Reece 'Hit em when you can' Conca makes his debut for the Nuffers. He's really fitted into the Nuffers cultural program of unsociable behaviour football very enthusiastically.
Following the recent transfer of ownership I wish to thank @melbandy for creating a much loved franchise within the ORFFA and I hope to continue to build on the rich history moving forward. Speaking of which it is worthwhile to list the current Nuffers "playing" squad Def - K Simpson, M Broadbent, R Conca, A Sexton, E Wood, J Geary, S Frost, Def/Fwd - T Varcoe Mid - JPK, B Ebert, SPP, C Menadue, P Dow, J Long, W Walker Mid/Fwd - D Thomas, R Lester, D Wells, N Graham, W Powell, J Petruccelle Fwd - C Dixon, T Bell, T Dickson, D Kent, B Grey Ruck - NicNat, CCJ Changes since the above post In - Geary, Ebert, SPP, Menadue, Dow, Wells, Petrucelle, Kent, CCJ, Frost, Long, Walker, Graham, Powell, Grey Out - T Hunt, Rowe, Mohr, H Goddard, D McKenzie, Stanton, Cross, CEY, Myers, Armfield, B Martin, Palmer, L Jones, C Dawes Interesting to note we had Tom Bell when he was good, Liam Jones when he was bad the first time, have turned over more players than we have kept in 3 years and managed to develop a list that is both old and young at the same time. Nic Nat has earned a week's rest while we take on undefeated ladder leaders Venus Bay @Fitzy this weekend and this forced change further depletes a side that fielded 4 donuts in a 428 point loss to the Cockatoos @anthak last weekend. Rd 8 Venus Bay, Rd 9 Charlies Opening @Bandit, Rd 10 Mt Beauty Uglies @bama , Rd 11 Iron Knob Codpieces @jimbowan in the next month will see the remaining players playing for their futures leading into what is sure to be a busy 2018 Midseason Trade and Draft period. Cheers TTH
@Lenny120 @ChiefRussell @jimbowan @TerryinBangkok @Len @chris88 @anthak @bama @graeme @Bandit @Jen @Tracey @That KI Guy @JC @snoz @Fitzy @dmandrews Hello all ORFFA'ns As fellow franchisees in the ORFFA I wish to inform you of the relocation of the Nunawading Nuffers Football Club to Nareewillock (Victoria) effective immediately. It is with great regret that the Nuffers bid adieu to Nunawading but we are left with no choice after Nareewillock Pro Sport Pty Ltd won our license in the final hand of a long night of booze fuelled illegal Texas Hold Em poker to commence the Queens Birthday long weekend. So much for bluffing with a pair of 2’s on the draw with a Queen, King and Ace on the flop. In hindsight it’s probably a good thing since the City of Whitehorse Council have recently served us with a notice of proposed eviction for non payment of $50k of rent for Nuffers Park (formerly known as a bunch of different sponsors names) since 2014, and the terms of the ORFFA licence exchange is that the new ownership will pay out that debt over a mere 25 years which will excite the ratepayers of Nunawading and nearby Forest Hill immensely . Our new location is far enough out of Melbourne (over 200km) that a 3 bedrooom house costs less than 2 million bucks. We will recognise our heritage though the continuation of the Nuffers branding and we are confident that the team will be re-energised as they proudly represent the Mallee region of Far North West Victoria in the big leagues. Rumour has it that the Andrews government (any relation @dmandrews ?) is set to has invest $300 million into making Nareewillock a population growth centre with around 800 000 new inhabitants by 2030, with a $100 million 2,000 capacity “CBD” stadium part of the Nareewillock Future World Class City Masterplan. For those of you travelling to face the Nuffers in the remaining ORFFA rounds of 2018 we refer you to Google Maps and recommend that you check it carefully before you commence the journey to face the mighty Nuffers. https://www.google.com.au/maps/plac...579a430a095b0!8m2!3d-36.1840109!4d143.4206435 Cheers TTH
Rumour has it that the Andrews' govt is in fact @melbandy in another guise. Nice write up TTH, albeit managers have often strayed towards fiction rather than reailty in backgrounders.
The current Nuffers playing list has seen a relatively balanced makeover with a clutch of players in the 20-26 bracket and Shaun Grigg being brought into the club to improve the clubs depth to the extent possible in a thin MSD (in the Nuffers opinion) Def - K Simpson, M Broadbent, R Conca, E Wood, J Geary, L Brown, Z Cordy, J Joyce Def/Fwd - Mid - JPK, B Ebert, SPP, C Menadue, P Dow, B Hill, S Grigg Mid/Fwd - R Lester, D Wells, J Petruccelle, D Cuningham, M Hutchings Fwd - C Dixon, D Kent, C Cameron, M Guelfi, H Cunningham, M Honeychurch Ruck - NicNat, CCJ In (since Round 11) - D Cuningham (Hoppers), C Cameron (Hoppers), B Hill (Blimps), S Grigg (Devils), Matt Guelfi, Harry Cunningham, L Brown, M Hutchings, Z Cordy, M Honeychurch, Jesse Joyce Out (since Round 11) - Walker (Hoppers), Powell (Hoppers), Thomas (Cows), Sexton, Frost, Varcoe, J Long, Graham, Bell, Dickson, Grey Draft period 1 of a 3 draft period plan to revamp the squad (we are very optimistic) is almost complete with the club now pondering whether to test the market to assess the worth of the handful of players that could improve teams in the 2018 premiership race.
The current Nuffers playing list continues to see strategic turnover ahead of the 2019 PSD, with Simpson and Wood the 2 stalwarts making way (and Lester and Conca very nearly joining them) and 4 of the 7 players taken at the 2018 MSD failing to make the grade (L Brown, Guelfi and H Cuningham the exceptions). Def - M Broadbent, R Lester, J Geary, L Brown, D Cuningham, E RIchards, M Hore, D Astbury D/F - C Burgess Mid - R Conca, B Ebert, SPP, B Hill, S Grigg, M Guelfi, H Cunningham, D Hanneberry, D Tucker Mid/Fwd - P Dow Fwd - C Dixon, D Kent, J Petruccelle, C Cameron, T McDonald, B Long, B Cavarra R/F - CCJ Ruck - NicNat, CCJ In (since Round 23) - D Hanneberry (Cows), T McDonald (Battlers), D Tucker (Spelunkers), Burgess (Cockatoos), Ed Richards (PSD27) , Marty Hore (PSD36), Ben Long (PSD51), Ben Cavarra, (PSD72), David Astbury (PSD94) Out (since Round 23) - K Simpson (Vultures) , JPK (Cockatoos), E Wood, C Menadue, D Wells, Z Cordy, J Joyce, M Hutchings, M Honeychurch Draft period 2 of a 3 draft period plan to revamp the squad (we are very optimistic) is almost complete with the club now looking to see whether it can get a host of players over early season injuries and hence get more players on the field than in the donut ridden 2018 season.
With Nic (trade) Nat, Lester and Conca departing at midseason (as well as Grigg and Burgess) the Nuffers amazingly are left with only 2 players from the equivalent time 4 seasons ago - Dixon and Broadbent. Both players have proven their resilience in rehabbing career threatening injuries in recent times and hopefully will be running out together once again in 2019. Joining the club via the MSD are youngster Ben Paton as well as experienced hands Tom Clurey, Shaun Atley and Sam J Reid. Marble Bar young gun Xavier Duursma is brought in to bolster the teams growing youth contingent. Def - M Broadbent, J Geary, L Brown, D Cuningham, E RIchards, M Hore, D Astbury, B Paton, T Clurey D/M - X Duursma D/F - Sam J Reid (GWS) Mid - B Ebert, SPP, B Hill, M Guelfi, H Cunningham, D Hanneberry, D Tucker Mid/Fwd - P Dow Fwd - C Dixon, D Kent, J Petruccelle, C Cameron, T McDonald, B Long, B Cavarra, S Atley R/F - CCJ Ruck - n/a Draft period 3 of a 3 draft period plan to revamp the squad is now complete. With 19 of the current 28 listed having come on board in a frenetic 12 month period team-mates are still bonding and the coaches are working on developing a more cohesive game plan. The team are still likely to continue amongst the cellar dwellars in the short term but have assembled much greater depth despite by necessity and design trading the only big names that had been present. Young talent on the list will hopefully now have to perform to a higher standard to force its way into the Nuffers best 15 and therefore drive an improvement to the team's performance moving forward.
A whopping 8 positional changes for 2020 along with the AFL delisting of Broadbent has reshuffled the Nuffers lineup and boosted the amount of f/m options for the coming season Def - J Geary, H Cunningham, L Brown, M Hore, D Astbury, B Paton, T Clurey, Sam J Reid (GWS), S Atley Mid - B Hill, M Guelfi, D Hanneberry, X Duursma Mid/Fwd - P Dow, SPP, D Tucker, E RIchards, Fwd - C Dixon, D Kent, B Ebert, J Petruccelle, C Cameron, T McDonald, B Long, B Cavarra, D Cuningham, R/F - CCJ Ruck - n/a The impact is that we are more deficient in the mids and rucks than previously thought and appear to have a few fringe defenders and forwards that may need to move on during the next trade period for greater short term opportunity at other clubs.
In a quieter trade period prior to the 2020 season David Cuningham was shipped to Larrikin Lagoon in exchange for Trent Dumont and a flurry of pick trades were used to position the side to select 4 players early in the draft. The earlier retirement of Broadbent reduced the list by one and he was joined by another 5 through the delisting of Sam J Reid (GWS), D Astbury, Guelfi, D Kent and B Cavarra. Cavarra was the first player cut in 4 draft periods to be a tough call. Joining the side in 2020 are 4 young guns in Mat Rowell (PSD 1) Caleb Serong (PSD 7), Sam Philp (PSD 25), Mason Redman (PSD 32) and veterans Chris Mayne (PSD 73) and Levi Casboult (PSD 91). 2020 preseason training has seen more players on the park than the corresponding time 12 months earlier so hopefully some of the 2019 injury concerns are behind this team. Def - J Geary, H Cunningham, L Brown, M Hore, B Paton, T Clurey, S Atley, M Redman Def/Fwd - L Casboult Mid - B Hill, D Hanneberry, X Duursma, T Dumont, M Rowell, C Serong, S Philp, C Mayne Mid/Fwd - P Dow, SPP, D Tucker, E RIchards, Fwd - C Dixon, B Ebert, J Petruccelle, C Cameron, T McDonald, B Long R/F - CCJ Ruck - n/a Charlie Dixon is now the only Nuffers player remaining from midway though the 2015 season and only 6 others (Geary, Dow, SPP, Ebert, Petrucelle and CCJ) were on the list during the mid 2018 transition period to new ownership. To say it is a new look side is an understatement. 5 wins is our pre-season target. The Nareewillock fan base is showing increasing signs of impatience but the club remains confident that it has bottomed out and is now on an upward path.
5 years on and NONE of the 2015 Midseason Nuffers list remains, although Simpson, JPK and Charlie have found greener pastures while Nic Nat has landed at the slightly less green Misfits @Len who should however finish midtable once their 2020 season starts to hit it's full stride.
The Nuffers continued the trend of a quieter trade period with Jaryn Geary and Chris Mayne delisted and Charlie Dixon stunning the club with a demand to be traded midseason to the Whitsunday Warriors. A decent 2021 Preseason draft haul was received for Dixon and joining the club in the 2020 MSD were Andrew Macpherson (MSD24) and Brent Daniels (MSD42) with Chris Mayne being redrafted at pick 60 due to the club finding little else of interest in the draft pool. So far in 2020 the Nuffers have had much better luck on the injury front and have seen promising glimpses from many of the growing band of youngsters. The continuing poor form of Hill and McDonald and further injury for Hanneberry has plenty questioning the Nuffers recruiting strategy for quite good reason. Currently 14th wIth a 2-5 record the Nuffers need 3 more wins out of the remaining 10 rounds to meet their preseason target of 5. Meanwhile the clubs scouts are scrutinising promising junior players as well as sizing up several players who are unable to crack the best 15 at their respective sides. Def - H Cunningham, L Brown, M Hore, B Paton, T Clurey, S Atley, M Redman, A McPherson Def/Fwd - L Casboult Mid - B Hill, D Hanneberry, X Duursma, T Dumont, M Rowell, C Serong, S Philp, C Mayne (re-drafted) Mid/Fwd - P Dow, SPP, D Tucker, E RIchards, Fwd - B Ebert, J Petruccelle, C Cameron, T McDonald, B Long, B Daniels R/F - CCJ Ruck - n/a With an average age of 24 and 1 month and a list age profile which is now reasonably sustainable apart from a glut of 26 year old plus spud defenders the Nuffers look to have some balance in each position. With only 5 of the 2018 pre MSD Nuffers remaining and expectations of another 4 youngsters to be brought in to replace the afore-mentioned potatoes over the next 12 months the Nuffers strategy moving forward for the remainder of 2020 and the upcoming 2021 season will be summed up in 3 words. Sit. And. Wait. Note that if this team ever cracks 1300 the Nuffers clubrooms will be shouting free beer for a week,
The Nuffers end to season 2020 was insipid. Following the end of the season stalwart Bret Ebert retired leaving only four players remaining from the squad inherited from previous ownership just prior to the 2018 ORFFA Midseason draft. A quartet of the remaining players have been allocated position changes for the 2021 season. Casboult and Tucker both lost dpp status and are FWD and MID only respectively while Ben Long unsurprisingly moves from FWD to DEF and Philp shifts from MID to FWD. The 2021 squad therefore looks like this prior to the 2021 preseason trade and draft period Def - H Cunningham, L Brown, M Hore, B Paton, T Clurey, S Atley, M Redman, A McPherson, B Long Mid - B Hill, D Hanneberry, X Duursma, T Dumont, M Rowell, C Serong, D Tucker, C Mayne Mid/Fwd - P Dow, SPP, E Richards, Fwd - J Petruccelle, C Cameron, T McDonald, B Daniels, S Philp, L Casboult R/F - CCJ Ruck - n/a
In another fairly quiet trade period prior to the 2021 season our D1 Harry Cunningham was shipped to Cradle Mountain in exchange for Ivan Soldo, while Chayce Jones was added for a late pick and a flurry of trades were used to trade up in the 2nd round of the PSD and also to bank additional 3rd round picks in the 2022 PSD by trading down in the latter stages of the 2021 draft. The earlier retirement of Ebert reduced the list by one and he was joined by another 5 through the delisting of Chris Mayne (Coll), Levi Casboult (Carlton), Like Brown (Adelaide), Marty Hore (Melb) and Tom Clurey (Port Adelaide) Joining the side in 2020 are 5 young guns in Braeden Campbell (PSD3), Errol Gulden (PSD23), Charlie Lazzaro (PSD 86)), Flynn Perez (PSD 97) and Samson Ryan (PSD115) plunging the average age to 22 years XX months whilst leaving the Nuffers rucks as 3 of the Richmond variety in the hope a playing ruck will be established within the next 12-18 months. 2021 preseason training has seen Paton and Soldo sitting out as they are set to the miss the entire season and several others have been stuck in the rehab group or earmarked as developing for a season or 2 in their AFL clubs ressies. It is therefore likely that the Nuffers will experience difficulties finding enough playing numbers to a much greater extent than during the 2020 season when we generally managed to field a full squad (ignoring an out of position ruck). Def - B Paton, S Atley, M Redman, A McPherson, B Long, F Perez Mid - B Hill, D Hanneberry, X Duursma, T Dumont, M Rowell, C Serong, D Tucker, C Jones (trade), E Gulden, C Lazzaro Mid/Fwd - P Dow, SPP, E Richards, B Campbell Fwd - J Petruccelle, C Cameron, T McDonald, B Daniels, S Philp R/F - CCJ Ruck - Soldo (trade), S Ryan
The turnover of the Nareewillock squad continues to reflect the diabolocal playing list that was inherited midway through the 2018 season as well as the difficulty of rebuilding via late PSD and MSD draft picks due to the lack of tradeable assets on hand 3 winters ago and an ORFFA trade market which favours buyers rather than sellers. Apart from Ebert retiring suddenly we managed to squeeze a return out of veterans such as Dale Thomas (Cows), Kade Simpson (Vultures), JPK (Coacktoos) and Charlie Dixon (Warriors) prior to retirement or their twilight years while we also moved Nic Nat (Misfits) out due to the potential for his knee injuries to impede our list build and obtained Duursma in return. A few players we have drafted and traded in over 3 years have been of value in trade enquiries but not to the extent needed to improve our entrenched bottom 4 position. Our substantial list of castoffs have largely been overlooked or discarded or have been delisted or retired with the sole exception being youngster Wil Powell who we traded to the Hoppers then was delisted and has been overlooked since but now looks like he is capable of making a decent career as a long term best 15 player for the Cows if he can step up as a 21 year old entering his 4th AFL season and was picked up as a 4th round selection by our Kiwi colleagues. Apart from Charlie Cameron our traded in players have been somewhat meh notwithstanding a spike year from Dumont in 2020. We hold a little hope that Chayce Jones eventually extracts a digit and becomes a solid best 15 player for the Nuffers for several seasons and he likely has a season or two to settle in before any pressure builds. We have four 21 year olds still around from mid 2018 - P Dow, SPP, Petruccelle and CCJ all of which will need to show something by the end of 2022 and most likely a little earlier for the Eagles speedster. The Nuffers list build finally has resulted in an orthodox mix of a few late 20's best 15 veterans coupled with a stack of under 22's most of whom are mid to late draft selections. This was not possible over 1 or 2 draft periods without bottoming out further than we already have but their is no illusion that 2021 will be our toughest season due to an influx of youngsters likely to take a season or two to work their way into the AFL. The medium term challenge will continue to be to gradually discard the veterans and list cloggers and retain the best youngsters while avoiding the cutting of players who may be a full or half season away from showing their full potential. The upside to a succession of likely future bottom 4 finishes is a few early draft picks however our status as a perennial ORFFA punching bag is set to continue ad infinitum in the absence of any reform of the current ORFFA competition setup. In since mid 2018 (24) - C Cameron (Hoppers MSD 2018), B Hill (Blimps MSD 2018), Hanneberry (Cows PSD 2019), T McDonald (Battlers PSD 2019), D Tucker (Spelunkers PSD 2019), Richards (PSD 2019), Ben Long (PSD 2019), Duursma (Marble Bar MSD 2019), Paton (MSD 2019), Atley (MSD 2019), Dumont (Lefties PSD 2020), Rowell (PSD 2020), Serong (PSD 2020), Philp (PSD 2020), Redman (PSD 2020), A Macpherson (MSD 2020), B Daniels (MSD 2020), C Jones (Lefties PSD 2021), Soldo (Devils PSD 2021), Campbell (PSD 2021), Gulden (PSD 2021), Lazzaro (PSD 2021), Perez (PSD 2021), Ryan (PSD 2021) Out since mid 2018 (24) - Will Walker (Hoppers MSD 2018), Powell (Hoppers MSD 2018), Dale Thomas (Cows MSD 2018), Sexton (MSD 2018), Sam Frost (MSD 2018), Varcoe (MSD 2018), J Long (MSD 2018), N Graham (MSD 2018), Bell (MSD 2018), Dickson (MSD 2018), B Grey (MSD 2018), Simpson (Vultures PSD 2019), JPK (Cockatoos PSD 2019), E Wood (PSD 2019), Menadue (PSD 2019), D Wells (PSD 2019), Nic Nat (Misifts MSD 2019), Lester (MSD 2019), Conca (MSD 2019), Broadbent (PSD 2020), D Kent (PSD 2020), Dixon (Whitsundays MSD 2020), Geary (MSD 2020), Ebert (PSD 2021 retirement)
Whilst we call this league a "Keeper" league, it would be far more accurate statistically to call it a "Dynasty" league, given the low number of player movements required each year. Accordingly change takes time, but is also almost inevitable, we have a few teams who have been towards the pointy end for most years, and a few teams who have been towards the middle of the pack most years, but all the bottom teams have had opportunity to rise over time and mostly grasped them. The Nuffers have yet to rise above 11, but mostly on the back of missed opportunities. I used to track this stuff, but am locked into a cbf mood atm so may be a while before I catch up, so exhibit A will have to do. In 2013 I inherited a truly awful team, 1/2 a dozen decent players and the rest genuince SC spuds. I inherited the team from some loser called lenh. lenh had fuckall idea what he was doing and I spent the next few years proving it was hereditary. I traded gold for brass and drafted pyrite for a couple of years. But over time the team improved, aided solely by the drafting of high end picks and the subsequent occasional trade of them for need. The Hoppers were potentially worse than the Misfits for a while, as have been others to climb the ladder. Time and again the preferential draft order for lower placed teams has been proven to be enough, aided by astute drafting and trading, to see the ladder pivot. I have no doubt it will work out the same for you mate