2023 ORFFW Preliminary Finals

It's finals time! Firstly congratulations to those coaches who made it to the top 4, and a huge well done and thanks to all the other coaches who played every week. But the best 4 teams have made it through so let's get on with the pregame....

Lake St Clair Devils (1st) @dmandrews vs Vivonne Bay Valkeries (4th) @That KI Guy

On paper this looks like a potential mismatch with the undefeated Devils outscoring the Valkeries by over 1000 points this year - but never underestimate the underdog as they are known to bite!

Not having met this year the formline is with the Devils, off the back of a dominant midfield lead by high averaging Jasmine Garner (129), Claudia Whitfort (98) and Mon Conti (98). The Devils have winners all over the park as well with a forward line that when on can't be matched. Another sign of the evenness of this team is that although top of the ladder only 2 players made the B&F top 12.

The Valkeries however have been quietly moving up the ladder to pinch a spot in the top 4 after the last week of the regular season. Heavily reliant on Georgie Prespakis (ave 100), Tyla Hanks (81) and Liv Purcell (80) they will need some help from the bench and their defence with both lines needing huge games to cause an upset. Matilda Scholz has also been a revelation in her debut season making the top 5 in the rising star.

Manildra Mystix (2nd) @TheTassieHawk vs Pomona Wood Nymphs (3rd) @anthak

This game promises to be an absolute beauty, with both teams separated by only one win at the end of the home and away season. They did match up in round 5 this year where the Mystix won by a comfortable 212 points.

Manildra earns the right to go in favourites with another dominant season, however they won't want a repeat of last years preliminary final loss which will be on their minds when they take to the field this weekend. No one in the team averaged over 100 individually this year but three in the 90's (Maddy Prespakis 99, Amy McDonald 94 and Kate Hore 94) shows a team happy to spread the load.

The Nymphs however are planning a smash and grab to force their way into the grand final. On the back of FW Superstar Ebony Marinoff (130 average!) and Jenna Bruton who returned to find form just before finals to average 103, the Nymphs will be sure to have a red hot go this weekend. This game promises to be a bruising affair and should be very entertaining, going down to late Sunday afternoon before a result will be known

Again, best of luck to all coaches in the finals!

 

Lake St Clair Devils team for Finals Week 1

Out: Lucy Wales(omitted)
In: Jess Good

Def: Angelique Stannett, Meghan McDonald, Georgia Clayden (Meara Girvan)
Mid: Jasmine Garner, Emma Swanson, Monique Conti, Claudia Whitfort (Lily Mithen)
Ruc: Jess Good (Lucy Wales)
Fwd: Sarah Rowe, Emma King, Eden Zanker (Kate Shierlaw)
Int: Kirsty Lamb, Olivia Vesely (Charlotte Baskaran)

Jess Good has recovered from injury and has been recalled as the Devils ruck the Preliminary final against the Valkeries with Lucy Wales being omitted. Meara Girvan has been brought into the 18 player squad as the defender emergency, replacing Serene Watson. I am unable to make these changes in tsLeagues as it is locked out. The three players impacted are in bold above.

Thanks for the fantastic preview @FreoDockers.

 

Thanks That KI Guy

ORFFW history has shown us that the finals are a different beast to the home and away season and once you qualify for the finals you have got a shot at winning the premiership.

Given the home and away form this season the Devils are the favourites in their preliminary final against the Valkeries however in a couple of seasons momentum has shifted dramatically once the finals started so this should give VBV hope that they can cause an upset. The Sirens in 2021 and the Trailblazers in 2022B have both won the premiership from outside the top 2. In between those two seasons the Valkeries were underdogs against the Devils in the 2022 Grand Final and got very close to pulling off an upset victory.

All the best for the Preliminary final @That KI Guy.

 

Thanks to an administrator for updating the LSC Devils team in tsLeagues to reflect what I had posted in this thread.

Unofficial scores

Lake St Clair Devils 1,009
Defeated
Vivonne Bay Valkeries 899

Over most of the ground @That KI Guy ‘s Valkeries were more than competitive. Vivonne Bay won three of the four on field lines with their forwards defeating the Devils defenders by 25 points and the VBV defenders beating the LSC forwards by 24 points. Valkeries ruck Matilda Scholz defeated her Devils counterpart Jess Good by 62 points. Both teams had two midfielders on the bench and Lake St Clair won this battle by 20 points. Three Valkeries scored 80+, ruck Matilda Scholz (113), mid 1 Georgie Prespakis (93) and defender 2 Tanya Kennedy (84). All three VBV defenders performed well under the finals pressure to each score more than their home and away average.

Excluding the four starting midfielders Vivonne Bay outscored Lake St Clair 625 to 534 however the Devils midfield easily reeled in the 91 point deficit in a phenomenal display. The Devils starting midfield has been their greatest strength all season with this quartet averaging an ORRFW high 413 points per game. In the preliminary final the Devils starting midfielders raised the bar even higher to amass 475 points. Lake St Clair captain Jasmine Garner led the way with 131 points in a best afield performance, with fellow mids Emma Swanson (121), Claudia Whitfort (113) and Monique Conti all scoring 105 +. On the flip side the Valkeries starting midfield quartet could only manage 274 points, a 70 point decrease on their home and away average of 344 points. If the two midfields had of played to their home and away form this final would have gone right down to the wire just like the 2022 Grand Final between these two teams did.

Congratulations on making the finals @That KI Guy and commiserations on the loss. Wishing you all the best for the off-season and the 2024 ORFFW season.