Jeebus, none of my players have come close to scoring 157 in a single game. I reckon I have at least a few whose aggregate to date isn't even 157...
While we concentrate on individual efforts from last weeks CD tweet when averaging 169 CD Ranking Points (ie SC) to this week when she is averaging 194 Ranking Points Bowers must have gone agonisingly close to breaking the Champion Data triple century ! I will have a look tonight but I reckon K.B. has blown the previous Draftstars/AFL Fantasy record out of the water.That effort would be right up there with Brooke Lochland's 7 goals for the Dogs in AFLW 2.0 for statistical brilliance. Emma Kearney also had a blinder and jointly the 2 of them knocked Bathurst superstar Ally Anderson back to 1 vote in the ORFFW MVP votes in the Falcons vs Belles match. This allowed Manildra's own Ebony Marinoff to sneak ahead of Ally by 1 vote with a 5 vote display in the Mystix vs Valkeries clash. Vivonne Bay's Erin Phillips completed the podium in 3rd place.
Two rounds into the 2019 ORFFW season you could have written your own ticket on the Lake St Clair Devils making the finals let alone finishing second on the ladder. At that stage of the season the Lake St Clair Devils were last on the ladder, having lost their first two games, were ranked last for points scored with 799 and also had the worst percentage at 83.4% with only one other club having a percentage of less than 95%. In Round 1 Manildra Mystix defeated the LSC Devils by 105 points and this was followed by a 55 point lost to the Tenterfield Termites in Round 2. After being at full-strength in Round 1 LSC Devils captain and first round draft selection Chelsea Randall was a late out with hamstring tightness in Round 2. After Round 2 the Devils were two games behind the top three teams who all had an advantage of 110+ in the points scored category. The LSC match committee debated replacing Emma Zielke with Nat Exon for the M3 spot in Round 2 but decided to persevere with Zielke. After scoring 25 in Round 2 Zielke was dropped for Round 3 and replaced with Exon. In the final three rounds of the season Devils midfielders Paxman, Hooker and Exon between them had six 80+ scores from a maximum of nine including Round 4 when the trio all scored 80+. With the midfield firing the LSC Devils turned their season around and won their last three games of the season to amazingly finish second on the ORFFW ladder after having been fifth after Round 4. Lake St Clair have had some with luck with injuries and suspension, being at full strength in four games with the only exception being when Randall was a late out in Round 2, and have also had some other results go their way when they didn’t have control over their own destiny. At the conclusion of the home and away season the LSC Devils were one game behind the Manildra Mystix who they lost to in Round 1 and level with three teams on three wins but won the tie-breaker due to having the most points scored of these four teams. LSC ranked fourth in the ORFFW for points scored with an average of 446.6 points per game and had the third highest percentage. The 2019 Lake St Clair Devils have followed in the footsteps of their ORFFA counterparts – the Cradle Mountain Devils who recovered from a slow start in 2018 before finishing the season strongly to clinch a finals berth with a final round victory after other results went their way. Strong midfields are a feature of the Devils franchise with the LSC Devils three midfielders Paxman, Hooker and Exon all averaging more than 70 points per game after six CMD mids averaged 90+ in 2018. One major difference between the two Devils teams is that the CMD Devils are renowned for being involved in close games however every ORFFW game of the LSC Devils had a margin of over 50 points despite these games being lower scoring. LSC’s three wins were by in order 78 points, 72 points and 71 points, so the Devils have definitely peaked at the right time but cut it very fine in terms of qualifying for the finals.
The final round of ORFFW action saw thrills, spills and another 3 teams eliminated on a day of tense drama and live stat watching unlikely to be repeated until the final round of ORFFW action in 2020. Firstly LSC @dmandrews continued an impressive form turnaround (as detailed above) as they notched their 3rd consecutive win in style with another strong team perfomance leaving their club in 2nd position due to a number of favorable results in other games. The defeated Belles were once again hitting up Erin McKinnons phone with dozens of unanswered text messages before they called on Brit Gibson to again battle it out as an undersized ruck. Bathurst's 5th loss left them without a win in season 2019 and was compounded by a questionable coaching decision not to hide Emma Kearney in the back pocket and the decision ultimately cost Ally Anderson the MVP award by a vote. Word is Ally burst into tears and couldn't be in the same room as both @Len and Emma during days 1, 2 and 3 of the Belles month long Mad Monday. In the 2nd match Vivonne Bay @That KI Guy pulled out their best score of the year but it wasn't enough as an inspired Manildra managed to hold on for a 29 point win to clinch the minor premiership as the only team to finish with 4 wins. The match was the 5th lowest margin in ORFFW history and the 2nd highest aggregate match. The SA side were stung by their 3rd consecutive loss and @That KI Guy would no doubt already be plotting to come back bigger and stronger after a season that showed they are good enough if they can win against the top 4 sides. In the 3rd match Lake Fanny's 440 @Jason was dwarfed by Katanning's @FreoDockers 2nd 560 plus score of the season. With Kiara Bowers playing possibly the best AFLW game in history the Krushers massive win was the 2nd largest margin in ORFFW history and they climbed to the top of the Points Scored table, the match also ended up as the 3rd largest aggregate in ORFFW history. Unfortunate for FD's men their improved defensive effort was too little too late as their 3 earlier losses proved costly in the final outcome as the side missed the top 4 despite managing 3 of the 6 highest totals of the season. FAntasy spots can be cruel indeed but the fire may now be lit in a WA side that could dominate the comp in years to come. Tenterfield @stripey bested Pomona @anthak by 83 (the 5th highest margin in ORFFW history) however the story of the day was the Termites head to head with Lake Fanny in the last AFLW match of Round 5. Starting behind Lake Fanny by 47 points on Season Points Scored at at the commencement of the round the Termites were 6/425 to Lake Fanny's 6/313 (and with a H2H lead of 65 points) to start the final match. Within a quarter jason's slim hope of the Round 5 win against Katanning was being smashed by Kiara Bowers masterclass so the master coach that he is he let Bowers and the other Krushers run free and hoped to rack up enough points himself to overcome the Termites by the final siren. With Blackburn and Conti exactly matching their combined season average of 127 the Falcons fans had opened up their live stream of the Termites match as it entered tiem on in the final quarter. The NSW side's fans were aghast as Lauren Spark and Emma Mackie buckled under the pressure and failed to reach the 62 points needed and the combined match aggregate of 50 left the Termites and coach Stripey an agonising dozen Season Points Scored short of the jubilation of reaching the ORFFW finals. ORFFW fans are most likely asking how the Termites managed to get this close at all given their last minute decision to enter the comp but the team's dartboard approach to drafting had more hits than misses in a rollercoaster 5 rounds as they very nearly made the impossible possible. Pomona live to fight another day and would be pleased with the strong form of Brooke Lochland in her first game of 2019, however the low scoring loss left them in 3rd and means they are on the road in the first week of finals. It's been a very brief but eventful roster series as Manildra, LSC, Pomona and Lake Fanny now prepare for the upcoming ORFFW finals campaign.