It's an alcohol marketers dream as the Boozers host the visiting Dropbears. ----------------------------------- Finals Results so far QF1 - Mt Thirsty Boozers 1290 defeated Jan Juc Ducks 1278 QF2 - Walpole Woylies 1231 defeated by Drouin Dropbears 1404 EF1 - Neptune Island Noahs 1431 defeated Useless Loop Virgins 1319 EF2 - Rutherglen Fugitives 1202 defeated by Macquarie Island Whales 1215 SF1 - Jan Juc Ducks 1390 defeated Neptune Island Noahs 1206 SF2 - Walpole Woylies 1181 defeated Macquarie Island Whales 1138 PF1 - Mt Thirsty Boozers 1393 defeated Walpole Woylies 1252 PF2 - Drouin Dropbears 1304 defeated Jan Juc Ducks 1226 ----------------------------------- Week 4 ORFFF Finals Fixture (AFL Round 23) - as always first named is the home side Grand Final – Mt Thirsty Boozers (1st, 13-2) vs Drouin Dropbears (3rd, 10-5) The best team of the season faces the the fast finishing team of the last two seasons (24-6 overall regular season record) in a match the Dropbears have been waiting 12 months for after being upset in the final match of 2016. Two in form star studded sides are enough to make the mouth water before any clash but when it's a Grand Final the stakes are raised and even the bit part players have their chance their etch their name in the record books as an ORFFF premierhsip player and to potentially win the Seb Ross medal - named after the player who topscored with 138 in the 2016 ORFFF Grand Final - for best afield in the big dance. Despite the W/L record difference a total of 176 points scored over 17 games separates the 2 sides and the Dropbears strong 2nd half form and big match experience may prove decisive. While the home advantage has the Boozers as $1.80 favourites prior to the match commencing the Dropbears have already won a finals match on WA soil as they defeated the Woylies by 173 points in the Qualifying Final.
2016, ORFFF Round 14 – Drouin Dropbears 1378 defeated Mt Thirsty Boozers 1260 (118 points) http://tooserious.net/forum/tsLeagues.php?leagueId=14&round=10&year=2016 http://tooserious.net/forum/tsLeagueMatchday.php?leagueId=14&round=10&year=2016 High scorers Dropbears (6 tons) - Steven 138 - 4 votes, Danger 127 - 2 votes, Walker 123 - 1 vote, Docherty 121, Duncan 108, Sheuy 106 Boozers (3 tons) - T Mitchell 178 - 5 votes, Goddard 130 - 3 votes, Deledio 107 In a nutshell The Dropbears had opened 2016 with 8 straight wins before losing to the Neptune Island side the week prior. In the inaugural clash between the 2017 Grand Final sides Drouin rebounded in fine fashion to win by 118 points with Tom Mitchell's best on ground effort not enough as the Boozers succumbed to their 6th straight loss in a run of 9 straight losses. The Dropbears won another 8 straight until they lost the 2016 Grand Final to Neptune Island in convincing fashion, with the final margin being 202 points.
2017, ORFFF Round 14 – Mt Thirsty Boozers 1373 defeated Drouin Dropbears 1282 (91 points) http://tooserious.net/forum/tsLeagues.php?leagueId=14&round=14 http://tooserious.net/forum/tsLeagueMatchday.php?leagueId=14&round=14 High scorers Boozers (6 tons) - Cameron 133 - 4 votes, Billings 130 - 3 votes, Hurley 112 - 1 vote, Zaha 105, Birchall 102, T Mitchell 101 Dropbears (3 tons) - Danger 145 - 5 votes, Docherty 120 - 2 votes, Walters 105 In a nutshell The Boozers team had been rebuilt in the offseason and they added more pieces in the midseason drafting and trade period while rivals largely shield away from making moves. In the first game after the 2017 midseason break the WA side's 4th straight win saw them in 2nd spot with a 8-2 record as the visiting Dropbears were defeated by 91 points in their first and only visit to the 2017 ORFFF Grand Final Venue. The loss left Drouin in 8th spot at 5-5 having won 3 straight games leading up to the midseason break however the Dropbears have been undefeated since then notching up 7 wins in a row for the 3rd time in their history as they made top 4 and won through to their 2nd consecutive Grand Final. Meanwhile the Boozers have stretched their win streak to an ORFFF record equalling 11 straight.
5 players to watch – Mt Thirsty 1 – Tom Mitchell – the Boozers highest averaging player (119) was deserving of his first time All ORFFF honours in 2017. The young accumulator racks them up week after week and @leematty1 remembers fondly Tom’s 178 against the Dropbears back in 2016. A repeat effort in this match would have the visting side on the back foot form the get go as Tom plays in match 1 of the weekend. 2 – Rockliff – the one time member of SC royalty has been dogged by injury during the last few seasons and despite a poor second half of the season (only 1 ton since round 8) he possesses the ability to score heavily and could get a ton of ball in the bottom of the ladder AFL clash on Saturday afternoon. 3 – Buddy – The big fella defied the cirtics with an all ORFFF calibre season narrowly sneaking in as F4 ahead of the Fugitives Jack Macrae on countback. As a veteran of 5 AFL Grand Finals Buddy is well accustomed to the big stage and if his kicking boots are on he may go large with a match against the Blues in a Saturday twilight match. 4 – Ryder – banned from the ORFFF in 2016 Paddy has been in spectacular form in 2017 and is another Boozers player to make the All ORFFF side, starting in the Forward line but providing ruck support for the Shags Matty Kreuzer. Coach @leematty1 must be licking his lips at the prospect of Ryder monstering Currie and the hapless Suns in a Saturday evening AFL match as yet again another key Boozers player has a good AFL draw in Round 23. 5 – Billings – the emerging 22 year old has the Boozers fans sensing a champion in the making. If the Grand Final is close heading into the latter stages the young Saint could be the difference maker with a clash against the Tiges at 320pm on Sunday. (Apologies to a number of Boozers including Goddard, Zaharakis, Cameron and former 29er Mark McVeigh). 5 players to watch - Drouin 1 - Docherty (110 in the 2016 Grand Final) – The 2 time All ORFFF Defender also won the ORFFF Defender of the Year by a vote over Taylor Adams after being runner up to Heath Shaw in 2016. With the Swans likely to be dominant aginst the Blues there should be plenty of opportunities for the Dropbears #15 to rebound the ball back the other way. 2 - Dangerfield (131 in 2016) – the #1 pick in the inaugural ORFFF draft has been spent wisely with the 2 time Dangerfield Medallist and all ORFFF Captain being a key reason why the Dropbears have dominated the ORFFF since their inception. A 140 plus will be tough with the Cats up against the Giants on Saturday night but Danger is capable of that and more. 3 - Mummy (84 in 2016) – the Sausage eating Drouin behemoth has had another top season equalling Ryder’s 16 votes in the Patrick Dangerfield Medal but missing the interchange in a side that only plays 4 emergencies, but none in the ruck. His ability to go large is one weapon but another is his ability to bury opponents 3 metres deep into the turf in tackles and he is champing to the bit to “semi-accidentally” injure the Boozers star studded midfield. 4 - Duncan (105 in 2016) – another Dropbear playing in the crunch Saturday night clash Duncan’s average of 109 and 15 Dangerfield Medal votes had him ahead of a host of big name midfielders, underlining his A-grade calibre season despite a B Grade reputation. 5 - Steven (77 in 2016) – the Dropbears star has followed up a subpar 2016 Grand Final with had a down year by his high standards. However, he was best afield in the preliminary final with 153 points as helped to drag the Dropbears into the Grand Final. If he can inspire a Dropbears victory with a repeat dose on Sunday afternoon you can bet your boots that "the Jack Steven" will be the most requested haircut in Drouin region for years to come. (Apologies to Savage, Walker and everyone’s favourite spud come good of 2017 Drouin’s own Liam Jones).
Rockin' with the usual suspects Docherty, Savage, Pittard, Atley (McIntosh) Danger, Duncan, Shuey, Steven (Melksham) Mumford Walker, Lester, Jones, Wright (Lobb) Scully, Rosa (Amon) Best of luck to @leematty1, big season from your mob
Here we go, first grand final appearance and on a long winning streak but gonna have to do it without a few of our starting lineup this week, while Lipinski makes it to the emergencies for his debut game. Def: J Kelly, M Suckling, J McVeigh, M Hartley (J Hamling) Mid: T Rockliff, T Mitchell, B Goddard, D Zaharakis (P Lipinski) Ruck: P Ryder Fwd: L Franklin, J Cameron, J Billings, J Elliott (M Close) Int: J Sinclair, J Watson (J Webster) Good luck @stowie
What a beauty this one shapes up as ! On Friday night it is Suckling and Tom Mitchell (averaging 139.5 against the Dropbears) running out for the home side while the Dropbears will be lurking stealthily in the treetops beside the ground before the first of their contingent opens their account on Saturday. The rest of the weekend shapes up as Boozers - vs - Dropbears Elliot - vs - n/a Rocky - vs - Atley and Lester McVeigh and Buddy - vs - Docherty, L Jones and M Wright J Cameron - vs - Docherty, Danger, Duncan, Scully and Lobb (late in for Tex Walker) Ryder - vs - Pittard and Rosa JamesKelly, Hartley, Goddard, Zaha and Watson - vs - n/a Billings and Sinclair - vs - Savage and Steven n/a - vs - Shuey (despite being named Tex Walker is out injured) A 95 point Boozers lead will be about par heading into the last game as the Dropbears look to lift the cup and make amends for their 2016 heartbreak.
Not the best start. Both players under what would have hoped. Mitchell 111 and suckling 65. Boozers 2-176.
Elliot's great first quarter of 61 and first half of 93 made up for the fact he went missing after that and finished with 107 while rocky disappointed again with only 68. While Lester and atley didn't excite for 45 and 71. This leaves boozers 4-351 vs dropbears 2-116
Buddy has turned it on when it matters posting a monster score of 183 that should get him the best on field. Boozers out to 6-588 to the dropbears 5-352
Duncan and danger go big for the dropbears while Ryder does for the boozers. Boozers 8-783 vs dropbears 12-981 With the boozers having 5 bomber players, that game will be critical to the result.
Exciting game in progress fellas, good luck to you both for tomorrow! Thanks for the updates too, and to TTH for the awesome preview!
Boozers 8/783 - vs - Dropbears 12/981 (as above) JamesKelly, Hartley, Goddard, Zaha and Watson - vs - n/a Billings and Sinclair - vs - Savage and Steven n/a - vs - Shuey (despite being named Tex Walker is out injured) With the Boozers having 5 players to none in the Sunday 1.10pm game and all of these being Bombers we should have a pretty clear picture by 3.20 just by looking at the Bombers-Dockers scoreboard whether Mt Thirsty can go on with the job before a very excited home crowd as they sit in a favourable position midway though the third quarter of the ORFFF Grand Final. Good luck gents !
By my reckoning I have the boozers and dropbears tied although we still have another half from our 5 bomber players to put up a lead with the dropbears having one extra player in the remaining games
After the bombers failed to go on with it in the last quarter, the boozers get to 13-1192 and with both teams two players going about the same in the saints game, it's looking like shuey would need about 200 to steal the premiership away from the boozers and stop this long winning streak.
From FanFooty I have the Boozers ahead 1394/all out to the Dropbears 1150/14. Shuey is doing well on 66 to half time but would need to score 180 odd in the 2nd half to snatch the game from the home side who have once again been solid from 1 through 15 having miraculously risen from the near foot of the 2016 ORFFF ladder to be 2017 champions in waiting.
Shuey with 128 isn't enough as the boozers coast to a triple figure win to cap off a great season and a perfect last 3-4 months.