<p style='color: #424242;]I love Where Are They At threads. It's a chance for a loud-mouthed, ill-informed pundit to back-seat drive all over the list-management decisions of other coaches he has no quarter speaking on. And given the midseason period is fast approaching, what better time to start the long-range sniping.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]/Portals/0/User%20Images/ORFFL/TLP.png


<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]TARWIN LOWER PIGS
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]It's said that the night is darkest just before the dawn, which is erroneous because the night is actually darkest in its middle at around 2 am. The question is at what point are the TLP at in their long sleep? Probably around about 2 am on the rebuild/premiership clock, though that's not say that their dark night of the managerial soul persists without flickers of hope. Which is no doubt the proverbial meaning of that irrelevant digression above.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]I'm quite strong on the opinion that some positions on the ORFFL field are harder to fill than others. M5's are a dime a dozen. D1's and F1's on the other hand are always in short supply. In Docherty, Lever, Hogan and Stringer Tarwin Lower have 4 8-10 year players some of the hardest to fill positions on a team list.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]An injury free Hogan strolling into TLP's FWD line as a ready-made CHF or Dunstan and Sheed continuing their steady progression in the midfield aren't the revelations of the 2015 season for me though. That belongs to Elliot Yeo's last 3 weeks of football. Normally a move from DEF to MID forecasts significant loss of value to your team, yet even if Yeo's position shifts upfield in 2016, if he keeps playing like he has been in the midfield like he has been it's a major windfall for the Pigs.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]189cm MIDs with pace, skills, overhead marking and prodigious inside games don't grown on trees. Combine Yeo with a probable Mills/Keays in the '16 PSD and the Pigs have a duo with a little something extra to counterbalance the solid but unspectacular inside games of Sheed and Dunstan and the greater sizzle to steak ratios of Smith and Polec.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]The question going into the mid-season break for the Pigs is to put it bluntly; Ayce Cordy? Do they lock in a guy who will be a RUC in 2016 (and likely a playing one), or opt for best available, filling a less urgent vacancy on their list or attempting to parlay that currency into a better RUC prospect than the afore mentioned Cordy? Either way with McIntosh, Lobb and Giles not featured and an average score of less than 1000 points in 2016, it's an issue that TLP need to address for their short, medium and long term benefit.
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<p style='color: #424242;]/Portals/0/User%20Images/ORFFL/BDB.jpg
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]BONNIE DOON BANDITS
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]If Tarwin Lower are staring down a dark night Bonnie Doon are lost in deep space drifting towards a black hole with only Brodie Grundy looking at pulling a McConaughey-style crisis aversion. RUC's averaging 95+ with 10 years left in their careers are as rare as hen's teeth. Other than Grundy and recent acquisition Crisp, it's been a tale of stagnation and stuttering improvement for BDB's 2015.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Down back Hibberd has gone backwards in his scoring with Essendon now boasting a plethora of players who can kick sideways, while Rampe is suffering for Malceski's departure to GCS. Up FWD Tippett and Wellingham have both enjoyed a rise from 2014 scoring levels, but one thinks not enough to warrant considerable trade interest.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]The cold hard truth is that the Bandits need a massive influx of young talent to complement Coniglio, Grundy, De Goey, Crisp and Caddy. Menzel and Green show signs, but given their respective AFL sides they won't be seeing much of the ball come their way if they stay in the FWD line. And no ball = no points.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]What compounds this bitter truth is that the BDB have precious little currency to speculate with in the ORFFL marketplace. Tippett provides an option for a team in contention needing a FWD option that can score big, yet I think Thompson - if he can keep his average above the 100 point line, could provide the biggest draw for a team attempting to make a finals push in the back half of 2015.
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<p style='color: #424242;]/Portals/0/User%20Images/ORFFL/POO.jpg
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]POOWONG POTOROOS
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]As I have previously iterated, Poowong is not a one man team. But take 2 MIDs (Greenwood and Brad Crouch) averaging 94ppg and one who generally averages 130+ (Guess who?) out of action and replace them with a 21yo who's barely played 10 games in Jong, a 28yo journeyman in White and whatever else you can manage to scrounge up on short notice, and you're looking at a major shortfall in the most productive scoring area of the ground.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]This deficit is compounded with Malceski's move north, loss of form and then injury and Hawkins no longer getting the midfield service he's grown accustomed to through out his career. To top it all off, the new scoring calculation has not exactly been a boon to Pototoroos RUC Pyke.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]After featuring in last year's grand final, Poowong looked to be loading up for another crack at a flag drafting Fisher in R1 (and reaping much reward in that investment). From there the Potoroos largely selected players in the 21-22yo age group, bolstering the group of Darling, McKenzie, Crouch, Crouch and Kelly with Brown, Stewart and the 190cm midfield dynamo Lin Jong.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Sitting at 1-5 six weeks into the season, with Ablett still on the sidelines, winning 8 out of the next eleven games to conceivably qualify for the finals doesn't seem likely. Going into the mid season period Poowong need to assess whether this list is capable of winning a flag in 2016 and as a collary how many of their current list will feature. Wise to contemplate it now; the midseason has always been more of a buyer's market.
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<p style='color: #424242;]/Portals/0/User%20Images/ORFFL/JIM.jpg
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]JIMCUMBILLY JACKRABBITS
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Cripps. How can a 20yo who showed 3/5ths of stuff all last season be your best player? Sorry, that was more an exasperated question of the Carlton Football Club than Jimcumbilly. He is though the way forward for the Jackrabbits as both the type of player they need and a pointer to how and where to find such players.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]At the competition's inception in 2012 Jimcumbilly were generally regarded as a contender for the inaugural ORFFL premiership. Bad luck, injuries to key players and inconsistent back-up saw them narrowly miss the finals that year, but I think coming into season '13 there was still a widely held opinion that they had a best team that could challenge if the gods went their way. And then it happened again. And again. Now sitting at 1-6 it's about time that Jimcumbilly truly assess where they're at in terms of the life-cycle of a fantasy football club (actually this does have clear parallels to the Carlton Football Club).
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Devon Smith, Patrick Cripps, Christian Salem, Angus Brayshaw, Daniel McKenzie, Angus Litherland. These are the names that will be around when the Jackrabbits are challenging for glassware again. Jimcumbilly coach Ange needs to focus on building a competitive under 23 team and see what they can do about turning fading stars like Lucas Niell into draft currency and player opportunity.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Obtaining Cripps with P64 in the '13 PSD was a masterstroke and the Jackrabbits will need plenty more like that if they're to complete the picture. Boyd, Dal Santo, Swan and Gibson are all past 30yo and would all have some worth to other teams in 2015 and perhaps beyond (not across their AFL contract situation). If Jimcumbilly could turn even just a couple of these players into 3-4 players into promising Rory Laird types they'll be well on their way to a young nucleus that will be the foundation of their next championship attempting team.
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<p style='color: #424242;]/Portals/0/User%20Images/ORFFL/GLE.jpg
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]GLENROWAN GUNSLINGERS
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Injuries befall all teams in the ORFFL, some teams cover and continue, others simply can't. At 2-6, it's become clear that Glenrowan can't in 2015. Bartel missing isn't ideal and hurts their IC line, but O'Meara out for the season puts a puncture hole in their middle that they just can't stitch back together. And when Brodie Smith keeps getting knocked out, the Gunslingers DEF line becomes uncompetitive.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Preseason I invariably predict great things for Glenrwoan in the coming season because at full strength the Gunslingers are a formidable unit. Formidable and young. And yet every year a couple of their key players get put into the stands and they start to flounder. Player/points depth has been an issue that has troubled Glenrowan since 2012.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]And the reason it has continued to trouble the Gunslingers is stark - and rather obvious when you think about it: O'Meara aside, they haven't added a B15 player to their originally drafted list. While I admire coach Doobs' reluctance to trade away what is some of the best young talent in the land, the fact remains that if he can't improve his team at the draft table, they're not going to get any better and all that young talent will go to waste in a middle of the road team.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]It's said that fortune favours the brave, but seeing Glenrowan having scored the 8th most points in the league so far the Gunslingers and yet sitting in 14th, it would seem to me in this instance fortune favours the conservative and well-prepared. I expect Glenrowan to take someone both playing and scoring at the MSD and make a late charge at the finals in the back half of the year.
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<p style='color: #424242;]/Portals/0/User%20Images/ORFFL/WOY.jpg
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]WOY WOY WIZARDS
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Reigning champion Woy Woy are experiencing what we call in the ORFFL a premiership hangover. I know that feel. 15 players out of a squad of 26 are suffering some kind of points drop from season 2014 to now. One of them (not naming names) is so disgusted by his recent form that he's going all Heath Scotland on them at the midseason break. Where does this leave the Wizards defence of the premiership? In tatters. In tattered old rags that will soon retire and go on to help fight fires.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]It has long been known that when other teams zigged, Woy Woy went and exhumed the body of beloved Australian clown Zag and enquired whether he would like to don the Wizards guernsey and run around kicking a football on the weekends. Has this strategy been a success? Indubitably. They've won a flag. How many other coaches can say that?
<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Will it continue to be a success? Only time will tell and the clock I'm looking at appears to have run out of batteries.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Even discounting Kane Cornes likely replacement at the MSD, come the turn of the '16 season the Wizards could be the first team in ORFFL history to have their entire delistment requirements taken out of their hands. I know I've said this before about Woy Woy , but this time I'm super serious. Fletcher, Firrito, Rhyce Shaw, Winderlich, Chapman, Goodes, Matt Thomas, Foley and Cross are all candidates to hang up their boots in the real. That's 9 names. Over a third of the squad.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]What I find most confounding about the Wizards list management is that they are clearly capable of spotting young talent, and disciplined in retaining it. Whitfield is week by week proving his P2 selection in the '13 PSD was warranted, Greene is fluctuating but still a very worthwhile investment and Tom McDonald, drafted at P56 in the '12 MSD, is the best key DEF in fantasy terms since - I wanna say, Chad Chornes during his mid-2000's hey day. A decade ago.
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<p style='color: #424242;][span style='letter-spacing: 0px;]Woy Woy's task is seemingly to replace that possible loss of a third of their squad with players that will complement those 3 players. Which sounds like a tough ask, but I dare say trying to replace those 9 players points out put from last season would be even tougher.
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ORFFL 2015 STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 7

<table cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' style='color: #444444; margin-bottom: 10px;]
<tbody>

<td class='LadderHeader center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]Pos
Club
P
W
L
D
F
A
%
Form
pts



<td class='LadderCell center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]1
Sarah Island Savages
7
6
1
0
9994
8782
113.80%
WLWWW
24



<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]2
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate ' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: left;]Mallacoota Magicians
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]7
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]6
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]1
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]0
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8828
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8252
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]106.98%
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]WWWWL
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]24



<td class='LadderCell center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]3
Humpty Doo Hammerheads
7
6
1
0
8805
7958
110.64%
WLWWW
24



<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]4
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate ' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: left;]Mount Buggery Disappointments
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]7
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]5
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]2
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]0
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]9048
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8627
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]104.88%
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]WWLWW
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]20



<td class='LadderCell center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]5
Coulta Couldabeens
7
4
3
0
8904
8534
104.34%
LLWLW
16



<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]6
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate ' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: left;]Queenstown Quolls
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]7
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]4
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]3
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]0
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8881
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8126
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]109.29%
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]LWWWW
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]16



<td class='LadderCell center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]7
Bundalong Bullfrogs
7
4
3
0
8819
8426
104.66%
WWLLW
16



<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate ' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: left;]Milikapati Snakes
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]7
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]4
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]3
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]0
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8740
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8945
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]97.71%
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]LLWWW
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]16



<td class='LadderCell center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]9
Smiths Beach Seagulls
7
4
3
0
8702
8109
107.31%
LLWWL
16



<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]10
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate ' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: left;]Warburton Wanderers
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]7
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]4
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]3
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]0
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8573
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]8394
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]102.13%
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]WWWLW
<td class='LadderCell LadderAlternate center' style='background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]16



<td class='LadderCell center' style='background-color: #dddddd; padding: 2pt 2pt 2pt 5pt; border: 0px; text-align: center;]11
<td class='La