FULL TIME: at The Stadium......Banchang v Cow Bay. In a surprise turn of events, apparently miracles do happen, and the Barcrawlers have come away with the win, after overcoming the 74 pt deficit at the last break, and outlasting the Crocs in a low scoring game 1102-1082. With it all on the line, the last 3 locals, Dawson 111, Wright 77 and Reid 74, in his 1st game back since Rd 6, applied enough pressure to the star studded midfield of Hopper Taranto and Bolton to hold them to 168 pts and secure the win by 20 pts... Banchang move up to 6th on the ladder and head to Coolgardie to take on the 9th placed Prospectors in the next round, while Cow Bay,10th, also travel to the far west of Australia to tackle the 4th placed Vikings. BOG: 3..Jones COW 140 2.. Moore COW 115 1.. Doedee and Dawson BB 111 BIG TAP: Lycett def Henry (oop) 83-32 @fresh
Panthers 1165 def Bunyips 1149 Not much to be said about this weeks game, other than losing by 16 points to a team that only had 2 defenders playing. Just not good enough by the home team as we look to improve in 2022. A handy win for the visitors with a lot of their players increasing their average this week, well done. Sean Darcy (94) finally had a quiet week being dominated by ROB (112) as the only Bunyip to crack the tonne. BOG - Parker (122) Obrien (112) Rioli (111)
Round 19 Groote Eylandt Barracudas 1,394 defeated Staghorn Flat Bulls 1,109 The Bulls @tyze1 looking to keep the train moving forward, they like a tough fight and they’ll be ready to give it to the Barracuda’s. For the Cuda’s pressure at the pointy end of the season to keep the pedal to the metal. With that said the Bulls rushed out and Maynard came out swinging boots and all with 26 disposals, out came the rest to catchup. Lynch and Lynch both kicked a goal each, then the glove of McGovern came in. Stocker shadowed the great keeping tabs on young Paddy Dow who was roving through the middle. Flying Ryan pulled a hammy trying to get away from the master Lloyd and had to be subbed out. Hayward came in for Ryan and Weitering came to the fore. The visitors Big Boy McEvoy smashing through the lines, supported by young Meek up against Ryder. Half time, neck n neck, and the Cuda’s coaching staff gave spray after spray to rev the team up. The visitors could smell it, McCluggage and Whitfield stirred the team to get ready because the day isn't over. It started with Stanley getting into the action, off to caveman Guthrie who cherry picked the packs, down to new recruit Smith who played high forward, running rings around his opponents kicking through to TomaHawk who was unrelenting booting 4 goals. The Bont muscled his ways through the packs, kicking long to the other new recruit Hall who continued to do the job that needed to be done. The visitor sent McCluggage in, flanked by Hill, Stack and Brayshaw all doing well after half time, Hill playing very outside, some thought he was at the bar. Stacks got pushed to the backline and the legs fell off the midfield train by the last quarter. Whitfield was kept very busy all day, trying to be everywhere, had a massive 25 kicks out of defence but it wasn’t enough as the magnificent Zorko and Jacky Graham rotated well on the paddock, Corn Boy Cripps still a little off but contributed well with Reiwoldt hanging around the 50m arc and booting 2 goals to ram the win home for the Barracuda’s. The visitors can hold their heads high as they held in there as long as they could, as the Cuda’s coaching staff know exactly how to give a spray to get their charges going. The Bulls stay on the road in this COVID environment and head to Blanchetown to take on the Bunyips, while the Barracuda’s head out to Pearcedale to take on the Panthers.
Round 17 Ararat vs Hughenden Top billing for the self-proclaimed Gentleman's Round was an inconsistent Armadillo outfit coming up against a pack of hungry Prairie Dogs. HPD could count themselves unlucky to be hit with the inconsistent stick, while some murmured that it is the Ararat home deck that seems to produce such up and down performances from any side that sets foot on it. Captain Consistent Clayton Oliver (118) did his thing and 6th year perennial tease Mills (127) is finally repaying some of the faith the P Dogs have shown in him. Tough Stickers Membrey and Langford continued their career-year's with 108 and 98 to lead the forward line well, but that was as exciting as it got for the visitors. They would be slightly buoyed by midseason recruit Jordon continuing his 70ish scoring which bodes well for the future, however Breust (47), Yeo (71) and Byrne-Jones (53) are all performing under their potential. Ratugolea could be anything (or nothing) but 53 from a starting ruck just wont cut it. For the home side it was a similar story to much of the season - stellar performances of a few are papering over the cracks shown by many. With every Stewart (127), Rich (128), Ziebell (120) and T.McDonald (132), there is a Rozee (37), Miers (52), Bowes (74) and Rowell (70). The only thing keeping the locals abated at present is the performance of home town hero and MSD acquisition Lachie Bramble (120); Match committee is hopeful Clarko keeps him on a wing however, as they always have an eye on the following year, and the last thing the Armadillos need is another backman. In a seesaw clash it was the home ground advantage that saw the Armadillos prevail. AA 1395 defeated HPD 1227 @Batfink
Round 19 Ararat vs Pakenham The penultimate home & away round saw our Parasitic friends visit the land of the Armadillo. Unfortunately for Pakky, a few players missed the bus trip which resulted in the first year backman with the hollywood name Denver Grainger-Barras lining up in the ruck. He battled manfully all day against the People's Beard and managed an 'OOP affected' 18. Unlucky Johannisen as he is now known, continued his saddening decline of 2021 with a 26, closely followed by two first names Oscar Allen (35) and the entire interchange (Anderson + Wicks) combined for a meagre 111. It was not all doom and gloom though, as some famous green shoots could be seen: King (124), Cerra (103) and Idun (82) showed the future is bright in the south eastern suburbs; the Parasites just need some luck and natural progression in 2022 to rise up the ladder swiftly. The Armadillos produced another solid while unspectacular performance. Wingard (101) was a welcome return and Snelling (104) continues to develop and mature as he gets more game time. Rich (132) continued his great season (avg 106) and Bramble (83) is quickly becoming a local favourite. Match committee do have some decisions to make around the infamous Double McDonald as while 159 from the duo is acceptable, they need to accelerate and hit top form with finals around the corner. With a full squad, Ararat was too much for a hamstrung Pakenham side. AA 1397 defeated PP 1088 @ddsaints
Final result from the Horsham V Coolgardie match with the Prospectors taking a comfortable 218 point win (1355 vs 1137), giving Coolgardie one final shot to make this season's finals. Coolgardie were led strongly by a midfield of Wines (122), Miller (115) and O'Meara (102) (with Serong on the Interchange adding 103). McInerney comfortably won the ruck contest (148) and Larkey had a career best game kicking 7 goals and accumulating 131 SC points. Horsham were out of the contest early but still managed one of their best team scores of the season. Fiorini (139), Drew (117) and Wilson (102) were competitive in midfield and across half back and young MSD defenders Edwards (98) and Henry (90) showed plenty of promise. BAFFU 3 votes - O McInerney (CP) 2 votes - B Fiorini (HG) 1 vote - N Larkey (CP) Big Tap O McInerney (CP) defeated N Reeves 148 to 79 Next round, the Prospectors are at home to Banchang and Horsham are at home to Eden.
I've just heard that the matches scheduled for QLD today have been postponed due to COVID. Has anyone else heard anything?
The talk is GC v Melb, Ess v Syd & GWS v Port will all be played at a later date. Split fixture carnage in the last round!!!
No professional sport on the Gold Coast for the next 3 days. The Sharks v GC reserves game was just cancelled 10 mins into the game. Apparently there were 5 cases of Covid from a school at Ironside in Brisbane about 80 klms north of GC, so GC has to go into lockdown....
Late in the first half at the Sandpit, and the Sandgropers (483/6/81) lead @Batfink ’s visiting Prairie Dogs (410/6/68) by 73 points. It’s a tight tussle so far with the home side’s coaches banking points knowing that any score by Bergman will be halved due to him playing out of position. There’s plenty of points left in both of these teams. So much so, that it’s still a genuine 50/50 game. A standout performance on either side could be the difference. Go Sandgropers!!!
@choppers sorry for the lack of updates mate. Let me just leave it as 8/9th time and you win, I lose...