Clarko and Horse out to ruin a perfectly good ORFFA grannie. Can someone please send them a pancake bunny.
Sorry to rain on everyone's parade but there will be at least three outs from the "normal" Cows' lineup. Injuries to Burton, Hannebery and Papley mean the forward line will probably include two guys in their first year with 15 games between them. Rather disappointing.
You are very unlucky @graeme to have three outs from the "normal" Cows line-up whilst you have fantastic midfield depth that will allow you to cover Hannebery fairly well the two forward outs will hurt and be difficult to cover. I will make a post in this thread about the ORFFA Grand Final between the Cows and Misfits but wont be able to make this post until Saturday, either late morning or early afternoon as I have got some other writing to attend to before hand. The GF post will take a brief look at the history of both the Cows and the Misfits and both clubs respective finals records, and yes there will be a reference made to the pancake bunny.
Cows for the grannie, lamentably weakened by veterinary advice about some stud cattle - D - M Hibberd, J McVeigh, J McGovern, D Howe (C Byrne) M - T Mitchell, N Fyfe, A Hall, S Menegola R - S Jacobs (R O'Brien) F - T McLean, J Dunkley, D Menzel, J Allison (L Jetta) I/C - D Prestia, B Crouch (N Newman) Best of luck Len, I just wish the club could have put out our best side for this fixture. Next year the cows will be really strong.
Misfits side for the big show is.. DEFENDERS Rory Laird, Zachary Williams, Jake Lloyd, Nick Haynes - Adam Tomlinson MIDFIELDERS Josh Kelly, Marc Murphy, Lachie Whitfield, Callan Ward RUCKS Billy Longer FORWARDS Patrick Ryder, Joe Daniher, Devon Smith, Caleb Daniel - Jamie Elliott INTERCHANGE Daniel Rich, Luke Dunstan Can't help but think we are here a year early, but now we are here hoping to take full advantage
My whole SC year was built around the Doggies being a force. Macrae the only decent return. Dogs a very disappointing year.
Perennial premiership contending Cows contest 2017 ORFFA Grand Final against massively improved Misfits During their first four years in the ORFFA the Cows had finished in the top four at the end of the home and away season three times and had a fifth placed finish as well but had not made a Grand Final. The Cows missed the finals for the first time in 2016, finishing 10th and downplayed their chances in 2017 saying that they were rebuilding. Cows coaching staff took a relaxed approach to the start of the season, however there may been some miscommunication with the fitness team as the Cows Round 1 team to play the Marble Bar Misfits only featured 11 players including one out of position player meaning the Cows played 4.5 players short of the full complement of 15 players. A 15 player Misfits line-up easily accounted for the Cows in their Round 1 game by 378 points, 1,261 to 883. The ORFFA’s official betting agency ChiefBet clearly didn’t but the line from the Cows that they were ‘rebuilding’ and when the 2017 Premiership Odds were released after the 2017 PSD the Cows were on the second line of betting at $8, behind three equal favourites, Mount Beauty, Venus Bay and Foul Bay. The comment by ChiefBet on the Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles was: “The best of the rest, based on the fact that Nat Fyfe is back in town. Sam Menegola is instant points. The midfield is super deep (probably the best in the comp) and will carry it to victory most weeks. The defence is solid. A top 5 or 6 ruckman. The forward line is very young and unproven. Stops the Cows from being any higher.” Whilst for most of its first five years in the ORFFA the Cows were in the top third of the ladder, their 2017 Grand Final opponent – The Marble Bar Misfits were a fixture in the bottom third of the ladder with their end of season ladder positions from 2012 to 2016 being in chronological order, 16th, 17th, 16th, 16th and 17th. Having finished second or third last in every season the Misfits had been able to stockpile some elite young talent and on the eve of the 2017 season were expected to be big improvers in the next 2-3 seasons. The comment by ChiefBet on the Marble Bar Misfits when the 2017 Premiership odds were unveiled was: “The youth policy might start to pay off this year. So many GWS blokes as we all know, but they are going to destroy a lot of teams this year and that means points, points, points. Still probably at least a year away from finals though.” After Round 4 of the 2017 season the Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles were seventh on the ladder with a record of three wins and one loss whilst the Marble Bar Misfits were one spot lower with a record of two wins and two losses. However these early season ladder positions in the middle third of the ladder did not provide an accurate reflection of the strength of both teams. The young Misfits were gaining players by the week whilst the Cows who had been perennial premiership contenders were gaining players by the week and were a far different proposition from Round 5 onwards than they were in the opening month of the season. From Round 5 until this weekend’s Grand Final the Cows and Misfits have dominated, having a combined record of 35 wins and loss during this period with the Cows going on an ORFFA record 18 game winning streak whilst the Misfits complied a 17-1 record with their only loss during this period being to the Gariwerd Cockatoos by 220 points in Round 14. The Cows finished the 2017 home and away season as minor premiers with a record of 16 wins and one loss, having defeated the Venus Bay Vultures by 340 points in a final round game that determined the winner of the minor premiership. The Marble Bar Misfits finished third on the ladder with a record of 14 wins and three losses, one game behind Venus Bay and one game ahead of fellow big improvers the Gundagai Grasshoppers. The transformation by Marble Bar in 2017 has been nothing short of remarkable, using an analogy that links in with their nickname ‘Misfits’, It has been like going from a biggest loser contestant one year to Olympic athlete the next. Unfortunately for Lefties fans they have had to witness their team Larrikin Lagoon make an entirely different transformation, going from the first team to win back to back ORFFA Grand Finals in 2015 and 2016 to the first team to go winless during an ORFFA home and away season in 2017 after trading all their stars out during the 2016/17 pre-season and opting to rebuild in one of the biggest left-field moves in Australian Rules history. The eight teams competing in the 2017 ORFFA Finals could easily be placed in to one of four categories: Perennial contenders – Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles (1st on the ladder) Venus Bay Vultures (2nd) Massive improvers - Marble Bar Misfits (3rd) and Gundagai Grasshoppers (4th) Former mediocre teams – Cradle Mountain Devils (5th) and Gariwerd Cockatoos (7th) Former powerhouses – Foul Bay Chickens (6th) and Iron Knob Codpieces (8th) The first time in ORFFA history the top four teams all won their elimination finals at home which eliminated the two former mediocre teams and the two former powerhouses who had won three of the ORFFA’s five premierships between them comprised of two for Foul Bay (2012 & 2013) and one for Iron Knob (2014). With ageing lists Foul Bay and Iron Knob face some big list management decisions in the off-season. Unfortunately for Lefties fans they have had to witness their team Larrikin Lagoon make an entirely different transformation to the one embarked on by the Misfits, going from the first team to win back to back ORFFA Grand Finals in 2015 and 2016 to the first team to go winless during an ORFFA home and away season in 2017 after the Lefties traded all their stars out during the 2016/17 pre-season and opting to rebuild in one of the biggest left-field moves in Australian Rules history. None of the four Preliminary finalists had ever won an ORFFA Premiership and only one had contested an ORFFA Grand Final – The Venus Bay Vultures in 2016 after finishing eighth on the ladder but being ranked fourth for total points scored. Venus Bay had finished third on the ladder in 2015 and had ranked second for total points scored. Throughout the 2017 season Venus Bay easily led the league for points scored, and added high profile recruit, forward Buddy Franklin to their squad during the 2017 mid-season trade period to further enhance their premiership chances. From 2013 to 2015 Gundagai feared even worse than Marble Bar, winning three consecutive wooden spoons. Several years spent by both clubs paid off in 2017 with both the Grasshoppers and Misfits making their first ORFFA finals appearance in the 2017 elimination finals. Due to winning the minor premiership the Cows had the easier preliminary final, playing a young Grasshoppers team that was running out of steam and had a mounting injury list. The Cows midfield amassed more than 500 points in the preliminary final led by ball-magnet Tom Mitchell with 162 and Nat Fyfe with 142 points. A consistent Cows line-up had eight tons and only one score below 70 to register a score of 1,459 and easily account the undermanned Grasshoppers who scored 1,041. The preliminary final between Venus Bay and Marble Bar was expected to be significantly closer the Vulture s were a bit below their best but still managed to score a highly respectable 1,299 which included four tons – Dayne Beams (148), Sam Docherty (144), Elliot Yeo (124), and Shaun Higgins (112). Playing in easily the biggest game of their careers the Marble Bar Misfits remained composed and executed their skills brilliantly to score 1,481 and win by 182 points to claim an unexpected Grand Final berth. Six Misfits scored tons including a couple of previous ORFFA Award winners – 2014 Les W Medalist Callan Ward and 2014 Rising Star winner Luke Dunstan with 117 and 119 respectively. This duo were joined by two players who had served lengthy suspensions during the past 18 months – Paddy Ryder (134) and Lachie Whitfeld (134), as well as defender Rory Laird (124) and skillful midfielder Josh Kelly (144). ChiefBet’s pre-season assessment of the Cows has proven to be very accurate with a formidable and deep midfield a key factor in their dominant season, despite Dan Hannebery being ruled out of the Grand Final with a hip injury Waikikamoocow have five midfielders in their GF side that have average more than 90 points per game in 2017 – Tom Mitchell (119), Nat Fyfe (108), 2017 Round 1 PSD pick Sam Menegola (98), Arron Hall (93) and Brad Crouch (94) as well as another midfielder filling the Interchange 2 position in Dion Prestia (83). However, the concern ChiefBet had about the Cows young and unproven forward line as come to the fore at the most inappropriate time with young forwards Ryan Burton and Tom Papley both ruled out of the Grand Final with foot and knee injuries respectively. With these injuries only one Cow forward in the GF team has averaged more than 80 in 2017 – Toby McLean whilst all for Misfits forwards have averaged over 70. The Marble Bar Misfits have been getting very animated at the Marble Bar Bar in Grand Final week with many Misfits cheer squad members in practice for the big day raising photos of a stuffed bunny with a pancake on its head. When asked by an ORFFA.com.au reporter what the meaning of the photo was members of the Misfits cheer squad said “We thrashed the Cows in Round 1 and will show again on the weekend that the Cows are the Misfits bunny. We decided to use a bunny that was stuffed to represent that the Cows as @Bandit would say can get stuffed. The pancake on top of the bunny’s head is to represent that after the game the Cows players and supporters are all going to be feeling as flat as a pancake.” On the eve of Grand Final Misfits coach @Len commented “Can't help but think we are here a year early, but now we are here hoping to take full advantage.” Several football teams have won premierships ahead of schedule in recent history including the Lefties two years ago in the ORFFA after finishing 17th in the previous season, and the Western Bulldogs in the AFL last year. You just don’t know if and when you will be back in a Grand Final. The Cows led by head coach @graeme have remained composed all season, however this composure will face its biggest test during the Grand Final. Good luck to both the Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles and the Marble Bar Misfits in the 2017 ORFFA Grand Final, whichever team emerges victorious will be a worthy premier and a great addition to the league's honour roll.
Is this omission because i gloated about getting a mention in the OP haha Seriously though, great work Dean, epic writeup once again!
No Anthony, post was just a bit rushed so there could be other errors in there. Thanks for pointing the omission out, have now mentioned the Cockatoos as being the side that recorded the Round 14 victory over the Misfits.
Great stuff Dean, thank you very much for the effort, you bring a lot to the fabric of this league No doubt @graeme will have some regrets as well, but naming Elliott on field might have helped the Misfits, esp over Caleb's insipid performance.. WHE doing his best to make Longer look expensive also!