And then there were four. With the first week of the inaugural ORFFL finals series over we find, as expected, just four teams remaining in the hunt for ultimate fantasy glory. Warburton. Milikapati. Sarah Island. Poowong. All pressed their claims to ORFFL supremacy over the weekend, and yet there can be only one. Who will it be?



Read on, dear traveller.



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WARBURTON WANDERERS1380 DefMOUNT BUGGERY DISAPPOINTMENTS1016



DOMINATION at Wallyville, Warburton crushing a hapless Mount Buggery by a gargantuan 364 points. Staggering to think they accomplished a score of such magnitude in the pressure cooker atmosphere of finals with a player short. How did they accomplish this feat? Murphy (187, avg. 116), Griffen (170, avg. 106) and Hale (151, avg. 97) went all tropical over the 'Pointers, ably supported by sedater hungies from Chornes (108, avg. 87) and Sylvia (112, avg. 93). In point of fact, the Wanderers FWD line, already leagues best practice, scored a mammoth 466 points on the weekend. That's an avg. of over 116 per player. Larry David-esque huge.



In the face of adversity Mount Buggery were...well...yeah. It is known that injuries have not been kind to them, but then neither have the players they have put on the field either. Well, some. Top-liners Goldstein (121, avg. 97), Roughead (127, avg. 106) and Sidebum (115, avg. 106) played honourable games, but received precious little help from their teammates. Missing Ward (avg. 107), the 'Pointers badly needed Stanton (72, avg. 106) and yet he could not. Comparing his 1st half of the season (avg. 130) his 2nd (avg. 82), something has gone horribly wrong for the man once dubbed 'NewGary'.







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MILIKAPATI SNAKES1349 DefCOULTA COULDABEENS 1085



A gulf in class exist between these two sides, with Milikapati comfortable 264 point winners over Coulta in their first up elimination final. First year dynamo, and unanimous ORFFL Ascending Stellar Object, Toby Green (165, avg. 94) was magnificent in his return from a one week layoff, Kelly (135, avg. 104) likewise from his same. Jack (120, avg. 115) has clearly joined the l33t MID's in the competition this year, while Lids (104, avg. 117) and Pav (103, avg. 111) continued on with what they've been doing for years. That one-two punch has been a real weapon for the Snakes this year; nary another side in the ORFFL can boast having both a 110+ DEF and a 110+FWD, let alone a 110+ MID to boot. A very well balanced side.



Coulta, on the other hand, were unable to replicate their fortune of weeks past; putting in a performance that lacked for highlights. Priddis (107, avg. 110) remained a model of consistency pulling in his 10th hungy in a row for the Couldabeens, Boris Enright (106, avg. 93) also managing to get on up in to triple figures. But that's where it ended for the Couldabeens, Scotland (64, avg. 100) down on his usual output, Zaha (45, avg. 94) labouring under a return from a 7 week injury time out, and Scarlett (38, avg. 78) starting to score more like a regular KPD in the latter half of the year. A disappointing result for the Couldabeens no doubt, the nervous wait for news of retirements in the post season now awaits.







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MALLACOOTA MAGICIANS1226 Def byPOOWONG POTOROOS1325



SHA-BAM! A result I honestly did not expect from the outset, the mighty Poowong Potoroos defeating the more fancied Mallacoota by 99 points. This pundit wants to make clear that he doesn't consider Poowong to be a one man team. Because Gary (189, avg. 140) is arguably as good as two men on a good day and one and half on a bad one. Which when you round up like I do, is two. Hawkins (130, avg. 95) continued to break out as a KPF, the rarest kind of fantasy break out, while SJ (102, avg. 97), Sewell (107, avg. 101) and Darling (106, avg. 77) also cracked the hundred point mark. In truth it was a gripping and tightly contested match for much of the weekend, the tipping point coming with Mattner's 77 on Sunday, his 2nd highest score in red, white and blue. A clearer portent I have not yet come across.



Was it bad luck that caused Mallacoota's demise in 2012? Or something more tangible and together more troubling? Oh, to be fly on the wall for the Magicians' post-season review! Only 2 players for Mallacoota avg. more than 100 ppg, and McEvoy (126, avg. 105) and Redden (140, avg. 102) were the only 2 to score hundreds on the weekend. For a team I consider to be loaded with talent (and a little bit of the deadest wood), this early exit to their campaign will sting. I see their list in good hands though, and young enough to challenge for many years to come.



Unless Johnny does something stupid at the trade table.







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SARAH ISLAND SAVAGES1386 DefMERTON MEERKATS1260



A far closer match than the one staged earlier in the year, Sarah Island still proving far too strong in the end though, defeating Merton by 126 points. Simmo (156, avg. 96) picked up a lot of touch in the outing, Mundy (117, avg. 85) appears to be running into some genuine form at the death, and Waite (123, avg. 92) may actually reach his 11 game season quota if things go to plan. JPK (117, 121), BJ (116, avg. 101) and Minson also made their way past 100 points, as is their want. To Milikapati!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Merton lost the match, but in all seriousness I think have been the story of the ORFFL this year. I'm unsure if you can revolutionise something that's never been spun before, but Merton's strategy of picking 15 guys from the same AFL team has got to come close, at least in metaphor. Despite their departure from the finals on the weekend, any rational judge would have to say that it's worked by and large. This is a team that has scored less than 1200 points only once since Round 6, and it must be remembered that Richmond had the toughest of opening draws this year. It's worth remembering that a champion* team will beat a team of champions*. Is Richmond/Merton that champion* team?



*champion defined as good scoring champion data rankings points.







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