ORFFA Round 4 Review COVID Round brought with it a few upsets, scores at both ends of the spectrum and results that emphasised the evenness across the competition at this early stage of the season. Birdsville 1258 d Gundagai 1229 JC's Battlers squared their season at 2-2 and consigned the Hoppers to their first defeat of the season in what was probably the match of the round. Birdsville's backs led from the front, if that makes sense, through Witherden (127) and Chapman (118). Smith (122) did his usual, and the emerging Moore and Rowbottom did enough to make Birdsville more than competitive. However the big news came from the other side of the contest, with the all-conquering Patrick Cripps (38) lost to injury early. Arguably the defining moment of the game, despite the best efforts of the Hoppers' Mills, Grundy, Neale, Blicavs and Powell. The Hoppers' depth will be tested (well, maybe just slightly tested, it is the Hoppers after all) in coming weeks. Reckon they'll probably be OK though. Wineglass Bay 1227 d Marble Bar 1195 Hmmm. Well then. In the other match of the round, Tracey's Packers side recorded its first win of the season - and picked a pretty good week to do so as well. Six centuries, led by George Hewitt's 120, propelled Wineglass Bay beyond 1200 for the second straight week. Round 2's sub 1000 core seems a long way away right now, especially with Braydon Preuss seemingly locked in as starting ruck and repaying Tracey handsomely. For Len, less an orange tsunami and more a gentle orange tide (Tim Taranto aside of course). Defenders Zac Williams (135) and Caleb Daniel (113) did their best to turn back the Wineglass Bay tide (see what I did there) but their efforts were King Canute-esque as Len's Misfits continued their up and down start to the season. Whitsunday 1331 d Cradle Mountain 1180 Well then. Again. Terry's Warriors notched the high score of the round and in doing so made a bit of a mess of the reigning premiers. Jarrod Witts was the headline story here - 154 points and a ton of hit-outs for midfielders Boak (117), Harmes (118) and Smith (129) to feast on. Even the nausea-induced early exit for Ollie Wines (53) couldn't stop the Whitsundays making it two on the trot. Steele, Pendles and Rich were, as usual, reliable for the Devils, and Gresham continued his fine early season form. But things fell away a bit after that (looking at you Messers Gunston, Zorko, Bowey and Marshall). The Cradle Mountain-Birdsville Round 5 match-up promises to be a cracker. Mt Beauty 1233 d Dunsborough 958 OK, so if Jarrod Witts had a good day, big Maxy had a picnic, birthday, Easter and Christmas all at once. The bearded giant was everywhere for the Uglies,160 points of vintage Gawn a big factor in what ended up being a comfortable win. Shout outs to a number of other players with tons - Young, Maynard, Ellis, Viney and Walsh. Oh and of course Mr Rioli, who looks like he is now a born defender. A few doughnuts unfortunately blighted the Beetles' efforts, though May, Hind and McStay did their best. A re-examination of Dunsborough's bench may be in order, with DBJ and Edwards among those warming the pine despite registering scores in that other comp we won't mention but whose initials are the AFL. Charlie's Opening 1036 d Larrikin Lagoon 981 I've spent five minutes trying to figure out how the Cave Dwellers might've won this one but am still a bit flummoxed to be honest. Three players short, a non-functioning ruck and with a couple of down games from others, yet those who did turn up somehow made up for the shortfall in numbers. Bont was Bont, Daicos went bang, Short went long and Jackson (who is a ruck, though also not a ruck for the Spelunkers this week) continued his frightening progress towards R/F domination. Andrew Brayshaw and Sean Darcy - also a ruck but on the bench this week - were pretty handy too. The Lefties were left ruing what might've been, given big efforts from Brodie (135), the improved Simpkin (114) and Mr Anderson (111). An average game from any of Xerri, MacDonald, Worpel or a couple of others might've been enough to propel the Lefties to win number two. Alas, it wasn't to be. Waikikamoocow 1243 d Nareewillock -4000 Yeah look, probably not a good time to compare the efforts of the shorthanded Nuffers with the shorthanded Spelunkers. Starting the game two players short and finishing it about five short is OK if you have other guys scoring lots of points. Alas, Braeden Campbell (110) was the only player thoughtful enough to notch a ton for the Nuffers, who watched the usual turnstile of mediocrity become a revolving door of utter ineptitude and injury. Horne-Francis looks like he can play though. For the Waikiks, the walk in the park allowed Dion Prestia (112) to return without fear of an opponent, while Titch, Dunks, Burton and Bonner continued their fine form. There are reasons why the Incorrigibles are 4-0 - consistency, depth, a functioning ruck ... like the look of this mob and there is clearly no need for them to pursue any of the Nuffers' first round draft picks at all. Venus Bay 1216 d Iron Knob 1036 Speaking of undefeated (there's a segue), the Vultures perch atop the ORFFA tree right now after a comfortable win over the Codpieces. It was a case of no ruck, no probs for Venus Bay, as Fitzy's backline rose to the challenge - Docherty (135), Dale (115), Crisp (132) leading the way. Hell, even Nathan Broad (96) is averaging over 100 thus far this season as he plays the best football of his much-underrated career. Noted ruck fill-in Marcus Adams is likely to make way for some big O dude in time for Round 5. Iron Knob's young forwardline looks imposing - Martin, Rachelle and King all stars in the making and already scoring well. Macrae (158) in the middle rolls on, while Jack Sinclair (135) is enjoying a fine season. Big Mabior Chol looks set for a senior game too, especially given Iron Knob were short 1 x De Goey and 1 x Shuey this week. Gariwerd 1303 d Wagga Wagga 972 Gariwerd made it three in a row and staked a claim on a top four spot with an easy win over the Wombats. There were points everywhere for the Cockatoos. 13 players scored 70+ (Holmes and Hurn clearly in the gun at the selection table for Round 5), with Laird's 143 leading the way. A nod to Tex (107) in his return, while Drew and Ross were far from idle with healthy points production as emergencies ... a bit of depth there. Sicily (113) and Cumming (119) led the Wombats - the former seemingly not missing a beat in his return after a long layoff. The midfield and forwardline remain works in progress though - albeit with enough bright spots however to offer encouragement. Foul Bay 1269 d Lovely Banks 1188 The Chooks' older contingent - which is quite a few players if we are being honest - enjoyed winding back the clock to their youth as they moved to 2-2 with a hard-fought win over the Lilacs. The weekend sunshine perhaps agreed with Goldy (114), Hawkins (120), Saad (129), Liberatore (115) and assorted other senior Chooks, though it would be remiss not to mention the efforts of whippersnappers like Jordon and Silvagni (not Serge, and not Steve either). Jamie Elliot looms as a big loss with injury however, so Foul Bay's depth could come into play. The Lilacs overcame the late withdrawal of Tom Stewart, but their forwards were clearly blinded by something, with the likes of Taberner and Larkey simply unable to mark the ball as it came downfield. Suggestions that bright lilac facemasks worn by some of the Lilacs players have been refuted by coach Jen - though this correspondent isn't so sure. Meanwhile, Heeney (131) continued on his merry way, Pickett (109) is enjoying some sort of season, and Parish (121) keeps on keeping on. Messers O'Driscoll and Stengle may find their way into the Lilacs' starting 15 pretty soon.
What's the least number of players anyone has fielded in a ORFFA game? I reckon the Nuffers may come close to matching whatever record that might be this week.
Nice chris, very nice given the lashes you received this round. Reckon there is a conspiracy to make sure the cows don't get a decent MSD pick.
Cheers Chris - great write up !! Yep the Hoppers are a little wounded at the moment. Not to mention a crappy forward line.
Great penmanship @chris88 I too am flummoxed as to how we pulled out the win... and it is now confirmed that I should have persisted for one more year with Brodie... Mike has cashed in! I am not as optimistic this week... but as they say in the classics, a week is a long time in football
Cracking stuff @chris88 Yeah im all aboard the flummoxed train. Lefties going backwards in a big way.
Great stuff, @chris88 . Unlucky @snoz . The way Cripps was going, you'd have won comfortably. I'm just happy the Battlers are posting the odd competitive score. Didn't happen often last year!
Chris you bring messages of Joy to the Ugly follower here. Now that’s a write up ! Cue the hard to achieve two wins in a row. Onwards & upwards PS Can Bar needs urgent restocking
'Twas a one-off greatly accepted gift from the footy gods. Normal programming will resume this week. Thank you Chris.