Last season, this round ended up causing quite a bit of controversy, with Chels appointing Chelsea Roffey to be goal umpire in Waikickamoocow's match against Gariwerd, in severe breach of her contract with Whitsundays. We had hoped to be able to fly her around to all the ORFFA games for this round; however with TiB refusing to release her for such duties the FIXture committee arranged for Whitsundays to play Waikickamoocow in this round so that she should be able to be present for Chels this year without any worries.

The match between the Warriors and the Cows went right down to the wire and there was a bonfire around the tuckerbox in Gundagai. Read on for the match report and more:

Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles (1231) defeated Whitsunday Warriors (1223)
It was venison with juniper berry sauce and corned beef sandwiches all round in Ekatahuna, washed down with some quality Pinot. The warriors back line was abysmal this week with Trengove (45), Morris (28), M. Talia (42), A. Hall (OOP 48) all too busy perving at Chelsea in the goal square to worry about the ball. Teen Wolf Nat Fyfe (131) and son-of-a-gun Mitchell (106) fought valiantly for the home team against the Warriors midfield Juggernaut (that's right, I'm calling it a juggernaut!) of Sloane (122), Barlow (115), Boak (105), Gibson (100). How the team from FNQ didn't win this has the locals stumped, but also pondering head honcho chels' selection policy and skills as the Waikicks narrowly avoided consecutive home losses. Questions such as why were Crouch (100) and JPod (82) not on the park while Jamie Elliott gets 40 from a quarter of footy were being asked in between tastings being rifled into the spittoon. In the end the Cows fell over the line in another close one, not helped by a rather potato-esque 57 from Sauce Jacobs

Wagga Wagga Wombats (1247) drew with Venus Bay Vultures (1247)
The battle between 8th and 9th was meant to go a long way to determining the final 8 for ORFFA this year, but in reality it has thrown it more into turmoil with a draw! Fisty and Lenny may be buddies, but there was no love lost leading into the round. Wagga might feel slightly short changed after Jenkins (29) went off with an injury, but in all honesty it was a cracking match and has given the ORFFA media circus even more to discuss in the coming week. Beams (134), Bastinac (109), Sgt Schulz (113 - he knows nothing) and Dunn (113) were the standouts for Wagga, with Gaff (102), Kreuzer (140), Mundy (92), Pearce (95) and Blair (97) the form players for the carrion consumers.

Marble Bar Misfits 1239 defeated by Gundagai Grasshoppers 1312
The development period between egg laying to an adult grasshopper takes around 6-8 weeks, depending on the temperature. Higher temperatures speed up the development process. This didn't bode well for Marble Bar, as being well known for its extremely hot weather, the Grasshoppers were bound to be up and about for this match. Gundagai well and truly put any tanking claims behind them to swarm all over the Misfits at Marble Bar and record their first win of the season. Guerra (128), ROK (134), Old Timer Lenny (107) and the Rock Lobster (111) put in an inspired performance. Enright(102), Steven (113), Ward (132) and Cameron (120) did their best to combat the plague with Aerogard and Mortein but it was all to no avail. Comfortable win to Gundagai in the end, beware the phoenix rising.

Mount Beauty Uglies 1267 defeated by Powlett Plains Packers 1301
The Packers have a welcome return to form against Mount Beauty. Prodigal Son's Heretier O'Brien (82) and Buddy Franklin (119) returned to the side after telling PRap to Pack Off a couple of weeks ago, much to the disappointment of Ball, who cracked the sads and went AWOL himself. Big morale issues down at Powlett Plains which will have to be sorted out soon if there is to be a full squad on the ground come finals. Bob Murphy (147), Hodge (114) and Lachie Henderson (124) tonned up. For the home side Hartlett (108), Sidebum (155) Delicious Cyril (107), Martin (126) and Chad V2.0 (110) did the business, but the gap between the good and the bad was too big with Guthrie (48), Green (41), Lee (46) and Viney (54) putting in substandard performances to cost Mount Beauty the win, and also went a fair way to snuffing out the Uglies' slim finals chances

Gariwerd Cockatoos 1207 defeated Larrikin Lagoon Lefties 1154
There was a lot of debate on the sidelines as to which Selwood was playing for Larrikin, with rumours that Joel had been kidnapped from Foul Bay. This caused a Fine Cotton like frenzy in the betting ring, with a ‘curly' situation being averted when the Selwood boy was asked to lower his shorts to make sure that the carpet matched the drapes. It was confirmed that it was indeed Scott Selwood who was playing and the game was allowed to continue. Gariwerd put in a very well rounded performance, with 8 players scoring between 105 and 90, but the Cockies got over the line mainly due to finally having a playing ruckmen. Cam Pedersen got over his pre-game stage fright to actually take the field this week and record a massive 54, enough to win the game for coach Anthak. The Lefties only had one player top the ton (Golby with 101), but may rue the spud effort of Daniher (17) who was selected in place of Scotland (111) who smashed it in the reserves.

Cradle Mountain Devils 1144 defeated by Foul Bay Chickens 1342
The Chooks chalk another one up against a Devils outfit sadly missing a playing ruckmen. The Devils put in a solid performance with Heppell (99), Pendlebury (92), Redden (101), Stevie J (120) and Nick Smith (108) impressing the selectors, but the efforts of Gwilt (23) will come under fire this week at training. Michael Johnson (110), Selwood (151), Kelly (100), Libba (118), Mumford and Sons (123) and Adams (102) performed well for the visitors. Tomahawk stuck it right up the Chief for dropping him by smashing out a 128 in the reserves, telling him to get stuffed in no uncertain terms. The mid-season recruit at Foul Bay may be on borrowed time if this attitude continues, with a few ORFFA clubs already rumoured to be considering trade discussions at the end of the season.

Charlie's Opening Spelunkers 1370 defeat Lovely Banks Lilacs 1014
The Pit was aglow in colours of Fuchsia, Turquoise, and of course Lilac as Bandit showed off his new ambient lighting at the Mine Shaft Road end of the ground. This was of course to welcome the Lilacs to town, however it also had a positive effect on Stephen Hill, who ripped out a 124 in an overdue day out. Shaw (105), Jack (146), Joey (122) and Lachie Hansen ( 124- yes you read that right) were the standouts for the Opening, with Adcock (105), Swan (159) and Wellingham (100) putting on a brave face for the visitors. Aaron Davey (7) was overcome by the scent of the potpourri in the change rooms, and Carlisle (59), Brennan (42) and Grimes (39) were dazzled by the lights in defence. The only downside to the win for the Spelunkers was a season ending injury to talisman Andrew Swallow.

Nunawading Nuffers 1063 defeated by Birdsville Battlers 1134
In a weird match the Nunawading players scores were up and down like a brides nightie, with Nuna players dominating the medal votes, whist Birdsville's even, workmanlike effort got them over the line. Nunawading are another side really hurting without a playing ruckman, with the score of Liam Jones (13 OOP) in the middle and the efforts of Mohr (11) in the backline not helping their cause. Charlie (104) finally came back fit, with Simpson (108) and Broadbent (104) putting in solid games for the home side. The cheerleaders were so disenchanted that they went into the visitors rooms at half time, causing them to go a bit soft in the second half, with Houli (Ramadan fasting effected 93), Moloney (97), Murphy (92), Cloke (93), Mayne (92) and Wells (91) topping the scoring for the Battlers.

Iron Knob Codpieces 1328 defeat Darraweit Guim Dirigibles 1279
The ladder leaders were pushed to the limit, but took out the W in a closely fought match. Dirigibles Coach Chris lamented the loss of Rory Thompson prior to the start of the game, having to take Andy Otten's 57. The Cannon McKenzie (102), Walker (114), Calvin Cunnington (151) and Boomer (137) got the visitors off to a flying start, but the Codpieces came home with a wet sail. The depth of the top team was on display, with the fact that Ablett (116) was only the 4th highest scorer behind Goldstein (158), Puopolo (120) and Minson (118) demonstrating the Codpieces have a fair bit of lead in the pencil. Henderson (110) and Griffen (102) also tonned up for Iron Knob.

The Ladder
The Final 8 is starting to take shape however there are some big games in the coming week that will go a long way to sorting it out. The ladder has been kindly compiled by Lenny and reads like this:

Iron Knob 56 20887
Foul Bay 48 20157
Waikikamoocow 48 18956
Birdsville 44 18614
Charlies Opening 40 19311
Powlett Plains 40 18408
Darraweit Guim 40 18276
Wagga Wagga 34 18587
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Venus Bay 34 18120
Gariwerd 30 17940
Mt Beauty 28 17251
Cradle Mountain 24 17680
Whitsundays 24 16991
Nunawading 16 16355
Marble Bar 12 16803
Lovely Banks 10 17128
Larrikin Lagoon 8 17539
Gundagai 4 14062

Round 16 - Breast Appreciation Round - World Breastfeeding Week
World Breastfeeding Week is the first week in August each year and info can be found here: worldbreastfeedingweek.net/
Cracking penultimate round to the home and away this week with 1 vs 5, 3 vs 8, 6 vs 7 and 4 vs 9. Waikickamoocow will have to drop the last two games to miss out on the top 4, with Charlie's Opening coming up against the ladder leaders this week in a match of the round. Powlett Plains and Darraweit will likely result in one of them being very nervous come the final round if Wagga and Venus Bay get home in winnable games.

Mount Beauty v Marble Bar
Iron Knob v Charlies Opening
Waikikamoocow v Wagga Wagga
Nunawading v Cradle Mountain
Larrikin Lagoon v Gundagai
Gariwerd v Foul Bay
Birdsville v Venus Bay
Whitsundays v Lovely Banks
Darraweit Guim v Powlett Plains