Please excuse me if you can't understand me. I seem to have lost my voice after last night. If you have trouble understanding me, i'll try to write more clearly.

There was so much to like about last night's 10 7 67 to 8 9 57 semi final win over Norths. The highlights, the fact we now go to the preliminary final, the full moon, the weather. But if there was one highlight that struck me after the game it was the justice of the result.

We WERE the third best side in the competition this year. We had beaten Norths three times and came equal on wins. Last nights win restored our rightful position. Our six match losing streak is now a bad, distant memory. Now we have two wins in a row going into next week. Centrals have won only one of their last three matches. Now we can challenge ourselves and ask how much further can we go. Can we beat Centrals? Can we get the the Grand Final? Could we.....?

The team responded brilliantly last night. Ian and Zengrey did not dominate in the air. They just made bloody sure that Norths didn't either. Charlie, Shaq, Isaac, Henry, Ralph and Derek ran so hard all night that Norths just tired. Guys like Nicholas, Joseph, Jordan, Sean and Pinball gave us our best defensive effort of the season. The boys played for each other like no other time this season.

Centrals and Hawks were there last night. They both saw what we can do with our full squad. They will both be nervous. We are no longer making up the numbers in the finals. We are one of the three remaining contenders.

If we go no further this season than next week's preliminary final, we will still have gained a fitting reward for the efforts of those who put their hearts and souls into this year. Despite every hardship thrown at us, we claim another finals win, no worse than a third place finish and a club that knows we are the real deal.

And the competition knows we are here too....Boy, do they know!!

See you all next week. I need to rest my precious voice.