Hogg Premier League 2015

[Banker]

ffs.

I was on the ropes against Peptides before todays games.

Now Ollie Wines has just been subbed off for 16... I think its all over

[Q.]

FFS thought I was home and then Jack Steele gets the green vest

[Rik E Boy]

Round 17

Eckys Fevolas 2421
REBCats 2258

Q Before You 2369
wycbloods 2297

Les's Men 2521
Longwood Lions 2436

SHARKS 2428
Ben Rolfsburgers 2390

Has Been 2524
Cork in the Ocean 2248

Cotch Lickers 2545
Hondo SCC 2371

Honey Badgers 2333
Peptide Army 2293

Underdogs 2416
Buddy Franklin 2326

Squeakeroos DTC 2459
Captain Who? 2410

Ladder

1 Squeakeroos DTC 13 4 36397 34848 104.45 52
2 Has Been 13 4 36893 35513 103.89 52
3 Cotch Lickers 11 6 36392 35211 103.35 44
4 Ben Rolfsburgers 10 7 37021 36403 101.70 40
5 Cork in the Ocean 10 7 35436 35236 100.57 40
6 Les's Men 10 7 36268 36497 99.37 40
7 Q Before You 9 8 35521 35788 99.25 36
8 Hondo SCC 8 9 36368 36124 100.68 32

9 Underdogs 8 9 35878 35919 99.89 32
10 Captain Who? 8 9 35964 36156 99.47 32
11 SHARKS 8 9 35178 36079 97.50 32
12 Honey Badgers 7 10 36006 36366 99.01 28
13 REBCats 7 10 35429 35941 98.58 28
14 Peptide Army 7 10 34999 35828 97.69 28
15 Ecky's Fevolas 6 11 36511 36485 100.07 24
16 Longwood Lions 6 11 36070 36124 99.85 24
17 Buddy Franklin 6 11 35256 35537 99.21 24
18 wycbloods 6 11 34078 35610 95.70 24

That is all she wrote for the Minor Round of the Hogg Premier League for the 2015 and as you can see above there were plenty of nervous coaches about the place today. As it turned out the Honey Badgers and Q Before You came through in the end which means wycbloods and Buddy Franklin will be relegated to Division I next season. Both teams can consider themselves very unlucky to be demoted. wycbloods had come good towards the end of the season after they suffered an extended losing run earlier in the season while Buddy's form deserted them at the wrong time of year. It's a fair fall from grace for the Buddster who made the top eight this time last year.

The news was much better for most. Longwood Lions, REBCats, Peptide Army, SHARKS and deservedly Honey Badgers and Eckys Fevolas won't be in the in the finals but all will be relieved to be in the top flight again next season. The two unhappiest teams outside the eight would be Underdogs who continue to score well but can't quite crack it for a finals spot and Captain Who as Groover has fallen off the pace a bit this season. It will be interesting to see what approach Eckys in particular takes next season as his cautious start strategy went very close to dropping them to Divvy I.

So on to the finals. Congratulations to the top eight although I'm still not sure how Hondo and Q Before You made the top eight. Normally these blokes pretty much coast through but Q Man stumbled in at the last minute and the Captain's 49 point loss provided Hondo with his ticket. Squeakeroos DTC has won the Minor Premiership for the first time and he will be very keen to make 2015 his year. Jared is the only coach from the AFL Online website to remain in the Hogg and he could be the third winner originally from that site if he can salute in four weeks.

The big challengers for me are Cotch Lickers and Has Been and what a huge match up we have next week between those two. Both sides are scoring large and Squeaky has done well to avoid those sides in the first week of the finals even though the Rolfs are no pushover. Cork in the Ocean carded the lowest score of the round so hopefully for him he has the trades required to compete against Hondo or his premiership defence is over. In recent weeks he has dropped a notch in the pecking order and needs a big finish to the season.

regards,

REB

[Q.]

Was way too conservative with trades in the mid season. Hopefully six trades and some cash gives me an edge in the finals.

[Groover]

Double chance in elite but miss out here! Ouch!


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[Hondo]

I've hit a wall since the byes. I still have enough trades to get through but it's been one thing after another for me. The current villains are Buddy who is clearly not fit and has averaged about 70 since I brought him in and Tom McDonald with 3 weeks of squat since I got him. Then on the weekend Wines copped the big red cross. Buddy matches the Bont and Wines finishes the game and I would have been close to square with Cotchlickers.

One key missing link in hindsight for me has been Luke Hodge.

[Q.]

I think there's a good chance Lyon will rest Fyfe again this week. Could be a deciding factor in some games, whether coaches have enough trades to sideways him out for a week.

[Ecky]

It will be interesting to see what approach Eckys in particular takes next season as his cautious start strategy went very close to dropping them to Divvy I.

I actually don't think I was overly cautious at the start of the year - my ranking was lower then mainly due to seemingly always having the wrong rookies on the field (Oxley in particular was impossible to get right!). Also I think my ladder position in this league is almost 100% due to bad luck, re-randomise the draw and I could have easily finished in the top 4. I'm currently 5th on points scored (only a few points from 3rd), have probably as good a squad as anyone and with 6 trades left I could have easily been in a position to win the thing, but that's just the luck of the draw!

[One Club Player]

It will be interesting to see what approach Eckys in particular takes next season as his cautious start strategy went very close to dropping them to Divvy I.

I actually don't think I was overly cautious at the start of the year - my ranking was lower then mainly due to seemingly always having the wrong rookies on the field (Oxley in particular was impossible to get right!). Also I think my ladder position in this league is almost 100% due to bad luck, re-randomise the draw and I could have easily finished in the top 4. I'm currently 5th on points scored (only a few points from 3rd), have probably as good a squad as anyone and with 6 trades left I could have easily been in a position to win the thing, but that's just the luck of the draw!

yeah the draw makes a massive difference. I was second on points scored and had the best % but only finished 8th in Elite. Losing games by 4 points and 3 points were the difference between 3rd and 8th. Fortunately the draw was kinder to me in Premier

[Hondo]

Like me Corky appears to need to deal with both Wines and Beams this week as it sounds like both are cooked for the year

[Q.]

Like me Corky appears to need to deal with both Wines and Beams this week as it sounds like both are cooked for the year

I have Corky in Elite and have neither of those players *fistpump*

Les has Beams to deal with in my Premier match up.

[Rik E Boy]

HOGG PREMIER LEAGUE FINALS PREVIEW

Welcome to Multibakery round. The object of this game is to fill your team full of Premos so you can take on and beat the best. Normally teams that make the finals in Hogg Premier League have done this but with this season there are going to be plenty of coaches reaching for the remaining trades in order to field a decent team for the finals. These selections have been made with the 'worry file' open.

1ST QUALIFYING FINAL - Squeakeroos DTC vs. Ben Rolfsburgers

Worry file
Squeaky - Fyfe, Wines
Rolfs - Fyfe, Wines, Franklin

The Word
I have underestimated Squeaky many times this season and perhaps I have been overrating the Rolfs at others. In this match both teams are making their Hogg Premier finals debut so it's uncharted territory for both. The Rolfs have a pretty ordinary finals record so it would buck the trend for them to win their first up final and Squeakys have an advantage of one in the worry file. Benny can't win finals and have to cover one more player so I reckon Squeaky can win here and get the week off. My tip - Squeakeroos DTC by 41 points.

2ND QUALIFYING FINAL - Has Been vs. Cotch Lickers

Worry file
Beeners - Fyfe...yes...that's all
Cotch - Beams, Fyfe, Deledio

The Word
Brett Deledio's illness is not only a worry for the Tigers, it's a worry for the Lickers as well. This one is probably the final of the round and with both teams at full strength it would be a toss of the coin job. Cotch has been gunning it in recent weeks but the demise of Beams and the possible omission of Lids means all of a sudden CoverKing has a massive question mark over his head. With only Fyfe to cover, I reckon Has Been will advance. My tip - Has Been by 86 points.

1ST ELIMINATION FINAL - Cork in the Ocean vs. Hondo SCC

Worry File
Corky - Beams, Fyfe, Wines
Hondo - Beams, Fyfe, Wines, Franklin

The Word
If this was a Poker tournament Hondo would be the winner as he has the full set. While Franklin might not be setting the world on fire he is still someone you have to cover while Corky fields a Premo. The only way Hondo gets up here is if he has trades and Corky does not. Corky have fallen behind the top sides this season but it will take a better side than an understrength Hondo SCC to end their premiership defence. My tip - Cork in the Ocean by 77 points.

2ND ELIMINATION FINAL - Les's Men vs. Q Before You

Worry File
Les - Beams, Ffye, Franklin
Q - Ffye

The Word
Trade hoarding Q has the edge in this match. He can afford to sit and watch what Les does and then make the call on Fyfe if he needs to. Q could even trade him back in once the job is done. If Q sits back and doesn't wash his beard I can't see how Les can get over him. Les has to trade Beams and then has to decide whether it is Buddy or Ffye he moves on. Les is in a tight spot and it's game over for him I reckon. My tip - Q Before You by 102.

regards,

REB

[One Club Player]

Looks like Q Man and I got kissed on the pecker at the selection table

[CoverKing]

Nic Nat out aswell! Great start to the final, shit! I'm giving this game and will make trades if needed next week to keep going

[Q.]

Need 261 from four Saints - Armitage, Newnes, Goddard and McKenzie. The latter has already been subbed out for basically a donut.

[Hondo]

Geez Q you've gone close!

Surely scaling will be your friend from here ... I make you on 258 from those 4

[Q.]

Geez Q you've gone close!

Surely scaling will be your friend from here ... I make you on 258 from those 4

Scaling got me over the line!

[Rik E Boy]

Hogg Premier League Finals Week 1

Qualifying Finals

Ben Rolfsburgers 2459
Squeakeroos DTC 2440

Has Been 2464
Cotch Lickers 2348

Elimination Finals

Hondo SCC 2449
Cork in the Ocean 2400

Q Before You 2453
Les's Men 2451

The first week of finals in HPL this season has seen some very competitive finals with high scoring and close finishes being the order of the day. The big winners as always are the teams who have the double chance and get the week off next week. With a Derby that might be a good one for Freo to lose who knows what Ross will do this week so not a bad week to sit on the sidelines and watch the Semi Finalists slug it out. Congratulations to Qualifying FInal winners Ben Rolfsburgers who knocked off the minor premier Squeakeroos DTC by a mere 19 points. Has Been had the easiest final of the lot when the wheels fell of for the Cotch Lickers who threw in towel and said 'at least we have the double chance' as the Beeners romped in by over a hundred.

In the cut throat finals it was the old and I mean old firm of Q Before You and Hondo SCC who won through although Q could have expected things to go a little more smoothly. In the end they finished Les's Men's season by a mere two points. Two points! That's got to make you mad! Hondo are like the Knight in Holy Grail, arms missing, legs missing...just a flesh wound! They've been very ordinary at times this year but have a captain cook they are in the last six well done. Hondo ended Corky's premiership defence by 49 points and he's a bit stiff to finish fifth and go out in week one with a score of 2400 but them's the breaks in what has been a very tough league this year.

regards,

REB

[Hondo]

I had an unavoidable donut before I started and so I gave up right there. It wasn't until I checked on Saturday night that I realised corky was carrying more rookies on field than me so despite me being a man down I was still in it.

Jesse Hogan was my only on field rookie and he went for 128 so it was my turn for some luck. Bad luck to Corky. He had a couple of lower scores than expected from JPK and Hodge.

[CoverKing]

I decided against trading because the many outs I had. I nearly went Nic Nat to Stefan Martin to try and salvage the win. Glad I didn't because i would have lost by 4 points. Here's to Nic Nat returning this week and going huge!

Hoping to get Deledio and Fyfe back and make another upgrade to have cover up forward and in the mids.