Hogg Premier League 2014

[Rik E Boy]

Round 16 Results

Poon Army 2408
Squeakeroos DTC 2327

Underdogs 2406
Cork in the Ocean 2280

Longwood Lions 2476
cyrilanddaleshow 2435

Hondo SCC 2399
Spuds 2339

MILLER MOSQUITOES 2441
REBCats 2427

Captain Who? 2505
Darksiders SCE 2165

Richo Richo Man 2550
Has Been 2328

Q Before You 2488
Hawkeye 2294

Buddy Franklin 2406
The Ginger Ninjas 2315

Ladder

1 Buddy Franklin 13 3 0 35188 33877 103.87 52
2 Cork in the Ocean 12 4 0 34974 33405 104.70 48
3 Hondo SCC 12 4 0 35864 34499 103.96 48
4 Has Been 11 5 0 34828 34075 102.21 44
5 Darksiders SCE 10 6 0 35223 34842 101.09 40
6 Q Before You 9 7 0 34956 34454 101.46 36
7 REBCats 8 7 1 34650 34158 101.44 34
8 Spuds 8 8 0 34179 34271 99.73 32

9 Captain Who? 8 8 0 34226 34363 99.60 32
10 Richo Richo Man 8 8 0 34461 34752 99.16 32
11 Underdogs 7 8 1 35212 35038 100.50 30
12 MILLER MOSQUITOES 7 9 0 33710 34231 98.48 28
13 Poon Army 6 10 0 34442 34860 98.80 24
14 Squeakeroos DTC 6 10 0 34016 34683 98.08 24
15 cyrilanddayleshow 5 10 1 34181 35166 97.20 22
16 Longwood Lions 5 11 0 33941 34231 99.15 20
17 Hawkeye 4 12 0 33074 35053 94.35 16
18 The Ginger Ninjas 3 12 1 33025 34192 96.59 14

Cork in the Ocean have lost top spot one week out from the finals after Gibbo showed that there is life in the Underdogs yet. Corky put in a substandard score and Buddy Franklin swooped on top spot after they recorded the regulation win over The Ginger Ninjas. Corky's prize appears to be a first up final against the white hot Hondo instead of the lukewarm Has Been so last week's loss could be very costly for Interceptor.

Captain Who and Richo Richo Man have spent the majority of this season sitting outside the top eight but both sides carded over 2500 this week to remain in the hunt for a finals place. The REBCats fourth loss against the bottom five scorers of the league has left the door open for these two sides and the Spuds haven't secured their place either. Even Q could miss although he'd have to cop a hiding for him to miss the eight with nine wins.

Poon Army continued with their improved form over the latter part of the season but it's all too late for him so perhaps they could be called the Poon Tigers instead. In relegation news the bottom two sides are going down and they have nothing to play for now except for the opportunity to rack up a final Premier League victory before they drop down to the minors. Both of these teams have been in the Premier League for a very long time and so far not one relegated side has even made the Division I finals the next year. Alaska's Longwood Lions won a high quality match against cyril to justifiably avoid relegation.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Round 17 Previews

Round 17 Fixtures winners in bold

Squeakeroos DTC vs. Underdogs
Poon Army vs. Longwood Lions
Cork in the Ocean vs. Hondo SCC
cyrilanddayleshow vs. MILLER MOSQUITOES
Spuds vs. Darksiders SCE
REBCats vs. Has Been
Captain Who? vs. Hawkeye
Richo Richo Man vs. Buddy Franklin
Q Before You vs. The Ginger Ninjas


The Run Home

1. Buddy Franklin 52

Things falling into place now for Buddy and avoiding Hondo in the first week of the finals is a real plus. Buddy faces a suddenly back in town Richo Richo Man who would have creamed the Buddster last week. I’m not expecting Richo to back it up though so top spot for Buddy.

2. Cork in the Ocean 48

Corky was upset by the Underdogs last week and now they will be the Underdogs against Hondo this week. Hondo was outscored by many last week but you get the feeling that Hondo will score best when it counts. A difficult one to tip as the same two sides will probably be playing each other again next week, and that’s the one that counts.

3. Hondo SCC 48

Hondo had to work hard to get the points against a desperate Spuds combination and they face another tough match this week. Could be some silly buggers being played this week by Hondo and Corky, we’ll know more about both sides after their Qualifying Final.

4. Has Been 44

Has Been looked a little off colour against Richo who spanked them last week. This week they’ll be up against a REBCats team that will be fighting for survival. Over the year Has Been are the better side but in recent weeks the REBCats have been outscoring them. With the double chance secured here’s hoping he keeps his powder dry for the finals this week!

5. Darksiders SCE 40

All of a sudden the Darkside are on the nose. Carrying non-scorers such as Dane Swan at this stage of the year means he has either eight trades for next month or none at all for the season. After playing against this guy for years I can’t believe that he’s burnt all of his trades already. Maybe the dude has finally gotten a life.

6. Q Before You 36

Mathematically it’s possible that Q could miss the eight but it seems unlikely that relegated Ginger Ninjas are going to be able to put up enough points to dethrone the Q Man’s premiership defence. The gap between their best and worst is fairly large but Q remains a dangerous opponent next month.

7. REBCats 34

The REBCats were punished for their selection blunder last week by MILLERS MOSQUITOES but thanks to Nick Reiwoldt’s huge score another competitive score was posted. As long as I don’t have any more brain farts this weekend I reckon I can give the Beeners a run for their money and the Cats can hang on to our top eight spot.

8. Spuds 32

The Spuds played well but didn’t get the choccies last week but at the moment the Darksiders look Cherry Ripe for the taking. I reckon Spuds can win against the Darkside and qualify for the finals where they could meet Darksiders again next week. Spuds, you’ve convinced me…you’re in!

9. Captain Who? 32

The Captain will miss the finals by a Bee’s Dick and be punished for a very poor start to the season. There is no way this team shouldn’t be in the finals but that just shows the very competitive nature of the Premier League these days. If Has Been or The Darksiders salute then so will the Captain. On paper Hawkeye should be the easier game but based on recent results the opposite could be the case.

10. Richo Richo Man 32

Last week I wrote that Richo was as cooked as Collingwood but the Pies would gladly have taken a performance that Richo produced last week to unseat top four opposition in Has Been. Richo is relying on other results to make the eight now but one thing they have shown repeatedly this season is that you cannot write them off. However, a final round appointment against Buddy is a tough hurdle.

11. Underdogs 30

Underdogs are one of the unluckiest teams going around in the Premier League this season. Only Hondo has scored more points than Gibbo this year and while Hondo can afford to play silly buggers this week, Gibbo has to fight tooth and nail and hope she can scam a spot in the top eight in the last round. The Underdogs will win pretty easily against Squeakeroos but need at least three results to sneak in so it probably won’t happen.

12. MILLER MOSQUITOES 28

The MOSQUITOES stayed alive for another week but they need four results to go their way to make the finals. Should this unlikely scenario occur they might just do some damage as they are in their best form of the season right now. It seems that they’ve run out of weeks though, their match against Cyril this week is only for pride.


REB Sez

1. Buddy Franklin 56
2. Hondo 52
3. Cork in the Ocean 48
4. Has Been 44
5. Q Before You 40
6. Darksiders SCE 40
7. REBCats 38
8. Spuds 36

Regards,

REB

[Groover]

Reb to lose, spuds and q to win by minimal margins, me to belt hawk eye to leapfrog into 7th.
Then Q and I win all of our finals to meet in the GF once again. It's a conspiracy I tells ya!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Rik E Boy]

Thanks a lot Boomer!

regards,

[Q.]

Reb to lose, spuds and q to win by minimal margins, me to belt hawk eye to leapfrog into 7th.
Then Q and I win all of our finals to meet in the GF once again. It's a conspiracy I tells ya!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So far, so good.

[Masha]

Can discount my rabble from the flag, no trades since three weeks ago, now Pav in doubt, and no bench cover. Gonna be a miracle to survive

[CoverKing]

Needed pendles n gray to get just under 180 to win.
They didn't.
First time all year they couldn't get that between them. Spewing

[Groover]

With all the injuries of late id b surprised if anyone had more than 3 trades left
Majority would have 0-1

[Q.]

Got 5 trades left, but lacking in bench cover...Hartung, Honeychurch, Cutler, Bews offering me nothing as backup.

[Hondo]

Got 5 trades left, but lacking in bench cover...Hartung, Honeychurch, Cutler, Bews offering me nothing as backup.

I'll need some luck as I have less trades than that!

On the other hand my first bench cover players are

Suckling
Billings MPP
Wood
Pavlich

So I can withstand a teeny bit of carnage. I expect chasing ranking will once again detriment my Premier League chances but let's see.

[Groover]

Got 5 trades left, but lacking in bench cover...Hartung, Honeychurch, Cutler, Bews offering me nothing as backup.

I'll need some luck as I have less trades than that!

On the other hand my first bench cover players are

Suckling
Billings MPP
Wood
Pavlich

So I can withstand a teeny bit of carnage. I expect chasing ranking will once again detriment my Premier League chances but let's see.

Same boat hondo, less than 5 trades here as well but got plenty of cover
Suckling, caddy, wood, winguard
Also got dpp everywhere

[Hondo]

Corky was looking strong against me until he copped a ton of bad luck on a dirty Sunday for him with a Mitchell donut, Zorko and Gray.

I copped the 9 from Pav as my E when Buddy pulled out and thought that would be the end of the match right there.

[Interceptor]

Corky was looking strong against me until he copped a ton of bad luck on a dirty Sunday for him with a Mitchell donut, Zorko and Gray.

I copped the 9 from Pav as my E when Buddy pulled out and thought that would be the end of the match right there.

Harvey was another unique for me who had a subpar match, although Shooter McGovern made up for it somewhat.
Will probably look to fully complete the team this week with another midfielder.

[Hondo]

Are you going run McGovern on field for the duration Interceptor?

[Interceptor]

Are you going run McGovern on field for the duration Interceptor?

Would like to keep him as bench cover, but may need his increased value for a decent trade.

[Rik E Boy]

Round 17 Results

Squeakeroos DTC 2258
Underdogs 2146

Longwood Lions 2220
Poon Army 2131

Hondo SCC 2480
Cork in the Ocean 2267

MILLER MOSQUITOES 2522
cyrilanddaleshow 2245

Spuds 2203
Darksiders SCE 2050

Has Been 2259
REBCats 2235

Captain Who? 2445
Hawkeye 2239

Buddy Franklin 2294
Richo Richo Man 2273

Q Before You 2390
The Ginger Ninjas 2171

Ladder

1 Buddy Franklin 14 3 0 37482 36150 103.68 56
2 Hondo SCC 13 4 0 38344 36766 104.29 52
3 Cork in the Ocean 12 5 0 37241 35885 103.78 48
4 Has Been 12 5 0 37087 36310 102.14 48
5 Q Before You 10 7 0 37346 36625 101.97 40
6 Darksiders SCE 10 7 0 37273 37045 100.62 40
7 Captain Who? 9 8 0 36671 36602 100.19 36
8 Spuds 9 8 0 36382 36321 100.17 36

9 REBCats 8 8 1 36885 36417 101.29 34
10 MILLER MOSQUITOES 8 9 0 36232 36476 99.33 32
11 Richo Richo Man 8 9 0 36734 37046 99.16 32
12 Underdogs 7 9 1 37358 37296 100.17 30
13 Squeakeroos DTC 7 10 0 36274 36829 98.49 28
14 Longwood Lions 6 11 0 36161 36362 99.45 24
15 Poon Army 6 11 0 36573 37080 98.63 24
16 cyrilanddayleshow 5 11 1 36426 37498 97.14 22
17 Hawkeye 4 13 0 35313 37498 94.17 16
18 The Ginger Ninjas 3 13 1 35196 36582 96.21 14

The dust has settled on the best ever Minor Round in the Premier League and eight sides remain in the hunt for the title. Congratulations to promoted Buddy Franklin who took out the minor premier and Has Been who managed to secure the double chance quite easily. Both of these sides have really helped to push the Premier League up the rankings this season.

Hondo has topped the scoring for the league on finals eve and I see no reason to change my pre-season prediction that he will win the premiership. Unfortunately for me, Darksiders look gone and Buddy has admitted that he is out of bullets also. The Captain's prediction above could come true but I'm tipping Hondo and Has Been might have something to say about that and you can't write off Cork in the Ocean who have had an excellent year.

Congrats to Corky and Spuds who have qualified for the Premier League finals for the first time (don't think Corky has made the finals before but stand to be corrected of course). It should be a ball tearer of a Finals series with the possibility of a third straight Q vs. Captain Grand Final still on.

Of the teams that missed the eight the hard luck story has to go to Underdogs. Gibbo was ranked SECOND in scoring this year but finished a lowly 12th on the table. I can't recall Gibbo finishing so low in any Hogg league and she's been in it for many years. At least Gibbo has the Champions League and Elite League to try and win even if her Premier season was a dud.

MILLER MOSQUITOES came home like a train but left it all too late. An extended losing run saw the MILLERS out of contention even if nobody bothered to tell them that. The MOSQUITOES showed in the latter part of the season the sort of form that they are capable of most weeks. The REBCats did all they could to miss the finals and eventually succeeded. With losses to Hawkeye, Poon Army and a draw against Gingernuts it's impossible for me to say I deserve to be in the eight.

The Squeakeroos and Longwood Lions had seasons very similiar to last year and ended up with the same result. Both are capable coaches but the Lions need to start earlier and Squeaky needs to keep going. Last season Poon Army and cyrilanddayle went deep into the finals series but this year was not a good one for either as both battled relegation demons all season long. Richo Richo had an improved year but luck deserted him when it appeared that he had a finals spot for the taking. I know how you feel dude.

Finally, it's time to say goodbye to two long serving Premier League coaches, Gingernuts and Woggy. Gingernuts was in the original 2007 Hogg Premier League but only made the finals once, back in 2012. Woggy's Hawkeye has a better record in the Hogg after first appearing in the 2008 season. Hawkeye has made the finals many times and as recently as last season. Both teams have been unable to improve enough to keep up with the rest of the league. Thanks for your contribution to the league in past seasons.

History shows that those that go down don't come back again. So stand by for some tearful pressers from Gingernuts and Woggy.

regards,

REB

[Q.]

it's showtime

[Rik E Boy]

it's showtime

It's gotime! Ninth again SOB.

regards,

REB

[Q.]

REBmond

[Rik E Boy]

Hogg Premier Finals Previews

1ST QUALIFYING FINAL: Buddy Franklin vs. Has Been

Buddy Franklin have done well to top the ladder at the end of the Minor Round but a quick look at the teams still in the running leads me to believe he might be in for a bit of pain this month. Buddy's team is still very good but some other teams have done it better. In Buddy's first final I believe Has Been is the slightly better side. Like all teams the coverage for David Swallow will be an issue this week. Swallow is probably more likely to play seeing as the Suns are fighting for their finals survival, they've played him injured before in less important periods. If Swallow was to miss Buddy has Kolajazzknee and Has Been has Luke McDonald. Jazzyknee was out last week so that is not good news for Buddy.

Buddy will also be sweating on Pav. Early mail has it that he will play and he is one of the few Forwards who takes Tommy Lonnergan to school but how concussed is he that is the question. Cat fans, and Has Been will be hoping for a reduced output. Buddy also has an issue with Miles who underperformed while it's a wait and see on ninth midfielder Dane Swan. The only downside I can see for Has Been is the toss up in the forwardline between Ambrose and Wingard. Wingard has been a pain in the arse all year so a trade will be tempting for Has Been.

This one will be pretty close but I'm selecting Has Been to progress.

2ND QUALIFYING FINAL: Hondo SCC vs. Cork in the Ocean

It's yet another final series for Hogg Premier heavyweight Hondo as he seeks to break his Premiership drought. The final C in his team name must stand for Champion because normally when I select someone to do well they fall faster than Lindsay Thomas. When I look at Hondo's team line up I get as jealous as Danni Minogue...his coverage for Swallow (if needed) is Suckling. Hondo has Pav on the bench FFS. Cork in the Ocean is a ver worthy opponent though and the secret weapon is Rockliff, unless I forget to look more closely and he is a coverage option for Hondo. Corky will be hoping Swallow plays as the cupboard is bare on the bench.

Like quite a few teams, even now, Corky has a bit of an issue with his last spot on the forwardline. McGovern has been pretty solid but the temptation to trade up when your backup options are Ambrose and Shenton must be strong. I think Corky has to do this or preserve trades and time his run from the 1st Semi Final. If the game goes ahead with the current line it's pretty hard to see anything other than a Hondo SCC victory.

1ST ELIMINATION FINAL: Q Before You vs. Spuds

The Spuds have qualified for their first ever Premier League finals but will face a huge obstacle in their finals debut. Q of course, is the reigning premier and like usual he has made the eight with a few trades remaining in the bank. Q has no coverage for Swallow where Spuds have McDonald waiting in the wings but apart from that there are no areas on the ground where the Spuds could claim to have an advantage.

Like the real thing, SC matches begin and nearly end in midfield. The Spuds have a couple of solid rather than guns midfielders in Wines and Zorko in their ranks. With Wines set to face Sydney this week I reckon his output might be down a little while Zorko is very hot and cold which is fine in the forwardline but not so great in midfield. Based on averages Zork would be bench cover for Q's forward line so to his credit he got a real problem area sorted in time to make a challenge for the flag. It's been a solid second season in Premier for the Spuds but I'm tipping Q Before You to win this one and live to fight another day.

2ND ELIMINATION FINAL: Darksiders SCE vs. Captain Who?

These two teams have won three Premier League titles between them and have played in a host of finals over the history of the league. The Darksiders have been the best team in Premier League history but his hold on this lofty status has loosened a little over the past two seasons. A bit like Geelong, the Darkside is not the team it was several seasons back although it keeps on defying predictions of their demise (made by me LOL). This season I would say that this is one of the weakest Darksiders teams I have seen make the finals and about half a dozen teams that missed would be a good chance to defeat them. There is no coverage for Swallow, or the midfield, He has to find two spots for Higgins, Pavlich and Ambrose.

The Captain whoever, have come from way back in the field and deserve their finals place. On paper the Captain has assembled a strong squad which looks capable of winning the premiership. After looking at all the teams the Captain has the best midfield with Wingard in the Mid 10 position. The only possible weakness is he looks to have to play either Wingard or Caddy. I would think neither of these players will score well this week but with the Darksiders looking like they've done too many sideways trades this year, the pressure will be off the Captain to move one of them on. I reckon the Captain wins this and that he can go on and do some real damage in the finals.

regards,

REB