Thanks for the report, bryzza, and good luck for the rest of the season. Sorry for the lateness of my reply, still in recovery mode but feeling better today.
Smugglers defeated the Bunyips 1220 – 1153 Christmas Island kept their faint finals chances alive with a strong performance at home over a “below-their-best” Bunyips. Things started well for Blanchetown, with veteran Sam Mitchell controlling the game early in the midfield delivering plenty of ball off both feet into the Bunyip’s forward line. Unfortunately this wasn’t utilised by the forwards, who could only manage 2 goals between them for the match. Mitchell was helped out by Pendles (108) and Robbie Gray (111) to significantly outpoint their opposing mids. But the defensive end of the ground also let down the good work in the middle for Blanchetown, with an average of 60 points coming from the Bunyips’ backs. CIFC line-up well against Blanchetown, having never lost in now 4 games , and it was the case again here, where the Bunyips couldn’t control the Smugglers’ vaunted forward line. Martin’s 152 (#DustysBrownlow) and BOG performance and Lecras’ 123 were the highlights. The Smugglers’ dominance up front allowed Deledio to take the second half off, after posting 67 in 2 quarters. His troublesome calf was the one negative to come out of the game for the hosts, who need him back if they are any chance to force their way into the 8. Jacobs (110) had the best of the official ruck battle against Kreuzer (57), but the Smugglers’ three ruck strategy paid off, with Hampson (99) and Trengove (93) winning plenty of ball as the third man up. The win sees CIFC one game out of the eight, while the loss doesn’t really affect the Bunyips who have a top 4 spot sewn up. The next round has the Smugglers undertaking one of the hardest road trips in the FU – away to King Island, in another must win game. The Bunyips are back at home, hosting the table-topping Armadillos in the match of the round. BAFFU 3 – Dustin Martin 152 2 – Mark LeCras 123 1 – Sam Mitchell 120 Giant Tap Jacobs
On the bright side, 1300+ is a great score. It's a funny problem, looking so good while not quite getting the wins. Still a year away is the mantra
I'm spewing that I held Drummond for so long, and now he's getting a game after I dropped him in the MSD...
Well, 1/9th of the way through the game, and there's going to be serious questions asked of both selection panels for the home-side Prospectors and the visiting Prairie Dogs @Batfink Starting with the visitors, we have an OOP L. Thomas playing in the ruck, scoring 52 (104/2) as the only player to take the field thus far. The home side fans were cheering hard as the teams ran out, enjoying the sight of D Petrie flexing some muscle in a ripped shirt, but were left wondering why he was benched with 114 points to his name. Next best was R Clarke, who kept his shirt intact, but with another 99 points sitting on the bench, the fans are getting very restless! Finally J Macmillan brought some sanity to the side, with 85 down back, while J Smith joined him OOP down back, scoring 37.5 (75/2), and the man who has pushed Petrie out of the side, M Daw, only scored 43 points up forward - If only they awarded SC points for mark of the year attempts! I'm seriously wishing one of my forwards is a late out (looking at you Sicily), while the mids all have to ton-up to make benching Clarke look like a good idea! At the end of it all, its the home side 165.5 / 3 / 55.2 leading the visitors 52 / 1 / 52.0
Early on at the Eden Sporting Complex and Eden Whalers lead 4/325 (81.25) to Cow Bay Crocs 1/44 Boomer didn't score as high this week but kept Anderson to 44
Its now 6/9th of the way through the match between the Prospectors and the @Batfink Prairie Dogs, and its the visitors holding the lead. Current scores are: 576.5 / 8 / 72.1 to 681 / 10 / 68.1 Leading the way for the home side is JPK on 127 points, offset by the injured and OOP Redpath on 11 points. For the visitors Hawkins kicked a bag, and has 112 points, while Yeo is bringing up the rear on 42 points. Still to come its: Coolgardie - Fantasia, Wines Ebert, S Martin, Westhoff, Sicily, and Mumford Hughenden - Byrne-Jones, Ward, Shiel, Bruest, J Green (and Langford if required). It could be a really tight finish to this game!
It's a mauling in Gisborne, with the Grenades pummelled by some low scores and only able to manage a meagre 702/12/58.5. The Vikings coached by @bryzza are out to a commanding lead at 824/9/91.55
3 Quarter Time at the Eden Sporting complex and the Whalers lead by quite a lot. 11/865 (78.63) to 10/640 (64) Boyd tried but Malceski still knows all his tricks. Curnow returned to form with 118 points and Lycett looks to be one of the few rucks to beat Berger.
Vikings show no mercy and will continue to feast right till the end Sent from my GT-N7105T using Tapatalk
A season ending injury to Mitch Wallis sees the Sandgropers missing 9 (including banned players) of the best 15 from the team. It's been a tough year; we hope it builds some character!
Its all over in the goldfields, and its the home side Coolgardie Prospectors taking out a 154.5 point win over @Batfink Hughenden Prairie Dogs. The final scores were 1,222.5 / 81.5 to 1,068 / 71.2 Team selection cost the Prospectors even more points, but you can't complain too much when you win (and still know that you'll get flogged for the next few weeks and miss the finals again). This is best highlighted by D Petrie, the third-highest scoring player in the match, wasting away in the magoos with 114 points. Having OOP players also didn't help the cause, with 37.5 from J Smith and a lowly 11 from J Redpath. On the plus side, big Stefan put in a huge 162 point performance, enough to take out the giant tap against an OOP L Thomas, and also get an early nomination for POOYA. J Kennedy was next best for the locals, with 127 points, while Touk came in third on 112 points. Petrie out-did everyone in the forward line, with J Sicily top-scoring on a lowly 72 points. For the visitors there was just one stand-out, with T Hawkins booting a bag of goals and 112 points to lead the side. A few 90's from C Ward, D Shiel, and L Breust kept the score ticking over well, but it was all too few doing the hard work. E Yeo, D Byrne-Jones, B Sheppard, R Henderson, L Thomas (OOP), and S Kerridge all failed to break 60 points, while J Green only just managed the mark, on 61. Having K Langford in the magoos on 90 points will have the questions raised on the selection table, but there's not too many other options the coach can call on. The Votes: 3 - S Martin, Coolgardie, 162 2 - J Kennedy, Coolgardie, 127 1 - T Miller, Coolgardie (winning team), & T Hawkins, Hughenden, 112 each. Giant Tap: S Martin, Coolgardie Next Week: Up next the Prospectors stay at home, welcoming @martyg and the Blanchetown Bunyips, while Hughenden will be back at home, taking on @tyze1 and the Serengeti Buffalos. Good luck to all teams.
Full time at the Eden Sporting Complex and the Whalers have won 1197 to 1017 in a scrappy game between 2 sides that are long-term planned. Lycett got his first win for the year with 116 and Gunston was best afield for the Crocs. Curnow and Scully returned to form for the Whalers with Scully getting a key score for the PSD Lucky Find. For the Crocs, it was another game of players almost there. With Pakenham and Hughenden left to play, it looks to be another 8-9/9-8 year for the Whalers. Eden Whalers 1197 Def: Williams 78, Tarrant 74, Malceski 80, Wood 84 (Maynard) Mid: Curnow 118, Jones 96, Scully 119, Crisp 90 Ruck: Leuenberger 82 (Phillips) Fwd: Boomer 84, Lynch 68, Jenkins 56, Papley 38 (Griffiths) IC: Brown 77, Zaka 53 Cow Bay Crocs 1017 D: Collins 78, Lonergan 63, McDonald 58, Anderson 44 (OOP) M: Libba 58, Blakely 74, Acres 41, Keays 58 R: Lycett 116 F: Gunston 127, Martin 75, Cameron 51, Boyd 33 (Himmelberg) INT: Ceglar 83, Patton 58
Great write up and reflects the P/Dogs season that promised so much and hasn't delivered. No consistancy with players either scoring well one week and 'dogs' the next. Coach is under pressure to resolve the problem and some changes to list management a priority.
The Vikings have demolished the Grenades in a 403 point whipping. In one of the biggest games ever, the Gisborne team put in their worst performance of the year and were simply no match for Nuytsland. For the Grenades, Lachie Neale continued on his merry way with another Herculean 109 while Taylor Hunt showed that he promises much but is usually unable to deliver with a 111. Everyone else was highly disappointing with scores far below their averages. 11 players scored below 75. 11! The game was a disaster and the Gisborne coaching staff are hopeful of a better game to finish the year next week. There were stars left, right and centre for the Vikings. Luke Shuey led the way with 130, while Jack Viney was hot on his heals with 118. The pair ran riot throughout the midfield delivering perfectly to Petracca in the forward line who had one of the best games of his short career with 101. When it did go back, Birchall and Mayes were able to stand firm, with 108 and 90 respectively, well above their season averages, while Grundy pumped out a 103 against Casboult to easily take the Big Tap. The Vikings only had 4 players under 75 points; a sign of the marked difference between the teams. With the win Nuytsland move to 6th on the ladder. A win against the Blowflies next week will guarantee the team a finals spot and possibly even a top four finish. I like the Vikings line-up, and on their day they can definitely beat any other team in the comp. While they are a good team, I don't see them progressing deeper than the semi-final as I think some other teams have a higher ceiling and could derail the consistent Nuytsland team. In coming years expect them to be a force, chock full of young, up-and-coming talent that could take them deep into the finals series for many years to come. @bryzza