AnUltimateRessie
Norm Smith Medallist
- Jan 14, 2022
- 7,171
- 13,403
- AFL Club
- Geelong
Season 36, Round 16.
August the 6th, 2023 saw the opening of the 36th season of Sweet F.A, and it’s been an adventure since with threads spammed, games won, drama unfolded and plenty of penalty points given way.
Now, to stay in the hunt for the premiership, teams must Qooty to Survive.
A recap on the path to a premiership so far.
The recruitment at the Demons in the last couple of the seasons has been exciting, their list is one of the best in the league but for such a list season 35 was embarrassing. Just two wins marked their names in what should have been an important season and a season later improvement is clear but a slow start had on lookers thinking that nothing had changed at the top of Mt Buller.
The Tortoise and the Hare:
A win in the opening round had already made it halfway to what was accomplished in the season prior with the Sin City Swamprats being thrown down the mountain with a 60 point loss. Wosh and PMBangers started their season well and no one knew what the Demons ceiling was for season 36.
That ceiling closed in though as losses to the Old Boys, Bombers, Wonders, and Dragons were their next four matches.
They were able to keep it respectable against the Dragons, with just a four point loss, setting the scene for a thrilling final home and away match but a 77 point loss against the Bombers and a 41 point loss against the Wonders had them sitting 11th heading into their first bye of the season.
Rest and Regroup:
The bye came at an important time for the Mount Buller Demons and by the time round seven came around they had regrouped and started their climb back towards the top with a 46 point win against the Roys. An important match from DERO had folks creating their own believe sign around the country.
Another win in round eight against the Phoenix had belief growing at the Buller camp and further wins against a strong Coney Island Warriors outfit and the Gold City Royals also did nothing to hurt it as Wosh kicked goal after goal including four in a draw against the Las Vegas Bears in round 12.
The Final Two:
A fast starting round 14 had the Demons come out of the gates aggressively with a two goal, 29 disposal game from Hate ensuring that their side walked to a 29 point victory against the West Coast Wonders and kept them in finals contention.
It’s simple for the Mt Buller Demons in the last round. Win and they are in finals, lose and they need the Roys to also lose.
Statistic Leaders:
Hit Outs: Hate (133)
Kicks: Yakker (142)
Handballs: sausageroll (158)
Marks: sante (64)
Tackles: Tarkyn_24 (65)
Goals: Wosh (42.21)
Dream Team: Yakker (1042)
An excellent rookie recruitment period from the Dragons have them back in contention again and they’ll need some fresh blood to be able to bounce back after their elimination final exit in season 35.
Record Positive:
No byes in the first five rounds meant that the Dragons needed to build momentum quickly and while a win against the Gold City Royals in round one was good, it wasn’t quite enough to get the ball rolling into the second and third round with 22 point losses against the Las Vegas Bears and West Coast Wonders.
At the end of those first five rounds the Dragons had a 3-2 record claiming wins against the Sin City Swamprats and Mount Buller Demons, but that wasn’t the story of the opening month for them.
King Tenz quickly became one of the favourites for the EKA award but wasn’t putting in the performances on the qooty field as he travelled around to clubs in the region putting on his best clown show.
Record Scratched:
King Tenz was not able to have an impact around the qooty until round 11, where he put in a huge 120 dream team performance but it was too little too late after a four game losing streak derailed his teams season.
It started with a 43 point loss against the Fighting Furies in round six before a strong Gumbies outfit took hold of them a round later to deal with them by 34 and as the Dragons headed into their bye in round eight they were quickly slipping down the ladder and found themselves out of finals qualification at ninth spot.
Two more losses after the bye to the Phoenix and Roys wasn’t helpful either but once King Tenz found the qooty in round 11 things started to look good again.
Record Fixed?:
It’s been an important last four games for the Dragons as they faced last years premiers, who they were able to defeat by 31 points with the assistance of a four goal haul from PhenomenalV1 . A combined further 13 goals from them in the next two games ensured that finals were an option again with the Dragons finishing off the Coney Island Warriors and Baghdad Bombers.
A loss at home against the Las Vegas Bears in round 14 wasn’t ideal and now they need to beat the Demons to qualify for finals.
Statistic Leaders:
Hit Outs: Strigoi (132)
Kicks: Ljp86 (127)
Handballs: Strigoi (127)
Marks: King Tenz (72)
Tackles: Ljp86 (85)
Goals: PhenomenalV1 (50.32)
Dream Team: Ljp86 (1052)
Captains, please be aware that the team sheet for your team must be submitted by 11:59 AWST on Thursday.
