Match Report: Round 7 Coolgardie v King Island @Tylo Out in the WA Goldfields, Coolgardie has fallen over the line against the visiting King Island Monarchs. It was a tale of consistency for both sides, with no-one really putting their mark on the game, and the Prospectors getting the proverbial choccies (because they don't deserve real ones) by 125 points. Coolgardie 1248 defeated King Island 1123 Defence: The Prospectors defence was a solid affair, with Barrass leading the way on 95 points, followed by Hooker remembering how to play on 91 points, and both Macmillan and Smith proving they can be perfectly average on 75 points apiece, for a total of 336 points. Team selection hurt by 7 points with selecting Smith over Ramsay. The Monarchs "Yellow and Black" defence (I know you shouted that in your head while reading... still have to admit its the best theme song in the league) was just pipped, scoring 334 points in total, ably led by Houli on 103, followed closely by Rance on 92, with Broadbent binging in a further 80, and McIntosh bringing up the rear with a below average 69. Team selection was astute here, with emergency Thurlow only scoring 54 points. Midfield: Well, well, well, well, weeeeeeelllllll. Ebert lead the way for the home side, with a solid 112 points, but that's where the positives end. JPK had a shocker on 77, Ollie was hardly sighted with 70, while Jaeger didn't even bother turning up, leaving the work to emergency Clarke who put together a solid 92, to bring the team total to only 351 points. The visitors didn't fare much better, scoring only 382 point through the midfield, most of them coming from a BOG performance from Murphy, on 118 points. Priddis contributed 99, while Swallow contributed 96 points. Meanwhile another terrible Port-based player in Boak was outdone by emergency Rosa's 91, scoring only 69 of his own points, to cost the side 22 points. Rucks: When Smith was named for the visitors, everyone had a little laugh, and a bigger laugh when they realised that Mummy would be facing up against a "little" defender in Gardiner. Little were they to know that it would be a bigger struggle that first thought, so big that neither designated ruckman was anywhere near the ball ups for most of the game - it was as though they watched the umpire bounce the ball, and were then just mesmerized in watching it bounce again, until either Ebert or Murphy swooped in. In the end, big Mummy came away with the big tap points, leading Gardiner 67 to 25, in a completely unimpressive effort from both players. Forwards: A paltry 314 points scored by the Prospectors forwards, with Westhoff leading the way on 92 points. Miller was only just above average on 83 points, while Fantasia's 73 and Watts' 66 have brought forth serious question marks over their commitment to the cause. Their only saving grace is emergency Sicily had a shocker in the twos, with just 31 points to his name. Amazingly the Prospectors also won the forward battle, with the visiting goalkickers seemingly trumped by the weather, or forgetting to turn up until quarter time. It does mean that coach JPK got his wish, with Walker nearly taking out chump of the week, scoring only 24 points, while partner-in-crime Betts managed a slightly-below-average 72 of his own. Conversely, JJ Kennedy had some kicking boots on (but not too many), scoring 96, and Macrae nearly pulled off a man of the match performance with 117 points to his name. Interchange: Big Stefan has put his hand up once again to be the Prospectors number one ruck, with a solid 93 points, while Wright chimed in with 87 of his own, for a total of 180 bench points. Emergency Baguley had 58 points running around with the twos. The visitors could hardly take a trick, losing four of five lines, by posting only 63 points from the pine. With Henderson not showing up, it was left to Dunkley's 23 and McStay's 40 to show some fight, but just not enough of it. In all, a solid and consistent game from the Prospectors, while the Monarchs will be licking their wounds, and searching for solutions. Next week sees the Prospectors on the road to Gisborne, to face the defensive-minded Grenades. Meanwhile King Island continue the road trip, off to Korumburra to try out the voodoo visitors rooms, as they take on the Blowflys. The Votes: 3 - Marc Murphy, King Island, 118 2 - Jackson Macrae, King Island, 117 1 - Brad Ebert, Coolgardie, 112 Big Tap: Shane Mumford, Coolgardie, defeated Darcy Gardiner, King Island, by 42 points, 67 to 25.
Gisbourne Grenades 1,324 def Hughenden Prairie Dogs 1,212 The coach has finally emerged from the rooms…… Hughenden were again out of the blocks with an early lead but were unable to sustain the pressure finally succumbing to the visitors losing by a 112 points. The monolith –Sandilands (77) was soundly beaten on the day by Witts (115) and this proved the difference. Despite having 51 hit outs Sandilands was unable to find his team mates with Neale (147) and Billings (114) the main benefactors. It was the team defence of the Grenades that stifled the scoring for the home side with Talia (104) having a blinder and would have been close to a POOYA nomination and was ably assisted by Grundy (101). Hughenden’s main contributors were Yeo (125), Ward (103) and Graham (100) however nothing should be taken away from the Grenades, they came to play and ensured Hughenden remained firmly rooted to the bottom of the table still looking for their first win. The Grenades are back home this week to take on the Prospectors and Hughenden are on the road taking on the Whalers. BAFFU Awards 3 Neale, Grenades (147) 2 Yeo, Hughenden (125) 1 Witts, Grenades (115)
Smugglers/Sandgropers Preview FU action returns to Flying Fish Cove Park this weekend, and the locals are eagerly awaiting the arrival of one of the FU’s current form teams in Southern Cross @eagle_eyed . The Sandgropers have won 3 on the bounce and are looking to push deep into the 8 with another win away from home. The Smugglers returned to the winners circle last week, after three losses, and will be looking to push back towards the 8, currently sitting in 11th. While some may argue that football games are decided by the quality of the players, I prefer to think that superstitions and curses play a far larger role in deciding the outcome. And this week we have a clash of a couple of quality hoo-doos that will no-doubt determine the result of game. The Smugglers will be relying on their 3-0 all-time record against the Gropers. While Southern Cross will be playing up to the Smugglers 0-3 record at home this year. In the far more mundane matter of who’s taking the field, Southern Cross have a couple of debutants in Whitfield and Paparone, with Lachie especially a big in for the Gropers, adding plenty of quality to the interchange bench. Jake Lever is a frustrating out for the Smugglers, but down back is the one area where they have depth this season, so his absence doesn’t cause too many selection headaches. The forward line continues to cause the coach troubles though, with the medical staff refusing to answer any questions regarding Brett Deledio’s return. This means Markov lines up for his 3rd OOP week, which could be the difference between the two teams. As a Richmond fan, and I’m pretty sure EE is a Freo supporter , both coaches will be intently watching the Tigers/Dockers game on Sunday, firstly for the result, but also to see how Dusty and Fyfe perform – with their head-to-head battle going a long way to decide the FU game as well. Last time: Xmas Island defeated Southern Cross 1144-1091. All time: Xmas Island 3, Southern Cross 0 Prediction: There’s little to separate the 2 sides, with average scores this season of 1215 to Southern Cross and 1199 to Christmas Island. This narrows even more looking at the last 2 weeks, with the Gropers holding the slightest of advantages 1229-1223. Given that record, the reasonable man would tip the form team with the greater depth in Southern Cross. However, in what some may regard as upset, the power of the Smugglers’ all-time record will get them over the line by less than 50 points.
Wash your mouth out! You're lucky you're not my kid or a comment like that would be a minute in timeout for every year of your age! Besides @bryzza is the only Freagle on this board
Early doors at Flying Fish Cove Park and it's advantage Gropers - 247/3 (82.3) to Xmas Island 174/2 (87).
At the first break at The Stadium, The local Barcrawlers have jumped out to an early lead over the visiting Crocs, 2/147 to 2/85, with the reliable defenders in Suckling and Adams posting 74 and 73 respectively, There's still a long way to go in this one.
In Gisborne, the Grenades have jumped out with a ton from Masten who continues his recent good form with 103. Coolgardie are yet to arrive at the ground with coach @JPK still setting out cones for the warmup. It appears that this match will be decided by an AFL match in a different country, with 4 players from each team making the trip to Shanghai.
Early stages down in the Crater sees the visiting Vikings leading on 284/71/4 against Serengeti 0/0/0. In what may be a bad sign for the home team the coaches instructions seem to have been lost on his players with Perryman and Smith (28) still unsure of who should actually be taking the field.
After having his eyesight checked, the Gisborne coach has slunk back into the box to find his side 544/6/90.7, continuing last weeks good form, while @JPK is slightly further behind at 396/5/79.2. Redpath would definitely have been useful with his 90 in return!
In a one-sided contest so far at The Stadium, the visiting Crocs have come out with all guns blazing and have already racked up 11/765 while the laid back Barcrawlers have managed at best, a small yawn and only managed to put 4 on the park so far for 326. The Crocs have been well served in their endeavour, by the GWS equivalent of Huey, Dewey and Louie with Cameron, Patton and Taranto scoring 119,98 and 82 while the only bloke willing to leave the dressing room today for the Barcrawlers was Adams who scored 113, being his 7th 100 this season. All to play tomorrow with Martin, Jones, Blakely and McCarthy trying to get the choccies for The Crocs, while Ibbotson Sinclair Higgins Langdon and the Chinese travellers, Gray, Amon, Impey, Lyons, Hall, Sexton and 2 Metre Peter attempt to claw back the 439 deficit. Interesting times ahead.
3 Quarter time at the Eden Sporting Complex and Hughenden have got out to a decent lead: Eden Whalers 11/835 (75.91) trail Hughenden Prarie Dogs 11/960 (87.27)