Round 6 - AA vs BBU Our old friends from Blanchetown came for a beer and the excuse was we should also play a game of footy. Charlie Cameron (123) was certainly lively on the day, as were Houston (93) and Daicos (100). Macpherson continued his superb resurgence as a backman (104) and ex Armadillo Blake Hardwick really cracked in to finish on 101. Unfortunately for the 'Yips, it was a magical day for the local lads with many going big. Ryan (120 ) led the backs with Stewart (111) chipping in. Similarly Treloar (135) led the mids with Rowell (124) flexing his guns, but it was the return of the inspirational Beard which really pumped up the forward line. Despite Max only managing a 98, he enabled the likes of Walker (130), Rozee (126), Ziebell (111) and Miers (82) to flourish. At the final siren it was Ararat defeating Blanchetown 1515 to 1150.
King Island (@Tylo) travelled to Carnamah this weekend for a clash between two of the lower ranked teams of the competition. Whilst the ladder position of the two sides was probably reflected in the lack of high scores from either team where class was lacking the excitement of a close finish was in abundance. The Comorants jumped out to a fast start in this one thanks to Wood, Ashcroft and Darcy and the fact that the Monarchs were forced to play McKenna out of position. Through the middle stages of the clash the Monarchs clawed their way back and eventually took the lead through the hard work of Himmelberg, Haynes, Green, Macrae and Impey. As the game headed into its final stanza the Monarchs held a 1078 to 846 lead however with the recent form of Rachele, Fogarty and Smith the hometown team were confident of running down the lead. Sadly it was not meant to be, whilst the Monarchs were held scoreless they did enough to slow the Comorants scoring, running out eventual 47 point winners 1078 to 1031. BoG 118 Green - 3 114 Darcy - 2 104 Wood – 1 Big Tap Darcy def McKenna
The Barracuda's finish on 1,407/15 93.8 defeating the Sandgropers on 1,109/15 73.9 Both teams will be looking for redemption as they were well beaten last week. It was a disappointing start from the home side with the news that Tuohy twinged his back showing some girls the Irish gig. Aiden of the Corr steps in and played a key defence role. Weitering did a lock down job on Darling, while the Seagull and Hall cleaned up with plenty of touches down back. Off the bench, Jarrod flavoured Berry did nice things on the wing and Lewis Young rotated though the defensive line. And it was an interesting tactic from the home coach to throw young Kolojashnij into the ruck, he did the best he could. In the mosh pit of a centre square the Magnificent Zorko had 19 touches however pulled a hammy in Q4 and was subbed off. The Bont and Corn Boy Cripps did all the heavy lifting sharking and muscling their way through the midfield time and time again with Corn Boy shelling out 27 hand balls. And as usual Smith was loping off the wing with nice leg speed. Up forward where the big sticks are AstroNaught turned it on and bagged 4 goals for the day, Errol the young gun was up and about with 27 possys and a goal. Mad Jack kick 1 goal on the dead flank because Tomahawk dominated all day especially in Q1 were he boot 4 and then another 4 to finish the day with 8 through the big sticks. The visitors were keen to get the show on the road. The big man Gundy had 27 hit outs which was good however he got sharked too many times for him to be happy. He banged through 2 goals though. Jnr Rioli has 2 quick goals and then faded away, newbee Fergus Greene only had 6 touch and spent a lot of time on the bench. Checkers booted 3 for the day and Darling was well held by Weitering. Off the bench came Xavier O’Neill always lurking off half forward, slotting 2. While Bergman rotated off half back. Everlasting Doc had 24 touches and marshalled his defensive team for more. Cummings was solid, unfortunately young Bowes suffered a calf injury in the early part of Q1 and was subbed off immediately. Then to make matters worse, Richy Rich Daniel tweaked his right calf in Q4 and limped off the field. In the middle Hinge was solid with 18 touches, Dusty started half forward and then roamed. Rumours circled that Laird may also be a late out but it was the same deskman. The shining star was Neale with 35 possessions as he tried as he might to sway the game the visitors way. In the end Tomahawks domination at the pointy end of the field and Corn Boys spear like hand balls put the visitors in an unwinnable situation from the start. The Sandgropers @eagle_eyed will be counting the cost of this journey and head home to next week play host the Prospectors. The Cuda’s responded well after last week’s loss, they’ll take the points. Next week, sees them off to Xmas Island for the Eylandt Cup. BOG – Tomahawk (GEB), Corn Boy Cripps (GEB) & Neale (SCS)
I know I haven't been posting match reports but it's just not fun posting lost because I had an incomplete team because my trading and drafting was a disaster.
Before the Smugglers came to town it was the Bulls of Staghorn Flat that were welcomed to Serengeti to kick off a 3 match home stand the locals were hoping would be an opportunity to forget the pain of the previous week's 2 point defeat. While the mood was mostly positive down in the Crater during pre-match preparations, there was an undercurrent of fear that Scott Lycett would continue to be trotted out ahead of Sam Draper by a stubborn match comitteee that was getting on the home fans' nerves. Thankfully those fears were allayed and a keen-to-impress Sam Draper (91) lined up at the first centre bounce, rampaging his way through the first contest to the extent that left opposing ruckmen Jake Bowey (26) playing like half a man for the rest of the match. Captain Danger (144) jumped on the back of his young ruckmen's enthusiasm and made full use of his advantage while Josh Kelly (139) also enjoyed the fruits of their labour. That midfield dominance meant star forwards Jeremy Cameron (106) and Toby Green (101) could take full advantage and put together an imposing score. Despite the top end effort of the Buffalo stars, the Bulls were not going to go down without a fight. Stephen Coniglio (136) did eveything he could and despite the outputs of the Serengeti forwards, Lachie Weller (134) ensured that the damage would be limited. Unfortunately for the visitors they didn't have quite enough star performers with only 2 other players managing to score a ton compared to the home town's seven. When combined with Bowey's unfortunate demise a road victory was a bridge too far this time around. Final Scores Serengeti 1396 def Staghorn Flat 1307 BAFFU votes 3 Patrick Dangefield 144 (SB) 2 Josh Kelly 139 (SB) 1 Stephen Coniglio 136 (SFB) Big Tap Draper 91 def Bowey 26 @tyze1
@DamoH After righting the ship in round 6 with a win over the Bulls, the Buffaloes were looking to continue the winning ways in the second of their 3 week home stand against a much improved Smugglers outfit. The lead up to this matchup was embroiled in controversy with leaked photos of a man looking eerily similar to Smugglers' forward Jake Stringer (145) shown leaving the house of a reknowned local witch doctor. Stringer denied having ever met with anyone of the sort and was quoted after the game as saying any links to sacrificial goats he had purchased in the weeks prior were completely unrelated. Stringer undeniably put in a starring performance and combined with his partner-in-crime* Charlie Curnow (186) to set the Smugglers alight. Having seen the vision of Sam Draper's (41) efforts in the previous weeks' contest, Marc Pittonet (114) showed that he had done his homework on the young ruckmen and ensured he would not be dominated in the same way and kept the visitors' momentum going. Unlike the previous week where the top end of the team dragged the Buffaloes to victory, this matchup was going to require a whole team effort. Thankfully for the locals, the side heeded the call from their coach and despite not having the outstanding individual performances of round 6, their were consistent contributions across the park. Captain Danger (124) continued to lead the way in what is becoming a mini career bounce back while Bailey Smith's (103) contributions in a move to the forward line showed finals winning potential. All of this meant an extremey tight finish was on the cards and just as the match had started, the end was set to be just as controversial. Perhaps distracted by the week's events, maybe jetlagged from the extended road trip or possibly even a side effect of Stringer's medicine that he definitely didn't take, Christmas Island's management decided to hold off introducing Harry Schoenberg (21) until the final stanza. In the end a fuller 4 quarter effort may just have been enough for the Smugglers although fans wondered after the game whether it may have just resulted in a tighter heartbreak. As it turned out, Serengeti had their noses in front come final siren time and finished 52 point winners. Final Scores Serengeti 1358 def Christmas Island 1306 BAFFU votes 3 Charlie Curnow 186 (CIS) 2 Jake Stringer 145 (CIS) 1 Harry Perryman 125 (CIS) Big Tap Pittonet 114 def Draper 41 *The use of this phrase implies no links to the previous crime on Charlie Curnow
Cow Bay 1,250 def by Pakenham 1,391 The Cow Bay Crocs took on the Pakenham Parasites in an exciting match for the locals. The Crocs had a solid showing, finishing with a score of 1250, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Parasites, who emerged victorious with a score of 1391. The Crocs' defense was led by John Noble, who played like royalty with an outstanding performance of 110 points, while Andrew McGrath struggled and finished with a score of just 63, prompting some fans to suggest he should pull his sock up during training sessions. Tim "the Titan" Taranto was the standout player for the Crocs, finishing with a massive score of 140, while Jordan de Goey struggled after a big night out and finished with just 67 points. Up front, Shai Bolton was a consistent performer with a score of 97, proving once again that he has the skills to pay the bills. On the other side of the pitch, the Parasites had a star-studded lineup, and they did not disappoint. Noah Anderson was the standout player of the midfielders, finishing with an impressive score of 144. The Parasites' defense was solid, with Darcy Moore leading the way with a score of 111. In the midfield, Adam Cerra and Steele Sidebottom both had solid performances, finishing with scores of 134 and 100. Rowan Marshall dominated the rucks and finished with an impressive score of 159, prompting some fans to wonder if he had wings instead of arms, while Jack Lukosius struggled and finished with just 33 points, leading some fans to question whether he was too busy taking selfies to play. In the end, it was a well-deserved victory for the Pakenham Parasites, who showed off their depth and star power throughout the match. Despite the loss, the Cow Bay Crocs put up a good fight and showed some promising performances, but they'll need to work on their consistency if they hope to come out on top in future matches. Big Tap Williams 41 def by Marshall 159 BAFFU 3 Marshall, Pakenham, 159 2 Anderson, Pakenham, 144 1 Cerra, Pakenham, 134
Nuytsland Vikings 1,478 def Hughenden Prairie Dogs 1,000 Hughenden were never really in the game and the Vikings slayed their way to an easy victory in the end by a massive 478 points. The Vikings had winners on every line with Petracca (167), Warner (123) and Mitchell (106) controlling the centre square with English (90) easily outpointing recently promoted Teakle (60). Each time Hughenden went forward the Oden curse was present with Newman (139), Powell (143), Young (128) and Hurn (85) looking larger than life with the Prairie Dog forward line cowering in awe of their bigger bodied opponents. The Vikings controlled their forward half with Cunnington (110), McKay (90) and Heeney (82) easily outpointing the Hughenden backline with only Cox (105) the only backman to put up any resistance. It was a powerful display by the Vikings proving they are just as good on the road as they are at home at Odin’s Graveyard and they will be playing finals football in 2023. Whereas the lacklustre Hughenden outfit have a lot of questions but no answers as they try to work out what player combination will provide the spark in 2023. 3 Petracca, Nuytsland (167) 2 Powell, Nuytsland (143) 1 Newman, Nuytsland (139) BigTap – English (90) over Teakle (60)
Progress score from Huskies Vs Blowflies Huskies: 856/11 78 (Predicted 1167) Blowflies: 787/8 98 (Predicted 1395)
Blanchetown are putting up a strong showing but have taken team selection queues from last weeks game.. will they hold on? Serengeti 792/9/88 v Blanchetown 887/10/89 @martyg
Bunyips continuing their strong showing down in The Crater Serengeti 1269/15/85 v 1118/13/86 With the match in the balance, the Bunyips have their faith in youngsters J Daicos and Philipou to get them across the line @martyg
In a nail biting finish The Buff have hung on to win by 18 points, 1269 - 1251. Full match report to follow. @martyg