Four of the games in Round 13 were decided by less than 50 points with two teams that started the round in the top four including the previously undefeated Vultures being defeated by teams lower on the ladder. Score summaries by line are provided for each game. Bold an average of over 100 points for the line. Underlined = The game-high score for a four-player line Gundagai Grasshoppers 1,449 defeated Lovely Banks Lilacs 1,230 378 Def 279 494 Mid 360 118 Ruc 84 293 Fwd 319 166 Int 188 The Gundagai Grasshoppers registered a round-high 1,449 points and had a narrow advantage in the ton count over the Lilacs five to four. Greater Hoppers depth with only two sub 70 scores compared to seven for Lovely Banks resulted in Gundagai at home running away with the game and winning by 219 points. A trio of @snoz ’s Hoppers scored at least 135 – midfielders Clayton Oliver (176) and Lachie Neale (135) along with defender/midfielder Jordan Dawson (144) who was the Hoppers D1. Tons were also scored by ruck Mark Blicavs (118) and forward Izak Rankine (110) who continued his career-best form. Gundagai’s midfield has been superb throughout 2022 and much closer to a State of Origin midfield than a typical ORFFA midfield so no-one would be surprised that it was the Hoppers mids that took the honours of the highest line score of Round 13 with 494. Highlighting the potency of the Gundagai midfield it contains the first and second ranked players in the ORFFA for points per game with Oliver (131) and Neale (129) whilst Mills (118) is the fifth ranked mid in the league. Hoppers mid 4 Cripps (110) ranks 13th amongst pure mids for points per game and be the M1 for more than a third of ORFFA teams. On each of the multi-player lines half of @Jen ’s Lilacs scored 75 + points whilst the other half scored less than 75. Ruck Tom Hickey scored 84 to give the 75+’s the edge eight to seven. The Lilcas top scoring line was the midfield with 360 points. Four mid eligible players scored tons for Lovely Banks – starting midfielders Mitch Duncan (121) and Darcy Parish (112) along with mid/fwd Shai Bolton (102) who started at F2 and Int 1 Malion Pickett (120). Despite hyperextending his left knee late in the last quarter, being stretchered off and spending the rest of the game on the bench defender Darcy Moore (99) fell just a solitary point short of the ton. Moore has been cleared of structural damage to his knee however scans revealed some bone bruising. Foul Bay Chickens 1,212 lost to Gariwerd Cockatoos 1,357 261 Def 302 308 Mid 454 55 Ruc 108 397 Fwd 280 191 Int 213 Foul Bay hosted the Gariwerd Cockatoos and whilst both teams registered five tons the Cockatoos greater depth enabled them to record a comfortable 145 point win over the Chickens to consolidate their top four position. Both teams lost a defender due to injury during the game with Chicken, Dougal Howard (22) suffering a knee injury and Cockatoo, Aaron Hall (18) sustaining a quad injury. The Chickens forwards tallied 397 points to be the third highest scoring forward line in the ORFFA for the round. Spiritual leader Tom Liberatore (144) playing at F1 was Foul Bay’s best player closely followed by fellow veteran forward Tam Hawkins (129) and midfielder Tim Kelly (127). @ChiefRussell ’s Chickens had at least one ton on each multi-position line with defender Adam Saad (124) and Int 1 James Aish (113) however five sub 50 scores including the injured Howard meant that the Chickens were unable to replicate the elevation of the high-flying Cockatoos. @anthak ’s Cockatoos midfield registered the highest line score of the game with 454 points led by a best afield performance from Touk Miller (154) who was well supported by Cameron Guthrie (134). Gariwerd’s top ranked player Rory Laird (average of 124) said if it was good enough for Steph Curry to start some NBA play-off games on the bench for the Golden State Warriors it is good enough for him to start some ORFFA games on the bench as well and Laird slightly exceeded his season average to rack up 130 points starting on the bench as the Cockatoos 14th man. This enabled the Cockatoo’s to have the most productive interchange for the round with CJ scoring 83 to increase the GC int tally to 213 points. Gariwerd’s five tons were completed by defender Shannon Hurn (116) and ruck Jordan Sweet (108). The injured Hall was the only Gariwerd player to register a sub 60 score. In their next two games the third placed Cockatoos play the only two sides above them on the ladder, with home games against the Hoppers in Round 14 and the Vultures in Round 15. Wagga Wagga Wombats 1,186 defeated Nareewillock Nuffers 1,171 394 Def 329 344 Mid 420 39 Ruc 29 294 Fwd 258 115 Int 135 Spurred on by their home crowd the Wagga Wagga Wombats won a thrilling contest against the Nareewillock Nuffers by 15 points, 1186 to 1171 despite losing the century count four to six. The Wombats defense was exceptional, combing for 394 points led by James Sicily with a team-high 139 and Isaac Cumming (100). Wombats midfielder Luke Davis-Uniacke (124) and forward Jamie Cripps (107) joined the defensive duo in the triple figures club. Despite playing out of position in the ruck forward/ midfielder Ben Hobbs competed hard and against the odds was able to win the ruck battle against Ivan Soldo 39-29 which proved critical to the final result. After scoring less 1,000 points in a Round 7 loss to the Packers the Wombats were languishing in 15th place with two wins and five loss. Since then Wagga Wagga have turned their form around in dramatic fashion to have six victories in a row which is the longest current winning streak in the ORFFA. During this time @Lenny120 ’s Wombats have climbed nine positions on the ladder to now be sixth. In recent weeks the Wombats have been exceptional in close contests, having a 10 point victory against the powerhouse Hoppers in Round 11, followed by a 33 point victory against the Lilacs in Round 12 and then this weekend’s 15 point win over the Nuffers. @chris88 ’s Nuffers mids had the highest line tally for the game with a very impressive 420 points with three players reaching triple figures – Chad Warner (155), Matt Rowell (113) and Caleb Serong (105). Three Nareewillock defenders scored 85+ including tons to Jordan Clark (108) and Mason Redman (102). After he was on the trade table mid-season small forward Charlie Cameron scored a season-high 137 points and kicked four goals. It is open interpretation as to whether Cameron’s outstanding performance indicates that he wants to remain at the Nuffers or was wanting to attract a suitor to acquire him in a post-season trade. It was an eclectic scorecard for the Nuffers as along with the six tons there were five sub 50 scores which included their D4, M4, Ruck and F4. Nareewillock had just four scores between 51 and 99 which included both players that started on the bench, midfielders Jack Ross (70) and Nathan Murphy (65). Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles 1,313 defeated Venus Bay Vultures 1,266 360 Def 386 357 Mid 331 127 Ruc 60 313 Fwd 319 156 Int 170 The Cows upset the previously unbeaten Vultures by 47 points with the two teams being evenly matched on most lines. The Cows midfield beat the Vultures mids by 26 points however in defense this result was reversed with the Vultures defenders having the highest four-player line score for the game and gain a 26 point advantage to outscore their Cows counterparts 386-360. The Vultures narrowly won the battle of the forwards by six points and were +14 on bench. Whilst typically the midfield is the highest scoring four player line for an ORFFA team in this contest both teams were led by their defense with the midfield ranked second and the forward line third. The only area that either of the sides was able to gain a sizeable advantage was in the one on one battle in the ruck with Reilly O’Brien scoring a team-high 127 points for the Cows to outscore Oscar McInerney by 67 points and this proved critical to @graeme ’s Cows walking away with the four premiership points. Other Cows to raise the bat were Keidean Coleman (118), Tom Mitchell (118) and Josh Dunkley (100) from Int 1. In a consistent team performance the Incorrigibles had six scores between 80 and 99 and no sub 55 scores. The two best players for @Fitzy ’s Vultures were defenders Bailey Dale (134) and Nathan Broad (115), followed by forward Jesse Hogan (105). Several Venus Bay players were slightly down on their usual output and Luke Parker (98) was the only starting mid to score 80+. Although Venus Bay had only four players score at least 90 no VBV player scored less than 60 which enabled them to remain in the contest. The Vultures first loss for the season has opened up the battle for the minor premiership, with the second placed Hoppers and third placed Cockatoos in the mix. In their final four games the Vultures have a tough run home to play in order, the Chickens (currently 10th), Cockatoos (3rd), Hoppers (2nd) and finish the season at home against the Uglies (5th). Iron Knob Codpieces 1,024 lost to Charlies Opening Spelunkers 1,163 1 donut 306 Def 326 344 Mid 427 40 Ruc 124 1 donut 198 Fwd 167 1 donut 136 Int 119 The travelling Spelunkers defeated the Codpieces by 139 points in a game in which neither team had their full complement of players. Both teams had a forward donut whilst Iron Knob made it a twin-pack also having a donut of the defender variety. Codpieces defender Jack Sinclair (150) continued his career best season with a best afield performance in a three man defense that amassed 306 points. In terms of a total the four man Iron Knob midfield led by Jackson Macrae (104) bettered this with a tally of 344. Ten of @churchboy ’s Codpieces players scored at least 70 points including all three defenders and all four starting mids. The two Iron Knob century makers were supported by four eighties from mids Luke Shuey (85) and Hugh Greenwood (85) along with defender Isaac Quaynor (84) and forward Max King (82). Five of @Bandit ’s Spelunkers reached triple figures – midfield trio Zac Merret (140), Andrew Brayshaw (134) and Marcus Bontempelli (108) along with ruck Sean Darcy (124) to complete a quartet of usual suspects along with young gun Nick Daicos (143) with a team-high performance from the D3 position. The five COS players in the middle of the ground combined for 551 points including a 427 from the midfield to register the highest line score for the game. The Spelunkers trailed the 70+ count 7 to 10 however having an extra player and winning the century count five to two enabled Charlies Opening to win by more than 100 points and record their second win a row. Larrikin Lagoon Lefties 952 lost to Mount Beauty Uglies 1,372 242 Def 311 334 Mid 463 61 Ruc 55 1 donut 218 Fwd 402 97 Int 141 The visiting Uglies scored 1350+ for the second game in a row to easily account for the Lefties. With their victory Mount Beauty rose two places on the ladder from seventh to fifth which would please Uglies number one fan @HeavyMen. Larrikin Lagoon were unable to extend their sequence of meeting their internal target of recording a four figure score to three games with a an avoidable forward line donut and a third quarter shoulder injury to midfielder James Worpel proving costly. The midfield was the most impressive line for @That KI Guy ’s Lefties, accumulating 334 points despite Worpel’s injury. Noah Anderson was the standout with a best afield 132 and he was ably assisted by fellow starting midfielders Jarrod Berry (101) and Jy Simpkin (93). Forward/midfielder Will Brodie (96) starting in the F1 position was the only other Leftie to reach 75+. Peter Ladhams was named as forward 2 but failed to turn up to the ground which resulted in a donut. Defender emergency Brodie Kemp and midfield emergency Jackson Mead were fit and available but both played in the seconds and scored in the 60’s which would have been enough to propel the 14 player Lefties score from 952 to over 1,000. It was a clinical performance from @bama ’s Uglies with two of their four position lines scoring over 400 – the midfield (463) and forward line (402). Midfielder Christian Petracca delivered an incredible performance with 33 disposals and three goals to register an ORFFA round-high 189 SuperCoach points. Joining Petracca in the quartet of Mount Beauty triple figure scores were defender/forward Daniel Rioli (127) starting in the F2 position, midfielder Sam Walsh (115) and defender Brayden Maynard (106). A consistent team performance with four 90’s and an 89 led to the Uglies reaching 1,370 points. The three forward 90s were Dustin Martin (92) despite suffering a hamstring injury and spending the entire fourth quarter on the bench, Steele Sidebottom (92) and Jack Graham (91). Veteran defender Dylan Grimes (97) from the int 2 position went at more than 150% of his average output to fall just short of a ton.
Continued Dunsborough Dung Beetles 1,216 lost to Whitsunday Warriors 1,225 418 Def 290 337 Mid 383 106 Ruc 63 236 Fwd 361 119 Int 128 In the closest match of the round the visiting Whitsunday Warriors were able to prevail by nine points on the Dung Beetles turf despite Warriors defender Lachie Jones injuring his hamstring and being consigned to the bench for the last quarter. @CursingFijian ’s Dung Beetles delivered a superb performance on the ball and in defense with the nine players in this area of the ground comprised of 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and one ruck scoring 861 points at an average of 95.7 points per player. The Dunsborough defenders combined superbly with each defender scoring 90+ comprised of Nick Hind (118), Steven May (108), Tom Atkins (98) and Darcy Byrne-Jones (94). This quartet amassed 418 points to be the number one ranked defense in the ORFFA for the round and register the highest line score for this game. Another four Dung Beetles scored 90+, midfielders Stephen Coniglio (105) and Tom Green (97) along with veteran ruck Paddy Ryder (106) and Will Hoskin-Elliot (91) who played a lone hand up forward. DDB’s forwards and interchange scored a total of 355 at an average of 59.2 points per player. Five of @TerryinBangkok ’s Whitsunday Warriors reached the ton - Port midfield duo Ollie Wines (119) and Travis Boak (112), defensive pair John Noble (108) and Harris Andrews (105) along with key forward Jeremy Cameron (117). The Warriors height in the forward line caused match-up problems for the Dung Beetles defense with three forwards over 195 centimetres tall scoring over 90 with 196 cm tall Cameron being joined in this category by 207 cm tall Rory Lobb (98) and 200 cm tall Charlie Dixon (96). Two of the Warriors four player lines averaged 90+ with the mids going @95.75 and the forwards going @90.25. The Warriors extended their winning streak to three games, increasing their season tally to six wins to remain in finals contention in 12th position, one win outside the eight with four rounds to play. Cradle Mountain Devils 1,168 lost to Wineglass Bay Packers 1,194 318 Def 377 273 Mid 355 95 Ruc 87 330 Fwd 246 152 Int 129 The old saying goes that a week is a long time in football, this certainly proved accurate in the case of the Cradle Mountain Devils. After CMD registered their season score of 1,532 in Round 13 the Devils couldn’t even manage 1,200 points in Round 14 due to a combination of suffocating defense from bogey side the Wineglass Bay Packers and some injuries. It was a superb defensive performance from the Packers to defeat the Devils by 28 points and record their second consecutive win against CMD. Devils midfielder Dayne Zorko (6) in his first game back from a hamstring injury, suffered another injury to his hamstring five minutes into the game and took no further part. The Devils were on the backfoot with the Packers opening up an early lead. Only two Cradle Mountain players reached triple figures – midfielder Jack Steele (107), and forward/midfielder Harry Morrison (100) who started in the forward line and pushed up into the midfield following Zorko’s injury. Six other CMD players scored 80+ including defender Dyson Heppell (97) and ruck Toby Nankervis (95). After quarter time the Devils steadily reduced the Packers lead however they were unable to overrun the Packers. After being eighth at the mid-season break the Devils climbed a ladder to rise to fourth position after Round 12 but have now slid down a snake back to seventh after Round 13. There is set to be plenty of snakes and ladder movement in the ORFFA during the final four rounds of the season amongst the teams from 4th to 13th. @Tracey ’s Wineglass Bay had the two highest scoring four-player lines for the game with their defenders (377), followed by the midfield (355). As the Devils were clawing their way back into the game Packers defender Sam Taylor remained composed and amassed 15 intercept possessions throughout the game to score an equal team-high 124 points, with two other defenders Lachie Ash (92) and Liam Baker (90) registering 90’s. The Packers trio of tons included two midfielders Ben Keays (124) and Josh Daicos (101) whilst forward/ruck Darcy Cameron scored 95. This was the final Apple Isle clash for the season and the trio of teams all recorded one win and one loss with the Devils defeating the Spelunkers in Round 3, the Spelunkers defeating the Packers in Round 10 and the Packers defeating the Devils in Round 13 Marble Bar Misfits 1,393 defeated Birdsville Battlers 1,072 287 Def 328 363 Mid 253 105 Ruc 68 433 Fwd 296 205 Int 127 A bit of reverse psychology during the press conference in the lead up to the game from Misfits coach @Len worked beautifully with the Misfits delivering a high-quality performance and a score of 1,393 to claim the second highest score of the round and a 300+ point victory against the Battlers who well and truly lived up to their name, only managing 1,072. The Misfits won the triple figure count in a landslide 7 to 1. The Misfits had the distinction of being the only ORFFA team in Round 13 to register a clean sweep of tons on a four-player line despite none of the MBM forward quartet averaging triple figures for the season. Marble Bar played with an open forward line, Lincoln McCarthy (112) played as a deep forward whilst Adam Treloar (109) and Tim Taranto (111) spent plenty of time in the midfield and Harrison Himmelberg (101) pushed even further back to play behind the ball in defense. The Misfits had two rucks register triple figures, Nic Naitanui (119) from Int 1 and Matthew Flynn (105) as the starting ruck whilst mid 1 Josh Kelly was best afield with 121 points. Luke McDonald (104) was the only one of @JC ’s Battler’s to reach triple figures, however four Birdsville players fell in the nervous 90’s – midfielder Matthew Kennedy (96), defender Luke Ryan (93) and forward duo Harry McKay (91) and Dylan Moore (90). Three Birdsville defenders scored 80+ which led to the backline being the highest scoring line for their team with 328. Four Battlers scored less than 50 including a team low 36 from Josh Battle who is a barometer for the team that has his entire surname in its nickname. Three tiers With four rounds remaining in the 2022 ORFFA home and away season three distinct tiers have emerged. The top tier is comprised of three teams in contention for the minor premiership - Venus Bay (12 wins – 1 loss), Gundagai Grasshoppers (11-2) and Gariwerd Cockatoos. The top three teams all play each other in the final four rounds of the season setting up an exciting finish to the h & a season. The middle tier of 10 teams from 4th to 13th are contending for the bottom five spots in the eight. Three middle tier teams have eight wins – Waikikamoocow, Mount Beauty, and Wagga Wagga followed by five teams with seven wins – Cradle Mountain. Lovely Banks, Marble Bar, Foul Bay and Wineglass Bay whilst the two teams on six wines – Whitsunday Warriors and Charlies Opening would need an extremely strong finish to the season to leapfrog four or five teams into the eight. Whilst the five teams in the third tier – Birdsville (4-9), Dung Beetles (3-10), Lefties (3-10), Nuffers (2-11) and Codpieces (1-12) are all out finals contention youngsters on these teams have been able to gain valuable experience and several teams in this bracket have already surpassed or equalled their number of wins from 2021. The Nuffers have surpassed their victory tally from last season whilst the Battlers and Lefties have equalled their respective number of wins in 2021.
Was an interesting coaching move to bring Rory Laird of the bench for this game! It was only because he was under an injury cloud leading into the weekend, and we had Sam Draper set as the interchange emergency ready to be a late inclusion if needed.
and just like Steph Curry for the Warriors, there were no complaints from Rory. and same as Steph did too, even though everyone knows he would ordinarily be in the 1st 15, Rory has been training the house down and making it known he is working hard to win his spot back.
This is exciting. I hadn't realised this. Watch the Cockatoos slide down to their rightful place on the ladder now lol
Next level stuff @dmandrews , hats off. Unfortunately we got sidetracked during our team selection and was too late once we remembered. Alas, the points coughed up were a mere pebble in the mountain needed to get close to the unattractive ones.
Great read Dean as always, not sure what to make of that Misfit performance, but can't help thinking where hell were they for previous rounds, methinks word of a potential clearing of the decks for a fresh start frightened the shit out of the entitled buggers