Huskies make it home through depth, and not much else. Huskies: 1141 (76) Parasites: 1064 (89 from 12 players)
Round 4 The Barracuda’s finish on 1,121/14 80.1 defeat the Vikings @bryzza on 1,076/14 76.8. After being handed a smack down from the Blowfly’s the home team were hoping for a strong turn around. The visitors also were on the receiving end of a beating from the Bulls at home and were dreading the long trip to Groote Eylandt. Again, the visitors had a since spread across field especially up front with Draper chopping out in the ruck, McKay kicking 2 and Amiss bagging 4 big ones. Down back young Jaxon lead the way with 22 possessions as well as some big screamers and Powell tagged all day. Newman came in on the half back role. Warner was efficient and Levi had 20 silky possessions. The big man Sweet, had 25 hit outs a goal and 4 frees. The home team, feeling the pinch from last week, had some good ins, with Baker the running man from half back and the Magnificent Zorko collecting 28 possessions and a goal. Through the guts the Bont posted the first goal of the day and scoped up 33 disposals, with the Seagull starting in half forward and Corn Boy Cripps grabbing 21 possessions. Grundy smashed 33 hit outs, laid 5 tackles and booted a goal. The wheels nearly fell off with Longy not moving from the pine, Sullivan not able to convert, Membrey not getting enough of the pig skin and Lachie Jones fumbling every time he came near the ball. The Cuda’s got lucky off the back of Grundy and the Bont to get the win. BOG - Grundy (GEB), The Bont (GEB), Sweet (NV)
@insider In what is regularly a hotly anticipated contest of the highest order, the home crowd trudged along to The Crater for this season’s contest against the Armadillos more out of duty than excitement. And unfortunately for the locals there was no fairytale miracle with Ararat dominating from start to finish. Merrett (116), Smith (118) and Neale (114) did their best to try and lift the team but there was too little to support. Clark (52), Cameron (51) and Graham (53) were particularly disappointing. Despite some team management mixups there was just not enough competition for it to cause the Armadillos issues. Tom Stewart (111) just never slows down, Andrew Brayshaw (120) had an up week and Ryley Sanders (122) decided it was a good week to take the piss and completely dominate in a close to BOG performance. Just when it looked like there was light at the end of the tunnel for The Buff with great squad availability, Tim English (79) has gone down injured and at 1-3 with no backup ruck, this season could quickly turn to disaster. Final scores Serengeti 906 def by Ararat 1226 BAFFU votes 3 Jackson 126 (AA) 2 Sanders 122 (AA) 1 Brayshaw 120 (AA) Big Tap English 79 def by Jackson 126
Round 4: Eden 780 Blanchetown 1367 Even with a full side, this was going to be a tough matchup. Last year's premiers vs bottom 4. Then we factor in things like Briggs having a contractual 2 breaks per year and Pendles being added temporarily to the large injury list and we get this. Some nameless jobber took on Max Gawn, who got the 2nd highest score for the round, only bested by fellow Giant Tap winner Brodie Grundy. KKP shone despite with 126 to keep up the trend of Melbourne player who is really good here. Meanwhile, the Bunyips had that great showing of 6 over 100 and a further 3 in the 90s that wins games. Looking to next week, it's away games for both sides, Serengeti for the Plovers and Pakenham for Blanchetown. I'll look to the team lists to see if that's one we can be competitive in. BAFFU: Gawn 3, KKP 2, LDU 1 Big Tap: Gawn 175 def nameless jobber 0
@fresh I'm back, and I'll post a match report sometime over the weekend. I'm sure you've seen the result by now.
King Island 1105 def Junee 880 The Monarchs finally registered their first win of the season after the Beagles arrived severely undermanned. The home side were sporting enough to leave one player out but not so much as to balance out the three missing for the visitors. Pittonet dominated Flynn in the ruck but with no numbers at ground level it was the experienced Kennedy (115) that capitalised for the Monarchs. Milera (125) and McKercher (107) continually cut-off the Beagles attacks. Amartey (102) for the Monarchs was the only forward on the ground to ton up, with Farrell (120) and Serong (126) fighting hard all day for the visitors. Votes 3 Serong 2 Milera 1 Farrell Big Tap Pittonet 117 def Flynn 44
The Plovers have run into a Buffalo outfit intent on showing their season is not done yet. @HOLKY Serengeti 665/6/111 810/12/66
Yeah, that is very average. Clearly the players have decided to be tourists in SA rather than play footy.
Comfortable win to the Prospectors, 1275 to1130. Top end talent too much for my mixed bunch of kids and leftovers. Noteworthy Prospectors; Sicily 106 NWM 136 Bruhn 115 Wright 120 Ginnivan 125 Junee Duursma 105 Kako 113
Bulls 1399 def PDogs 1214 @Batfink This shaped as a ripping contest on paper as both teams eyed a 4&1 start to the season. Unfortunately for the PDogs the Bulls were in a feisty mood and this game was put to bed quickly. With Heeney (196), Roberts (145) & Parker (129) going large and being ably supported by Maynard, Whitfield & Newcombe it was going to be tough for the Pdogs to run them down. Berry & Oliver offered some grunt in the middle and the defence stood tall with Mills, Ash & IQ all raising the bat but with Chol going down with injury it was a bridge too far. Bulls running out comfortable 185 point victors. The Bulls remain at home and will start as favorites against the Monarchs whilst the PDogs welcome the Beagles and will be hoping the Beagles don't snuff the P Dogs out. Votes: 3 Heeney (SFB), 2 Roberts (SFB), 1 Parker (SFB) Big Tap Riccardi 61 (SFB) def Emmett (HPD) 37
King Island 1089 def Groote Eylandt 1040 The Bass Strait boys got the better of their northern counterparts in the islander battle. It was another low scoring slog in tough conditions as the locals again forgot how to close the roof of the KingDome. Plenty of disappointing scores across the board with the talls struggling to have an impact and both teams lacking depth, even the Bont was well held with local Richards the best mid on the ground before succumbing to injury. A plethora of stoppages saw the rucks with plenty to do, Williams battling hard in his first game of the year but ultimately outclassed by BOG Grundy. Milera again shining across half back for the Monarchs, while a crucial injury to Cuda's Zorko saw O'Connor fight valiantly against his former side but to no avail. Votes 3 Grundy 124 2 Milera 110 1 Richards 109 Big Tap Grundy 124 def Williams 106
Cow Bay 1,129 def Korumburra 1,029 The home side were sitting at 2-2 going into the weekend and were desperate to avoid losing more games than they'd won this early in the season. Being faced with an opponent with a 4-0 record would typically be daunting but the coach's motivational speeches and words of wisdom propelled the Crocs to a 100 point win over the Blowflies. Sheezel (127) took BOG honours this round even though fill in ruck Chapman (32) was taking the hitouts. Taranto (94) also provided strong support in the middle but it seems that the majority of the centre grunt work was left to these two. Wilkie (125) continues to have an outstanding season so far with Noble (91) providing excellent run from the defensive 50. Rankine (103) had his first good game for the year with Moore (91) providing many goal assists. For the visitors, Steele (100) was the only player to hit triple figures and Daicos (94) had a less than stellar outing. Kelly (83) and Neale (78) were the best of the forwards but the defensive 4 had little positive to show for the weekend with 4 below average efforts. Fill in ruck Georgiades (33) win the battle of the OOP rucks and D'Ambrosio (88) provided fresh legs off the interchange when he was injected into the game. Big Tap Chapman (32) ef by Georgiades (33) BAFFU 3 Sheezel, COW, 127 2 Wilkie, COW, 125 1 Rankine, COW, 103
@HOLKY Serengeti entered round 5 at 1-3 and were seeing the possibility of their season slipping away very quickly if they couldn't turn things around. Standing in their way was a Whaler outfit on the same record and equally keen to try and get a foothold in the season. Unfortunately for the Whalers, it was the Buffaloes who came best prepared for the contest and they were well on top all over the park including the ruck contest where both coaches showed such contempt for the role that they each just ran with an extra forward. It was fielding fit players in all other positions that made the biggest difference for the home team with Darcy Parish (137) the most encouraging performance of the day even if he was outscored by the red-hot early season form of Bailey Smith (151). Eden never really got going in this matchup and they'll feel particularly let down by the performances of Voss (16), Long (48) & Clohesy (44) who all put in season worst efforts. In the end The Buff had far too much scoring power and with 7 players topping the ton to 3 including the 5 highest scores on the day whch ultimately meant a 480 point victory to the home side. Final Scores Serengeti 1458 def Eden 978 BAFFU votes 3 Bailey Smith 151 (SB) 2 Darcy Parish 137 (SB) 1 Finn Callaghan 135 (SB) Big Tap Cadman 60 def Maley 26
The belated Easter Clash report from the Goldfields @fresh The Coolgardie coach took a week off, and was concerned that the boys would too, but fortunately they all turned up and played well enough to get the win for the home fans. The visitors had their coach turn up, but maybe he wishes that he didn't, as some of the Crocs players decided to play hookey, or they were indulging in too much chocolate, as there were some easter eggs for some first-choice players. The defence saw Coolgardie open a big 94 point lead. The boys turned up to play, with J Short, J Worrell, and A Aliir all topping 120 points. On the flip side, the Cow Bay defenders were all more than serviceable, with everyone scoring in the 80's or 90's. The midfield was an arm wrestle. C Serong got everything going for the Prospectors, while T Miller and T Bruhn put in some effort, but not too much, while J O'Meara was definitely chasing easter bunnies around the park. The Crocs were ably lead by T Taranto, and H Sheezel was following closely behind, but C Mackenzie called in sick, and while J Hopper was a good late call-up, teammate O Dempsey was more interested in watching Jaeger and the easter bunnies. The ruck duel was all one way, with H Chapman drawing the short straw and lining up against the revelation that is L McAndrew, with the Prospector devouring the part-time Croc, by 84 points. The Coolgardie forward line was a horror show, with kicks going in all directions, except for straight through the big sticks. Cow Bay's S Bolton was the only forward on the ground to show any form of skill, on his way to 85 points, as the rest of the visiting forwards caught the same colouful chocolate laced disease that the home side was inflicted with, missing every target like it was the objective. The bench support for both sides was very evenly matched, only 6 points in it, but the damage had already been done. In the end it was Coolgardie prevailing by 159 points over Cow Bay. The votes: 3 - A Aliir, Coolgardie, 128 2 - L McAndrew, Coolgardie, 123 1 - J Short, Coolgardie, 121 The big tap was very comfortably won by L McAndrew, Coolgardie, over half of H Chapman, Cow Bay, by 84 points, 123 to 39. Once again, sorry to @fresh for no updates and a very delayed match report. But know that I did enjoy my easter holiday with family and friends, so it was worth it!