Another deliciously special ORFFA Finals series is upon us and so the top three placed teams have haphazardly thrown darts at an image of Basil Zemplas' lunging nose in order to determine their opponents this week. Week 1 Finals Fixture Foul Bay Chickens V Birdsville Battlers Despite losing two of the last four, the Foul Bay boys roll into this game as comfortable favourites. Chief has been hit with an unhealthy dose of injuries but depth is his weapon. The Battlers will be pinning their hopes on their reliable defence and a midfield which has the potential to hit an occasional killer ceiling. Expect the hooped Chooks to rebound and coast into a prelim. Predicted Result – Chooks by 150 points Larrikin Lagoon Lefties V Darraweit Guim Dirigibles Coach Chris will be hot for redemption in this rematch of last year’s prelim. Swings and roundabouts sees Brown and Stratton sidelined but potential big inclusions of Saad and Edwards. The Lefties hawks contingent have struggled of late and the loss of BJ will even up the odds on this one significantly. Probably the tightest of all four finals this week. Predicted Result – Lefties by 30 points Mount Beauty Uglies V Gariwerd Cockatoos A cracker this one should be. Uglies have soared into red-hot Premiership favouritism and elect to face-off against the emerging Cockies, coming off the back of a career defining game last week. Both sides will be scaping the cellar for a healthy back line, but I’m tipping this one to be decided by the performances of The Bearded Barista and the Jack Steven Show. Predicted Result – Uglies by 80 Iron Knob Codpieces V Venus Bay Vultures The Chooks, Lefties and Uglies were clambering over each other to take on a decimated Colander outfit. Mercy was shown as we were all reminded that our opponents need to sit within 5-8, hence Venus Bay gets the long straw. The Vultures will be praying for the return of Lids, Stefan and Eski to sure up the lines and tip the balance in their favour. Iron Knob’s main concern will be their defence, midfield, ruck and forward line. That aside, a close match up awaits. Predicted Result – Vultures by 200
This is what i expected, but also what i dreaded. Mt Beaty the team i most hoped not to face in week 1.
Both of you have been in pretty good form Ant .... players have been scoring well. Hopefully team selection doesn't treat anyone badly. Looking forward to taking on Mr KI Guy and some former Blimps in Gibson and Haynes (and BJ if he plays).
Out: Brown, Nicholls most likely. No Stratton or Adams. Hopefully Saad, Edwards return. Hopefully Walters finds some form so I can include him. Guess we'll see where things go.
Wasn't sure what thread to use, but will go here as Chris has lead the way. Lefties - Week 1 Finals Def - Gibbo, Haynes, Bugg, Fisher (Duryea) Mid - Mitchell, Lewis, Priddis, Lloyd (Scooter) Ruck - Goldy Fwd - Wells, Joey, Lynch, Phillips (Hill) I/C - Langford, Smith (McCarthy) In - Phillips, McCarthy Out - BJ, Taberner Putting a lot of faith in new recruits Smith and Phillips to come into the starting 15 and prove their worth. Best of luck @chris88 looks to be a fairly close match up with Titch and Saad returning. Hoping for no late outs or in-game injuries to influence results.
After a lot of hesitation I think the team might be settled: In: Saad, Edwards, Walters (perhaps), Gleeson Out: Nicholls, Brown, Hrovat (perhaps), Byrne Jones. DEF: Rance, May, Saad, Mcdonald-Tipungwuti (DBJ) MID: Coniglio, Young, Tyson, Newnes (Hill) RUCK: Ceglar FWD: Harvey, Edwards, Lyons, Cooney (Vickery) I/C: Gleeson, Walters (Hrovat) Rolling the dice on about 5 players based on match-ups. Don't think Brown will be fit even if he does play. Nicholls will be missed. Hrovat as a late in for Walters still a possibility. Best of luck KI Guy. Hope we get a good run at it with no injuries or late withdrawals.
IRON KNOB D - Burger, Roberton, Harbrow, Sutcliffe (no one) M - Hanley, Shuey, R.Gray, McKay (no one) R - Garland -unlikely to play (no one) F - J.Riewoldt, Breust, Darling, deGoey (no one) I - Hodge, Puopolo (no one) OUT - Swan, Ablett, McRae, K.Stevens, Waite, Henderson, Gorringe, Jamar, Minson, Sinclair, Lovell, Milera, Nelson Its definitely a depleted team at the Knob with big some big names missing from the lineup. However we hope to push Venus Bay hard and with some big games from the likes of Gray, Hodge, Burger, Hanley, Shuey and Jack we might be able to scrape a win out. But the odds are long and unfavourable. #prayfortheknob
Mount Beauty DEF Boyd, Maynard, KK, Krakour EMG Ruggles MID Cotch, Ellis, Sidebottom, Short RUCK Gawn FWD Roo, Dusty, Cyril, Petracca EMG Rioli INT Viney, Leuenberger
Late change - I have caved. In comes Hrovat onto the bench, out goes Walters. I am not sure if this is wise but bugger it.
Mackie out hurts Im at the footy right now, so i thought id bring in Lin Jong out of position so i could watch him play. It was out of him and Clay Smith but CS concussion last week had me a little worried. Ive only got 3 defenders on my list who are playing this round.
First, chill Chris and Anthak, you'll be back in the Zac next year so chill. The sun will (probably) come up on Monday regardless of what happens. Second, Chris in Latin a word ending in "i" is the plural. There is no concept of "ii". Even a very shrill Cyrilllllllllll from Bruce does not denote the plural.
Oh man! I should have remembered that Birdsville knocked me out of the finals last year. It's looking like it will be two years running unless I get some big Dangerfield heroics. I trawled through the 2015 thread and it turns out I needed the same thing coming into the Sunday games to no avail. That and I forgot that Hawkins had to play against Rance, so I'm sure Tommy will smash out another 30 in a final for me (again, exactly like he did last year). I don't know what voodoo doll you have of me lying around JC, but it sure is effective.
@graeme i think you suggested i should drop Wingard. Im not sure if you knew his hammy was about to twang, but its turned out sound advice... i could've used Casboult instead of him... but i wouldve never done that really.
With 8 Blimps still to play, this is still anyone's. LLL 1167/14 vs DGD 537/7 Tyson's heroics keeping the Guim in the hunt.