GRAND FINAL NEWS
Grand final day – 23 weeks of stress, distraction from life, general anger and frustration and occasionally great joy came down to this as our 5 main winners for the year were determined.
In Division 1 Gavin and Janith were the two combatants.. AS mentioned in the preview Gavin was looking to reach the summit of the fantasy footy world for the first time whilst Janith was trying for a 3rd D1 flag. Gavin was a short favourite heading in after Janith’s forward line was decimated late, and it played out as expected… Janith needed a miracle and it just didn’t come. Gavin on the other hand got the required output from most of his key players, and ultimately took the prize by 65 points on the back of a worth 207 score in the final.
Division 2’s big game was the thriller of the weekend. Neither Simon or Raph starred this week, and both spent much of the weekend regretting their selection decisions… Simon tossed up Atkins (1) or Dawson (11) for this tackler role and decided on Atkins… Raph obviously didn’t read my preview which indicated Gunston was in good form (5.0) as he picked Schulz instead (2.2).. I suggested his toughest choice would be Libba (23) Sheil (30) or J.DAicos (26) for his 3rd midfield spot – he took Libba. So after both bungling their lines a little it came down to Treloar v Libba on Sunday afternoon – Raph and Libba started 8 ahead, but Libba’s 23 and Treloar’s 33 saw Simon take the lead late and win by 2.. Both are fully deserving of their return to D1 after great seasons.
Div 3 pitted minor premier Frank against Balls.. Frank has starred all season and it was always going to take something special to beat him – the preview indicated Balls could win if Larkey or Daniher kicked a bag – they got 5 between them but it was the other forward who did the job – Sam Darcy kicked 7 and lifted Balls to an impressive 215. In the end Frank was reliable and strong again with 187 but couldn’t find the massive performance that catapulted him to victory.
In D4 we had Andy and Dean in what looked likely to be a close one on paper… Both teams had slow starts Friday night with Andys Bombers forwards not doing much but Merrett flopping for Dean… By Saturday afternoon though Dean had kicked clear – 6.4 from Hogan and 10 tackles from Bedford had set up a big advantage and Andy needed a miracle to overcome the deficit.. sadly for Andy the miracle never came and Dean kept piling on the points ,eventually winning 203-147.
Finally to Div 5 where we saw the end of Piglet’s 21 year premiership doubt - a losing streak that has been going 9 years longer than his opponent Jona has been alive… Jona had an amazing season but sadly his team just didn’t deliver at the final hurdle, limping to 162… In fairness they could all have starred and it probably wouldn’t have been enough as Piggy took the flag in emphatic style posting a season high score (all divisions) of 249. Goals aplenty from Hogan and Gunston, 99 possessions fmro his midfield and 10 tackles from Steele the highlights.
On the player front, unsurprisingly Reilly Obrien was the star of the season managing 3 premiership medals whilst Jack Steele, Tom Green, Adam Treloar, Jesse Hogan and the less expected Marc Pittonet got 2 each.
The League in order continues to roll on and will be finalised next week, along with the last game of the year- the knockout cup final between Simon and DK. In the LIO this week, Nicko moved ahead on 54 from NickB on 58. Michael Red and Tuddy remain in some form of contention. There are technically 512 possible result combinations next week, but assuming the 5 short prices favourites win there are 16 possibilties – I will post their LIO outcomes later in the week.
After next weekend when the final side comps conclude , I’ll wrap up the season with:
- Paying the winners (send me EFT, and let me know if you want next seasons entry deducted)
- FF All Australian team
- FF Hall of Fame results
- Career statistics update
- Next years divisions confirmed.
Thanks to all for an excellent season , must say some years I get jaded by the work that goes into this comp, especially when my team is average, but this year has been a joy – great bunch of guys and look forward to doing it all again next year.
Milestones:
As the season comes to a close these next two weekends, there are a few things I’ve been meaning to post on here throughout the season but didn’t get the chance.
The next one is MILESTONES and we’ve had some significant ones this season:
600 Games: In Round 9, Loaf became the first player to cross the 600 game mark. The milestone has taken 31 seasons and includes 51 finals and 13 grand finals (for 6 flags)
500 Games: In Round 3, Juzzy passed 500 games – the 8th person to do so – he has since moved to 7th on the all time games list.. This has taken 26 seasons, and included 47 finals, 10 grand finals (for 4 flags)
400 Games: Simon and Raph both passed 400 through the season, the 13th and 14th players to do so in their 22nd and 21st seasons respectively. Impressive from Raph to be only 5 games behind despite one less season having played 13 more finals. That said Simon leads on premierships 3-0 going into their Div 2 decider this week.
300 Games: Mat became the 23rd player to hit 300 this year after 16 seasons for an impressive 23 finals and 6 grand finals (4 premierships)
200 Games: Skeeta notched game 200 this year.
100 Games: Balls, Rod and Adrian all topped the 100 mark this season.
DIV 1 MILESTONES:
500 Div 1 Games: Loaf became the first person to pass this figure in round 6 (and it would seem it will be at least 7 or 8 years before anyone else might reach the figure), having played 26 of his 31 seasons in the top flight for 6 Div 1 premierships
350 Div 1 Games: Juzzy is 4th overall for Div 1 games and passed 350 this year, having played 18 of his 26 seasons in D1 for 3 premierships.
200 Div 1 Games: Sash was the 13th player to make 200 Div 1 games during the year (11 seasons, 19 finals, 1 premiership)
150 Div 1 Games: Gavin passed 150 this year in his 8thseason in the top flight. This weekend will be his 2ndgrand final and looking for his first D1 flag.
100 Div 1 Games: Michael was the 20th player to reach 100 Div 1 games. (6 seasons, 1 grand final)
Grand Final previews
Its Fantasy Football grand final week and that means grand final preview time – the time of year when I spend a couple of hours writing an “Article” that only the 10 people who made the grand final will bother to read…. Lucky I enjoy it.
Division 1 : Gavin v Janith
The season so far:
Tale of two very different seasons here. Gavin burst out of the blocks winning his first 5 and 8 of the first 9, before a lull (2 from 6) in the middle (incl 2 10-goal hidings when Reilly Obrien was dropped) and then has flown home winning his last 4 and winning the minor premiership. Janith was 1-6 at one stage and looking at a relegation battle but winning 10 of his next 12 got him to 3rd on the table. Interestingly he had not topped 200 in any game all year with a season high of 199 until his first finals victory.
Head to Head:
Round 1: Gavin 193 Janith 185
Round 10: Janith 194 Gavin 190
Semis: Gavin 211 Janith 196
If they played each other every week: Gavin 12 Janith 6 Draw 1
Recent Form (most recent first):
Gavin: bye, 211, bye, 175, 207
Janith: 149, 196, 210, 150, 189
Key Outs:
Gavin: nil
Janith: Harry McKay, Josh Treacy, Hugh Greenwood,
Prediction:
With McKay and Treacy, Janith had the better forward line and Gavin looked stronger everywhere else… Without them Gavin looks stronger across the board. Throw in favourable match ups for Jamarra (v Nth) and Obrien (v Jordan Sweet) and it is hard to see Gavin getting beat. When Gavin has struggled its been his forwards that have let him down – a quiet one for them would open the door for Janith – particularly if Jeremy Cameron could step up when needed most. Not out of it, but the form guide says the favourite deserves to start reasonably short.
The big selection dilemma?
Gavin’s team is in before I write this so no dilemma now but he mustve agonised over his forward set up – going with JAmarra, Amiss and Fritsch whilst leaving out Thilthorpe and Stengle… Janith’s toughest call centres on his tackler/3rd mid options – what to do with Hayden Young – does Touk Miller come straight back in? Might also be some pause as he locks in his ruckman too – Grundy has been ever present but is there a temptation to promote Briggs for this one?
What would it mean?
Janith looks to become only the third person to win 3 Division 1 premierships (and move ahead of his brother in the process) whilst Gavin looks to top the fantasy football world for the first time, having fallen at the final hurdle once before and having previously collected Div 2 and 3 flags.
Division 2: Simon v Raph
The season so far:
They finished 1 and 2 on the ladder so no surprise to see these two promoted and in the big dance. Raph was slow out of the blocks with 3 wins from his first 7 before a run of 8 wins in 9 stamped him as a genuine contender. Simon has been near the top all year with 14 scores over 180, highlighted by 4 of 220+.
Head to Head:
Round 6: Raph 190 Simon 159
Round 16: Raph 153 Simon 144
Semi: Simon 238 Raph 187
If they played every week: Simon 15, Raph 5
Recent Form (Recent first)
Simon: bye, 238, 196, 180, 196
Raph: 176, 187, 191, 177, 143
Key Outs:
Simon: Will Setterfield, Mitch Georgiades,
Raph: Peter Wright, Tom Mitchell,
Prediction:
Simon has been Raph 15 out of 20 weeks this year, including all of the last 5 – but by something of an anomaly Raph won both home and away games between them. They were Simon’s 2 worst scores of the year too so maybe there is something magical at play with Raph’s defence…
Looking more deeply the two forward lines look pretty evenly matched with Raph maybe just ahead at moment given Simon is without Georgiades and Raph has Hogan on fire and the likes of Membrey and Gunston to pick from who are in form. Both have 2 gun midfielders (Treloar and Gulden for Simon, Merrett and Neale for Raph) but Simon has much better midfield depth . Obrien (43 ave) is massive for Simon whilst Grundy (32 ave) is more serviceable for Raph, whilst Raph has the better tackler over the season in Rowbottom, but really needs him to get back to early season form….
After all that, its clear Raph is right in this, but I’ll go with the numbers and say Simon given the 15-5 head to head.
The big selection dilemma?
Both lack a locked in 3rd mid and in what promises to be a close final, getting this right could be the difference. Raph will be looking at Josh Daicos, Libba or Shiel to pick from whilst Simon has the more attractive options in Dawson, Dale or Rozee – the difference between a 32 or an 18 could be the difference between premiership or runner up
What would it mean?
Both have played in 3 previous grand finals with vastly different outcomes. Simon is 3-0 with premierships in Divs 1,2 and 3 already in his cabinet. Raph is 0-3 in grand finals including two in the top division, so is still looking for a first premiership in his 21st season. A win here would seem him lose his title as the best player never to win a flag.
Division 3: Frank v Balls
The season so far:
Frank has been up top and premiership favourite for much of the year, winning his first 4, 10 of the first 11 and ultimately 16 of 19 to date. He’s topped 200 7 times and never been below 150. Balls on the other hand has been hot and cold throughout the year and was out of the top 5 at 7-8 with 3 rounds to go, wins in the last 3 rounds and then 3 finals sees him on a 6 game winning streak now, peaking at the right time.
Head to Head:
Rd 3: Frank 172 Balls 142
Rd 12/13: Balls 230 Frank 173
IF they played every week: Frank 12 Balls 7
Recent form (recent first):
Frank: bye, 224, bye, 218, 152
Balls: 168, 218, 193, 178, 178
Key Outs:
Frank: nil
Balls: Max King, Jeremy Finlayson
Prediction:
A quick look at the two seasons shows a more consistent run from Frank, but Balls has gone big on a few occasions including back to back 230s at one stage and It generally lined up with Larkey and Daniher kicking bulk goals, so they will be crucial to the outcome here. Frank’s success has been on the back of Obrien and Rowbottom, both backed up by the impressive Xerri who is in the number 2 in the AFL for both hitouts and tackles, yet played 14 reserves games for Frank. Balls has 3 midifelders averaging over 30 so should take the advantage there. Forced to pick I’ll take Frank as his season has been excellent and JAmarra is a different proposition now some of the other big forward have got out of his way. Frank would be a deserved premier but Balls has a habit of winning when he needs to and it wouldn’t surprise me if he got a handful from Daniher or Larkey and pulled off an upset.
The big selection dilemma?
With Xerri playing the Dogs without a ruckman, could Frank pull the biggest surprise of the year and drop Obrien – surely not?
What would it mean?
A win for Frank would be his 3rd premiership in his 25thseason, and he would become the first person to win D3 more than once.. Balls is looking for his first premiership in his first grand final but has previously won the cup, eliminator (this year) and champions league, so has a good record in big games.
Division 4: Andy v Dean J
The season so far:
Andy had a middling start at 2-2 but since then has been consistently amongst the favourties, never losing consecutive games and finishing at 12-6. Dean similarly won 7 of his first 10, before a real fade out around the bye periods saw him fail to score over 156 for 6 weeks and lose 4 in a row.. A late season resurgence saw him finish with 4 straight wins to jump into 3rd spot. After a loss in the 1st final , he was on the brink of a straight sets exit against DK but managed a draw and stayed alive based on ladder position before knocking over Clayton to earn a shot at the flag.
Head to Head:
Rd 2: Dean 199 Andy 134
Rd 11: Andy 208 Dean 156
Qual Final: Andy 198 Dean 169
If they played every week? Andy 10 Dean 9 Draw 1
Form (recent first)
Andy: bye , 219, 198, 177, 144
Dean: 212, 183, 169, 199, 177
Key Outs:
Andy: Mitch Lewis, Mitch Georgiades, Tom Mitchell,
Dean: Will Stterfield, Brandon Parfitt, Clayton Oliver, Jack Lukosius
Prediction:
I’ve joked all year that with 11 Bombers on his list Andy is only as good as the Bombers form, but he has made it through the finals series with some good scores despite the Bombers recent woes on the back of a gun midfield (Treload Daicos and Flanders all average over 30) and Jarrod Witts. Dean on the other hand has relied on Hogan for goals and OBriens big ruck average (43) to keep posting winning scores. The head to head across the year is even, the 3 games between them have been one sided but in different directions – it really seems two relatively inconsistent teams with high ceilings so whoever has a good day will win. If you picked a combined side between the two squads I think you’d get 6 from Andy and only 2 from Dean (Obrien and Hogan) so on that basis I’ll take Andy for the win.
The big selection dilemma?
Does Dean gamble on Mac Andrew- having not played him all year (other than as a midfielder during the bye weeks – bizarre) it would be a big call to debut him in a grand final -worked with MArlion Pickett for Richmond though.
What would it mean?
Dean enters his first grand final in his 10th season, whilst Andy did make the big dance in D5 last year but couldn’t deliver on the final day. A maiden premiership beckons the winner.
Division 5: Jona v Piglet
The season so far:
Jona stormed out of the blocks winning his first 8 games in impressive style and only lost top spot to a combination of a phenomenal 10 game unbeaten run from Beamer and a round 18 shocker against grand final opponent Piglet where he scored 130 and was thrashed. Since then the only way was up with 3 big scores well over 200 in a row consolidated his premiership favourtism. Piglet has also put together an impressive season, starting 4-0 and finishing 4-0 with a 50-50 record in between. Having only gone below 180 3 times in his last 12 he deserves his shot at the flag too.
Head to Head:
Round 8 : Jona 189 Piglet 139
Round 18: Piglet 188 Jona 130
Qual final: Jona 214 Piglet 210
If they played every week: Jona 13 Piglet 7
Form (recent first)
Jona: bye, 222, 214, 244, 130
Piglet 177, 190, 210, 201, 188
Key Outs:
Jona: Mitch Georgiades
Piglet: Tim English, Tom Hawkins
Prediction:
Jona has averaged 227 in his last 3 games so hard to suggest he won’t win here but Piglet has been in pretty good form himself so cant be completely discounted. Without Georgiades you’d suggest Piglet edges the forward comparison just and the midfields match up pretty evenly. It’s the ruck/tackler combo that has stood Jona apart for much of the year but with Rowbottom struggling a little of late, Piglet would be confident Steele could hold his own and Pittonet might not be the worlds best ruckman, but against the Eagles and without TDK playing, he should be good for a 30… I think its going to be close – they will both get close to 200 and I smell an upset here, I think Piglet might just get up.
The big selection dilemma?
Jona has a big call to make around his ruck tackler combo… All year he locked in Xerri/Rowbottom but with Rowbottom down a little lately (33 in last 7 games) , does he stick with Toby Bedford and forgive a couple of quiet ones (9 in last 2 games) or go the nuclear option and move Xerri and gamble on Rhys Stanley in the ruck ? Tough call that could be the difference.
What would it mean?
Jona is only in his 2nd season and 1st full one given he adopted last years team post draft - a premiership so young would be impressive and certainly give good bragging rights over his big brother.. Piglet on the other hand is in his 23rd season and has one previous flag – Division 3 in 2003 – long before Jona was born. An end to the 21 year premiership doubt would no doubt be welcomed.
News from semi and prelim finals
Evening all, as the eyes of the sports world turned to Paris, our finals have rolled on under the radar, but I’ve got a couple of weeks of news for you now as a result. Two contrasting weeks too, as the semis saw some big scores, whilst this week’s prelims were mostly a battle of attrition with only one of 10 teams passing 180.
We’ll start in Division 1 where last week’s semi finals saw Gavin knock up an impressive 211 to take the points against Janith and move through the grand final. Cameron’s 6 goals for Janith weren’t enough. In the other game Sash knocked up a huge 217 to eliminate Uchitha and progress to a prelim. That prelim was this week and with two Div 1 powerhouses clashing we probably expected a lot more than what was served up… Sash managed a paltry 125, by far his worst effort of the season to drop out without a whimper whilst Janith was barely better with 149 but probably had the only two above-par players in the match with Crouch and Grundy doing enough to get him another shot at Gavin.. Gavin’s reserves beat both Janith and Sash this week, so he no doubt starts favourite next weekend/
Div 2 and last week’s action saw Simon amass a season-high 238 to move through to the grand final and grab the $50 “high score” prize in the process. Raph was his victim but he had a double chance and would play the winner of Steesh v Morca. This was a thriller with Witts 53 hitouts for Steesh and Jamarra’s inaccuracy (2.6) for Morca the keys as Steesh held on by 2 points. So Steesh v Raph in the prelim as both looked to move to the grand final and for some, just as importantly, move back to Division 1. Witts again lead the line for Steesh but sadly the rest of his side all went under their averages and it was Raph who returns to Div1 after a two year absence, ultimately sealing the prize when Membrey kicked 3 on Sunday afternoon. Simon v Raph next week for the premiership
Div 3 went off in semi week with a 206 average score between the top 4 sides… Frank and Richo clashed for a spot in the Granny and it was minor premier Frank who confirmed the promotion he has deserved this year with a 224-204 victory. Both sides obviously performed well but in the end the 53-33 hit out victory for Obrien mirrored the final margin… The other semi saw Balls knock up 218 to keep his season alive with a comfortable 7 goal win over Damo. 9 goals from Larkey and Daniher massive… So this week was Richo v Balls for a spot in the GF and a spot in D2 that Richo has craved for a few years now… Neither side reproduced their semi form and when Darcy pulled out for Richo it was advantage Balls. Coming into Sunday Richo needed a haul of tackles from Walsh to get back into it but it wasn’t to be and when Libba added 8 tackles for Balls late, he’d run away with a 5 goal win. Balls v Frank next week for the flag.
Semi week in Div 4 produced no shortage of headlines with minor premier Clayton shocked by Andy, going down by 36 points, 219-183. Barely a weak link in Andy’s side as everyone fired to put him in the big dance. Clay would live to fight another day, but his opponenet took some sorting out… Dean v DK and on form DK seemed to be coming home the stronger in the back half of the year. The clever move of ruckman Xerri to tackler paid diviends again and DK had posted a competive 183 despite little output from his forwards… Obrien kept Dean alive, forgetting Parish was back (35 touches) and playing Jake Lloyd (16) however left him vulnerable, but in the end Jesse Hogan’s 5 did Dean enough to get to 183 as well.. A quick look to confirm rules and ladder positions meant DK was out and Dean was through as the higher placed finished during the year. To prelim week and the lucky to be alive Dean took on minor premier Clayton in what should on paper have been a one sided encounter, but things didn’t go as planned. Clay would expect 36 each from Serong and Gulden, not 36 between them and when Dean again got big value from Obrien and this time remembered Parish, he was running away.. Dean with 212 and an upset 50 point win. Dean v Andy next week.
Finally to Div 5 where Jona marched to his first grand final last wweek posting 222 on the back of a 13 goal forward line effort to beat Beamer. Whilst that was happening Piglet ended Dools season with a 190-171 win that was more comfortable than it looked – Waterman kicking 4 in the late game for Dools to paper over some cracks… This meant Piglet v Beamer this week for the right to take on Jona.. Interestingly both scored 190 in the semis so was another draw on the cards? Both midfields went so-so with Piglet edging that 82-72 but Beamer had more than made up for that with tackler and ruck gains, so it was down to the forwards to finish things off for either side and this is where Piglet thrived on Sunday – Gunston and Thrilthorpe adding 5 whilst McKay andWeightman managed 1 between them for Beamer opening up a match winning advantage for Piggy who will start as an outsider against Jona next week.
This week also saw another title decided with Balls and Sash clashing as the last two standing in the eliminator after they had eliminated Piglet in Semis week… In semis week Balls (218) and Sash (217) were huge leaving Piglet eliminated with 190, but neither could repeat their form this week… As mentioned in the Div 1 round up above, Sash had a shocker and would’ve been eliminated most weeks with 125, let alone in the final…. Balls “only” got 168 but it was enough to add an Eliminator title to a Div 3 grand final spot, so a good week all round.
The other side comp still running is the league in order where the constant ladder changes just won’t stop but two tipsters have cleared out at the top of our leaderboard. Nick B with 58 and Nicko 60 have a big break now over Red in third (68). Nick B in particular is defying logic to be out on top despite having Collingwood and Adelaide as his top two…
That’s it for this week, grand final week next week– I’m keen to get a preview out in coming days - then knockout cup final and league in order (and a grand final replay if needed anywhere) will be played in round 24. Good luck to all still involved.