philreich
TheBrownDog
- Mar 2, 2014
- 58,317
- 146,706
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
Inside the Matrix
The Bombers finished the home and away season in 3rd place with an 11-6 record, which was soured by a controversial 2 point penalty – but we won’t discuss that here. They mercilessly dispatched the Gumbies in the qualifying final to earn a week off. Will the break work in their favour, or count against them in the penultimate game of the season?
The Phoenix finished just behind the Bombers in 4th place – just half a game behind. They succumbed to the red hot Dragons in the qualifying final, but hit back hard in their semi final against the Demons. Are the Phoenix jaded, or are they match hardened enough to give this a real crack? We’ll find out next Sunday.
The last time these 2 teams met was in round 14. The Phoenix actually led by a goal at half time – it would have been more, except for wayward goal kicking. That inaccuracy would prove very costly, as the Bombers went ballistic in the second half: piling on 12 goals to 2, to record a resounding 52 point victory. Pugsley and kickthething scored 8 goals between them: as many as the whole opposition team. They’ll need to be put on a leash (Pugsley would be quite used to such treatment
) this week, or the Bombers may march on to the big dance. Preliminary finals are often more thrilling than the premiership decider: with so much on the line this week, this one may be a thriller.The Oracle – Captains
BLUEALLTHRU will be hoping the ghosts of the S31 grand final don’t rear their ugly heads this time around. He’ll be hell bent on leading his team into another grand final.
Chipmunk has proved to be an excellent leader for the Phoenix this season: leading his team to the final 4 is a real feather in his cap. Getting this far is a great achievement, but it all counts for nothing if they fall one step short of the big one: it’s all or nothing next Sunday.
Neo – The One
Pugsley finished the minor round with 57 goals, and nailed 8 of the Bombers’ 28 goals in their qualifying final romp over the Gumbies. The Phoenix defence will be under real pressure to keep him to a reasonable tally this week, because if he repeats his qualifying final heroics, it could be the difference between winning and losing.
Itsmyshow finished the minor round with 68 goals – in doing so, he missed out on the Fred Medal by just 2 goals. He failed to trouble the scorers in the qualifying final, before returning to form against the Demons with 6 goals in the semi final. The Phoenix need him to fire this week, or it’ll be someone else’s show next week.
Agent Smith – The Antagonist
Trying to find an antagonist at the Bombers is like trying to locate a Big Mac at McDonalds – you don’t have to look very hard. But I did like The Greatest Ava’s rebuttal of GWS Goose after the qualifying final. Goose was bemoaning the fact that the coach took him off the field, and then moved him between the pockets. He quipped, "I’m not saying he is on the take, but it is hard to think of another explanation that makes sense.” Ava then knocked the air out of his tyres by saying, “The only other explanation is that I was giving you a bath you goose.”
Somebody clearly upset por_please_ya at one point, because she posted this last week, “People who read the OP are clearly evil.” Well I hope she reads this one, because she’s part of it
.Matrix Burly Brawls – Head to Head
The fans would pay good money to see BLUEALLTHRU and MC Bad Genius go head to head. Neither of them could be described as shy off the field, and it’d undoubtedly be a ding dong on field battle if it were to eventuate. Captains: I wouldn’t be so bold as to tell you how to pick your teams, but please consider giving the masses what they want.
Spoon Boy – Next Captain
Having a succession plan is smart business in this serious world of qooty. BLUEALLTHRU and Chipmunk have done stellar jobs for their respective teams, but who are the candidates to take over the reigns, should the 2 skippers decide that captaincy is no longer for them?
Jabba73 is already one of the 94 Bombers in the leadership group, so the transition to full time captain isn’t that great. I think he’d make an excellent leader some time in the future.
por_please_ya (I mentioned her again – surely she likes OP’s by now) is one of the joint vice captains at the Phoenix. She’s popular throughout the league, so her accession to the top job would be well received by many.
What does all this mean? The Matrix does what it wants with both teams, and has decided on a 7 point win to the Bombers.
* Thanks to Barrybran for the awesome header.
Captains, please submit your team sheet by 11:59pm Thursday
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