Well, the 2005 Asics National Touch League began this morning with the clouds holding off for at least the morning. After lunch they rolled in, although thankfully only light showers came with them.

In an attempt to try and provide even more in depth coverage of the tournament, the daily results will usually include a `match of the timeslot', which will be one we've chosen that looks to be a tough or exciting match. This can be found on the results story.

Here we will try to provide you with some information on all divisions, covering as many results as possible.

MENS OPEN:
After 2 rounds pool A is looking like it will be tight, with four sides vying for top honours. The Sydney Mets and Southern Suns are both undefeated, while the Crusaders and Rustlers won their first match and have each had a bye.

The ACT had a solid start to their first NTL campaign, going down 7-4 to a strong Suns unit, led by Aussie Mens Open representative Matt Curran.

In pool B the South Queensland Sharks stand alone as the leaders, after their tight 5-4 win over the Scorpions. They also looked good with a 12-1 win over the local Northern Eagles men, led by Shannon Lough with three touchdowns.

The Scorpions have also staked their claim as serious title contenders, with a 6-3 win over 2004 runners up, Brisbane City Cobras and their close match against the Sharks..

Pool B is certainly going get interesting tomorrow, with so many teams capable of beating each other.

WOMENS OPEN:
The Womens Open competition already looks tough, in just two rounds we've seen upsets of defending champions, injuries and close matches.

2004 defending Champions, the South Queensland Sharks, were shocked by the North Queensland Tropical Cyclones, as they blew them away 7-5, indicating that the Womens competition is going to be one tough ride.

They followed this up with a tough 7-6 win over the Southern Suns and now share the top of the ladder with the Hornets who inflicted early misery on the local Northern Eagles, with a 12-1 win.

The ACT drew their first match as a Permit 2-2 against the Queensland Rustlers before being on the tail end of the Sharks recovering from a first round loss.

The Eagles and Suns are sitting at the bottom of pool A, each having had a bye on day one and both looking for strong comebacks tomorrow. The Suns will be expecting to finish near the top in their pool, especially after narrowly losing to the Cyclones in their first match.

In pool B the Mets are looking strong, a 10-1 win over the Sydney Scorpions and a 3-0 win over the Barbarians.

The Cobras also showed they're keen not to finish second again, inflicting more pain on the Barbarians, who have been hurt further by injury to star player Bo Dela Cruz.

The Crusaders Women had a strong start, a 4-3 win over a Rebels side boasting several current Australian junior representatives and a 4-4 draw with the Scorpions. They will need to improve again tomorrow if they want to challenge the Cobras or Mets.

MIXED OPEN:
The South Queensland Sharks and Sydney Mets staked their claim as the top two sides after day one and three rounds of the 2005 Asics NTL.

Both sides were undefeated, although the Sharks claim top position due to the Mets having had a bye during the day.

With close matches throughout the day however, there are several teams capable of pulling off upset victories to dramatically change the face of the finals make up later in the week.

There were several highlights of the Mixed day one, including a 2-2 draw between the Suns and Cobras in round one and narrow Mets 6-4 victory over the Cyclones. The Cyclones are looking like they are one side very capable of winning the title.

The ACT Mixed side struggled, with the exception of a narrow 4-3 loss to the Rustlers, where they almost broke through for their first win as a Permit.

The Mixed schedule is easily the busiest at the 2005 NTL, with each side playing three games each day.

MENS 20 YEARS:
Pool A in the Mens 20's looks like it will be ruthless, with the Suns, Northern Eagles, Cobras and Sharks all considered finals contenders.

The Cobras sit on top with the Suns, after finishing day one with an 8-5 win over the Eagles. While the Eagles lost both of their day one matches, they did have to face the two top sides from their pool and will look to catch up to the other sides tomorrow.

The Sharks also started strongly, a 9-1 win over the ACT before being punished 7-1 by the Suns.

In Pool B the Sydney Mets and Queensland Country Rustlers finish day one on top of their pool after playing out a 3-3 draw in their round two match.

The Rustlers take the cake for biggest win of day one, 16-0 over the Rebels.

The North Queensland Cyclones had a bye though and looked strong in their only match, 10-3 over the Crusaders.

The Crusaders also suffered a 6-2 loss to the Mets, although the win was not as easy as expected considering the depth of players the Mets have in their side. The Crusaders look to be a side improving.

WOMENS 20 YEARS:
Round one of the Womens 20's kicked off with the local Northern Eagles upsetting the Hunter Western Hornets (containing several Youth World Cup representatives) 5-2. It was a promising start for the local girls, who will no doubt have many local friends and spectators at the event.

They finished day one sitting atop of the Pool B ladder, the only undefeated side and a real surprise packet for the Under 20 Womens competition.

Last years runner up, the Southern Suns, suffered a round 2 defeat 4-1 to the Sydney Rebels and would be disappointed to be sitting third on the ladder after day one.
In pool A the Sharks also showed why they are defending Champions, a 13-2 win over the Crusaders, kicked off by 5 touchdowns from Kristy Brennan and an 11-2 over Cyclones leaving them on the top of the ladder with the Sydney Mets and Brisbane Cobras, also each yet to lose a match.

The Sydney Mets had two easy wins, 9-0 over Scorpions and 11-2 over the Crusaders.

However, the ladder will change tomorrow as all these three sides come against each other.


By Rachel Moyle, media@austouch.com.au

Make sure you keep an eye on the results story throughout the day for the `match of the timeslot' reports and check out the following link for all of the touchdown scorers and draws: 2005 NATIONAL TOUCH LEAGUE DRAWS & RESULTS

Also, check out the rest of the ATA page, as several other stories have been uploaded from the NTL and we look forward to the first `From the Fishbowl' contribution soon.