Round 9 saw Serengeti hosting the Monarchs of King Island in a contest between two sides battling to stay in touch with the top 8 and keep finals aspirations well and truly alive. @Tylo Mason Redman (76) was a welcome returnee for the visitors and he slotted back seemlessly into a well functioning backline led by the resurgent Wayne Milera (127). Ed Richards (117) was inspired by the defensive efforts of the team and did his best to sway the battle in favour of the Monarchs. There were a few Monarchs that failed to catch the vibe being set though and when Joel Amartey (29), Nick Haynes (50), Jackson Macrae (59), Matt Kennedy (60) & Kyle Langford (63) all failed to deliver there were question marks of disunity amongst the squad. That was until an eerily similar output was produced by the passengers making up the numbers for the home side with the bottom 5 efforts of Sam Switkowski (25), Adam Saad (52), Liam Henry (56), Harry Himmelberg (57) & Jordan Clark (72) providing a solitary extra point. So instead of disunity within each squad, there were fears of unity that was too strong between the two squads and rumours of match fixing were beginning to swirl. Unfortunately for any potential black market operators it takes more than a third of a squad in this game to influence a result and after the dismal bottom 5 efforts, the rest of the team performed much more consistently, headlined by 6 tons and a BOG effort from the red-hot Bailey Smith (130). The Monarchs didn't have enough teammates to support Milera and Richards with the drop off after those top 2 far too great to put up a competitive score on the day. That consistent top end did the job for Serengeti in the end and the home town Buffaloes were able to run out 92 point victors. Final Scores Serengeti 1262 def King Island 1170 BAFFU votes 3 Bailey Smith 130 (SB) 2 Wayne Milera 127 (KIM) 1 Lachie Neale 121 (SB) Big Tap English 103 def Williams 71
Round 9 Bunyips 1280 def Vikings 1271 Another battle for the ages.. 9 points, what a close match. It is never an easy match when you host the Vikings as they have been one of the best teams in the competition for quite a while now. Down back both sides were pretty evenly matched with most players pumping out their averages, but Bailey Dale (128) took the honours, winding the clock back. In the Mids it was up for grabs as the homeside played with only 3 players after Matt Rowell decided to go on a bender and failed to show up the ground. Levi Ashcroft (109) for the visitors was outstanding, blitzing his season average. Captain Dawson (115) is hopefully back for the rest of the year and another excellent performance from LDU (131) in a close to BOG performance. But it was the big man, the peoples beard, Max Gawn (134) taking the BOG and Big Tap win over Jordan Sweet (82) to keep his overall lead on the competition. Up forward it was the Harry McKay (132) show kicking 3 lovely goals and clunking 10 marks to show the rest of the competition he can still be a 1 man show up forward. The homeside bench stunk it up with Atkins and Keays well under performing and are on the chopping block come selection time, whilst Garcia and Humphrey did all they could to get their team a win... albiet a smidgen short. BOG - Gawn McKay LDU Big Tap - Gawn
In a game dominated by injury and late selection changes, the Huskies appear to have just held on. Huskies 1051 (70) River Rats 1021 (68)
@fresh They may have just missed out on breaching the magical 1500 barrier but Cow Bay have well and truly done enough to comfortably take care of Serengeti Serengeti 1068 v Cow Bay 1493
Round 10 saw Carnamahaha challenging a weary Ararat team. With young stars all over the park for the visitors, while the home side is currently being held together with sticky tape and twine, the match truly could have gone either way. The Cormorants were let down by aforementioned youngsters however, with Ashcroft (76), Wardlaw (75), Curtin (48) and Sheldrick (48) all failing to fire. The ruck duel was a comedy of errors, as Jackson (66 aka 70 points down on average) eked out a win of Meek (27 aka 50 points down on average). A few bright spots for CC was Florent (145) and Rioli (125) on the d-line and Harley Reid potentially living up to his... potential, going bang with 167. The rousing speech pregame for Ararat finally had the team ready to play to their ability, with several out of form players sending a reminder to selectors. Turner (113), Sanders (106), Thomas (127) and Soligo (108) all apologised for shit seasons by saluting with triple digits. Truly the day had to belong to debutant Jack Ison though. The last selection in the draft, for the Armadillos, at pick 36, JIson scored a wonderful 75 first up which had the crowd going wild. Football was the real winner this weekend, but AA 1409 also defeated CC 1238.
@Mick The Graveyard Match Report Korumburra Blowflys 1352 def. Nuytsland Vikings 1138 “The Blowflys didn’t just buzz around… they swarmed the carcass.” Another dark afternoon at The Graveyard for the Nuytsland Vikings, who once again discovered that naming your home ground after a burial site becomes awkward when your own team keeps ending up in it. The Vikings fought hard in patches, but the Korumburra Blowflys were relentless—hovering around every loose ball, feasting on turnovers, and generally behaving exactly like their namesake after a hot summer roadkill incident. ⚔️ Defenders – Newman Tried, Prior Expired Nic Newman was once again a new man down back with 71, while Karl Worner worked overtime and looked completely worn-er by the final siren despite his excellent 115. Wil Powell powered through for 55, Ryan Maric was… just okay-ish. Meanwhile the Blowflys defenders were annoyingly effective. Rory Laird lorded over the backline with 101, while Nick Vlastuin was very much “last one standing” with 110. Advantage: Blowflys buzzing freely. ️ Midfield – Daicos Delivers the Sting Chad Warner was switched on with 85, Levi Ashcroft rose from the ashes for 87, and Harvey Langford finally remembered to go long with 84. But the real pain came from the Blowflys midfield. Nick Daicos carved the Vikings apart, Jack Steele was appropriately solid, and James Peatling absolutely peeled away any hope of a comeback with 112. Josh Dunkley also spent the afternoon dunking on Viking dreams. Advantage: Blowflys by a country mile. Rucks – Sweet Turned Sour Jordan Sweet unfortunately forgot the chocolates this week. His 51 was well beaten by Tristan Xerri (87), who monstered the stoppages and gave the Blowflys midfield silver-service delivery all afternoon. At one stage Sweet looked less like dessert and more like expired yogurt. Forwards – McKay Keeps the Ship Floating Harry McKay gave the Vikings something to cheer about with 84, while Sam Draper stitched together a respectable 85. Jye Amiss unfortunately did miss again with 55, and Lachie Schultz forgot to pull the trigger with just 45. The Blowflys forwards, however, absolutely feasted: Tim Kelly delivered timely destruction with 115 Shannon Neale was nearly impossible to contain with 102 Shaun Mannagh absolutely manhandled the Vikings with 129 At that point, the Vikings defence looked like they were trying to swat actual flies with pool noodles. Interchange – Garcia Says Gracias If there was one Viking refusing to sink, it was Hugo Garcia. 145 points. Outstanding. At this stage he deserves free mead for life at The Graveyard tavern. Bailey Humphrey added some grunt, but the Blowflys depth—George Hewett and Jeremy Howe—continued the late-game pressure. ⚰️ Final Word – “Swarmed at The Graveyard” The Vikings weren’t terrible. That’s almost the frustrating part. There were contributors: Garcia was enormous McKay stood tall Ashcroft and Warner battled hard But the Blowflys simply had too many players buzzing around making life miserable. When Mannagh manhandled, Kelly cooked, and Daicos dissected, the Vikings just couldn’t keep up. ☠️ Looking Ahead The Vikings remain competitive… but competitive doesn’t stop you becoming fly food at The Graveyard. Right now, they need: Sweet to become sweet again Schultz to rediscover the trigger Young to actually show up young and energetic Otherwise opponents will keep arriving at The Graveyard hungry… …and leaving absolutely stuffed.
Round 10 saw the Buffaloes playing host to the Crocs of Cow Bay in an important match up for the two sides as Serengeti tried to stay in touch with the top 8 while the Crocs hoped to continue their fine start to the season and establish themselves in the upper echelon of the rankings. @fresh From before the first bounce it was clear that something was amiss for the home team. Somehow management had become so distracted with the planned celebrations for an ex-Buffalo in the week that is to come, they forgot about celebrating their own champions and both Merrett (103) in his 200th and Neale (93) in his 50th played like they were offended by the oversight. The mismanagement didn't end there with Dangerfield (21) being wheeled out on 1 leg to take on the ruck duties and Switkowski (25) not looking much better in defence. The Croc Moyle (109) licked his lips in delight at the matchup with Dangerfield and set the tone for what was to become an absolute blood bath. From there, the Cow Bay boys decided to put on a clinic in an ominous display that put down a marker for the rest of the competition to be aware of. This was a real statement that the Crocs are no longer building or showing potential but are ready to make a real impact. John Noble (161) led the way in a BOG performance but he was ably supported by no less than 6 others who tonned up on the day as well as the team only having 2 players score under 80 and a lowest of 69. Unfortunately for the Buffaloes and the home crowd, they were no match for the Crocs in this kind of form. At the very other end of the scale they had 7 players who scored less than the lowest ranked Croc on the day with Cadman (31), Greene (43) and Callaghan (79) receiving the bulk of the coach's fury. This was one of those results that created serious questions and while it was an absolute positive marker for the visitors it has the home town team wondering whether they can still compete with the best the ORFFU has to offer. Final Scores Serengeti 1068 def by Cow Bay 1493 BAFFU votes 3 John Noble 161 (CBC) 2 Darcy Wilmot 119 (CBC) 1 Mac Andrew 116 (CBC) Big Tap Dangerfield 21 def by Moyle 109