The Winners - ORFFA Finals Week 1 Review
The finals are finally here - and wow, what an amazing first weekend of action.
Upsets galore have left a quartet of teams still in the hunt for a premiership - with at least some of those teams perhaps shocked to still be in the running.

Powlett Plains 1313 d Iron Knob 1133
The ladder leaders and season long flag favourites have unexpectedly fallen at the first hurdle, well-beaten by a committed Powlett Plains line-up.
The Packers welcomed back a host of veteran talent at just the right time, with Franklin, Hodge and Boyd all scoring 100+ points in their returns from injury. Add to that 103 from Robert Murphy and good contributions from KCornes, Grundy and Bellchambers, and scoreboard kept ticking over.
Ultimately those across-the-board contributions proved too much for the Codpieces to overcome, especially given Iron Knob's own perfect storm of poor scoring from players who had been up and about most of the year.
Big names Ablett, Griffin, and Hanley failed to fire, whilst previously erstwhile contributors like Shuey, Garland, NJones, Harbrow and Darling had shockers. Goldstein, Minson and Douglas were the only three players to score 100 or more.

Darraweit Guim 1208 d Charlie's Opening 1109
Another upset, though not quite at the same level as the Packers' win, saw the Dirigibles float through to the second week of finals action with a hard-fought win over Charlie's Opening.
A consistent team-wide effort was the key for Darraweit, with mainly solid rather than spectacular contributions from most players. Big Ivan Maric led from the front (118) with support from Cunnington and Walker (110 each) in the middle. Michael Walters' late-game 105 - combined with solid scores from Otten and Newnes - proved to be enough to maintain the Dirigibles' lead through until the final siren.
For the Spelunkers, it was an up and down weekend - big Drew Petrie (162) was definitely up, terrorising an undermanned Guim defence. S Hill, Mackie, mid season draft sensation Hansen and Dan Jackson also scored centuries.
But ultimately it was poor scores and a bit of bad luck that cruelled Charlie's Opening. Heath Shaw had a rare shocker, while Savage was left too long with the green vest. Giles was overwhelmed by Maric's mullet and Josh Hill toiled an entire game for just eight points.

Foul Bay 1479 d Wagga Wagga 1311
In a high quality, high scoring game, the Chickens from Foul Bay staved off an upset by overcoming a gallant Wagga Wagga outfit by 168 points.
Foul Bay's scoring power was frightening - no less than six centuries, and another four scores in excess of 90. Joel Selwood (144), Bartel (135), D Pearce (122) and McLean 119) led the scoring. Big Mumford has hit form at the right time of year as well, while 94 from mid-season draftee Ryan Harwood in defence was more than handy.
For Wagga, it was consistency at its best with not one score below 70 of the 14 players they had on the park. The no-frills forwardline of Schulz, Thomas, Dunn and youngster Sam Mayes racked up almost 450 points by itself in a stunning display.
Ultimately though, Wagga's midfield just couldn't find the one big score required to draw closer to the Chickens. That, and the late withdrawal of Scott D Thompson up back, meant they were always facing an uphill battle to make up ground.
That said, much to look forward to next year at Wagga one would think.

Birdsville 1399 d Waikikamoocow 1120
Birdsville meted out an unexpected thrashing to the high-flying Incorrigibles on the back of some high-quality point scoring from some unexpected sources.
If, before the game, anyone had said Birdsville would have been led in scoring by Jesse White and Jarryn Geary, a trip to the doctor might well have been ordered. But that's exactly what occurred - Geary (130 and White (121) received support from Rich, Clarke, Wells and Murphy who also topped 100 points and more than made up for a poor day from ruckman McEvoy.
In response, the Waikiks just couldn't find a spark. Only Robinson and I Smith scored more than 100, and the team's thus-far solid midfield led by Fyfe, McVeigh and Hannebery all had down days, as did Harry Taylor down back.
Hibberd, Duffield and youngster Crouch battled hard in a losing effort.

Next week
And then there were four.
Foul Bay, Birdsville, Powlett Plains and Darraweit Guim remain in the hunt for the ORFFA premiership after the weekend's action.
It will be an interesting night at the selection table on Thursday/Friday, as a number of players could return from injury or are pressing for promotion, meaning some tough choices have to be made to change winning line-ups.