MaherShalalHashBaz (1767) def. by Defenestrators (1841)
While this match did live up to the closeness that we expected from 3rd VS 4th, I can’t say these scores were expected. Paul with the 7th highest score in the league for the week edged out Jordan with the second worst score, only behind the openly rebuilding Vipers. With no scores of 120 or above, this became a grind which was still in the balance on day 5 of this extended round. With a deficit of approximately 100 per player for the 4 players Paul was behind, it was tough, but doable. Then Jordan turned to his favourite hobby being spud farming, and Paul walked it in. Solid contributions through most lines, though with the injuries to Coniglio and Grey there will be little rejoicing at Defenestrators HQ.
This can easily be considered the one that got away for MSHB. In a competition where every finals contender has beaten one and lost to one, every game that you can get up on potential August opponents is valuable. I’ll write this loss off as Easter hangover, with too much footy across 11 days (Sacrilege I hear you roar), but how else do you explain Sunday’s efforts? Cripps 35, Sheppard 46, Sheed 60 are all in the coaches firing line (not Sheed actually, last September still counts for something), and now with a match against the wounded Chief’s this may turn ugly quickly.
Next up Paul gets Max in career best form. Considering Max beat Jordan’s score this week Paul knows he’ll have to play a solid weekend, but he should enter the comfortable favourite. Some line-up changes will be required due to injury, but I’m confident in his depth. Jordan as mentioned before comes up against Mark coming of his first loss. While playing Mark is never the best recovery for a loss, the template has been laid for how to beat him, so now Jordan needs to follow through with this.
The Love Sparkles (2079) Def. The Redshins (1922)
Only one score below 70, and only two below 80 show just how scary Greg is becoming. I mean that face wasn’t exactly a dream beforehand, but now with the light of victory in his eyes, it is truly the stuff of nightmares. I speculated before that Hogan might have been giving the Sparkles forward line some ideas, but even I didn’t imagine that they would take it to heart quite this way. In what I believe is a season first, Greg’s only goal scorers were his 6 forwards. He got nothing from his midfield or defence, and so luckily enough they were able to kick 15 of them to provide a winning score.
Chris walks away from this game with his head held high, knowing he was frightfully unlucky to be matched up against Greg of all people this week. 1922 would have beaten anyone except Greg and Adam, and yet this loss puts him onto a 1-5 record which before this week felt right, but now has me questioning everything I know about fantasy footy. He scored 4 tons in defence to go with 2 each in the midfield and forward lines, but unlike Greg had 6 scores below 70 which made the difference. Dusty has gone missing this year which has Tiger fans bemused, though Boak jumped straight back into his big scores which he had an off week from last week (which bemuses fans of every other club). Play him in the middle Chris – it works!
The second place Sparkles this week play the 4th placed Soldiers in a battle that each coach will not be able to take their eyes from. Win and Greg can look confidently towards finals, maybe even a top 2 placing, but lose and he’s right back in the pack jostling for position. The Redshins should hopefully be able to go one better this week, up against the Vipers putting up the round’s lowest number. If they field a full team they’re in with a shot, but stranger things have happened.
Shire Scourers (1919) Def. The Lethal Vipers (1560)
With back to back wins, Nelson has got his season right back on track with a 3-3 record – matching Adam’s Roughnecks and Jordan’s MSHB. Even with Franklin being a late withdrawal Nelson managed to put up his best effort of the season in getting past the 1900 barrier. Zac Jones drafted in the 6th round of this year’s draft is becoming the biggest steal of the year, with the defender up to an average of 96 and showing no signs of slowing. He was one of 8 centurions this week, showing that anyone can go big on their day (just don’t expect it of Stanley again) and win you a game.
Nathan faced the unfortunate situation of having many injured players, and with the 36 hour window for bringing new players in closed before he knew it, this meant there wouldn’t be a full team to take on the mighty Scourers. Mitch Duncan tried to take on more of the load himself, with a season high 130, however Nelson went too big for any one star to overcome. In good news for player development Sam Petrevski-Seton continued his breakout year with another score in the 90’s, and Gryan Miers (I just wanted to say that name) also went with a career high score of 91.
Next week Nelson takes on the 3-3 Roughnecks, in a game that may go a fair way to deciding who plays finals and who sits in the dreaded 7th. There will be no Bulldogs fairy tale of 7th to premiership in this league, so a crucial 4 points to play for. The Vipers have a game against the surprisingly high scoring Redshins, and so they will be hoping to field a full team and make a fair fist of it. While Nelson is fighting for that final spot, this match will help the winner be that extra win away from spoon territory.
The Taxmanian Devils (1771) def. by Solomon’s Soldiers (1902)
With this win, the Soldiers have eclipsed last year’s win tally of 3, and are now equal with their career high of 4 wins in a season. Is this finally the year where 2 hands are required to count the win tally? Our experts say yes, but only if the infighting stops. What infighting you ask – well let me explain. With the midfield settled, and Sydney Stack on the outside looking in, he decided to take matters into his own hands and smash captain Jack’s AC joint, making him sit for 2 weeks. If he had just waited a week his true nature as a defender would have presented itself and he could have gracefully lined up alongside his captain, but now in a power move from the coach, he is stuck on the bench for at least one more week. Or traded if someone makes an attractive offer… I would talk about the scores that produced the win – but when Shame Mumford on 113 is your top scorer, you try to avoid thinking about it.
Max was in this game for longer than expected watching the live scores. There were multiple games when bulk players from one team or the other played, and so the amount of finished players always added an extra calculation into how you looked at the game. A big Sunday from Mckay, Worpel and Hawkins could have given a sniff to the Devils still searching for their first win, but Dale Thomas of all people snuffed out that chance of victory. Alex Keath was impossible for the saints to get past all match, and while Max’s premium mids did their job, the next tier down just weren’t able to get the points where they were needed.
This week the Soldiers look to break their record against another team there has always been trouble with – the Love Sparkles. It’s something about coaching against a Burgess that makes the Soldiers quake in their boots, but this will have to end at some point. With top 3 on the line, this is as good a time as any. Max moves on from this match to come up against the Defenestrators. Considering we had the draft at Paul’s place, and knowing it’s a single story building, defenestration shouldn’t really be feared from him. Sure enough though, this team is still intimidating and it will take Max’s best efforts to get that maiden win.
Rico’s Roughnecks def. by Puttanesca Chiefs
Rico’s Roughnecks (2058) Def. Puttanesca Chiefs (1848)
It is done! Mark has been vanquished, and all it took was a grand final revenge match and an injury to the league’s best defender. It certainly can’t have been the 6 tons and 2 90’s making up this Roughneck midfield (not even including O’Meara in the utility slot), nor could it have been hundreds in the forward line to Ablett and Lambert. While a high score of 86 in defence tried to keep Mark undefeated, this midfield showed why Adam is coming off a grand final berth, and is looking to get back there and go one better. A couple of injuries to some Carlton defenders have taken a little gloss off of this win, but Adam should still be the proudest man in the league right now.
While Mark may well still be numb after not being able to sing the club song this week, there are some comforts to take away. With 2 early injuries, he still put up a score that would have beaten 2 finalists from last year. Lachie Whitfield on one leg kicked as many goals as the Chief’s entire forward line – so he should be able to come back quickly and still be an asset. Grundy and Adams both seem to have found that next level that didn’t show itself last week. This match also featured the Tim Tackle Frenzy, where between Taranto and Kelly they laid 21 tackles.
Next week Adam has a match with another 3-3 team in Nelson, where the winner will be safe in the top 6, the loser (pending other results) may drop out into 7th, and as we’re almost at the half way point of the year, may start to find the task of getting back in difficult. Even with the loss, Mark is sitting comfortably top on percentage, though another loss could see a drop to third and the battle for first round bye would be alive again. Jordan is the one standing in his way this week, and while he hasn’t performed to internal expectations this year, that line up could still cause some damage should it all click, so should make some exciting viewing.