Wednesday, November 17, 2010

BPL - Let's Talk Snakes and Sumo

So to conclude our season review before tomorrow’s Semi-Finals, we turn to two teams that have arguably kept somewhat under the radar this season, but have managed to get themselves into the top half of the ladder – the Dojo Mojo and the Cobras.

And they’re playing each other in the Semi Final – so let’s take a look at that too (ill-informed though we are, and lacking the time to ask around properly!)

Dojo Mojo – Six wins, one forfeit away, two losses.

The Dojo started the season in somewhat embarrassing circumstances with a forfeit to the Buggers. But it got a heck of a roll on from there, defeating the rest of the competition in a four game winning streak, before losing to a Buggers outfit that was keen to show what was missed in Round 1.

The second half of the season was more uneven, and the chatter on the Dojo blog also coincidentally declined, with second wins over the Heroes and Cobras, but a return loss to the UQ Lovers most recently.

Cobras – Four wins, one forfeit to them, four losses.

On the board its been a see-sawing season for the Cobras. The snakes came out of the swamp hard with wins over Slamtown and the Buggers in Rounds 1 and 2, before crashing to earth with a loss to the Dojo. Next was the first of their two wins over the Heroes, but aside from these relatively-easy-beats, they haven’t won a game, having been robbed of a game by a Slamtown forfeit and defeated by the Buggers and Dojo.

Semi Final – Dojo Mojo (2) vs Cobras (3)

Why the Dojo Will Win: It’s pretty simple here. The Dojo are the favourites. They’ve beaten the Cobras twice this season, 15-12 in Round 3 and 14-11 in Round 8, without too much difficulty (on the scoreboard at least). They’ve got buckets of talent and plenty of BPL Finals experience. Flan and Lankowski.

Why the Dojo Might Lose: Everyone loves to joke that the Dojo’s finals experience is all about ‘the choke’. Fatty’s broken wrist.

Why the Cobras Might Lose: Key player Mike Nolan Jr has left town (we think?). Exams. The weight of expectation.

Why the Cobras Will Win: Will be very hungry for it, following an indifferent season and the loss to the Passion of the previous season’s Final must still rankle. Remember they beat the Dojo twice in the previous season. Abra.

Will Ultimate be the Winner? There's been a few spirit issues between these teams through the year, but they seem to have gotten better at sorting these things as they've gone along. They both like to play open games and throw it around. So yes, Ultimate will be the winner.

Separate tipping post to come, but feel free to offer your analysis - you probably know more than we do.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm tippin Dojo for the win.

15-13 in a close one.

Fatty's hand is a hindrance, but he was gettin the job done down in Byron.

Dojo experience, height and handling will be too much for the Cobras speed and enthusiasm.

Abra could be the difference maker if the Cobras are to spoil.

But, look out for the newly dubbed 'Flankowsi' twins to steer the ship to victory.

wetnose said...

Stu, although he is not playing in this game, has had the biggest influence on this game.

His decision to make Reece Stewart ineligible due to only playing 4 games (with the washed out round robbing him the chance to play his 5th game) has left the Cobras with a max of 6 players for the final series.

Anonymous said...

All Stu did was enforce the rules as they were stated before the season started.

The Dojo have also been affected by this ruling losing Cunliffe.

It could also be Mike Nolan Jr.'s fault for deciding to get on with his life instead of comitting to the team. Maybe it was Robbies fault for having such brittle meta tarsels. Reece could have come home from his little honeymoon a week early and all this could have been avoided.

Sounds like you're making excuses a bit early.

Reece said...

So in a purely hypothetical situation. Over half of the games of the season get washed out. Does that make everyone ineligible for the finals?

JdR said...

Have to agree - the rules are pretty clear and well known (we've had *years* now of people not being eligible for the Finals).

That is not to say that as unexpected outcomes appear they shouldn't be reviewed for the future.

It's hard to comment much on the Cobras situation as I assume much has happened behind closed doors.

The main reform I think people would like to see in future is what sort of appeals mechanism can be introduced (and ideally one that discourages 'frivolous' appeals).

Ultimate has rules yes, but we also choose to apply them or not using Spirit of the Game as a guide. Not every travel is called, but equally its always fair to call travel.

Hopefully with the rejuvenation of BUDA as the 'owner' of BPL, BUML and WUFL, an appropriate mechanism will be developed that can cover all the Leagues in Brisbane.

JdR said...

By the way, this post is a great example of poster fail, but support from the commenting community. I totally forgot to mention that the Cobras will only be able to field six players - surely one of the most important factors.

Unknown said...

Reece, that hypothetical was already raised and shut down as 'stupid'. I agree that if the the case can't work in the hypothetical it shouldn't work in the one instance.

As for this particular problem, whether Reece planned to be back for 50% of the season or not, having all dry weeks would've made him eligible. I think that it's reasonable to get attendance marks for forfeited (when your opposition forfeits, that is) and rained out games.
Especially when the opposition doesn't tell you and you actually turn up ready to play!!