FIRE HOPING TO BENEFIT FROM EARLY ELF BYE

In what could be deemed an early ‘summit meeting’ in the European League of Football, the reigning champions, Rhein Fire, host the Vienna Vikings at Düsseldorf’s Merkur Spiel-Arena in a rematch of last year’s ELF Championship game.

With interim head coach Richard Kent still filling in for regular team chief Jim Tomsula, the Fire may have seen their week off after just a single outing as something of a handicap. Instead, with one of their toughest 2025 assignments right in front of them, Kent and his team are looking at the bye positively, having had two weeks to analyse the insights gained, not only from their 17-15 opening victory over the Paris Musketeers, but also get extra time to assess the unbeaten Vikings.

“Since Vienna has now played two games, we naturally have significantly more video material at our disposal,” the head coach explained, while adding that Rhein were also able to use the extra time to correct their own mistakes. “It’s a perfect foundation for entering the coming matchups well prepared.”

Vienna started the new campaign with two wins in the East Division, albeit against sides expected to struggle across the season, as they defeated both the Prague Lions and Fehérvár Enthroners without hardly breaking sweat. For Fire OC Ed Warinner therefore, the early weekend off should ensure his stars are available this Sunday.

“The extra time has also helped injured players to be refreshed and fully focused for the duel with a top team,” he said of the upcoming meeting with the 2022 ELF champions, who went unbeaten through last year’s campaign before meeting the Fire in the finale.

For new Rhein quarterback Chad Jeffries, who joined the club as replacement for Nordic-bound MVP Jadrien Clark, the game against Vienna may not be a rematch, but will certainly be a reunion with many old friends.

“I know many of the players on their current roster and have even played against some of them myself in the AFL,” said Jeffries, who lives in Vienna with his family during the offseason, and played for the Danube Dragons – a local rival of the Vikings in the Austrian Football League – between 2018 to 2022.

Now approaching his second appearance in the Fire uniform, Jeffries says that he is again relying on team cohesion which laid the foundation for the Week 1 victory in Paris.

The Vikings already boasted top-level players in all positions, but literally added some Fire to their defense with the signing of former Rhein linebacker — and 2024 ELF All-Star — Aaron Donkor. Offensively, quarterback Ben Holmes may ‘only’ managed 161 passing yards in last week’s game against the Enthroners, but also accounted for four touchdowns.

“The performance in Düsseldorf is something special for both teams,” Fire GM Max Paatz commented, reporting on the preparations and organisational discussions with the visiting team. A day of off-field entertainment before the main event will also include an U16 game between the Düsseldorf Panthers and Cologne Crocodiles at the ‘Kleine Kampfbahn’ as the host city gears up for an event it hasn’t witnessed in the 18 years since the Fire’s participation in NFL Europe.