It’s been a disappointing start to the game for the home side as the Smugglers have built a big lead heading into the final stages @DamoH Serengeti 642/9/71 v Christmas Island 885/10/89
The Vikings have powered ahead at the Dino Dome and will run away with an easy win against the hapless home side:- HPD 471/10/47 NV 723/9/80 @bryzza
The Buff doing their best to make a game out of this while the Smugglers are relying on Rogers and Hutchinson to bring them home @DamoH Serengeti 1157/15/77 v Christmas Island 1051/13/80
down to the wire at Mill Park with the final quarter of the round to go @choppers Bulls 1087 + Weller River Rats 1005 + Uwland, Jeffery, W Graham, Collins & Duggan
Probably some scaling to be done but I have it more in your favour......1135 to 1075.... Might have been different if the Coach had Jeffrey (95) on the ground...
Nuytsland Vikings 1,112 def Hughenden Prairie Dogs 924 The Hughenden faithful packed the home stadium looking for a win to only see the Odin curse continue with a 188 point loss. The Prairie Dogs were disappointing to say the least with only Oliver (93) and Thilthorpe (99) putting up any resistance for the home side with the revamped Vikings controlling the square through Sweet (90) and Draper (103) being enough to provide their midfield easy ball access. While it wasn’t high scoring it was the consistency of the Vikings in sharing the ball that secured the win - Scott (98), Humprey (104), Powell (85), Crouch (84) and first gamer Ashcroft (84). A lot to like about the blend of youth and maturity at the Vikings, giving them confidence the remainder of the season will be solid whereas it’s a different story for Hughenden who have more questions with no answers. A victorious Viking outfit return to Odin’s Graveyard full of confidence to take on Cormorants with Hughenden traveling to Ararat taking on the 2024 Premier with very little optimism. 3 Humphrey - Nuytsland (104) 2 Draper - Nuytsland (103) 1 Thilthorpe - Hughenden (99) BigTap – Sweet (90) over Reidy (34) @bryzza
Eden Plovers 1015 Ararat Armadillos 1364 First game under the new name playing against the 2024 premiers, had a decent outing. Jack Graham took to ruckwork quite well, filling in for Briggs who got concussed during a preseason practice match. Amon started the season well with a 122 and Close getting 76 showed why he got redrafted. But the Armadillos' consistency won out with 7 100+ and 2 in the 90s. Pendles was thrown off by having a bird on his jumper while Rozee top scored with 128. Round 2 sees us host the Bulls whilst Ararat has their first home game against Hughenden. BAFFU: Rozee 3, Amon 2, Soligo 1 Giant Tap: O'Brien 82 def Graham 53
The home town support came out in full force for the start of this new season, excited to see what the 2025 version of the Buffaloes could produce. @DamoH When TDK (148) manhandled English (58) at the first bounce, ragdolling him to the ground in a show of complete lack of respect, the excitement was starting to shift toward nervousness. Not to worry, thought the crowd when the returning Bailey Smith (147) sharked the tap and found a resurgent Toby Greene (124), all would be well in the world again. But oh how wrong they were. From Steven May not bothering to turn up, Jordan Ridley (39) getting injured (again!) and team selection not having enough care or foresight to switch out Ryan Burton (29) and Sam Powell-Pepper (18!). Then to top it all of, Lachie Neale (41) decided he wasn't quite ready for the season to start so just had a casual stroll around the park instead of actually investing in the contest. The visiting smugglers had their own challenges to deal with as Daniels followed Ridley off the ground injured and only parts of Kako the excitement machine and Draper making it onto the field. But thanks to a vintage performance from old man Boak (114) and enough support from the likes of Lever (111), Farrell (100) and an encouraging O'Driscoll (91) they had enough in the tank to hold off a very disappointing Buffalo outfit. Final Scores Christmas Island 1188 def Serengeti 1157 BAFFU 3 De Koning 148 2 Smith 147 1 Greene 124 Big Tap De Koning 148 def English 58 Next week The Buff will seek to lick their wounds as they remain home to face the high flying Bunyips while Christmas Island will return home to host the Barracudas
Unusual Suspects Lead Carnamah to First Up Win A tight first round tussle between Carnamah and King Island saw the Cormorants hold on in the last stanza to emerge victorious and kickstart their season. A seesawing match saw the visitors jump out to an early lead through workmanlike efforts from Docherty, Haynes, Redman, Impey and the impressive Nash (84). Through shear weight of numbers the Cormorants slowly chipped away at the lead and finally hit the front in the closing stages (998 to 930) despite impressive performances from Monarchs’ Macrae (127), Richards (119) and Kennedy (115). A valiant last ditch effort in the dying stages from Hough, Flynn and Ainsworth was not enough to overcome the Cormorants' lead with the home side running out victorious 1189 to 1148. If he had to speculate on who the main contributors were for Carnamah, Captain Renault would no doubt have guessed the usual suspects, Petracca, Day, Meek or even Reid. However, surprisingly to all, this day belonged to the unusual suspects De Koning (109), Rachele (107), Johnson (98) and the lesser known of the Reed/Read/Reids, Ethan Read (100). The Cormorants will be hoping for more from the usual suspects in the coming weeks if they have any chance of competing with the upper echelon teams of the league but for one day at least they can take joy in the lesser names taking the spotlight. Final Score Cormorants 1189 def Monarchs 1148 Votes 3 – Macrae (KIM) 2 – Richards (KIM) 1 – Kennedy (KIM) Big Tap Flynn (87) def Meek (78) @Tylo
Blanchetown Bunyips 1501 Def Horsham Huskies 1280 Hang on a sec, did you just say 1501? I think that might be the 2nd highest Bunyips score of all time! The Bunyips hosted the fine men from Horsham for their first battle of 2025. The home crowd were up and about keen to see their new recruits from the offseason. Locals were in awe of the peoples beard and big Maxxy might have been distracted a few times from some of the Blanchetown female supporters as they were keen to "show him your tits" on more than one occasion! Jarrod Witts clearly took advantage of the situation and outscored him in a very close battle. Down back the Bunyips launched their attack with some massive scores from Bunyip stalwarts Houston(132) and Dale(127). Ex Bunyip Max Holmes(125) was very keen to show why he should have never been traded and Jye Caldwell(129) also showed some brilliance. Up forward it was not Papley's(35) day as he failed to sneak any goals through, whilst the Wiz(100) showed the old boys how it was done. Garcia failed to turn up to the ground, which was lucky that Silvagni(100) turned up to play. Jack Ross(134) was outstanding from the bench and could be this seasons biggest improver! BOG: Witts(144) Rowell(137) Ross(134) Big Tap - Witts Cheers for the match up @Wolffy84
C Congrats. 1500 is an insane score. I was happy with 1280 but my % will take a hit. Going to be a few new teams in the top 8 in 2025.
1 1280 is a great score most weeks and the 4th highest score of the round. The top 8 might be slightly different, but I did see who scored pretty close to me as well @insider
The Barracuda's finish on 1,298/15 86.5 defeating the Anglers @eagle_eyed on 925/15 61.7 With the Magnificent Zorko move down back started the ball going, Weit, McGov and Lloyd all solid for their first hit out of the season. New recruit Liba and Corn Boy combined well through the guts and Jarrod Flavour Berry with Sharp as Nails flanked the wings. Grundy cruised, while another new recruit Membrey shone up forward, with AstroNaught not too far behind. Bedford tagged and Lynch get a week for a touch up. The visitors have started the season a little under manned. Out of defence they got man handled especially Morris. Rowbottom gave heart, Cummings pushed up, and draftee Lalor is just getting started, Dusty 2.0. Brockman might be tall but geez he’s got some work to do in the ruck. Treacy couldn’t compete with McGov and Darling did good things. At the end of the day the Barracuda’s were just too strong. BOG – The Magnificent Zorko (GEB), Membrey (GEB) & Corn Boy Cripps (GEB)
Staghorn Flat v Bueng Kan Match Report @choppers Footy returned to Mill Park as the River Rats made the long trek to the flats. Both teams were keen to start 2025 with a win after lackluster seasons in 2024. The Bulls welcomed superstar Isaac Heeney to the club to bolster a midfield that often struggled in 2024, while River Rats welcomed Jack 'cheap shot' Scrimshaw formerly a Bull to at least his 3rd FU club. The game itself was a dour affair, Nank (114) gave the Bulls first use but it was River Rat Simpkin (115) who lead the midfield scoring, Heeney on debut was solid raising the bat with 103. Injuries hit hard as Lohmann (9) did an ankle whilst the karma bus hit Scrimshaw (18) as he got ko'ed by a teammate. The Bulls defense was everywhere with Whitfield (128) and Salem (113) running amok off half back. This made up for an impotent Bulls forward line (Brad Hill) which could only muster 151 points. Despite being more consistent across the ground the River Rats with only 1 x 100 couldn't get the job done, with the Bulls running out unconvincing 33 point victors 1108 to 1075. Round 2 sees a decimated River Rat outfit staring at 0 & 2 with the byes hitting hard, whilst the Bulls will be missing some top end talent as they look to start 2 & 0 up against Eden for the first time since 2018. Big Tap Nank 114 SFB d Cameron 74 BKRR Votes 3. L Whitfield 128 SFB 2. J Simpkin 115 BKRR 1. T Nankervis 114 SFB