Cradle Mountain Semi Final team Out: D Heppell (omitted) E Langdon, (omitted) In: T Nankervis, B Cox Def: N Vlastuin, J Battle, J Lever 62, B Cox (J Laverde) Mid: J Steele, R Laird, S Pendlebury, J Hopper (E Langdon) Ruc: T English 102 Fwd: D Zorko, T McDonald 38, A Naughton 57, S Mannagh (D Wilson) Int: T Nankervis, R Marshall (R Ginbey) The Gundagai Grasshoppers and Cradle Mountain Devils meet in a finals game with the Hoppers as host for the second time. On the previous occasion the Devils defeated the Hoppers 1,418 to 1,248 in the 2021 Preliminary Final. A week later Cradle Mountain won the ORFFA Premiership having a 72 point road victory against Venus Bay Vultures. The prize for the second finals encounter between the Hoppers and Devils is a road preliminary final against minor premiers, the Nareewillock Nuffers. @snoz ’s Hoppers have started brilliantly in their home semi final to be 206/2 at an average of 103 points per game whilst the Devils have stumbled out of the starting blocks to be 259/4 at an average of 64.75 points per game. Among the last four Cradle Mountain players to take the field will be three of their six players averaging more than 100 points per game so they should finish strongly but they need to lift their scoring rate to be within striking distance of the Hoppers at three quarter time.
Since the early update the Hoppers average per player has dropped and the Devils have raised their scoring rate which has resulted in the two teams meeting in the middle at an almost identical pace. @snoz ‘s Gundagai Grasshoppers 1081/13 Average 83.15 Cradle Mountain 833/10 Average 83.3 The Hoppers have the higher tally whilst the Devils have the extremely narrow advantage on average of 0.15 points per player. The final seven players on the field will determine the outcome of the Hoppers vs Devils semi final with the winner progressing to play a road preliminary final against the Nuffers. The Hoppers players to take the field are Brisbane Lions midfield duo Lachie Neale and Hugh McLuggage. Devils defender Brannan Cox is currently on the field and the last quartet of Devils to take the field are defender Josh Battle, midfielder Jack Steele, forward Dayne Zorko and ruck Rowan Marshall from the interchange.
pardon the intrusion. For any teams in finals, I recommend clearing and re-entering your squad for this weekend. Something went awry with the team update script so the players from Round 21 werent retained for 22. Didnt affect results, just the saving of teams for the upcoming round. FYI/PSA
A pleasing return to some sort of form, albeit with threadbare numbers, for the cows. Hope the Battler's supporters enjoyed their time in Bulls @JC as much as we enjoyed their company. Our patrons are looking forward to a trip across the ditch to Birdsville and renewing friendships from the weekend just gone. Have had a few Voyager Estate Girt By Sea wines recently. Particularly enjoyed the 2018 Chardonnay and the 2017 Cabernet Merlot. reckon the "Girt by Sea Cup" would be a fine name for games between our two teams.
A great time was had by all at the Bulls Hit Tavern. Possibly a little too good given the effort the boys trotted out! Looking forward to reciprocating the hospitality of the fine folk from Bulls, and hopefully giving @graeme and the cows a bit more competition this week.
Damn ! First time I've had a second to check in......lost again, out in straight sets. Heads.Will.Roll. Congratulations @dmandrews
So a match-up featuring a team with three functioning ruckmen vs a team with none. May be in a touch of trouble here....
Finals have a way of sorting out the pretenders from the contenders @chris88 . Trite but true, ORFFA is not won in the first 15 rounds.
Indeed @graeme. The Devils defeated the Nuffers earlier in the season as well when I had a ruckman so its going to be a bit of a challenge.
Thanks @snoz. The Devils had some bad luck in the 2024 ORFFA home and away season with several narrow losses and conceding the most points in the comp. Things have well and truly flipped come finals time and Cradle Mountain were fortunate to be at full strength for the semi final against the Hoppers which helped CMD get the victory. Commiserations on the semi final loss Snoz. Congratulations on your Gundagai Grasshoppers finishing in the top 4 on the ORFFA ladder at the end of eight consecutive home and away seasons from 2017 to 2024, an incredible achievement. To highlight how difficult this sustained level of excellence is only two clubs have had eight or more top four finishes in the 13 season history of the ORFFA – the Hoppers and Foul Bay Chickens with nine top four finishes each. Mount Beauty are ranked third with six top four finishes ahead of Venus Bay and Iron Knob in equal fourth with five top 4 finishes each. With the age profile of the Hoppers and some astute drafting such as Lawson Humphries competition for spots in Gundagai's best 15 will remain high and the club is well placed to continue their top 4 streak in 2025.
Whilst you are the gracious victor @dmandrews , I'll say what everyone else is thinking, get stuffed @snoz
Holy crap the Nuffers have a ruckman. Whether it makes any difference or not, I don't know, but we have a ruckman