MILESTONES
50 Games
- Jamie Elliott (Taxmanian Devils)
- Bailey Williams (MaherShalalHashBaz)
- Wayne Milera (Puttanesca Chiefs)
Someone put Elliott and Williams on the field please…
GAME OF THE ROUND
There are several intriguing games this weekend, but it’s hard to go past these two finals mainstays facing off.
The Roughnecks really fired last week after a mildly disapointing round 1 – dropping a 1966 – a score that’ll probably be their best this season (though they will obviously hope to reach even greater heights).
The Defenestrators fell just short of the Sparkles and will be looking to avoid a second disapointing loss against solid competition
(Also, tangent, how about those Sparkles who, just quietly, are 2 and zip with quality wins against 2 of the teams viewed as those most likely to challenge them for second spot. Great time to be a Sparkles fan. Excitement building? Nick Daicos hasn’t even been that good yet…)
Of particular interest to this particular matchup though is how many players each team will have this weekend who have already played. The Giants (and the Suns) are on the bye, and that means roughly 40% of the Defenestrators are a known quantity this weekend.
The Defenestrators have the following scores they can lock in:
- Harry Himmelberg’s 86
- Stephen Coniglio’s 91
- Josh Kelly’s 117
- Jesse Hogan’s 75
- Brent Daniels’ 96
You gotta be happy going into the weekend with those scores squared away.
The Roughnecks have two nice scores of their own in the bank, including a massive 137 from Whitfield (the other is Flanders and his 92)
But they’ll likely need to continue the form they should last weekend if they’re to makeup the ground the Defenestrators have on them going into Thursday night. They’ll need their remaining forwards to really do a number on their Defenetrator counterparts. Tim Taranto coming to life would also assist.
SNEAKY INTERESTING MATCHUP
I promise this section won’t always contain the Taxmanian Devils…
But come on, I can’t ignore this game. What a banger! Threat Level Midnight are top of the ladder despite a shocking score last weekend (more on that latter). The Devils are coming off a win against the Vipers, the team previously on top of the ladder. They have before them the chance to knock over the team leading the league two weeks in a row – that can’t have happened many times…. (no, I don’t have time to work it out)
Both these teams have designs on a final spot, and a win over the other will be a handy edge when we get to the pointy end of proceedings.
In the middle of the park we have a real Port Adelaide fest here. The Devils at their Port Adelaideness is well know at this point – Rozee and Butters lead the line, though JHF is unfortunately out. On the other side of the fence is WILLEM DREW and his 101.3 AVERAGE. Starting real hot is our man Willem. Oh and also Ivan Soldo.
Of further interest in this matchup is Fremantle. Midnight have Caleb “maximum possible DangerGawn votes so far” Serong facing off against the Devils’ Luke “most dynamic player in the game” Jackson. And JAMES AISH and his 102 average. And JORDAN CLARK and his 98 average. And MATTHEW JOHNSON and his [average redacted on account of not fitting the elite form narrative I’ve been building up to in the past two paragraphs]
STRAY OBSERVATION
The Chiefs play MaherShalalHashBaz in an 8th v 9th clash this weekend – but I think both teams have done pretty well in the opening rounds. Certainly stronger than we typically associate with the foot of the ladder.
The Chiefs have been very consistent – dropping a 1660 and 1642 so far.
MaherShalalHashBaz have reached some higher heights, breaking the 1700 hundred barrier in round 2 and really pushing the much more fancied Soldiers.
MSHB should get up here, but I think it could be a tight one. A good test for these two clubs.
Eliminator
The Lethal Vipers just escape on account of Threat Level Midnight having a shocker. Their young guns will be most displeased with the efforts of their fellow midnighters.
Still in it:
- Defenestrators
- Lethal Vipers
- Love Sparkles
- MaherShalalHashBaz
- Puttanesca Chiefs
- Roughnecks
- Solomon’s Soldiers
- Taxmanian Devils
Te Puke PukekosThreat Level Midnight