Seniors
After an even first stanza the vultures had a stand out second with 17 scoring shots, consequently our blokes could’ve rolled over and had their tummies tickled in the second half. Not certain what Smithy had to say at the long break but we learned they are made of sterner stuff, and with an awe inspiring Tinker running amok, we matched ‘em for the remainder of the engagement. And that back pocket of the team of the decade, Pat Evans, in his last game, slotted one and bowed to the rapturous applause of his supporters and detractors alike.
We surprised the vultures in the first quarter. Our forward pressure was lively, Tinker looked set for a big one, Stewie was shaping well against Grose, and our back six stood up every time they ventured inside their fifty. After a bit of a stand-off, Spackers took a slips catch and dobbed the first of three. He got the second almost immediately from a Bev handball. Minutes later the Bev showed great agility for a classic one handed pick up off the deck and found Tommy Clough who after a couple of ballet pirouettes – Tommy in his tutu - put another six points on the board. We were smothering, applying pressure in numbers, Cookey was up and about and Rhino and Simmo were prominent in running the agate out of defence while JD and Macca McIvor provided the going forward transfer plays. Classic left foot on Macca. The vultures picked up a couple and snaffled a third off a turnover despite the best efforts of Cookey, Simmo and Searly. Spackers had an opportunity after the bell when the adjudicator paid a high tackle but unfortunately was off target. Quarter time: Mt Gravatt 3 7 to Broadie 3 2.
The second quarter was all vultures. Maybe they took stock and realised their season was on the line, maybe our blokes’ thoughts were on Silly Sunday/Mad Monday. Maybe we lost a bit of punch with Stewie incapacitated and Stork taking hits in the ruck. Whatever, the vertical blue and whites opened up play through the middle and they dominated. Tinker was still leading the way for us, on the deck and at the bottom of the packs, it was courage and persistence personified. He made Houdini look like an amateur magician such was his ground coverage, and for a change was receiving protection from at least one of the referees. “Don’t touch Zorko Hammer!” was the yell we heard as Hammill looked to tackle from behind after a Tink disposal. JD,
Things were looking as glum as Mr Cricket’s average and the Ashes scoreboard combined. And it was going to take individual and team pride and character to win back respect. To their and the coaches’ credit, they did it in spades. In oppressive conditions the players ran and Tinker ran hot. There were no rotations through the bench for him. He contested the nut on the deck, won the ball in packs and played wide and tall to make intercepts in the air, was hit particularly hard at one centre clearance, but showed great leadership in continuing to deliver a grass cutter to Bev for a sausage roll. Fair dinkum, his engine broke all the laws of engineering thermodynamics. Tink was aided and abetted by Simmo, who showed great courage in a 2-way collision to recover and snap truly, Spackers added his third, Fifey gave his all, Lyons put in a gut busting run, Webby, Quick, Rhino and Tyler Green defended stoutly, and Searly and CloughR&T had a crack. At the last break of the season it was the Mounties 12 20 leading the Catters 6 5.
Respect was increased through a sustained effort in the last stanza. Macca’s long left footers assisted the forwards and Bev’s finished one off. JD got a lot of it and the usual suspects in Lyonsy, Cookey, Fifey, Simmo, Stork and CloughyR gave their all while Tu-Tu Clough racked up his second. Simmo in particularly made a great steal and run around the standside wing which may have been the one that Patty Evans grabbed for his exit goal. But the star of the show was guess who? Superlatives are not enough - Tink was Tink.
Final scoreline Mt Gravatt 16 22 118 def Broadbeach 9 6 60
Goals: Spackman 3, Clough T 2, Bevan 2, Evans and Russell 1 each
Best: Zorko, Russell,
Reserves
Regular readers of this site will know that we had trouble fielding a side and we would like to express our thanks to a few blokes that stepped up: Mark Perkins, Matt Correa, Gregor Fraser, Nick Gordon, Aaron Rolfe, the Spleenless one, and fitness coordinator Colin Brown. We also lacked a Dick after he accepted a one week suspension. The mounties fielded a fair side with Tom Tarrant, Morrison and Furfaro, all regulars in the ones, returning from injury. Their target was to knock us off by about 14 goals to make up percentage and hope Labrador knocked over
Eight minutes into the second stanza it was still a one point ball game after Daicos was assisted by Swinger and Ash, and the Spleenless one calmly added to his total while Swinger had the blues. The Gloss was doing well in defence and in the ruck rotating with Barlo. The vultures shot to a 19 point lead, steadied, and after Kevin Jubb copped the full fury of Tarrant busting a pack in mid air, added another 3 goals to lead at half time 12 3 to us 6 2. Percentages closing but still under control and there was no panic. Indeed the Broadie WAGs reflected the calm of the event with a Frisbee demonstration in the winter sun – better than cheer leaders.
Travis Johnson showed the way with courage above and beyond to shrug off a Tarrant attack from the back. He continued his good work for the remainder of the stanza as did Rolfey, Skrin, Twin and Old Man Brown. Fitzy picked up a twin calico and Daicos out thought Tarrant for his third. Kris Maguire and his mate Gloss set up a few plays but as the quarter wore on, and 50m penalties were handed out, their lead increased to worrying proportions. A late red time goal put them in front by 63points at three quarter time.
The final quarter was difficult to keep up with as we made running percentage calculations to determine our finals future. Skrin to Twin to Zim won a stoppage. Swinger laid a great tackle to let Zim in for a goal then he added another from the same spot. Problem was that Morrison was getting plenty at the other end. At the thirteen minute mark, relative percentages were us 109.3 and them 108.5. A couple of goals either way would be significant. They went their way. At game’s end they won 24 10 154 to 10 3 63 to eclipse our percentage by one tenth of a point. The let down atmosphere that was ours became theirs as the news filtered through that it was all in vain as
Goals: Zimmer 4, Barrett 3, Edwards, Skrinis and Fitzgerald 1 each.
Best: Skrinis, Brown, Rolfe, Hansen, Arnold and Glossop.
Congratulations and good luck to those teams in the Velocity Cup, Reserves and Under 18 Division I who have made the finals (including our own). Fair to say we had less than hoped for seasons in terms of outcomes for our three senior sides but there are up sides and we will get to that, after Smithy rightly suggested, “…taking some time to suck it all in….” At this stage, suffice to say we retain personal pride in club personnel and the respect of the competition. Join us Friday 2 October, 7pm at the clubrooms to celebrate the efforts and performances of the three sides at the presentation night. $10 entry with a light supper included. In between times get down for the under 16 Grand Final Saturday week – we are keeping a lid on that one.
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