BPL Semi Finals - Get Ready to Ramble

Its frickin' busy here in stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion, mostly because Wetnose has disappeared and so there's no-one to serve the martinis, and the UQ Passion seem to have ignored all invitations to pop in for brandy and cigars while we debrief on their year and their tips for the BPL Finals. Nonetheless we soldier on and have a look at the games that will be hucking off in a few short hours' time.

Don't forget - BPL this week and next has moved to Oval 7 at the University of Queensland - "the spiritual home of Queensland Ultimate". Rumour has it that 20 years ago today Buzz Burwell dug a hole and took a dump at one end of the field, marking the venue as one for Ultimate forever more (he put some bugs in there too - insects, we mean). So mores the pity that Buzz hasn't played enough games this season to qualify to join the UQ Lovers' roster for tonight.

Major Semi Final: (2) Moreton Bay Buggers vs (3) Cobras

This game will be a big test for two of the newer look sides in the competition (although of course the Messy Buggers are the current BPL champions ... and the Buggers club as a whole have won 7 of the last 10 Grand Finals ....). The entry of the Cobras to BPL came with very high expectations from a hand-picked squad, and the belly-rubbers will be disappointed if they only make it as far as the Semis. On the other hand, the Moreton Bay Buggers remain probably the tightest unit in the League, which only strengthens the consumate scoring combo that is J-RaytoMike.

The Cobras have managed their list well through the season, with only young Jack missing the cut for game qualification (which was a suprise to this observer, although I think there was a bit of injury through the year. Either that or his Mum made him say in or something). The Bugs will however be missing stalwart Assoc Prof Stew McGlashan (possibly in his last season of BPL if the rumours are true of a transfer to the Central Coast) and crazy legs Mick Watt.

Expect the Cobras to go totally nuts at the start of this game, as their best chance is to take a page out of the Buggers book and try to run the opposition off the park early. If Piers is there, he'll be firing them up because nothing makes that guy lose it and want to burn the flesh off his own body than the sense of nearing the end of yet another year at Uni. The difference though will be in the stack, where wily defenders like Cupcake and Reece will need rubber necks to shut down sharp cuts from Silent George, Jangles 'One Way' Beu and the VPT.

Bugger-It Stu will just be flat out good.

The match is really going to be a question of whether those with the forked tongues can manage to match the discipline of the analising shellfish, or whether the brain explosions will lob in and they'll find themselves kissing balloons.*

Other Major Semi Final: (1) Dojo Mojo vs (4) UQ Lovers

Expect the change of venue to cause major difficulties for the Dojo, who are traditionally fluid (like the ninjas they are) about getting to the fields on time. Given the wide geographic spread of the Mojo homelands (stretching from Dayboro in the north to Bilinga in the south), the roadworks on Coronation Drive could be a godsend for the Lovers. On the other hand, the last time these two teams met, the students took advantage of Dojo-disorganisation to get out to be 8-2 at half, before succumbing to a 13-12 loss (mostly through its own drops, rather than any real improvement in the magically-powered music magaziners). Plus, the proximity of the Staff Club to the venue may be a challenge for some of the senior Lovers who work at the Uni, tempting them to fill in a few hours between knocking off work and fronting up for the traditionally tough aL-Don patented loving warmup.

All that said, this should be a close one. The Dojo traditionally lift for the semi so that they can set up choking falling short in the Final. The Lovers these days seem to leave their choking to the second half of any game against the Dojo or Cobras (although they seemed to get over this with a solid win over the Passion a fortnight back), but nonetheless will relish the "home ground advantage" and the chance for a break from exam study. The loss of Dan Walls and Buzz Burwell to non-qualification will make this less of a spectacle for the spectator, while not having Lee and Gordon there will cripple the good looks of both squads.

On the field, for the Lovers Rob and Rohan have been ripping it up in the endzone. Dr Geoff has been a bit hot and cold all season, so will be looking to fire it up in between telling tales of the days when he used to kayak over from West End to play Ulti on Oval 7. The newer lads may have some jitters in their first BPL Semi-Finals series, but on the other hand the improvement curve over the season remains stratospheric and may throw up some surprises tonight. For fantasy, I'd be picking one of the Lovers' identical twins Dylan and Mitch, as you can usually double your points. For the Dojo, my fantasy is always Fatty because he's just so darn good.

On the Dojo line, it'll be a case of waxing on and off and finding the famous Dojo groove, which so regularly delivers points avalanches. Expect the Stefanic foreign imports to have a big impact in this game, and the orientalists' height to tell.

UQ go in as underdogs, but may generate an upset. Andy Lankowski has been waiting for the right game to put his stamp on, and we hear that he's specially packing his stamp for this match, so expect a bit of stamping.


Here are our odds for the possible Finals combinations:
- Bugs / Dojo Final 2/1
- Bugs / Lovers Final 5/1
- Cobras / Dojo Final 6/1
- Cobras / Lovers Final 12/1


For the record and while we're here, here's the final positions at the end of the Home and Away season:
1. Dojo Mojo - 23pts (+33)
2. Moreton Bay Buggers - 21pts (+27)
3. Cobras - 14pts (-11)
4. UQ Lovers - 12pts (-24)
5. UQ Passion - 10pts (-25)

*Not healthy if you have a forked tongue.