Rico’s Roughnecks (1871) vs Such is ‘Fyfe’ (1665)
The recent form-line for Such Is ‘Fyfe’ has not made for pretty viewing – they backed up last week’s (winning score of) 1581 with 1665. The recent form-line for Rico’s Roughnecks is both impressive and consistent – 1870, 1913, 1903, 1871. That is an average of 1889 (impressively high) with a standard deviation of just 22 points (impressively low).
In further bad news for Nathan, new recruits Sam Murray (66), Caleb Daniel (47) and Sam Petrevski-Seton (76) struggled against their old side, whilst his old mob of Deledio (80) and I. Smith (86) were solid as opponents.
The team in purple is now focussed firmly on the off-season, where intriguing list calls must be made, with the following players 30 or older
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Jarrod Harbrow
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Jordan Lewis
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Kade Simpson
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Joel Selwood
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Scott Pendlebury
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Nathan Jones
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Dale Thomas
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Aaron Sandilands
Solomon’s Soldiers (1785) vs Shire Scourers (1821)
For the longest time, I thought Alex had this. I figured that Nelson had taken the foot off the gas, and Alex, who actually had something to play for, was going to make it. Solomon’s Soldiers were awesome early, mainly due to Patrick Cripps (162) who is averaging a ridiculous 120.4 points per game over the past five rounds. Young Patrick must have really enjoyed scoring well against the team that off-loaded him. The only thing that hurts more than watching one of your old players dominate is watching them dominate against you. Jarryd Lyons (92), while solid recently, is certainly not living up to his Dangergawn hype (boy that feels like a long time ago). With a five round average of 92.2, he is not looking like the equal of Cripps either.
Credit where credit is due. Nelson did his usual thing and won the close one. He had some super Sunday scorers in Ollie Wines (101), Elliott Yeo (136) and Ed Langdon (101) who managed to eke the Shire Scourer’s total to Nelson’s favourite amount – just enough. Thus he avoids the ignominy of being swept by the Soldiers in a season.
Puttanesca Chiefs (1855) vs Defenestrators (1767)
This was an epic top three battle, even if it was lower scoring than expected. Both teams put up their lowest total since the bye. PaulZ only had three tons, albeit one of those was Tom Mitchell’s 160. By the way. Congratulations Tom on back-to-back Dangergawn medals. I have not given you a lot of credit, but you have posted so many ridiculously high scores that no one can begrudge you the win. Indeed, it is a massive positive for the Defenestrators season. Even if this week there were also seven players who could not convert their 90s into big tons.
For all Mitchell’s stat-stuffing, Mark is the big talking point. With a win over the Defenestrators, he has catapulted into premiership favouritism. Even injury concerns with Cam Sutcliffe (31) and David Swallow (33, subbed out) could not keep him down. Another very even performance, led admirably by Brodie Grundy (147) and we are just waiting now, every week, to see if this team can keep their unbeaten finals record intact.
The Bailout Plan (1660) vs The Redshins (1700)
This was another game that involved an epic comeback. Seriously, this week, I was convinced on Saturday night that both Alex and Luke would win in the same round for the second time this season. Not to be.
Luke was in front on Saturday night, thanks to big performances from David Myers (106), Seb Ross (106), Tom Hawkins (132) and Jade Gresham (101). However, backs against the wall, Coach Symes skyped his team from his overseas resort and urged them to play like their spot in the finals depended on it. Which was fair enough, because their spot in the finals depended on it. And so, led by the irrepressible Ben Cunnington (147), The Redshins clocked up their seventh win for the year and now their finals destiny is in their own hands. Credit to the Redshins, they are markedly better than last year and a spot in the finals would be testament to the minutes of preparation put in by Chris early this year. Oh and did you notice – the top two scorers in this game were Tom Hawkins….and Ben Cunnington! Yeah, you know what I mean.
The Love Sparkles (1783) vs MaherShalalHashBaz (1910)
There’s not a lot to say. I had a pretty good week (seven hundreds, four nineties). Dad had one of those weeks where nothing goes right. Two first quarter injuries in defence, together with a late withdrawal, meant the best of the Sparkles was not on display. The only real positives were Marc Murphy (139) reminding everyone that Carlton’s midfield bats deeper than one, and Todd Goldstein (123) reminding everyone that he was considered a first round draft pick merely three years ago and actually has lots of talent. Other than that, life was disappointing for Dad in an Ultimate Footy sense. Still, there is hope. That sixth spot is gettable, so long as:
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The Love Sparkles win on the weekend against Such is ‘Fyfe’ (PROBABLE)
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The Redshins lose to the Defenestrators (PROBABLE)
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No tanking (????)
Therefore, we will probably, probably (????) see Dad in the finals. Nevertheless, this year had dished up numerous cruel and unusual results – will there be one more in the final round of the season?