Round 6 teams & banter

Is he a late out again? I heard Parfitt's out but haven't seen anything about Hawkins.

 

Foul Bay Saturday night reserves update:

Kelly 106
Ellis Yolmen 124
Wright 92 (all emergencies)

Our reserves side is a juggernaut. Looking like we will play Venus Bay's reserves in the grand final. The fact Atley scored 46, Ziebell scored 39 and Mullett scored 28 in our senior side and Selwood and McEvoy (who then got injured) have scored our only two tons (and we only have Vince and S.Hill to come) tells you how well the senior side is going.

I wanted to put the following stats in a cool table, but I don't know how to do that, so here is the less cool, but still interesting text version.

Tim Kelly has averaged 114 ppg in his three reserves games. He has averaged 84 ppg in his three senior games.
Matthew Wright has averaged 90 ppg in his two reserves games. He has averaged 59 ppg in his four senior games.
Cam Ellis Yolmen has averaged 94 ppg in his four reserves games. He has averaged 74 ppg in his two senior games.
Ben Cunnington has averaged 105 ppg in his three reserves games. He has averaged 92 ppg in his three senior games.
Dougal Howard played one reserves game for 107 points. He has averaged 68 in his five senior games.
Stephen Hill averaged 87 ppg in his three reserves games. He scored 60 on debut last week in the seniors.

I'm pretty close to letting someone else pick my team next week because I clearly don't know what I'm doing. It's at the stage that come the end of the season it's probably going to cost me a finals spot.

 

Am writing this from Lilac Bay where the home team have the Cows under the pump. Both teams going at around a 90 average - my estimate has the Lilacs looking like conquerers at 1066 with Parish, Tyson and, Langdon (the pied one) to come. The Cows at 985 with Hibbo, the Gov, Prestia and Fyfe to come. A close match in prospect with @Jen's team performing at a level which will catch the attention of our fellow coaches.

In a different form of ORFFA torture from that described so eloquently by @ChiefRussell, culled Cows Westhoff (147) and Sinclair (128) have both given the single raised finger to their former coach and silently mouthed "remember me?" As it happens I do, thanks for the reminders of poor trading decisions.

 

I am over the moon with how well my boys have performed.

I dont think it will be enough to "knock over" the cows but I am happy with the result win or lose.

 

Golly this game can do you in. Windy and wet afternoon, settled on the couch to see how the Cows respond to pressure. Then Jen's last player (Langdon) is a late out. As my late dad would say: "wouldn't that rotate you."

On a positive note I am enjoying Hibbo's resurgence.

 

You are stiff mate. I didn't think it would have been that close. Astbury having his worst game of the season was unexpected, but I still would have had money on you before the Walters injury. Hopefully this is a sign that my luck is changing.

 

When the ChiefBet odds for 2018 were released the comments for Round 6 opponents Cradle Mountain and the Gariwerd Cockatoos who were on the equal fourth line of betting were:


8.00 Cradle Mountain & Gariwerd
Both teams have clearly decided that they are in 'win now' mode with productive off seasons. Both sides boast deep and powerful midfields and will be hoping that their bookends stand up. Hard to split the pair, but it should be a close run race for the final spot in the top 4.


Over the first five rounds of 2018 neither Cradle Mountain nor Gariwerd had lived up to the expectations of being a top four contender with Gariwerd being ninth on the ladder with three wins and two losses, whilst the Devils had fared even worse, languishing in 13th position with one win and four losses including two losses by less than 50 points. Talk about the Cockatoos and the Devils had reverted from being potential top four rivals to their long-running battle for the title as the ‘masters of mediocrity’. However in Round 6 when they met each other @ChiefRussell's assessment proved to be very accurate as it was hard to split the Devils and Cockatoos and the teams ranked fourth and fifth for points scored for the round in the ORFFA.

The Cockatoos midfield with three tons - J Polec (122), J Steven (100) & M Crouch (100) outscored the Devils midfield who managed two tons D Zaharakis (120) and S Pendlebury (108) by 30 points with Cockatoos midfield emergency Touk Miller haunting Devils midfielder Dayne Zorko from the grandstand, clearly frustrated Zorko could only manage 46. The Devils interchange with 183 outscored the Cockatoos interchange by 24.

The Cockatoos bookends slightly outperformed the Devils with a score of 610 comprised of 300 for defense and 310 for the forward line with defender Shannon Hurn best afield with 130. The Devils forwards scored 281 whilst the defenders scored 292, forward Tom Lynch (127) was the Devils best player whilst reigning CMD best and fairest winner Michael Hurley led the defense with 104. Tasmanian Toby Nankervis was superb in the ruck for the Devils to score 125 and outscore Cockatoos opponent Tom Hickey by 53 points. When the scores were tallied up the Devils emerged victorious on 1,244 - 10 points ahead of the Cockatoos to remain within striking distance of the top eight. A 50 metre penalty against Cockatoos defender Tuohy in time-on of the last quarter may have been the turning point of the game and had Gariwerd coach @anthak wondering 'What happened? The Devils who have a very poor record in games decided by less than 50 points were able to get a much needed win in a close game.

At the end of Round 6 the eighth placed Marble Bar Misfits are one win ahead of the Cockatoos and two wins ahead of the Devils so considerable work needs to be done for either side to back up their finals appearance in 2017 and finish in the top eight in 2018. Round 6 demonstrated that the Devils and Cockatoos can perform at the level required to make the finals in 2018, however how consistently they reach this level for the remainder of 2018 will determine if they do in fact make the finals.

 

Relieved to get the win and keep my job. Special thanks to Jeremy Howe for picking this week to have a career best game haha