Grey Factor: Round 10
Aug 11, 2009

During the week leading up to round 10 looking at the weekends games I knew we would see some quality battles, and the boys from the OAFL clubs didn’t disappoint.. Lets take a look at the first wrap up for the week; Roo’s v Rebels..

I predicted a blow out here, and I couldn’t believe my eyes watching the first quarter. The Rebels came out of the blocks hard (in pretty darn hot new uniforms I might add), seizing on every opportunity they could as they flew through the first 20 minutes. Winning the ball out of the centre and sending it hard down into their forward line they were able to take a 4 goal lead going into the first break. Astonishing. The Rebels have been smashed by alot of teams this year, and it was great to see them finally stand up for themselves. The Roo’s on the other hand, were not fielding their best side only ever playing 2 Aussies on the field for certain periods of the game. This was great to see as Emile got to give all his future stars a good run. With that said, 2 of games best in Harris and McKenzie were still in the side, and made the difference in the fight back. Harris was sensational finishing the day with 4 goals. The Roo’s were able to turn a 4 goal deficit into a 2 goal lead by half time. And the rest is history as the Roo’s rolled out 27 point winners. The real outcome of this game is that without all their gun aussies firing, the Roo’s truly become exposed. With Studham out of the forward line up they definately looked far weaker. Congrats to the Reb’s for giving it their all, was great to see a contest where i predicted that there wouldn’t be one.

First game of the Saturday at Humber North saw Guelph up against the fancied Eagles side. The Gargoyles boys were struggling for numbers and started the game one man short. With this said, the lads from down the 401 put it to the Eagles in the opening term. They came out strong hitting the ball hard aswell as laying out the eagles in their wake. But the experience of the Eagles was still too much for the Guelph boys being down by a couple of kicks at quarter time. The Eagles turned it on in the second with Marshy once again proving why he is one of the best in the comp, walking away best on ground yet again. During the 3rd term Guelph had a genuine sniff, picking up their game but it just wasn’t enough as the Eagles blew the Gargoyles out of the water kicking them well and truly out of the game late in the 3rd before steam rolling them in the last. This all but destroys the Gargoyles efforts of making the finals.

Next up was the return of the Quebec Saints taking on the Division 2 Eagles. The Sainters were struggling for numbers so recruits “Digits” and “Hotdog” pulled on the jumper for the visiting team to help out. Playing 11 players a side it was quite the spectacle as there was alot of space on the field for the players to run into. The Eagles came out firing early but the Saints through forwards Margo and “Hotdog” gave themselves a chance. Going into the last quarter the Saints trailed by a couple of kicks but the Saints players in the guts came out hard winning almost every clearance with the Luke Anderson and “Digits” combo, delivering the ball well into Margo and forward flanker “Showtime”. The game was to be the first close one of the day, with the Saints getting the winning goal from Margo with less than 2 minutes to go. Saints win by 6 points.

Another big travel for a visiting team saw the Ottawa Swans take on the High Park demons. And lets just say things in demon land are looking pretty ordinary at the moment. The Swans have played some good footy this year but still only had the one win on the board. They brought what I thought was a pretty good team down to TO while once again the Demons were disappointingly; shorthanded. If there is any ex Demons players out there reading this then come on out and help support the boys to field a full squad! The Swans played all over the Demons all day. They used the ball well all over the ground opting to kick long to strong leads down the wing and worked hard in bringing the ball back through the centre. It was a really solid win from the boys from the capital with a great many positives to come from the game. The Swans got home by close to 10 goals. Another historical win, their first travelling to Toronto.

 While all this action was taking place at Humber North, the Hawks were playing host to the Dingos in what was coined “Match of the Round” at UTSC. I’m not going to dig too badly into the Hawks here as I think they are starting to pull back together as a team, the real point of interest in this game is the resurgence of the Dingo’s!! I’ll address the Hawks first up. We (the Phantom and I) have been on their case for a while now, and at first I think it was much deserved. But making every game for the past 5 weeks with the help of the time travel machine Xavier did up for me, I’d have to say it isn’t the Hawks that are struggling, but its the OAFL that have gotten better. The quality of football this year is phenomenal, and when finals finally pull around the bend it will be very interesting to say the least. Back to the Dingo’s tho, whom are apart of this OAFL revival. Having watched them a couple of times in the last few weeks, I’m astounded at how much they have improved since not making the finals in 2008. They are continuing to move the ball well and hold oppositions to low scores with an impressive back 6. I don’t know who to direct this credit at, but your doing a top notch job! The Dingo’s defence has proven its metal against the leagues best and has come up trumps. This said, they will need to step up a gear come September to match the likes of the Roo’s and the Eagles, as they have been destroyed by both. With me rambling longer than a battle between Cyclops and Magneto I’ve forgetten about the game.. In what was built up to be the match of the round, it never eventuated. Right from the first blow of the whistle the Dingo’s boys controlled the game kicking the first handful. They blew out to a 50 point lead in the 3rd, before the Hawks held onto a respectable 38 point loss... Look out OAFL, the Dingo’s are here!

The last game of the round was between finals contenders the Central Blues and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Blues were embarrassed the week prior by the Downtown boys, while the Wildcats got themselves back on the winners list with a win an impressive win over the Rebels. With the rain holding off at Humber North for most of the day, it wasn’t to be for these two sides as the drops started falling midway through the first term. Surprisingly, it was Hamilton without key forwards Visser and Crouch that fired early, taking a 4 goal quarter time lead. J Mac fired up his Blue Baggers at quarter time and the game was turned around in the second. Hamilton got sucked into some stupid plays, with Dirago being sent off with a yellow and Wilson trying to dig into Ando behind play to give a free kick down the field. The Wildcats ruckmen was also getting a little angry as the Blues went on to simply play some footy. The Blues however, did not capitalise, wasting a lot of opportunities in front of goal. Hamilton still went into the half time break with a slender lead however. The 3rd played almost the same as the first, the Wildcats still could not switch on and get back to their first quarter finesse while the Blues simply wanted the ball more. Halfway through the last it was show time with Central managing to get their noses in front, and then back it up with another goal putting themselves 2 goals clear. The Hamilton coaching staff was stunned after what was such a promising start. To their credit, they fought back kicking the last 2 of the game to walk away with an undeserved 4 points, winning by 3 points. The Blues wanted the win more, but just couldn’t match the Wildcat firepower of new aussie recruits across the centre. The Hamilton boys still have a lot of work to do if they think they can win games like this again, while the Blues will be spewing about the one that got away.

Thats it for this week in the football!! Few more cracker games in round 11, more to come on these later in the week!!
 
Yours Truly,

~The Sexiest Lady in Football
~Jean Grey