ORFFA Round 5 review – Terry’s Round The late great Freddie Mercury once decreed that the show must go on, no matter the state of one’s heart. As our ORFFA show indeed rolled on – and rolled into Round 5 - our collective hearts and minds were perhaps elsewhere. That said, let’s take a look at the state of play after the weekend’s matches. And we’ll start, perhaps appropriately, with a look at a victorious Whitsunday Warriors effort. Whitsunday 994 d Iron Knob 732 The Warriors notched a comfortable win and a low-scoring match up against the Codpieces. Only one century in sight for the Warriors – Mr Cameron’s 119 leading the way. Support from the likes of Smith, Andrews and Mitch Hinge pushed Whitsunday to within sight of 1000. The imminent return of Jarrod Witts will add further steel to the line-up Iron Knob, like a number of ORFFA teams, have been hit hard by injuries and absences. Batting three short and losing Spargo (4) early made it tough for churchboy’s mob. Jack Macrae (112) did his bit, while Rachele (95) continues to show a bit up forward. The Warriors move to 3-2, while the Codpieces are yet to break their duck for 2023. The Tiki Bar celebrates. Charlies Opening 1375 d Dunsborough 1146 The resurgent Spelunkers break into the top three on the ORFFA ladder with their fourth consecutive win, this time over the Dung Beetles. Blakey, Bont, Naicos and Zerrett – this glorious mangle of names notched nearly 550 between them and helped propel to cave divers upward to dizzy near-1400 point heights. Speaking of height, Sean Darcy joined the fun too. Vertigo may ensue. For the Beetles, the progress continues. Aliir’s (105) form has been magnificent, Big Ned (117) matched Darcy in the ruck, and Son-Son turned back the clock (106). 4-1 for Bandit’s mob and heady times, with plenty of youth continuing to improve. Like the Codpieces, the Dung Beetles are yet to taste success in 2023 … patience, grasshopper (not the Gundagai kind, we’ll get to them in a moment). Foul Bay 1329 d Cradle Mountain 1203 The Chooks are cruising nicely, with 10 scores of more than 80 more than enough to register win number four for the season – 126 points to the better of the Devils. Sheezel (gesundheit) continues to lead the way in the ORFFA Rising Star count; young Harry’s even 100 among six tons for Chief’s troop. Yeah, there’s plenty to like about the Chooks with good scoring and depth across all lines. In response, dmandrews’ Devils got plenty of decent contributions but just couldn’t find enough players to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Tim English (139) extended his lead in the Les W, with another five-vote performance seeing him kick seven votes clear after only five rounds. Fellow ruckman Rohan Marshall (123) tried his best to make the twin towers approach a winner, but only Hopper (115) and Zorko (110) followed him to three figures. Special mention to Jack Riewoldt, who literally spilt blood – a lot of blood – but to little avail. Gariwerd 1124 d Birdsville 1075 The Cockies make it two in a row and sit, unsatisfyingly (or maybe satisfyingly, if that’s your thing) in ninth with a percentage of 99.9 after a 99 point …. no, a 49-point win over the Battlers. Laird and Miller led the scoring, and Gariwerd’s midfield, with 135 and 127 respectively. Sam Draper’s hair scored 103, while Taylor Walker’s hair played a supporting role with 95. For the Battlers, Adam Cerra’s 106 and Tom Doedee’s 107 were well supplemented by Josh, um, Battle, with 103. Appropriate. Moore and Ryan topped 90, a few others were a little less helpful. A big effort will be needed next week against those afore-mentioned Grasshoppers. Speaking of which … Gundagai 1481 d Wineglass Bay 1143 Dawson and Neale. Neale and Dawson. Jordan and Lachie shared their own footy, or actually probably had one each given their scores (152 and 176). A bit frightening to be honest. What else? Well, a lot actually. Blicavs, Grundy, Cogs, Clayton, and Oscar Allen all notched tons. That’s a few tons and quite a few points. Those who didn’t score that much included Cripps, Mills and Rankine – so its not like they can’t step up. Yeah, frightening. The Packers got plenty from Taylor (115) and the hugely-improved Liam Baker (113). The Other Daicos/Jaicos is clearly no mug either (101) while Andrew McGrath’s 104 led Wineglass Bay’s defence. Van Rooyen and Long look like great young talents, among a number of great young talents the Packers possess. Waikikamoocow 1248 d Larrikin Lagoon 964 Graeme’s mob made it two in a row with a comfortable win over the Lefties. Tom Papley, hey? Six goals, what seemed like 120 possessions (at least to this Richmond supporter anyway) and 140 points. Shakes head, wonders where young Tom’s opponent may be. But it wasn’t all about Mr Papley. Josh Dunkley (133), Brad Crouch (116), Titch (107) and Braeden Campbell (105) did their bit. Mitch Owens (84) is indeed a Rising Star. Leading the Lefties were Noah Anderson (109), Jermaine Jones (101) and James Worpel (100). Darcy Wilmot looks the goods, let’s be honest. Lots of youngsters, lots of ups and downs. Dare we say patience, again? Wagga Wagga 1184 d Lovely Banks 1100 Wombat joy and a top four spot on the ORFFA ladder as Lenny’s marsupials win a close one over Lovely Banks. The unexpected figure of Lachie Schultz led the Wombats, however his 124 was only the fourth best score in this game (more on that in a second). Cumming and Shiel each scored 104, but what really made the difference were six 90+ scores – Langdon and Rozee leading a consistent effort and making up for a 17 in the ruck from Scott Lycett. As for Jen’s mob, scores of 156, 144 and 135 would normally be the headliners of a winning ORFFA score. Alas, the efforts of Messers Wilkie, Heeney and Stewart couldn’t cover all manner of other issues. A trio of injuries (Switkowski, Stengle and Stanley) served as a warning for anyone with their surname starting with S. The horribly hobbled Lilacs look forward to the hoped-for arrival of some reinforcements in coming weeks. Marble Bar 1210 d Venus Bay 1060 The Misfits’ third win was a true team effort, with plenty of contributors ensuring they stayed in touch with the top eight after a 150-point win over the Vultures. Only three tons – to Lloyd, Taranto and Weller – to Len’s Misfits, but nine other scores over 70 were the difference. Special mention to Matthew Flynn too – the big man’s near 20-point jump in scoring across the early stages of this season bodes well for the future. Fitzy’s Vultures struggled for consistency. Houston, Greene and Joe D led the way, but unlike the Misfits, the remainder of Venus Bay’s scoring was far more up and down. A doughnut on the bench also stung the Vultures. Again, let’s hope for reinforcements soon. Nareewillock 1253 d Mount Beauty 1153 The Nuffers sit fifth having already matched their win total for the entire 2022 season after a 100-point win over Mount Beauty. This week it was Caleb Serong (146) who led the scoring, with Matthew Rowell (109) the only other centurion. Again though, consistency was key – 10 other players scored 70+ as coach Chris looked on rather incredulously. After all, this can’t last given the Nuffers only have 17 functioning players at the best of times. The Uglies’ Zac Butters matched Caleb Serong’s 146, while Rioli, Petracca, Viney, Walsh and Fogarty all scored between 100 and 110. Unfortunately, Cotchin and Zurhaar had games they’d perhaps not write home about, while the absence of a full time ruckman also hurt bama’s team. Next week’s match-up with Venus Bay shapes as an intriguing one for the Uglies. The Ladder Gundagai sit atop the whole shebang, undefeated and averaging 80 points more per week than the next highest scoring team – the second placed Foul Bay. A couple of interlopers in the Spelunkers and Nuffers sit third and fifth, either side of the Wombats. The Devils, Cows and Vultures round out the eight. At the other end of the ladder, Iron Knob and Dunsborough continue to take their licks as their squads continue to develop. Les W The Devils’ Tim English has opened up a big lead, with 23 votes. Naicos is next with 16, followed by Touk Miller with 15, Jezza Cameron and Rory Laird with 14 each. Rising Star Harry Sheezel and Mitch Owens lead the way, both already having topped 400 points. Ashcroft, Michalanney and Phillipou round out the top five. Fittingly, during Gather Round, we did indeed gather ‘round to pay our respects to Terry. Farewell mate, we miss you.
fine penpersonship here Chris, thank you. Gotta say I particularly enjoyed the bit you did not enjoy writing!
Awwwwww........loved that Chris. Too much Hopper talk, kinda shat the bed last year, but the TiB sentiment brought tears again. Cheers mate xxx
Great write up mate, fitting that the Warriors took the win for the boss. Spelunkers just going about their business, interesting game this week against the nuffers and some dude with 1000 monkeys