Regionals Wrap

Ladies and gentlemen,

It was a beautiful, sunny weekend of Ultimate at Northern Regionals, upwards of 30 degrees with low wind. Here's the breakdown.

SATURDAY

The morning games saw Black Betty and Cherry Bomb setting themselves apart, taking easy wins over the less experienced Blackberries and Purple Llamas. The quality of all four teams' uniforms was outstanding, as was the fact that we had four teams at women's Regionals! An exciting outcome, and kudos to everyone who played, and everyone who made it happen.
After lunch, the Blackberries took a golden point thriller over the Llamas for third place, while the established force of Black Betty had their way with Cherry Bomb. I saw little of the game, but a 13-5 scoreline seems an emphatic victory. Both teams should qualify for Nationals without difficulty, and we're excited to see two Queensland teams competing in the women's division.

On the Open side, this day's results had no bearing on Nationals qualification/seeding; it was simply a long day of fun Ultimate. Kudos to all those teams who came together for this, especially those who fought through with low numbers on a hot day. Firestorm, reigning champions for several years, split their team into two squads for extra challenge and more game time. Congratulations to Fire, who swept through the day convincingly to take the win.

Congratulations to the Blackberries, who took out the women's Spirit win, and to the Griffith A-Team for taking Open Spirit. The spread of different finishing times meant we didn't have a chance to acknowledge you on the day, but well done.

Full Saturday rankings:

OPEN
1. Fire
2. Slamtown Flatball Club
3. BPL Retirement Village
4. Storm
5. Townsvillains
6. Griffith A-Team
7. UQ Lovers

OPEN SPIRIT
1. A-Team (51)
=2. Fire (48)
=2. Villains (48)
=2. Lovers (48)
5. Village (47)
6. Storm (44)
7. Slamtown (41)

WOMEN
1. Black Betty
2. Cherry Bomb
3. Blackberries
4. Purple Llamas

WOMEN SPIRIT
1. Blackberries (24.5)
2. Cherry Bomb (23)
3. Purple Llamas (22)
4. Black Betty (20)

SUNDAY

Sunday saw the Open competitive playoffs. With Ignition losing several players on Saturday to injuries or changed minds, a late decision was made to merge Townsvillains and Ignition and create a three team draw.
In the first two games, the composite Ignillains group (got any better ideas?) worked hard, but were outmatched by Slamtown and Firestorm, in that order. It set the stage for the match these teams had been looking forward to.

Slamtown have a number of big-time playmakers, and use these talents to play a high-risk, high-reward style on both O and D. In previous matches against Firestorm, this hadn't worked out in their favour, and a revamped Firestorm offence was able to score consistently as their defence generated turns. When the risks work out, though, Slamtown will be able to put points on any team in the country, and this game saw their throwers absolutely on point.
Firestorm's offence was put under big pressure by a hard-working Slamtown unit, and when they generated turnovers, Slamtown were unwilling to give back the disc. They forced early turnovers and converted, going up 6-3. Firestorm's time-out didn't change the direction, as Slamtown took half 8-4.
The second half continued in a similar fashion; Firestorm were struggling to generate turnovers as Slamtown continued to nail pinpoint hucks down tight sidelines and leading hammers in the back of the endzone. The lead continued to extend, and only a couple of late points brought Firestorm to double digits, as Slamtown handed out Firestorm's first ever Regionals loss.
It was a convincingly display from the Gold Coast/Brisbane mix, and one that will presumably be celebrated in true Slamtown style. To both teams' credit, the game was played in excellent Spirit despite the level of intensity and desire.

Slamtown will take the #6 seed to Nationals, while Firestorm is likely to attend in the #15 position, but must wait for confirmation of AFDA wildcard allocations. Townition (definitely not better...) will be heading to Div 2 Nats to represent the North.
It's extremely exciting to see a second strong club emerging here in Queensland, and we look forward to battling with others from around the country.

SUMMARY

Well done to our winners and our Spirit winners.
Thanks to Dom, Myles, Gary, Mat, Timocles, Luke for significant help with running the tourney.
The QUDA AGM was also held, and reports from that will come separately.

Cheers
John (TD)

Important Regionals Info

From Mr Firestorm himself:


All,

Regionals team registration closes next Friday. All registrations are happening on the website: http://regionals.quda.org/

The present state of play:

SATURDAY
Firestorm, with 5 players, are looking likely to take down Stef as the sole Slamtown representative (Abra, think you registered as free agent before Stef added SFC as an option, might want to check your rego).
In the women's, we could see some upsets, as Jess may struggle to defend Black Betty's reign against 5 Cherry Bombers and even the 3 Purple Llamas.
SUNDAY (Open)
Through a combination of assumption and communication, I have Firestorm, Slamtown, Townsville and Ignition down for competitive finals on Sunday.

Guys and girls, please get registering. Yes, it's a new system, but this system will be used more in Australia. Set up your account once, and it's ready to go for any future events, just like on AFDA.

If you're having difficulty with rego, please firstly check your account and see that you've filled out the info there. At the very least, include your DOB and AFDA #; you won't be able to rego for this tourney without those details included (Soph, I think that's why yours is incomplete).
Still having trouble? Email me.
No team? No worries, register as a free agent and we'll put you somewhere.

John

P.S. Good luck to FOUR Queensland teams heading to an interstate tourney this weekend... that'd have to be close to a record, off the top of my head.


Obviously people haven't gotten across the new Topscore registering system. It's extremely easy to use and like Jmac said, it's a system that will be used more and more in the future, so now's a perfect opportunity to give it a crack.

Even if you don't have a team organised for Saturday, sign up as a free agent and a team will be found for you. The more people that are signed up, the greater chance the Northern Region has of securing wildcard spots for the Australian Championships in April. Even if you're not playing rep ultimate, do you really want those wildcard spots to go to a bunch of Southern teams, when it could go to helping QLD Ultimate?

Regionals!

This just in:

All,

I'm excited to announce that Northern Regionals 2013 will be held on 16-17 March in Brisbane. Put that in your diaries.

The women's competition will be Saturday only. Men will play on Sunday as well.
Venue is TBA. There will, of course, be a rocking Saturday night party.

For those unaware, we are currently in the men's/women's competitive season, culminating in Nationals in late April. Regionals falls 6 weeks before Nationals, and serves two purposes:
a) Qualification/seeding for Nationals, for those teams aspiring to that level
b) A chance to play a men's/women's tournament for players of every standard, all around the country

As such, every level of player is very welcome to come and play, either submitting a team yourself or being connected with an existing team.

Summary: You! Come and play! :-)

Dom Simpson and I are your TDs. More info to come.

John
As John mentions above, Regionals is an excellent chance for all Ultimate players in QLD to play in a meaningful and high quality tournament.

If you're considering the idea of playing or not, get your act together and get a team together.
If you're thinking of not playing, get your act together and get a team together.
If you're already on a team, keep up the good work!

High Level Ultimate

This just in from the guy with the biggest calves in QLD Ultimate:

Ladies and gents,

It's Nationals season, meaning men's and women's clubs around the country are preparing for the Australian Ultimate Championships in late April.
Firestorm has been the clear number 1 team from Queensland since 2007, but the rising Slamtown Flatball Club has declared itself a genuine challenger this year.

To help our Nationals preparation, these clubs will be battling several times in coming months. Come and see the highest level of Ultimate in Queensland!
First battle: This Sunday, 10 February
10am, at the field at the end of Assembly St, Salisbury

We'll have a couple of marquees for shade and some cold drinks for sale. Bring a chair and your finest heckling.
Afterwards, the teams will be hanging out, and you're welcome to join us for that.

John
#10 Firestorm


It's sure to be a humdinger of a match with both teams spoiling for it after some not-so-subtle blog based mud slinging the other week.

BPL Grand Final

So given my bias for the final I thought I would call in an expert to help me break down the final. Unfortunately no one would answer the call so I had to settle for "Mr Nice" himself Pete Allen

What do you like about the Bugs offence?

The Bugs offence has transitioned in the seasons since Mike and JRay to be a lot more dependent on the short running game and all round team effort. That being said, they have got the most consistent thrower in Australian ultimate at their disposal in Buzz, who will always be ready to take that shot and more often than not it will be served on a platter. Hard running is the name of the game this season with Bugs, focussing on simple yet effective plans. Against a zone, they will have Jangles popping along with a few others lending a hand and that hammer to the weak side is always an option with Buzz around.

Where will the bugs struggle on offence?

Although they are hard running and quite efficient, with the large amount of pressure that Slamtown is capable of applying to them with their man D and zone D alike, they may have the propensity to make simple errors. The few less experienced or those who have been sitting a bit idle of late may be just that weakness that is exploited. They will fare well with decisive cutting and attacking every single disc, but even one single slow approach to the disc could present that opportunity that Slammers are only too willing to take.

What would you recommend the bugs do on D?

The Bugs defence has proven to be quite effective this season, there is no real secret to it really. They don’t do anything out of the ordinary or special in any way (well if they do it’s not obvious). They just stick to the basics; hold a force, take away the unders and get to the contests. Any zone they put on is done to apply pressure and does so quite well. Against, Slamtown, this may work well, but they are going to have be very close to their man at all times because when that huck comes (which it will pretty much every point, especially if Kalin gets his hands on the disc), they are going to need to be there in numbers to prevent the plethora of Slamtown receivers from taking easy catches. In my opinion, you know pretty much exactly who on Slamtown is going to huck it and when, so if you are aware of who and where the disc is you can go help out when it comes.

Who are the Bugs Key players?

There are obvious Bugs players who are key to their game and have been there when they win this season. Buzz, obviously is a key handler, and Slamtown will struggle to shut him down even when they try their darndest. Jangles will be running constantly and in straight lines all over the field. But it is going to come down to who can get some important blocks throughout the game and here I think it falls down to 3 or 4 players, who will have to step up. Trevor, Special, Twebb and Matt Ryan. Trevor has shown glimpses of being a game changer when he wants too, Special has been doing it for years quietly, Twebb has the athleticism and Matt has the Tenacity.  These guys will be required to mark the downfield players when those bombs come and get in front and above their marks to take down the stuff that will come their way.

What do you like about the Slammers offence?

Slamtowns rise over the past few years has been quite obvious to all, and it is ongoing, even after a stumble at the start of this season. The basis of this rise is having a group of players that play with each regularly at leagues, tournaments and ... elsewhere. One of the things that stems from this knowledge of each other is their willingness to take shots from anywhere on the park to anywhere on the park and trust their receivers will bring it down (bit like how most previous teams who have won BPL have done). Also helping this is having some great throwers in aL and Abra, and some others that keep defence on their toes (Kalin), and then others that are just safe as houses recycling the disc at the back until an opportunity arises. Then to cap it off, downfield they are strong with their top tier receivers being a constant threat, but then if that is stopped they have a 2^nd tier that is on par with most other teams top tier, making it very hard on any defence.

Where will the Slammers struggle on offence?

The Slammers biggest strength in taking big shots and bringing them down is also their only real weakness. When frustrated they can be forced to take these shots from inopportune areas of the field and if the defence down field is doing their job properly they will always have the opportunity to get there first.

What would you recommend the Slammers do on D?

The Slammers job on D is pretty simple, do what they normally do. Mark hard, with good matchups and make sure when Buzz gets the disc he has limited options down field. They can put on their 2-3-2 from time to time to change things up, but if the Buggers are patient enough they should be able to get through it, so this should be a changeup play rather than the norm.

Who are the Slammers Key players?

The key players on Slammers again stand out for the handlers, with aL and Abra being the shot takers and a few others who will be the safe and sound recyclers. Downfield, it will be hard to look passed Gref and Kalin who are threats both under and long, as well as their most prolific defenders. But I think the player that could stand out and make the big difference is Jordan Stone, often underestimated and given a lesser match-up, he can run rampant deep taking down big grabs and getting great layout blocks from behind his man. And of course, Kocher might turn up which will just be one more player to watch out for. Another massive figure will be the bearded and big haired guy on Crutches, Rapazzo, who will be a leading and shaping the team from the sideline.

What Match ups interest you the most? 

There will be two match-ups (amongst the rest) to keep an eye on, Abra if he is there will probably be given the task of marking Buzz, he’ll try his best and can be good for a few hanging layout blocks in a final, but I expect Buzz if the delivery is good enough will prevail in this matchup using his experience to get free. The other matchup I hope to see is Trev v. Gref. Hopefully they can make this happen as I want to see how it plays out.

Who do you expect to win and why?

Having played against both these teams this season, it is very hard to see Buggers winning it against the minor premiers. If they keep to the basics and frustrate the Slammers they may just have a chance, but due to recent experience against both teams, I’ll be putting my money on Slamtown with the usual Grand Final Score – 15 -8

How do you see the game panning out?

Slamtown will come out strong and get a few points lead, Bugs will lift and trade until half with a break back. After half more trading will ensure, Bugs will get a couple of breaks but then Slamtown will run away with it to finish at 15 – 8. 10 minutes before time, allowing plenty of time for the league wrap from Ads and beers for all involved. I think spirit-wise it will be alright, there will be a few minor arguments over calls as can be expected with these 2 teams, especially with some selective heckling from the crowd, but nothing too unspirited that can’t be laughed about after the game.

Would a 3/4 playoff be more interesting?

A 3/4 playoff, an interesting idea. I think if you could get the 2 teams involved to care about it in some way it would be a closer game. But I think both teams will already be looking to the off-season and next season by now and no heart would be in it. As it is, taking away the home field rights to field 1 for the winners of the previous season was a terrible decision so I can’t see anything worthwhile being offered to the winners of a 3/4 playoff.

Queensland Open Championships 2012 Preview

Your blogger has bitten way more off than he can chew this year, with TDing Regionals, Griffith stuff, QUDA stuff and real life, to properly preview this tournament. But who needs sleep!?

The tournament returns to Griffith Nathan which is looking shmick. Having the party at the Griffith campus pretty much straight after games finish (although time enough for southsiders to go home and shower I guess) is interesting. Pizza and a bar tab is always a drawcard. I See Red is a good theme - can't wait to see JackL and AndyL in their green outfits. Kinda negative in a photographic way.

Anyway, lets look at the teams.

Firestorm
The A1-AlphaDog-DominantLifeform-TopoftheFoodChain-ArnoldSchwarzenegger-ZombieLich-Galactus-CitizenKane-DalekEmperor of Northern Regionals. They laugh at this tournament (usually this is followed by a crack of thunder), and have managed to get it brought forward a week so they can get proper games at Easterns. And probably rightly so - once you've harvested the best talent and cut the chaff, as well as trained for months like the crazy eager buggers they are, what can you expect, aside from seeing Firestorm at the top of the trophy for another year.

Northerns Form: 2011 1st 2010 1st 2009 1st and 2nd (O/D squad); 2008 1st and 2nd (Troopers/Zippo), 2007 1st.

Player to Watch: All of the tricky beggars. Whoops, they've scored on you again. The one guy who probably hasn't flogged you before is named Dan. He'll flog you too apparently. And for the sake of Queensland pride at Nationals, please don't break any of them (treat J-Mac like he's your mother, which he is (spiritually)).

Towns-Villians
Evil, evil people from the True North, who will no doubt thrive in the hot and humid conditions this weekend. Like mould. Rumour has it that the Villians consider this a warmup tournament for coming again to smash and grab the Div2 Nationals title. We shall see. The roster may be a little short, but they've picked up a dark lords in the form of the best of the Cairns Mob, and as usual some dudes will just appear out of the blue. Looking forward to seeing the new outfits. Expect a forfeit on Sunday morning if tradition holds up.

Northerns Form: 2011 4th 2010 3rd 2009 4th (as Thor); 2008 3rd (as Thor); 2007 2nd (as Thor); 2006 4th (as No Panda).

Player to Watch: Hugh Osborne has moved to Perth like Hamish and Simone before him, but Keith is coming up from Tassie to drink JdR's liquour cabinet and play this one. Watch out for the guy in the old fashioned Dojo shirt.

Slamtown Flatball Club
Slamtown have had some highs and lows in their existence. This year's squad has been hardened up by the BPL, and boasts a very strong Byron Bay flavour. Expectations will be high, but if the gang parties like usual, Day 2 could be tough. If Northerns were My Kitchen Rules, these guys would be like those other famous Gold Coasters, Gary and Peter - know what they're doing but can seem a bit bitchy while doing it. Will battle Ignition to take the second Northern slot to Nationals, in some form or other.

Northerns Form: 2011 3rd 2010 2nd 2009 5th; 2008 4th (as The Pass)

Player to Watch: Stef Rappazzo of course. You can't help but look at him. Like a car wreck on legs. This guy is so tough he sweats blonde playgirls, craps steel I-beams and wees boiling tequila, lemon and salt - and that stuff doesn't have to fall far to hit the ground. Daughters should also be hidden from several members of this team. Jords will be much bigger this year, as he's going to Uni now and was apparently studying on Day 1, as will Dr Phil.

Firestorm Ignition
They've got Mansauce. What more should we bother mentioning? I guess we could give all the other nicknames for the players on the team, just so you can sort them out for your heckling when they take on Slamtown in the Semi-Final. There's Jacksauce, CarlieCarlCarl, NotCarlI'mNotRelatedToHimLeaveMeAloneManHeyIAmTooOver18, Brownsauce, Brownsauce with Chives, TimTom, TomTim, Bendy, Rednut the Fatarsed Wombat, Dazzler, Nugget, Dan Dan Revolution, the Big G, and Paul "I'm a Real Australian Now, Maaaayte, Gimme Some Tinnies or I'll Wooloomooloo Yer Woollangabba, Bloke" S. Want to get that second slot to Nats, rather than the 3rd slot.

Northerns Form: 2011 2nd

Player to Watch: A mix of knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns, and various dressings. Um. Well, they're all kinda funny looking to watch. What the heck, let's talk up Guarin.

Griffith Heroes
A sexual chocolate of two prominent BUML Clubs, plus those darn Webb boys, who'll likely turn up in a 1969 Dodge Charger with the Confederate Flag painted on the roof and the doors welded shut. There's some young talent on this team, playing their first guy only games, which may suit dirty old swill-chucking farts like ... well basically Dusty and JdR. Still, lots of them have barely been on the same field together before, so expect their plays to be copied from Wikipedia.

Northerns Form: Zip

Player to Watch: Let's mention Dan Cohen, who anchored the Griffith AUGs 2011 team and Luke Stark, because he reads this sometimes.

Gympie G-Force
WELCOME GYMPIE! This is awesome to have them at their first big gig. Lots of unknowns to this blog on their sheet, but then three of them played the Q-Hat Final last year, and they've got their KFC-stained hands on Hello Moto, That's Mr Litzow To You Punk, and Former President Boevink, so don't play them down.

Northerns Form: Zip

Player to Watch: Michael Daly has the highest AFDA number of the tournament, at 19490.

Note for tipsters - since you'll all (except maybe for Crazy Pete) be putting Firestorm at the top of your list, we suggest you also tip the round robin goal difference. Assuming five games to 17 and time cap of 90 minutes against the other teams, how many points will Firestorm score against how many will they let in?

Northern Regionals Gearing Up

An update on the Queensland Open Ultimate Championships aka Northern Regionals, hosted by the Griffith University Ultimate Club on behalf of QUDA.

Dates: Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 March 2012 roughly 9am-5pm
Venue: Griffith Sports Fields, Kessels Rd, Nathan
Cost: $60 two days, or $30 one day.
Includes: Fields, insurance, lunches, BBQ, Saturday night party, prizes, and some surprises.

Team registration closes Friday 24 February, to allow the draw to be sorted. There are presently seven teams registered - Gympie G-Force, NQ Villains, Brisbane Firestorm, Brisbane Firestorm Ignition, the Gold Coast's Slamtown Flatball Club, Griffith University and the "Toowoomba" Heroes.

Player registration closes on Wednesday 29 February. Captains need to collect their players' money and forward it to the TD. Registering and paying on time means you'll get fed, as well as be properly insured.

Please register at: http://afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=1950

If you are looking for a team, I am confident we'll be able to find one for you. Get in touch. We want everyone who wants to play to play! This is a great chance for less experienced players to get some quality game time against 'the big men'.

Slamtown Wins BPL Final

... that is all.

[In Lieu of Interviews] Semi-Final: Slamtown vs Heroes

Slamtown have been closely guarding their mothers in the lead-up to this weeks final, following a mid-season barrage of threats coming from the Heroes Blog. In response, Stefan has said "Everyone's talking about the Heroes, but we haven't played them since Round 1, and what was the score? 15 to... the usual. Underwhelming."

Heroes will be going into battle with out the artillery of Bevan and Myall tonight. We haven't heard of any Slamtown casualties, aside from their pre-season losses of Jody and Al. Heroes have some hype after training with Firestorm again, and no doubt SFC have been training too, if lack of power rankings is any indicator. Do either of these sides have what it takes to go all the way this season? While the stoic Bugs and Dojo grind it out again on field 1, these two teams will be looking for fast movement and mongrel D, changing the tempo throughout. Matchups look good.

What the punters are saying

Dojo or Slamtown?

Who are you cheering for this frosty Thursday?

And why?


Reece: Dojo, I've always had a soft spot for old men and redheads. this team fulfills both agendas. I'm also starting a grassroots movement of Watto MVP.

JdR: Thursday is about halfway between BUML rounds, so its hard to say.

Rick: Slamtown - underdogs.

We must have the same parents.

Let us know why you're cheering for your nominated team, or why you are implicity NOT cheering for the other team.

One-Sided Grand Final Interviews

Ok, so today we have an interview from a Dojo rep, but we've got nothing back from Slamtown. I guess that's what happens when you ask an over-worked doctor for an interview. So if any Flatballers want to shoot back a rebuttal, we'll accept it at danielstrelan@gmail.com. I'm sure they'll make up for their silence on the field.

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Pre-interview: Today we take you behind the scenes and the high walls of the Palace. You'll see the dirty work involved in scoring an interview with a potential Dingos player.

Hey Pete,

A few weeks back, Jangles said I should interview "someone" from the Australian Squad. He said
that I should interview Pete, and not Jangles - I agree, who wants to hear from Jangles?

Hey Dan,

Happy to assist with your blogging since I read it daily and guess some input would be a way of paying you for the entertainment you provide.

You could do that, or I could send you my bank details. I also need new cleats... Hey wait!! Where are you going!?

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Peter Allen - Southerners say you've gone from being shit to The Shit in quite a short time. You've been the man about town
and indeed The Game Plan for Dojo for some time now. You were left out of the U23 squad, but now find yourself included
in the 60-man Dingos squad. How do you rate your chances this time round?

Well missing out on the U23 campaign was crap, but when you stop playing for a year then start training/running (refer to foot vs. anchor battle of 2009 for reasons) 2 weeks before the first selection camp, it's bound to happen, and I've really enjoyed playing over the last year and have grown as a player, World Clubs was probably the most fun I've had at a tournament and I probably would have missed that if I made the team so there ya go. Chances this time are much better for want of a quantitative answer.


So the 60-man squad - that's huge, what's it about?

The 60 man All-Australian squad was selected from the (I'm going to say hundreds if not thousands of) guys who expressed interest in being considered for selection to represent Australia at the World Championships next year which is what I consider the highest level we in Australia can reach. From Brisbane this year we had a good representation of players making it through to the 60 on the mens side and a bunch more on the womens side which has the same sort of process, the men were:
- Abra, Stu, Jangles, JMc, Mike, Cunliffe and myself, I think aL was also in there but has since pulled out.
Women:
- Blair, Bree(still Brisbanite in my books), Maylin, Molly, Megs, feel like I'm missing someone, so the comments can fix that.

And then there is masters who are their own thing and I have little idea what's happening there, but I'm guessing the likes, of aL, George, Buzz, Ferg, maybe Mat Ryan? who knows.

And when does it get narrowed down?

The squad has already been narrowed down after the first camp to a "35-man" (ie. 39 people) squad for the upcoming series of 3 training/selection camps. Everyone who did not make the 35 are included now in the mixed squad if they want to be. We will all be attending the next series of camps without Stu, who is now in the running to make the mixed squad. The updated squads can be found at: http://forcesideline.com/?p=711
The next camp is in less than two weeks and after this the mens team to compete at Emerald City Class in Seattle will be announced (27 June - stay tuned), which will be a great opportunity to play at a level even higher than world champs against the top 8 teams from US/Canada as well as teams from Columbia and Japan this year. After the announcement there will be 2 more camps in Canberra then the ECC tournie and the team for Worlds next year will be announced sometime after that.

Our blog adviser and team mate gave a poor anecdote summarising the trip to Sydney
"It's like shnk! shnk!" - the shnking referring to the perfect execution of the well oiled machine, made up of the best parts -
It must be something else to train with Australia's elite:

I'm not too sure about the "shnk" being the noise a well oiled machine makes, I'd probably be a bit worried if it did that, sounds like someone left a bolt inside by accident. A whirring noise would be more accurate or perhaps no sound.
But yes, training with the best players in Australia for a weekend is a whole new 'ball'game. Every line you step onto there is not one easy matchup so by the end of the weekend you are just as tired as after 4 days of nats.

Indeed. I think the sound was in reference to those romanticized images of early machinery post-industrial revolution (more appropriate for Silverbacks?)

Has anyone in the squad been a mentor or an inspiration to you? How do you learn to be the best receiver?

Inspiration wise - it is hard to go passed Mikey, he plays the type of game that I like to play myself so probably the perfect model to try and replicate. As for mentors, JMc knows what it takes to play elite level ultimate and offers very useful guidance when you need it. As for learning to be the best receiver, well that is just something that comes over time with hard work, watching the players who excel at it helps a lot, plus just don't try too much, a nice principle most of us received as youngsters was the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid), seriously that applies to everything. Oh and two very important things, read and jump.


Ok, now to Dojo - I've referred to you at "The Game Plan", but now is the time to do the team thing and tell us all
about the depth of your team:

The Dojo team has a fair amount of talent in its ranks, that's for sure. We've got the MVP from last years final in Watto, backed up by his sidekicks in Wallsy, and not suspended this time, Ryan. Then there is the Fatty/Coops connection which just keeps getting better, add to that the guidance of the Sensei and Sean's run through D's, our best pickup ever Cola, and the crazy defence of Daz and Cunliffe. I guess that puts the Dojo depth at approximately Challenger Deep or deeper.

I've just something rare on the Dojo blog. A new post!! I've not heard who is making expert comments on this footage.
With Sensei and Coops again featuring in the Final, and The Mayor and Al standing at the other end, who do you think
is best suited to call the game?

Well we may be fortunate enough to hear aL commentating since he is not playing so that's a very good pickup for the sideline team, apart from that I'd say we could all use some Finn commentary.

Tell us, if you don't mind, just how you plan on putting those Flat-ball Chumps in their place (2nd) on Thursday night.

Suffocating D and huck happy O. I hope.

I think I've answered everything, I was interrupted by a fire in my building...seriously.

Thanks for your commitment to Sparkle Motion. Whatever that is.

Here it is!!

This should have gone up 24 hours ago, but someone, possibly Russian took out one of the interweb cables under the Palace Moat, and we've had fat Greek guys in DT's repairing the bastard. Rick-E-Beats, if you could help us out with a photo of those guys, that'd be great!

Without further adieu, the image you've all been waiting for:

Semi Final: Slamtown vs Buggers

*note - if you go to google images and type "buggers" you will find a humourous and disturbing photo that I was not game to upload. If only Wetnose was still around!

Without further adieu, (A Jew?! In these parts!!?) I present to you the Semi Finals interviews!!!11oneineoneeleven

First up we have Byron Bay Nice-Guy - Mr Kevin Stahlman!!! Can he out-do the Mayor?

1. Kevvy, undoubtedly you travel further than anyone for BPL. Is there any
uncovered talent down there in Byron that might be exposed when SFC
host home games on the Gold Coast?

It's fair to say that we bring the very best that the Gold Coast has to offer each week to the BPL. Byron has some great talent, but the 2 hour commute has put them off. I doubt the change to some home games next season will get these boys out, but if the SFC roster could include Donovan Moss and Justin Tiefer it would be a great boost and help to get us out of the 5'9" blues.

2. Slamtown recruited formidably during the off-season. Have Al and Abra
really been the saviours, or has your success been driven by the local boys?

First of all, these men came to us, drawn to the orange shorts and good times that is the SFC. No, they have not been the 'saviors', but they have fit in perfectly in places where we were deficient. With aL, he has brought a steady calm and experience to an offence that had potential, but struggled under pressure. Abra brings an infectious excitement and energy. They haven't saved us, but perhaps they were the missing pieces. Now if we could convince Fatty that he'd look good in orange... Formidable recruitment will begin in a few weeks.

3. How easy is it to smack talk the Buggers? Extremely? Would you mind
giving us a demonstration?

How's this: "The Bugs: A coupla old guys and one really tall one" That's all I got, they are a class act, and they're playing great disc. We know we're in for the fight of our lives. It's Slamtown's 3rd season, and we're in it to win it all. We respect the Bugs, but we must smash those c*nts if we're to achieve our goal. See ya Thursday

Cheers Kevvy, and now, it's over to the most Loverable Bugger in Moreton Bay - Trevor!! w00t

1. Trevor Lovering - Australian representative at juniors, given the following feedback:
"Has done f*ck all for the Buggers". You've co-captained Ignition at Nationals, has this
translated to increased initiative on the field on Thursday nights?


I think the best thing that I learnt from nationals is how to work within a team. Its not simply about playing your best, but playing in a way that the team needs you to play. In other words, yes.

2. Are the Buggers any good without Mike? It looked like the answer was "No", until
the final round, where you came back to salvage a hard-fought draw. This must be
an auspicious sign for the team, coming into finals?

I think we have proved that we are still up there with the best while Mike is stuck on the sideline, despite the predictions of some. It is a different team without Mike, and we are all the stronger for it. We are now a team with not only a threatening long game, but a smooth flowing short game. The game against Dojo gave us the kind of momentum that carries teams to the top.

3. Slamtown make a lot of noise, lots of cussing and the like,
but they've backed it up by taking second. But you guys
have got their number, right? You're all over it! Insert Smack:

All the noise and antics from Slamtown are simply a ploy to distract people from the fact that their game is nothing special. We have had our ups and downs during the season, done the hard yards. We know how to play under pressure (unlike some), and there will be plenty of pressure Thursday night.

Dojo to take Spirit!? WTF??

Dojo 11 draw. Bugs 11
Heroes 15 def. Bandidos 7
Slamtown 15 def. Cobras 7

In a final round where nothing has changed on the ladder, an array of unpredictable stats has arisen. Dojo are sitting on 86.5 (average) for Spirit, and appear to be in the lead. Special LD has no doubt with-held the results of other contenders, Heroes (78.5) and Bugs (77.5). If either of these teams score an "average" of 8 for their last game, it would not be enough to topple the Minor Premiers from taking out yet another trophy in what appears to be a Golden Age for the Kenshi.

SFC finish with the most points scored in the league (and 3 places higher than ever before), while Los Bandidos have the most against. Bandidos also finish 1 spot higher than punters predicted, and the Heroes find themselves in the finals for yet another first. Cobras finish with a lowly spirit score of 72.5, and even considering the forfeit, I think that's the lowest score, or biggest margin I've ever seen!!

End Post.------------------------

Day 2

More wins for Slamtown.

None for Ignition or Red Betty.

Two wins and a close loss to KAOS for Black Betty

Two close losses to the Colonies for Slamtown, who need to beat HoS this morning in order to stay relevant. I'm off to check it out.

Let's Talk Nationals!

Continuing 'decloak week', JdR offers a no doubt ill-informed preview of the Queensland teams representing at Nationals this weekend.

Make sure you get along and support! Here's all the official info!

Firestorm Will Do It

Put simply, this is quite possibly the strongest team Queensland has sent to an Open National titles in the last decade (barring perhaps the injury to John McNaughton).

Firestorm has trained very very hard over the last several months. The loss of Myall and Colo from the original selected list to injury doesn’t seem to have dented planning, and the tweaking at Northern Regionals was followed by a solid hit out at the Brisbane-Canberra Invitational.

Much of the team are now hitting their third or fourth Nationals together – George, Julz, Stu, Nat, Pallen, aL, Andy, Jangles, Finn, Gref, Jimmy, Buzz, Mike - meaning this is the time for the group to peak.

The stars are aligned – can they deliver? We think so – a top four finish is in reach after years in 5th-10th land.

What the heck – let’s forget our heads totally and tip them with our hearts to take the title and come in 1st.

Firestorm Ignition Will Be Firing At Every Click

If the Firestorm 'A team' does well at Nationals this year, it will be in part due to the push that’s been put on by the Firestorm ‘B team’ – Firestorm Ignition - at training and in scratch matches. This is something that arguably hasn’t happened often in the past. What’s more interesting is the high morale and sense of unity in the Ignition squad, which saw them handily dispose of the more fancied Gold Coasters and Townsvillians at Regionals earlier in the year (the rivalry with Slamtown is ongoing and something to be savoured – particularly as both have drawn the same pool for Day One).

Perhaps this comes from the consistency and good humour across the squad – where most other teams have a split between their angry silverbacks and their fired up young bucks, Ignition are almost uniformly happy fellas in their 20’s (or at least, they look it). Tim Fergs and Will Mitchell will nonetheless bring some “Old Gringo”/”Effing Mongrel” to the fresh faces.

Expect Ignition also to remind opponents how their entire team will be at home making love to their wives and girlfriends every night of the tournament, while the visitors have only their cold and lonely hostel beds to look forward to.

That said, and it’s a frickin’ hard call, the lack of star-power means we’re tipping them to finish in the 13-16th bracket. The game against Slamtown on Day 1 will be vital for that. But we’ll say 13th, as the home ground advantage means they can string together two wins at the end to go home winners.

Slamtown Flatball Club - Code Orange, Papa and of course, 'ERE WE GO!

Keeping to the theme, this is THE strongest ever Ultimate team to come out of the Gold Coast area in all of recorded history. Having the tournament near to home has meant that all the very best are available and most players on the team have at least a couple of Nationals under their belts.

Many of these players work together every week in the Brisbane Premier League, and the additions of BW, Mike and Hugh covers some weaknesses in height and steadiness.

This will be the key for the SFC – can they resist the showboat urges that play so well to the chicks at home and on the beach, but which simply deliver turnovers to the highly disciplined defensive outfits they’ll meet at Nats? We shall see and a lot will depend on Bads, Stef and a few others' abilities to keep it in their pants.

SFC are also bringing several Nats-virgins with them – Mike M, Troy Z, Joel, Bienstock, Kevvy (Kev's cherry is only half popped). Hopefully each of them can get electric quickly after the two hour drive up from the Coast – the speed and ferocity of Nationals has a history of blowing the Day One chances of teams heavy on rookies.

This is particularly the case for SFC as they face recent Nats finalists Colony and Fyshwick United in their opening pool. This of course also goes for Firestorm Ignition, who’re probably even greener (and we don’t just mean ‘full of Heroes’).

While the team will be scrambling to win every contest, point and game they can – and frankly, we’re confident they’ll improve on their seeding of 15th and hopefully with Ignition get the North Region a second certain slot for 2012 - long-term observers will be interested to see if this group can demonstrate the heart to turn the gang from Australia’s sixth largest city into a regular Nationals prospect, as opposed to an occasional appearance.

If you can’t follow the noise, look for the Orange and the good looks. If things go well against Ignition and then on Day 2, should make it up above 12th. Indeed, we’ll tip them to 12th.

Betty's Black and Red

Secrets, secrets! Let's let Facebook speak for this lot.

The King Is Dead!!

With ambitions of a Murdoch-like coup, a band of rebels gathered outside the not-so-stately BUB mansion. Fed-up with the aloof monarchy and being left in the dark (ages) regarding ultimate news, inspired by our Arab brothers... we were ready for a blood bath. Upon storming the mansion, we found it surprisingly...

........

.......

empty. The disappointment that filled our souls was immense. The take-over was too easy, and completely non-hostile. It seems that the King, in his insanity, has been put out to greener pastures, seeking a quieter life.

Rumour has it that JdR is scheming away in a cave somewhere... plotting his siege on the Halibut Trophy, after coming so agonizingly close in 2010. We wish to quash all notions of a return to this terrifying regime, and declare:

THE KING IS DEAD!!

In place of the Monarchy, we will form a Democratic Republic... HA! Not so... we are ushering in another era of cruel Imperialism, more evil and terrifying than ever seen before!! (excluding the reign of JdR, which is unspeakable).

So aside from strutting our stuff and hooning around in our gold-plated hovercraft, we've made a few changes around here. We've ripped up the festy carpet, removed the peeling wall paper, and the la trine.... *shudder*

the toilet had been rendered uninhabitable, even to the most foul bacteria (giving wind to a popular ultileak). The loo has been replaced with a GLORIOUS NEW THUNDERBOX!!! Complete with blogosphere control, because we know that most of our posts will be full of crap. We have also installed a very Smart piece of technology, the Cone of Silence. This is quite ingenious, and our plans for its usage will keep you amused and hence adequately sedated.

So go forth, Ultimately, and we will go forth with our.... MIND CONTROL!!

End Post.

BPL For and Against Season Review - Buggers and Slammers

So yesterday a Bugs player called us out for daring to suggest in a faux-controversial way that Slamtown were a superior team and should be in the Semis instead of the Buggers (the comments were also about stirring pots and stuff, but we'll leave that for today).

We made a bit of a response in the comments, but we’ve never been ones to shy away from a bit more controversy here at the Brisbane Ultimate Blog (so long as its interesting), so what they hey, lets look at the season-long records rather than the 15-10 score from the Slamtown-Buggers matchup last week.

Coincidentally, the Buggers and Slamtown blogs have been reflecting on the season going into the finals, so make sure you check them out too!

Slamtown – 2010 Season 2 - Four wins, two draws, one forfeit away, two losses

It’s the numbers above that suggest that Slamtown are one of the strongest teams in the competition. But drilling down it gets more interesting.

Two of the Coast’s wins are of course against the sad-to-say-but-let's-be frank cellar-dwelling Heroes.

But Slamtown are undefeated by the Lovers and the Buggers, having beaten and drawn with each in their two games.

But on other parts of the ledger, they lost to Dojo in Round 5, and of course didn’t get to play the occasionally very good Mojo again. They also lost to the Cobras in Round 1, and of course didn’t take their chance to have another crack at the snakes and forfeited that game.

There’s certainly some who’d suggest that forfeiting a precious BPL game is so sinful that greater disadvantage should be extracted than the present zero ladder points. But let's go look at the Bugs.

The Buggers – 2010 Season 2 - Three wins, one forfeit to them, one draw, four losses.

The Buggers started by picking up a forfeit from the Dojo in Round 1. Now let’s note, we here in the BUB think many Ultimate players traditionally would rather have a decent game and lose than pick up a forfeit, and the Buggers in particular LOVE to play Ultimate. And indeed, they got extra revenge by beating the Dojo in Round 6, making it clear that back in Round 1 they were certainly shafted of the opportunity for a good game and a likely win.

Elsewhere in the season, the Bugs have lost twice to minor premiers the Lovers, and if we can tangent briefly to looking ahead to this week’s Semis, its going to be big if they can get over the students.

But remember, the Buggers are ALWAYS all about building through the season and being better in the finals series than anyone has seen them before, although they are coming off two losses in Rounds 8 and 9.

For their other losses, they lost to the Cobras in Round 2 (but came back to beat them in Round 7), and of course to Slamtown last week in the replay to their earlier draw.

If you’re just thinking about ladder points though, it’s worth noting that the game that the Buggers didn’t get to play due to the washouts was against the Heroes, and as the Heroes went 0-9 for the season (and 1-19 for the year), its fair to say that would’ve been a win.

The Weigh In

So lets weigh up the factors

• That Round 9 Result – Slamtown 15, Buggers 10, trumping that earlier draw.
• Missing Round 10 - Buggers were far more likely to beat Heroes (firing up their goal difference on the way), than Slamtown would’ve been to beat Dojo
• Missing Opportunities - Slamtown had plenty of opportunities to seal the deal with two draws against teams they otherwise beat, for starters.
• That Forfeit – yep, the rules have been clearly stated and applied for some years – a team that receives a forfeit gets 3 ladder points and 15-0 marked on their points difference, as a recompense for not getting a game.
• That Other Forfeit – yep, and if Slamtown can’t make it to a game, then yep they don’t deserve any points.

Weighing that up, there’s a solid argument that while Slamtown may have won a battle or two through sheer force of arms, the Buggers won the war.

League play and the agreed rules of BPL are about doing what you have to do, week in and week out, to get the ladder and field points to get you into the Semi-Finals – its only there that winning means glory!

Are Slamtown a better team than the Buggers? Yes, in Round 9 they were. 15-10 tells us that.

Do the Buggers deserve to be in the Semi-Finals over Slamtown? Yes. 18 ladder points and a better points difference tell us that.

Tough luck, Slamtown, and good luck Buggers!

Tomorrow – we’ll try to talk tops and bottoms - the Lovers and the Heroes.

Brisbane Premier League Returns Tonight - Our Exclusive Preview

Welcome to the exclusive and Official Brisbane Ultimate Disc Blog BPL 2010 Season 2 Preview. As usual we had grand plans. Several posts. A series of bumper stickers (I Heart Heroes; Don’t Blame Me – I’m Not Dojo; SfcT Happens; Love and Lovers; I’m a Bugger and I Vote). Some commemorative plates. A launch party. A gold plated hovercraft. Ruling the WORLD muhahahah. Ah, the joys of self-delusion.

In the end as the Opening Pull got closer and time was running out, we settled for a single but hopefully grand preview post. Thankfully, the ever gracious (and often verbose) Captains of the teams came to our aid in agreeing to provide exclusive interviews, thereby providing us (and only us!) with some real content rather than us here in the stately mansion just firing up the typing monkeys (who are of course without Will these days). So read on and see how we go with an actual attempt at journalism – bringing together the disparate threads of some keen minds into one hopefully interesting and enlightening piece.

The Bugger in the Room

It’s clear that, with the addition of ex-Lover Buzz Burwell and the full-time return of Australian representative Mike Neild, practically everyone agrees the Moreton Bay Buggers look the goods this season. The Mayor of Gold Coast Ultimate, Stef Rapazzo hates it, but agrees its just the facts, baby. “They are the team to beat.”

Dojo Captain Steve Cameron puts it even blunter: “It's a no-brainer. Bugs are the team to beat this season. Burwell + Neild - need I say more? It's going to be a friggin yawn playing against those guys.”

Ex-Bugger and now Heroes Captain Dan Strelan puts it this way: “Its only the Bugs. They've recruited well (we’re very jealous having tried very hard during the offseason to bolster our own ranks). Yes, the Buzz to Mike combo is massive.”

Bugger Boss Mike can’t help but agree. “Most of the good frisbee teams that I have played on has had at least one pure offensive handler. You know the type, quick, crafty, loves the hammer, a little on the compact side and the kind of player you can build a goal scoring system around. Bringing Buzz Burwell to the Buggers will shape much of the outcome of the league.”

But even the most foggy-minded of BPL followers will recall that Steve enjoys being provocative.

Dan adds more detail ”They're welcoming back Alex 'Chaddy' Chadwick and secured the services of ex-Lover Oscar Hernandez as well. I've gotta pay tribute to the Bugs, playing my rookie season with them and having all our first season recruits coming from the Bugs. Mike Neild believes in all his players and that makes a big difference in BPL” where the successful teams need to have the whole team solid – you can’t just rely on the outrageous talent of a couple of standouts.

The Buggers squad has only a few changes from the team that were a few points short of the Final last season, but there’s been some growth in other ways. Mike draws particular attention to fourth season Bugger Trevor Lovering, fresh from a campaign with the Australian Under 19 team. Sounding slightly like he's writing a report card, Mike writes: “Trev has been a good contributor to the team for a couple of seasons now and I expect his well rounded game and excellent offensive timing will make him a key member of our team this season.”

But Mike adds that ‘the Buzz factor’ is not just something that’s happening with his squad – the formula of aL Don + gang of tall receivers will make the autoerotic UQ Lovers a team that can usually score at will. In comparison, Mike notes the Buggers “have lost a bit of firepower in the tall receiver area with Spinner and Didems taking a season off.” Keen observers will remain aware though that the Bugs’ now longstanding handling/midfield combos of imports, Simon, Stu and Manuel, remain a great steadier.

Mike also notes that “in 2010 the Bugs have had to change our strategy to suit the different group of players who make up the team. Graham 'Special G' Prickett perfectly epitomises the new style of frisbee that we are developing. Hard work, disciplined cutting and control are all hallmarks of our Vice Captain's game. When the team is playing like Special G then we are playing quality Ultimate and will be looking good.

To Love Oneself

The biggest move of the offseason has of course been the merging of the two UQ sides into a single squad, shrinking the League from seven to six teams.

UQ Club Captain and former President Nathan Litzow had this to say. “We have possibly made the biggest waves across the League during the long winter off season.”

“Reducing UQ's presence from two teams to one has led to some hard decisions, some upset players and one mean (at least on paper) looking team.”

“It move may in fact help us think more as being part of a club and representing UQ Ultimate then two teams with some vague and (sometimes) long forgotten links.”

Merging the talent of two BPL teams into one has created a team that should by any objective measure really be overshadowing the Buggers in the tipping stakes. As Dan Strelan puts it: “So this is biased, but someone’s gotta stop the UQ powerhouse that strengthened the top of the league!” he notes one of the other outcomes though – Heroes have been able to gain some extra legs, while some players of long-standing have been decided to leave the League.

Steve Cameron is of course only focused on what happens on the field, and sees UQ as pretty straight forward. “Big Change - Julz to, well, um, UQ. Hey - they've pared it back to one team. If I could still see JMac on the roster I would be tipping them as most likely runners-up over Bugs for sure, despite having to carry Gref through the season."

Nathan suggests observers will want to look at more than the established names on his roster, picking up a thread from Mike: “ I can't wait to see what Alex Livingstone brings back from his time at U19 world champs. Plus I've got high hopes for Tyson and Ryan to improve greatly over the season."

One issue will be the loss (at least in the short term) of an avenue for new players to enter BPL. While UQ had two teams, it had space to fill and was constantly motivated to try to blood players from its wider Club into the BPL. With one team stuffed with talent, it’s hard to see that happening in the immediate future. As one person put it, “You can understand where the leadership is coming from and fair enough, but let’s hope in a season or two they decide to get a second team going again.”

Nathan adds one important rider to those who are tipping UQ - “As most of our team are students - the fact that this season goes deep into UQ's exam period has me at little nervous. If we get to finals will be have a team on the line?”

Heroic Stoic

One outcome of UQ’s merge has been the movement of some legs over to the Heroes. All up, the Heroes look to be blooding six new players this season, including ex-Cobra Carl B and ex-sandgroper Adam Dowley.

Dan was also happy to talk up the new crew: “Mike Strelan - no one can get Rick to do something he doesn't want to do, and when he wants to do something, no one can stop him. He wants to play a lot of Ultimate all of a sudden. He busts his ass to make great cuts and often lays out (more often in D).” Also, “our blog says that Carl is likely to make the most impact out of our recruits.”

Many long term Queenslanders are excited at the prospect of Matt Boevink returning to the top level field after a long term injury, a lot of coaching, and a season loosening up with the Griffith Go-Go’s. Dan takes up the thread, “Some have heard the story of Matt Boevink's angry words in the Cobra's revenge match. "Can I be the bad coach now?" Team - "Yes, absolutely!". Matt - "That was fucking terrible!! Chris, what the fuck are you doing?!" I'm expecting to get a hurry along from the opposition as Matt will now be coaching from the seven on the Line.”

Returning to the coming season, Dan adds “Plus we have TomSteve! Some fools don’t rate him (I pity them), but he's gonna be fired up after being axed by his mates (again), but he's gotta pull his finger out and concentrate on the field. Hopefully he'll have more fun with us.”

Many recognise the Heroes are still some seasons of recruitment and development away from regularly threatening the major teams (including the Heroes themselves), but the team has a wider Club outside the BPL, as well as a positive recruitment and sense of fun that will eventually pay dividends. And as the Cobras found earlier this year, on a good night the Heroes will provide the unexpected.

First Rule of the Dojo – Nobody Talks About the Dojo. Second Rule - Except the Dojo.

When interviewing the other Captains in a tight timeframe, none of them got around to mentioning the illustrious Dojo Mojo, one of the more famed teams within the League. But that’s all right, as Sensei Steve Cameron, author of the best (if slightly one-eyed) Brisbane Club blog out there, welcomed the opportunity to get something down on the record.

We asked Steve first about who he’s got high expectations of this season, and he responded looking slightly bewildered: “Andres Cantor - I don't know who he is and only just saw his name on the Dojo roster, but hopefully he'll step up in a big way!”

“Otherwise I have very high expectations of Pete Allen this season - I don't think we saw anything near the best Pete has to offer last season, and we're going to be counting upon him more than anyone to at least make those hucks to Mike 50/50 options...”

Note that this blog agrees that Pete Allen is awesome but can do better.

We also asked Steve to indulge us with some insights into the otherwise inscrutable personalities of the Dojo, possibly with tongue in cheek, possibly without (he is of course, inscrutable himself).

“Sean Flanagan is our wise sage. Without a doubt. Sean has played more Ultimate than the rest of us have had hot dinners - he's seen it all before."

“Pete Allen may be our Young Gun (comparatively speaking) but when I think weapons I think loose cannon, and that’s Matt Eastburn. His hammers either make you weep or rejoice - you can never tell what it's going to be until it's too late."

“Dan Walls is our iceman. Does something awesome, maybe accepts a quiet pat on the back, and then gets right back to work. Rohan Ferris is our brooding loner. He's about as much into twitter as George Salisbury."

"Andrew Lankowski is our team guy. Only guy at the Dojo who realises it's a team sport. Golden Child - Leon McIntyre. Impeccable spirit, impeccable competitor. Virgin - Darren Shi. All that urgent running...Geeky-but-cool Guy - Dave Watson. He's like Napoleon Dynamite and the kid from Juno rolled into one. Wiseguy - Ryan Black. You just know he's going to have the last laugh."

Steve concludes: "Pete and Andres have already got a mention above, and I've been tagged with enough cliched stereotypes over the years to sink the cliched Titanic stereotype."

As with seemingly every season, the stable Dojo look the goods. It'll come down to the week by week grind of the BPL - the Dojo will win enough games to make the Finals, and then its up to their gods.

Silent Strikes the Snake

In contrast to the Dojo’s fantastic propensity for self-hype, silence has reigned with regards the Cobras. Perhaps it was their coming within a forked tongue of winning last season, but all is quiet at the Swamp.

Despite this, the slippery serpents are still on Mike Neild’s radar: “[They’re] looking really good. I expect that the Cobra team will continue to play the kind of frisbee they found in the second half of last season. If they do they will be a difficult team to beat.”

Stef Rappazzo is also paying attention – noting the addition of Kailin Thomson to the Cobra roster. “Adding a tall well rounded player adds to depth.” The Cobras have also gained Erhart Stockhausen, who will be keen to beat UQ at any opportunity.

The key for the Cobras staying up strong will no doubt be Abra Garfield, but the overseas trips of several players during the Winter break will also be fundamental. Expect Liam ‘Wetnose’ Gillions to be ‘fanging’ for it after a tanning holiday, while Aussie u19 Captain Reece Stewart will be looking to apply what he’s learned on the tough international Ultimate scene. If Cobras can get into gear quick and avoid the early season meltdowns of February-April, big things will be expected.

Slamming Down the M1

Rounding out our preview, we have a look at the Gold Coast’s (and northern NSWs) Slamtown Flatball Club, the one team (aside somewhat from UQ) that has a clear geographic area and mission aside from being ‘a gang of friends who don’t like anyone else’.

Stef was quick to point out some of the talent on the team. “Mike Morgan - If he can get through a season without injury, he will be lethal on both sides of the disc. And Troy Zernike - relatively new to the game has been logging in the hours and is poised to have a break out season. Our new Canadian recruit ... The Beanstock … will be a gun.”

Many Brisbane-based players will be reconsidering their view of a few Slamtowners, after getting to sit back and watch Badman and Kevin put it on during Byron Bay’s recent visit to the Halibut Grand Final. Said one correspondent: “Badman’s game is a lot bigger than I thought. I always figured he was pretty lazy and hucked spekkies because he couldn’t be bothered running any more, but Halibut showed another side. He can be a workhorse, and smart too.”

The Mayor adds: “After the success of his first captaincy role at Halibut, Kevvy is full of confidence and THC. One for everyone to watch out for.”

The travel remains the biggest barrier to Slamtown consistency – the Flatballers are much more likely than other teams to have roster changes from week to week. On the other hand, they may be the hungriest team in the competition. An anonymous member told us “We need to be able to go home and report success. Unlike other teams, we have fans and a solid group of smokin’ hot wives and girlfriends willing us to succeed.”

Captain Rappazzo also noted that getting it together would be a key for Slamtown this season. “We plan to get everyone on board to the same plan, and to believe in one another. Last season exposed some internal combustion, and it was because some of our players had their own ideas of what needed to happen. This season, we hope to be firm with direction, though adaptable to game situations.”

He also added: “As always I intend to swear and scream and to have my men splitting with adrenaline come the first pull.”


Well, we’re out of time for this week – and we’ve still got material to run, but we’ll save that for a bit. Thanks to all the Captains for their input, well done League Director Stu Austin in getting everyone back on the field again, and best of luck and spirit to everyone playing BPL Season 2 2010.

The World Loves a Well Dressed Man

So, in final battle, the Cobras were voted the best team in the BPL, 35 votes to 28.

Well done to Slamtown for making the Final, but well done to the Cobras.

Comment lines are now open. And check out our new poll up in the top right there.