@martyg It's a tight tussle at The Swamp between the Crocs and a 14 man Blanchetown. Cow Bay 881 / 11 / 80.09 Blanchetown 879 / 11 / 79.91 Still to come Cow Bay: Worpel, Libba, Gunston, Acres Blanchetown: Dunstan, Steele, Fritsch
At the major break at The Stadium, Banchang 10/829/82.9 are leading Christmas Island 9/680/75.6. After a dour struggle in the 1st stanza where 2 mids went at each other, it opened up in this period of play with Banchang's midfield of Lyons 165, Cunnington 105, and Higgins 98 taking complete control of the centre square, restricting Dusty to 104, and Robbie Gray 60, while the Barcrawlers stand in ruck Hanley, kept Kreuzer to 53. They were well supported by Adams 97, off the Interchange bench, in his first game back for 7 weeks. When play resumes, The Smugglers will be relying on Hurn Smith Ratugolea Kennedy Hunt and Lever to come home over the top of Banchang, while the locals will have Impey Barrass Suckling Dahlhaus and Lloyd trying to keep the home side in front. @DamoH
At 6/9th time in the Goldfields, the locals have something to cheer about against the visiting Parasites @ddsaints Coolgardie: 882 / 11 / 80.2 Pakenham: 569 / 8 / 71.1 Still to come we have: Coolgardie: J Sicily, H Clark, J O'Meara, J Waterman and 313 points Pakenham: J Johannisen, M Blicavs, O Allen, A Gaff, J Sinclair, 50% of J Newnes, and R Marshall Could this be our chance for the number one pick slipping away from us?
@eagle_eyed With only 12 players taking the field it is going to be a struggle from here NV 939/10 SCS 525/6
@TigersTooTough Pearcedale are putting on their best gag attempt - the choke is in full swing! too close to call at Mill Park!
@martyg A 14 man Blanchetown almost took home the chocolates against Cow Bay but fell short by 29* points. Cow Bay 1215 / 15 / 81.0 Blanchetown 1186 / 14 / 84.7 Match report to come. *pre-scaling
It was a nail-biter in the goldfields, and a lot of questions will be asked of both coaches when it comes to team selection @ddsaints Coolgardie: 1175 / 15 / 78.3 Pakenham: 1129.5 / 14.5 / 77.9 (75.3 based on 15 players) In the end it was a 45.5 point win to the home side, and now no chance of winning the prized number 1 draft pick!
Full Time at The Stadium: Banchang def Christmas Island 1126-1051. @DamoH In the final stanza, the football played by both sides was clearly lacking quality, skill, urgency. After a very good preceding period from the Home side, their scoring fell away markedly although losing Impey (19) to a season ending knee injury didn't help matters. It was left to Lloyd (87) and Dahlhaus (72) to get the win. The visiting Smugglers weren't much better although they were well served by Smith (83) on a wing and Lever (87) in his 3rd game back, in defence. And in a game where only 3 tons were scored, there isn't much left to say. BOG: 3. Lyons BB 165 2. Cunnington BB 105 1. Martin CIS 104 BIG TAP:. Kreuzer CIS def Hanley BB 53-29
Gisborne have run out victors in a closer than expected encounter at The Crater. Gisborne 1229 def Serengeti 1156 Full match report to follow @Tomster
The Amarillo's @insider continue their run to the final series with a big win over a hung over Barracuda's.
Round 18 saw the Bulls Panthers game billed as the match of the round in this top 8 shaping clash with both teams coming into the clash 10 & 4 only separated on points for – and boy oh boy did this match up deliver! Both teams were reliant on role players as Caddy, Nankervis, Curnow, Coniglio, and Weller all failed fitness tests during the week. The Panthers for the most part had the Bulls comfortably at bay with Brodie Smith (127) finally delivering on his fantasy promise dominating down back and up on the wing, the returning Howe (90) flying high and Luke Parker (105) was the dominate starting midfielder on the ground. The Panthers pinch hitters off the bench were sublime with Brodie notching 110 and B Ellis 95 For the Bulls Rich Lynch (116) notched his second consecutive ton and Whitfield (119) roamed free as only Whitfield can however it was the lack of support from the Bulls that had the Panthers in the box seat. WHE disappointed with 47, mids Zaharakis and B Hill both plodded along to 65 each and when Mayne was a late call up and subsequently injured he could only muster 36 points, the scores were basically even with the Panthers yet to roll out 4 players and the Bulls just the 2. What followed was one of the bigger chokes in FU history. @TigersTooTough Hunter was tagged out of the game and managed 41 paltry points, Savage in awe of his defensive counterparts eeked out 67, small man Daniel managed 68 and ANB with 70 points comfortably took out the hyphen clash. Salem and Big Boy McEvoy then entered the clash and turned the match on its head, Salem with 139 was superb off half back with 26 touches and 7 tackles, whilst Big Boy with 126 had 13 touches, 44 hit outs and capped the game off with a goal that sunk the Panthers hopes. All in all the Bulls stole this one 1260 – 1233 in a match that rightly didn’t deserve to win. Special note goes to Corey Ellis who in his third game for the club and possibly for the first time since being involved in the fateful Josh Kelly trade managed to outscore him! (noted Josh didn't play) With the top 6 stitched up the Panthers now enter a dog fight for the remaining 2 spots in the 8 and in what will be a season defining match up take on Southern Cross who must win this clash to keep their late August dreams alive. Win this and finals action is assured, lose and it potential comes down to the final round clash with Gisborne and needing a win if Southern Cross takes the points over Eden… its all to play for for the Panthers. Votes 3 – Salem SFB 2 – Smith PEP 1 – McEvoy SFB Big Tap – Big Boy
Despite a disappointing season to date, the Buffaloes faithful headed to The Crater optimistic that the tide was starting to turn and an upset win could be on the cards against the travelling Grenades who were looking to consolidate their top 4 spot. Although there were signs of improvement for the home team it was unfortunately more of the same that let them down with ruck issues and a lack of mature depth costing them. There were good performances from the usual suspects with Merrett (120) and Dangerfield (106) leading from the front and promising efforts from the returning Gleeson (86), improving Christensen (82) and half of a fit again Adams (85/2). It wasn't enough though as Witts (82) comfortably did enough to take advantage of Adams playing as a half body and Sam Petrevski-Seton (93) and ex Buffalo Thomas (85) coming off the bench to show the home team what it looks like to have a developed and mature squad that can eek out performances even when the side is not at their best. Final Scores Gisborne 1229 def Serengeti 1156 BAFFU 3 Jeremy Cameron SER (134) 2 Zac Merrett SER (120) 1 Jack Billings GIS (113) Giant Tap Witts 82 def Adams 43 Gisborne happily take home the 4 points and continue their march to a return to the finals. They will be working around the clock to try and get some of their better players into form before that starts but they have got themselves into a position to challenge and that's all they need for now. They'll host Ararat next week in a clash of the titans that will have significant impacts on the make up of the top 8 while Serengeti will travel to Pakenham that will have far reaching implications for the other end of the table. @Tomster
Cow Bay 1,215 def Blanchetown 1,186 Careless. Over confident. Arrogant. Three words that describe Cow Bay's 29 point win over a 14 man Blanchetown that fought valiantly in the abyss that is The Swamp. The Crocs thought they had an easy game against a 14 man 13th placed Bunyip outfit. They took the foot off the pedal. They just needed one more win in the next 3 weeks to guarantee their first ever FU finals berth. They say you haven't arrived until you have arrived. The local paper inflated egos over the week leading up to the game, announcing the arrival of the Crocs. Articles about the drafting and organisation were too positive. Players rested on their laurels. They didn't get out of 3rd gear and were lucky to take home the 4 points. A furious coach kept the team in the rooms for 2 and a half hours after the game and was heard yelling obscenities, telling the players they needed to pull their finger out, the season hadn't finished. Did they want to make finals or win some finals? The hard work starts at the end of the season. A paltry 2 Crocs could say they made an effort this week, Taranto (113) and Worpel (105). The rest of the team have some thinking to do. The Bunyips fought hard. O'Brien (149) took out the BOG honours and tried to get the team over the line. The weight on his young shoulders was too much. Fritsch (121), Dunstan (107) and Macpherson (105) also tried to lift but ran out of puff at the end. While there were some disappointments such as 50s from a couple of highly rated first year players who'll no doubt come good in a few seasons, there were many positives the Bunyips can take out of the game. The astute trading out of Laird preseason to get Rozee with the pick that was received was a smart move, both trade and draft wise. While number 1 pick Walsh only scored 80, he's had quite a debut season. Silvagni (81) also seems to have found a role in the side. Lots to look forward to in this young Bunyip team. The win gives the Crocs their 11th win of the season and secures a top 8 position. Blanchetown remain on 5 wins in 13th spot. Next week Cow Bay hosts 4th placed Staghorn Flat. Both teams will be fighting it out to secure another win and try to claim a top 4 spot. Blanchetown hosts 5th placed Banchang. A win to the Bunyips won't change their ladder position but Banchang will also be fighting for one of the spots in the top 4. Big Tap Lycett (85) def by O'Brien (149) BAFFU 3 O'Brien, Blanchetown, 149 2 Fritsch, Blanchetown, 121 1 Taranto, Cow Bay, 113
Cheers for the report @wrightbrendan Agreed, any signs of form at all would be nice otherwise the Grenades first finals series will be an early exit!
The round 18 welcoming of the Pakenham Parasites @ddsaints to the Goldfields was realistically the last chance that the home side Coolgardie Prospectors had at claiming the prized number 1 draft pick, and they blew it in unspectacular fashion! In what was a rather low-scoring but tight tussle, the home side won by 45.5 points against the 14.5 Parasites, 1175 to 1129.5 The defensive lines saw two quality players ply their trades, in Prospector H Clark (98 points) and Parasite M Blicavs (97 points) leading their respective charges. Every other defender out there was around the average mark, except for J Johannisen for the visitors, whose paltry 36 points was a challenger for worst afield. Coolgardie won the defence by 55 points, 333 to 278. The mids saw T Miller (122) lead the home side into battle for the first time in a long time, stepping up in the absence of O Wines, while his teammates were not much more than serviceable. On the other side of the coin, visitors A Gaff (114) and S Sidebottom (104) both played exceptionally well, to lead their side to a win in the guts, despite some below average scores from their two teammates. Pakenham won the midfield by 9 points, 355 to 346. The rucks was the big decider of the game, with Pakenham going in short staffed, and putting the part-timer up against a resurgent (although too bloody late in the season) S Martin. Coolgardie won the rucks by 75.5 points, 108 to 32.5. Up forward and it was all R Marshall for the visitors, winning BOG honours in a 142 point performance. No-one else got even close to him, with local O McInerney getting a lucky free kick to increase his score to 98 points, while J Waterman couldn't follow his magoos form into the main game, with a WOG 33 points. Pakenham won the forwards by 68 points, 325 to 257. Coming off the bench was a large dose of average with 270 points scored between the four players, at an average of 67.5 each. Pakenham won the Interchange by 8 points, 139 to 131. Staying on the theme of the bench, and both coaches will have to do some thinking before next week, with team selection leaving a lot to be desired. Pakenham left W Setterfield (61) on the pine, while fielding E Hipwood (48) in the forwards, missing 13 points. Pakenham left J Carlisle (92) on the pine, while allowing Z Butters (62) to take to the interchange, missing 30 points. Coolgardie left M Gibbons (101) on the pine, while fielding J Aish (62) in the mids, missing 39 points. Pakenham left S Taylor (78) on the pine, while fielding near-WOG J Johannisen (36) in defence, missing 42 points. Coolgardie left W Rioli (82) on the pine, while fielding WOG Waterman (33) in the forwards, missing 49 points. Its just not good enough really, by either coach. What were they both thinking??? The WOG's #1 J Waterman, Coolgardie, 33 points #2 J Johannisen, Pakenham, 36 points #3 E Hipwood, Pakenham, 48 points Dishonourable mention: 50% of J Newnes, Pakenham, 32.5 points The BOG's 3 - R Marshall, Pakenham, 142 points 2 - T Miller, Coolgardie, 122 points 1 - A Gaff, Pakenham, 114 points The Big Tap S Martin, Coolgardie, defeated J Newnes, Pakenham, by 75.5 points, 108 to 32.5. Next week sees Coolgardie head off on phase 1 of the fishing trip to finish off the season, when they head up to Arnhem Land, taking on the Barracudas from Groote Eylandt. Meanwhile Pakenham are back at home, welcoming the Africans to Frankston, when they take on the Serengeti Buffalos. Good luck to all four sides.
Ararat Armadillos 1,331 defeated by Groote Eylandt Barracudas 1,153 Coming off a significant win against the Whalers in a high scoring affair the Cuda’s were buoyed but cautious heading to Ararat to face the Armadillos. The Armadillos easily took care of the Panthers last week even giving young Zachary Bailey a run up forward. With the contest starting in the pub on Friday night it was always going to be an interesting on field matchup, who would turn up, who would be under the weather and who would shine with a gut full of grog from the nights challenge. Ararat were in full swing of celebration with Rich playing his 200th game, Luke Ryan on fire all day, Tom Stewart still gather possessions even though he suffered a heavy fall in the 3Q. Hardwick kept the still half cut Mihocek quiet, Hawkins kicked 2 and Riewoldt had 3. The Armadillos forward line held their own especially pushing up through the mid plus they were more accurate than their opposition in the heat of the Cuda’s running backs of Lloyd and Houli. Both teams had good rotations off the bench with Perryman and Miers for the homeside and the visitors having Phillips and Burgoyne. It was the battles in the centre of the ground that would make or break the play with the Ararat boys romping it in. Sheed was the star with gun Treloar on fire in a run and carry role. Mr Matrix had 19 possession with Polec playing the outside mid off the wing. Corn Boy Cripps still having niggles with his left ankle with a poor start, the Bont tagged heavily and was moved forward when the nights events started to catch up with him whilst Berry was sluggish all day weighed down with JD and beer. It was tight to start off with but the mighty Armadillos pushed on and proved once again when it came to drinking and footy they win hands down. @insider will be happy to get that one over with to keep the Cuda’s out of the top 8 which is just as satisfying as keeping 3rd place standing as there are 3 other teams breathing down their necks.