Several Barracudas players are hoping to bow out with Desert Bowl glory

Jay Asser 09:18 17/03/2016
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  • One last hurrah: Dubai quarterback Zavier Cobb will be a constant offensive threat for the Barracudas.

    The Dubai Barracudas are one win away from accomplishing a mission that has been four years in the making, in what is likely to be the final game for many of their players.

    After losing in the championship game last season to city rivals Dubai Stallions, the Barracudas blitzed the league with an unbeaten record and are the ones to beat in Desert Bowl IV at Dubai Sports City this Friday (18:30).

    Those who felt the sting of falling short of their first title are eager to get rid of the bitter taste and end their EAFL careers on a high note against the Abu Dhabi Wildcats.

    “The difference between last year and this year is that the guys were equally excited, but I think they didn’t nearly have as much confidence as they do now going into this game,” said Barracudas coach Kyle Jordan.

    “This game has high stakes and all that good stuff, but at the end of their day, they’re excited they get one more game together. After this game, probably some of them are not going to play anymore and hang up the cleats.”

    Zavier Cobb is one of those expected to end his days on the field. The quarterback is in search of a ring which has eluded him, but fuelled his return after he considered retirement last year.

    The Barracudas got the better of the Wildcats in both of their regular-season match-ups – the second of which served as running back Luke Norrey’s breakout.

    Those two meetings, however, were in the first three weeks of the season when Abu Dhabi were still figuring things out and not close to their current form.

    “Quite frankly, in both games we’ve played against them, we just didn’t put our best product on the field,” Wildcats coach Tony Robinson said.

    “In the first game it was much closer and I felt like most of the points they earned were off of our mistakes. In the second game, we were playing with a skeleton crew and missing a lot of guys.”

    The most significant absence was Vivaldi Tulysse, who has yet to meet the Barracudas this season. Both Tulysse and the Dubai defence are relishing the chance to finally face each other in what will pit the league’s most dangerous ground threat against the league’s top run-stopping unit.

    “Our defence wants to face the best and Vivaldi has proven time and time again that if he’s not the best, he’s certainly up there,” Jordan said. “It’s impressive how he can make cuts at top speed and he’s got some power to go along with it.

    “You have to concentrate on his hips and don’t go for the shoulder shake and that sort of stuff. You have to break down and be
    under control.

    “If you can’t bring him down, then hold him up until some other people can get there to help out. It will definitely be a test for our defence, but we feel we’re up to the challenge.”

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