Panthers are 871/10 87.1% to the Bunyips 585/8 73.1% For some reason both Geary and SD Thompson failed to turn up to the game this week so our first donut of the year... great timing chumps! Jacobs still on the injured list so only half points for Whitfield... Unless there is a miracle up forward, it's all Pearcedale!
@Tylo Monarchs 1050/12/87 Vikings 1231/14/87 With betts walker thompson to come vs MCrouch the win looks very likely for Monarchs by 20 points
Gonna be a nail-biter between 2 really evenly matched teams. Some players for both sides have really stepped up in crunch moments while others have gone completely missing. The forward line has been the barometer for the Monarchs all year and it's gonna be the difference again one way or another.
With MCrouch going missing in final quarter, Betts / Thompson could not be contained congratulations go to: Monarchs 1338 win Vikings 1322
Elimination Final Baracudas are 1,405/15 93.7 to the Barcrawlers 1,078/15 71.9 With some big scores from Zorko, Bont & Hanna's this week the Barcrawlers were in trouble from the start. Match Report to come soon.
Final siren has sounded.... Pearcedale have come up with the win. Congratulations @TigersTooTough and good luck for the rest of the finals. Panthers - 1220 Bunyips - 1188 The Bunyips always had their backs up against the wall with no Ruckman again but we never expected the late carnage with SD Thompson and Geary both late outs. The Panthers just did enough to dispatch the Bunyips, led by Captain Parker (126) with Jeremy Howe (97) and Lachie Hunter (97) also helping out. The ever reliable Heater Shaw was done this week only pulling 88 points and if he starts firing in the coming weeks, the Panthers could run deep into the finals. The homeside was buoyed by Sam Mitchell's (129) performance with rising star Mitch Brown (109) again cracking the tonne. The ever reliable Laird (105) tried his best to keep the backline together but the donuts just killed the home side. BOG - Mitchell - 3 Parker -2 Brown - 1 Thanks everyone for the matches this year, good luck @TigersTooTough and the remaining teams for the 2016 ORFFU GF.
Groote Eylandt Barracudas 1,405 def Banchang Barcrawler 1,083 It’s elimination final time in the ORFFU. The Barracuda’s are hosting the Barcrawlers for this cut-throat finals series. It’s been a long season for all however this is the money time, the paddock got a top dressing and extra jungle juice has been fermenting during the week. If the Barcrawlers meant business they forgot to pack their Will, they had no Currie from the start and their prayers from their Yolmen didn’t get answered. The visitors had plenty of touches and performed very solidly in defence with the dynamic duo Tuohy & Docherty leading the way and the ever reliable Enright coverage across back half was on show. Again, though the middle solid, sharking the ball well was Sammy Gray who pumped it up, the inside man was Joey Selwood & Gibson clocking up the kms. Up forward the pill was short most of the day however the Wright man plonked through a couple, Cooney just the one for full points and disappointment from young Lyons as he peppered the whites sticks for no reward. The visitor’s depth was called out with Impey, Suckling and Cunningham having a bad day at the office with poor performances across the field in a day the Barcrawlers wished they were still doing shots in coach @choppers backyard hut. The home town advantage was the Cuda’s to exploit on this still and sunny day up north. It was an interesting strategy of throwing young Lloyd in to contest the big tap to get some game time and leaving Stan-ley up forward. Luckily for the home side it was a midfielders dream with the Bont, Hanna’s, Cripps of the Patrick kind and Guthrie all on fire, racking up disposal after disposal. Hanna’s had the golden touch, the Bont leading the packs at every opportunity, Cripps muscling up and Guthrie hitting every target. Dea put on a show of his own for the crowd to ensure a contract extension at years’ end whilst Burger and Weit not only kept their opposition wondering but also chasing. Captain Cotch rallied behind his troops off the interchange and Lewis kept the flow going all day. Where it mattered the most was in front of goals and the Magnificent Zorko once again mesmerised us with his performance slotting through 3 and even gathering his own kick from outside the 50-meter arch. Stan-ley played the side kick today but what a side kick. Jong and Cripps of the Jamie variety cleaned up the slops on this first elimination final. As the Barcrawlers season comes to an abrupt end the Cuda’s finals prep will continue next week up against the Panthers. There will be no time for slacking off as Pearcedale have been clocking up a solid average each week. With the home ground advantage again the locals know just how important it is to keep the pressure up with a loud shout out to all to get to next week’s game.
Ararat won by 39... 1324 to 1285 in a good, close final. Gawn, Treloar and Smith carried the day for the Aramdillos with Gawn especially keen not to lose twice to Berger. Zaka and Atkins found form, playing better together than tagging in and out each week and Tomlinson played a selfless role in countering Boomer. Lost in the first round, but still made the finals so nothing to be ashamed of and we now have the Rep game to train for, even if it is 2/3 playing, we train as a team. Ararat Armadillos 1324 Def: T. McDonald 102, Cutler 80, Rich 76, Tomlinson 58, (Saad) Mid: Treloar 148, Steven 78, Smith 124, Vince 104 Ruck: Gawn 151 Fwd: Wells 68, Wingard 32, Taylor 48, Dahlhaus 113 (Duggan) IC: Gibbs 91, Parish dnp (Hallahan 51) Eden Whalers: 1285 Def: Williams 68, Tarrant 106, Wood 57, Stretch 78 (Andrews) Mid: Curnow 121, Jones 105, Scully 93, Crisp 90 Ruck: Leuenberger 53 (Phillips) Fwd: Boomer 31, Lynch 65, Jenkins 100, Pav 92 (Papley) IC: Zaka 120, Atkins 106 (Brown)
King Island 1358 def Nuytsland 1325 It was a high quality game down at King Island between 2 of the higher scoring teams in the FU. With very little separating the sides on paper, the experience of the Monarchs saw them overcome the youth of the Vikings in a reversal of the result of a few weeks earlier. Both sides had players step up to the increased intensity of finals but also had key players go missing, most notably Bartel (Monarchs) and Viney (Vikings) who could only manage 48 points a piece. It was a good battle up the Vikings end of the ground with Robinson and Greene doing well for the visitors against strong performances from Rance and Houli for the home side. Grundy fought hard in the ruck but was shaded in the end by an inspirational NicNat. Thompson and Priddis were solid in the middle for the Monarchs but the Vikings were the dominant midfield off the back of a huge game by b.o.g. Shuey who was well supported off the bench by Ross and Crouch. It was up the Monarchs end where the game was won, with the forward line combining for 382 points led by a lively Eddie Betts, while the Vikings backline struggled to get any run going. Votes 3 Shuey 2 Robinson 1 Naitanui After a strong season the Vikings probably deserved to make the final 4 but looking at the age of the list it's fair to say they're going to be a genuine flag contender for many years to come. For the Monarchs it's on to their third straight prelim in the hope of finally making it to the big one. With key midfielders pushing to prove their fitness in the next week or 2, selection could become interesting but it will be the inconsistent forwardline that holds the key to success.
In the Semi / Preliminary Finals we have: 1 - Ararat Armadillos up against 4 - King Island Monarchs 2 - Groote Eylandt Barracudas up against 6 - Pearcedale Panthers. Good luck to all four teams still in the race!
Great write @Tylo , I had a keen eye on the crows / dockers game just couldn't believe how much space eddy was getting, i was yelling abuse at suban through the telly for such poor checking. The better team on the day won, good luck for your next game
King Island Monarchs B: Rance, Bartel, Broadbent, Houli M: Priddis, Boak, Dal Santo, Thompson R: Naitanui F: Kennedy, Walker, Betts, Henderson (Bell) I: Smith, Rosa (Rohan)
Rich T.McDonald Saad Cutler (Tomlinson) Vince Steven Smith Treloar Gawn (Jamar) Taylor Wells Dahlhaus Edwards (Duggan) Gibbs Parish (Hallahan)
Pearcedale Panthers D: Heath Shaw - Kade Kolodjashnij - Brodie Smith - Shane Savage M: Luke Parker - Lachie Hunter - Josh Caddy - Brandon Ellis (Mav Weller) R: Matthew Lobbe (Toby Nankervis) F: Dean Towers - Jeremy Howe - Caleb Daniel - Dale Thomas (Tim Membrey) I: Josh Gibson - David Mundy Unchanged
Late change as old Jimmy has yet another rest King Island Monarchs B: Rance, Rosa, Broadbent, Houli M: Priddis, Boak, Dal Santo, Thompson (Rohan) R: Naitanui F: Kennedy, Walker, Betts, Henderson I: Smith, Bell (Murdoch) Murdoch added as emergency
Cuda's team for the preliminary final against the Panthers: D - Burgoyne, Dea, Frawley, Weitering, (Sutcliffe) M - Hanners, P Cripps, Bont, Guthrie, (Lloyd) R - Stanley F - Zorko, Everitt, J Cripps, Jong (Philkips) I/C - Lewis, Cotchin (Cunnington)