by Cody Lewis
Hooper and Leroux will be joining the best Beater duo in the world, George and Harrison Hobbs, along with the stellar chasing lineup of team captain Sebastian Collier, Riley Marsh, and Miley Young. This Magpies squad is already drawing comparisons to the Ballycastle Bats of the late 90's and early 2000's. “This team has become more than a team,” says Montrose Magpies manager Cormack McLeod. “This is the Dream Team.”
Quidditch expert Kennilworthy Whisp disagrees. “This is a team full of divas,” Whisp says. “Hooper and Leroux are being praised like kings before they've even played a game in the British and Irish Quidditch League. The Magpies simply lack the chemistry that the Bats had ten years ago.”
Quigley is referring to Puddlemere United, who won the championship in 2009, despite being led by three Chasers who all despised one another.
“Mark Dimbleby and Chambers got along great before that season,” Quigley explains. “Dimbleby had led the league in goals for several years in a row and won multiple MVP awards and Chambers humbly accepted his role as Chaser number two. Then, United signed Tomas Eriksson and the rest is history. Dimbleby and Eriksson hated sharing the spotlight and Chambers resented both of them for pushing him to Chaser number three.”
There are definite similarities between Puddlemere United's situation three years ago and the Montrose Magpies' current situation. Like Hooper and Leroux, Eriksson was a highly-touted prospect from a foreign league. Cormack McLeod nicknaming his team “the Dream Team” is comparable to Puddlemere United supporters referring to the trio of Dimbleby, Eriksson, and Chambers as “the Unblockables.”
However, McLeod believes the foundation of his team is strong enough to withstand any inter-team drama.
“We already had a few stars on our team,” says McLeod. “There was speculation that Sebastian wouldn't like sharing the spotlight with the Hobbs brothers when we signed them a few years ago, but they all got along fine. As long as we stay focused on our goal, I am confident that Hooper and Leroux will prove to be excellent additions to the Magpies.”
Only time will tell if the Montrose Magpies will live up to McLeod's expectations. The only certainty is that – win or lose – the Magpies will be the team to watch this year.