load at running back and topping the Prem sack charts with five. Even when the ball is in the air, their pass defense frustrates opponents too, Sean Dickie, Jonny Nicolson and Fergus McNiven all have two interceptions to show for their efforts.

So, will the real East Kilbride please stand up. Will they continue to be strong at home but susceptible on the road? Can they put out their strongest roster for the rest of the season? They’ll need to if they want to stay in touch. We're about to find out.

Newcastle Vikings - current record 1-2-0

The Vikings made the playoffs in 2024 despite having a disrupted start to the year, so under second year Head Coach Kevin O'Reagan, and with a full preseason under their belt, they will be looking to do at least as well again in 2025. They are another team that has recruited well, notably at quarterback with the addition of Donovan Pacatte, an American import who played for the Durham Saints in the BUCS National League this winter.

The Vikings opened their campaign with a trip down the A1/M1 to take on the newly promoted Nottingham Caesars. It proved to be a very tight, cagey game, the Vikings eventually running out 10-6 winners. They then returned home to Druid Park to entertain the Coventry Phoenix. They had to play without their American QB, who was unavailable, and this definitely harmed their chances. The Vikings gained less than 100 yards on offense, scoring their only touchdown on a defensive pick-six, before eventually going down to a 17-10 loss. Worse was to come for the Newcastle outfit a week later when they were comprehensively outplayed by the Manchester Titans, falling to a 66-0 hammering. They were again without Donovan Pacatte, but how much of a difference he would have made is a moot point.

We almost certainly haven't seen the best of the Newcastle offense yet this season. Wide receiver Matt Wilson has been the Vikings' do-it-all guy so far, filling in at QB for the Phoenix game after scoring a receiving TD against the Caesars. They have cycled through three different starting quarterbacks already. Their defense had been solid, giving up only two TDs in the opening pair of games, before being exposed in game three. Victor Quaas leads their secondary with two interceptions, whilst Henrique Baptista-Borges has brought plenty of pressure and has two sacks.

The Vikings will certainly need to improve on a few things if they want to secure a playoff spot come the end of the season. Was the collapse against Manchester a one-off? And can they find a spark on offense from here onwards with Pacatte back under center?

Nottingham Caesars - current record 1-2-0

The Nottingham Caesars were champions of Division 1 in 2024, going undefeated through the whole regular season and playoffs, routinely outscoring their opponents by a large margin, and in doing so securing their place in the Prem North for 2025. The Caesars didn't rest on their laurels in the offseason though, they brought in some new players and also welcomed some talented graduates from their successful U19 squad. They will be fancied to do more than just survive this first season in the Prem.

The Caesars entertained the Newcastle Vikings at the David Ross Sports Village in their opening game of the campaign. They led early but eventually fell to a 10-6 defeat. They followed that with a tough assignment away in East Kilbride, which ended in a 31-12 reverse. Undaunted, the Caesars kick-started their season in the return fixture a fortnight later at David Ross. They looked like a different team as they dominated EKP in all phases, stretching out to a 28-12 victory when all was said and done. They even had an opportunity to take the head-to-head but chose to kneel out their final possession.

Quarterback Liam MacGovern has proved a true dual threat so far, throwing 95 passes and carrying the ball 15 more times, whilst passing for two TDs and running for two more. Nottingham's ground game really kicked into gear in the home win over EKP and might prove difficult to stop from here onwards. Defensively, Harry Johnson and Henry Scanlon have both trousered two interceptions, and John Winter leads their front seven with three and a half sacks.

The Caesars put themselves behind the eight ball with two opening losses, but after the win over EKP, they seem to have found their identity and put their season back on track. They don't have too much margin for error going forward, can they push on and contend for a playoff place?

How will things pan out?

As things stand, only one game separates top from bottom in the Prem North, so everything is still up for grabs for all five teams.

The Manchester Titans have really made a statement with their wins in weeks six and seven, and are probably marginal favourites to take the conference. However, the Coventry Phoenix will feel they are capable of throwing a spanner into the Titans' works. Indeed, the Coventry outfit has already shown they can do that. East Kilbride will be licking their wounds after two tough losses, but on their day can beat anyone. The newly promoted Nottingham Caesars should not be discounted either, judging from their most recent performance, and if the Newcastle Vikings can put their latest setback behind them, they can still contend.

With the starters cleared away, we are now sitting down and awaiting the main course of the season to be served. It's a tasty prospect.