Great match! @choppers 2 metre / 7 seater Peter + Alex Neal-Bullen up forward had too much firepower this week when it counted! All the best for yourself and all teams still live in these finals! Have fun!
Quarter Finals Round 21 Groote Eylandt Barracudas 1,493 defeated Hughenden Prairie Dogs 975 The Prairie Dogs took out the Sand Gropers the previous week and came to Groote Eylandt full of confidence heading into their first finals campaign under @Batfink The Barracudas get the home town advantage after they had a solid win over the Panthers. First up, the visitors had a late out in the premium defender Mills, the paddock looked a little rough for his soft manicured feet so young Harry M came in. Ash, DBL & IQ all having a quiet time out there for the visitors up against Cripps of the Jamie variety, Tomahawk having 10 disposals, Hall gathering 38 possessions and 9 marks and the magnificent Zorko rotating through the mid and turning it on in the second half. Off the interchange Errol and Riewoldt transitioned beautifully both banging through 2 goals each for the home team, the visitors had Mayne who rotated well off the wing but Shiel only had a couple of touches. Ratugolea for the visitors could only manage 5 hit outs but wobbled 2 through the sticks whereas Stanley the crowd favourite had a day out with 31 hit outs. Defence is where it all starts for the home team who had Lloyd on fire with 30 disposals, Weitering with 16 disposals, McGovern matched up on both On AMT and Thilthorpe and first game for the season Kolodjashnij came in with a bang and kicked the first goal of the match as he swung between forward and defence. Membrey stood up and kicked a couple. The visitors Ward struggled, conceded 3 frees, Oliver shrugged off a pretty tight lockdown however he also gave away a couple of frees, Yeo had 31 disposals and Seeds was great putting in the hard yards. The locals had Cripps doing some jobs in the mid, Guthrie made 9 tackles, the ball magnet The Bont had 34 touches and the star of the show was young Jacky Graham who displayed great guts and determination in and around the packs. A solid performance from the Barracudas in their first finals match up, they are buoyed with confidence with their consistency. The visitors will leave even more battered and bruised, the Prairie Dogs have a lot of soul searching with their management looking to continue their build with a young team.
Great write up as always, it was disappointing to not put up a bit better display. Moving on to 2022 and a season review.
Last game of the season for these boys Powell Taylor Young Newman Mitchell Petracca liberatore Shuey English Heeney Stephenson Scott Finlayson emg Rampe Ross Williams
@eagle_eyed Nuytsland 1427 def Southern Cross 1107 In what may seem was a surprise selection in choosing cross town rivals Southern Cross to battle it out in the west, was an easy choice in the end looking at the Sandgropers injury woes compared to mine. The contest was heated right from the bounce with every defender thinking they were midfield guns, with 5 tons out of 8 players raising the bat it seemed to easy. Vikings defenders won the contest 451 to 343, Hurn injured himself with a low grade hammy and Rotham decided the contest was to hot and decided not join his team mates. Kick to intercept, kick to intercept as the teams settled down the rest of cream rises to the top as the midfielders wanted some leather poisoning. Mitchell was back to his brilliant best digging the ball out to supply his team mates with first use. Vikings midfield won 424 to 338 as evergreen Mundy slowed to a Holt and Smith Mr angry did everything to antagonize the opposition but forgot that getting the ball would have served his team better. Battle of rucks saw former Grundy take on protege English, English took out honors couldn't wipe that cheesy grin of his face 123 to 107. At the other end of the ground a total disgrace by both team with Greene sticking out an elbow setting the tone no one dare went near him even putting his fellow team off fearing what could happen stayed away from the ball, Greene notching a easy ton with daylight between him and the rest with only Cameron putting up a slight fight and poor old Darling scared into submission failed to register a score. Vikings 277 to 240. One man short on the interchange Sandgropers didn't have a chance as Williams got some much needed easy ball hopefully hitting some form with a much needed ton. Vikings 152 to 79. Vkings Powell 153, 28 touches with 7 tackles and 8 marks Taylor 140, 21 possessions and 12 marks Newman 126, 25 touches with 20 by foot Mitchell 150, 44 touches and 10 marks Petracca 111, 28 disposals 6 tackles English 123, 24 hitouts and 13 possessions after a quite 1st half Greene 104, reported 4 goals from 16 possessions Williams 100, 24 possessions and 4 tackles Sandgropers Laird 122, 31 possessions 22 by hand and 8 tackles Cumming 135, 34 touches with 26 by foot Presita 120, 29 possessions and 6 marks Grundy 107, 31 hit outs 6 marks 6 tackles Vikings off to a semi final birth against Buffaloas who we defeated most recently but this time more mounting injures may see another wasted season
@bryzza Buffaloes squad looking to pave the way into a grand final showdown D: Jordan Ridley, Steven May, Ryan Burton, Harry Cunningham (Saad) M: Darcy Parish, Zac Merrett, Josh Kelly, Dyson Heppell (Byrnes) R: Sam Draper F: Patrick Dangerfield, Tarryn Thomas, Jeremy Cameron, Joe Daniher (Switkowski) I: Bailey Smith, Dom Sheed (Ballard) IN: Kelly, Heppell, Cameron OUT: Saad, McKenzie, Powell-Pepper
Prelim final week and we have 3 of the same top 4 from season 2020. Defending champs the Vikings, beaten grand-finalists the Barracudas, 4th placed that ultimately meant nothing in a reduced season, Buffaloes and then the new challengers in Banchang Barcrawlers. First up in the previews we take a look at Groote v Banchang @YAD69 @choppers Groote Eyelandt Barracudas v Banchang Barcrawlers Finals so far Groote played inspired football at the dawn of the finals and gave the finals debutant coach of Hughenden no chance. The match was over before it ever realy got going with the Barracudas almost eclipsing the 1500 barrier and running out comprehensive 518 victors (a finals record @fresh?) Banchang were at the complete other end of the scale in a match that went down to the absolute wire. With 29/30ths of their finals match run and done, there was a solitary point separating the Barcrawlers and the Blowflys after Peter Wright had dragged the visitors back into the match with 7 goals. Despite the hometown faithful doing their absolute most to cheer home their Korumburra stars, Alex Neal-Bullen was the one spurred on the most by the raucus crowd and put in the performace of his life to left Banchang to a famous 24 point victory Selection table The Barracudas have made the interesting call to rest Jake Lloyd in anticipation of having him primed for a grand final appearance next week. That is going to be a strain on a defensive setup already missing Bachar Houli and unlikely to see the type of performance put in by Jake Kolodjashnij two weeks in a row. They will welcome back Isaac Smith to a formidable forward line and although would ideally like to run with a two big man set up in the ruck, the Barracudas will be very pleased that at least one of them in Rhys Stanley is putting in the type of effort that will have the crowd at Groote Eyelandt dreaming of yet more ultimate success. The Barcrawlers were hoping Oleg Markov would recover in time for this matchup and things were looking on track. That was until someone finally held a mirror up to his face and he was so ashamed by the moustache that had grown out, he refused to come out of the isolation bubble back in Banchang. Elsewhere, Mitch Robinson will also miss after playing a key role in the teams previous final victory which has the medical team pouring all their efforts into perenial patient Sam Reid, to ensure he isn't added to the outs. Some tough decisions will need to be made by Banchang management if they are to cover those gaps and field a team capable of taking it to the Barracudas. How they can win Let's be honest here. For Groote it's fairly straightforward. They have won 17 of 18 in season 2021. They are defending grand finalists. They have outscored every team in the comp by plenty this year. They just need to roll on. Without the services of Hugh Greenwood and to a lesser extent Robinson & Markov this is a monumental task for the Barcrawlers. BUT.... As Neal-Bullen and Wright showed last week, they have the players capable of going very big and with those two names plus the likes of Doedee, Dawson, Lyons, Adams, Lycett, Gray & Elliott also able to turn it on, it is not unfathomable that they could do it together and post a score high enough to get past the ultra-impressive Barracudas. Prediction Not unfathomable but also not likely. Even with those two monster efforts last week, the Barcrawlers wouldn't have got within 200 points of the Barracudas. Losing Lloyd certainly diminishes the ultra top-end potential of the home town team but welcoming back Isaac Smith does nothing to dampen spirits. Tipping the rest of the backline to fall away a little without their leader in Lloyd to hold things together but with so many guns everywhere else Groote should still get through to another grand final comfortable. Barracudas by 75
And the second of our prelims @bryzza Nuytsland Vikings v Serengeti Buffaloes Finals so far Nuytsland could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel before their finals campaign had even begun. With the plethora of stars missing from their lineup it was going to be extremely difficult for the Vikings to mount a succesful premiership defence. But nobody told that to the players they did still have available and in a performance that not many ORFFUians could produce on as limited a playing stock, Nuytsland showed they weren't giving up their premiership without a fight. In a truly impressive performance, they produced a score of 1445 and comfortably saw off an equally damaged Sandgroper outfit. Serengeti were invovled in a much tighter tussle after finishing the regular season in 8th and having to travel out to Ararat to begin their finals campaign. Fortunately, big man Sam Draper rose to the occasion and inspired the rest of his teammates to come along with him as the Buffaloes managed to overcome the Armadillos by 75 Selection table Just when the Vikings thought things couldn't get any worse, Toby Greene has gone and got himself suspended, Shannon Hurn ripped his hamstring and Harry McKay finally succumbed to shoulder pain. Luke Shuey returns in a small boost but it is going to be extremely tough for the Vikings to back up the efforts of last week with Cunnington, Viney, Duncan and Martin all still missing in addition to the new concerns. No such troubles for the Buffaloes who will have no excuse if they can't return to the grand final for the first time since taking out the premiership in 2017. They are in the enviable position of welcoming back Josh Kelly, Dyson Heppel & Jeremy Cameron even if they do lose Trent McKenzie to a shoulder injury. How they can win With the talent they have returning to the squad just in time, the Buffaloes should be able to win here. For the Vikings they have immense talent in their squad and even with the calibre of names missing, they showed last week that there is still plenty of life left in those who remain. With their injury curse invading its way it to the forward line after being predominately isolated in the midfield last week, they will need to find a forward line capable of doing enough to keep up with the rest of the team if they are to triumph against the odds again. Last time out against the Buffaloes the coach sent out half of Dane Rampe into the Viking forward line to confuse the opposition in a tactic that worked wonders as the team got the W. What can team management come up with in this one? Prediction Although they are the defending champs, and they did outscore Serengeti in the first week of finals, the selection table has not been kind to Nuytsland while at the same time, blessing the boys in Serengeti. That should be enough to sway the result and give Serengeti a shot at the grand final. Serengeti by 45
Good luck to the remaining four sides. Would be nice to see some change at the top, I’m barracking for Banchang. Go Barcrawlers!!!
Semi Finals - Groote Eylandt Barracudas Def: Jacob Weitering, Jake Kolodjashnij, Jeremy McGovern, Liam Stocker Mid: Patrick Cripps, Marcus Bontempelli, Cameron Guthrie, Jack Graham (Jeremy Sharp) Ruck: Rhys Stanley (Josh Treacy) Fwd: Tom Hawkins, Dayne Zorko, Aaron Hall, Isaac Smith (Aaron Naughton) Int: Jack Riewoldt, Errol Gulden (Jarrod Berry) Out: Jamie Cripps, Jake Lloyd In: Isaac Smith, Liam Stocker @choppers
The Barracuda's are on 116/2 58 to the Barcrawlers @choppers 0/0. The home side are on the board but geeez, not a great start.
The Barracuda'sare on 1,170/13 90.0 to the Barcrawlers @choppers 922/10 92.2 Home side has McGovern & Sharpe to the visitors who have Dodee, Collins, Langdon, Wright, & ANB.