Media Ljp86 joins the 400 Club - #Ljp400

[Hate]

Just to pre-face:

Thank you to Ljp86 and Hatchy1992 for taking the time to sit down and contribute an interview for this article. I have sprinkled bits and pieces from the full interview in here. You can find the full interview in the posts following. I highly suggest you read all of it. It's very informative and Ljp as always does a great job of putting his thoughts to the keyboard.

"Can't wait for the season to start, going to be awesome and i get to make my debut." - Ljp86

Yes, yes it was awesome, and is still very much, as the man himself would say, awesome.

It has been 4,702 days since one of the Sweet F.A's most respect and loved players in Ljp86 took to a Qooty field to play his first of what will be an incredible 400 games come Sunday when the Dragons FFC take on the Las Vegas Bears. This is a game you do not want to miss, there is only few games where 90+ thousand turn up and outnumber the opposition supporters, and this will be one of them as the Dragons FFC faithful flock to Dragon Island via any means necessary - boat, car, ship, train, horse, human - to see Ljp86 take to the park in his massive milestone game.

The Debut:

Ljp86 on June 2, 2005 would play his first game in the Sweet F.A for the Dragons FC (existed S5-S7). His first task was playing in the back pocket, however, after rotations during the game, he would not get his first touch until the third quarter, which came by way of first kick, first goal and it was a massive goal to keep the club within 5 points of the leading Las Vegas Bears. With the game on a knifes edge, Ljp86 would make a name for himself in the first game he played - trailing by 2 points, with two minutes left, he would be on the end of a looping handball that would see him take a shot from 50 meters out which sailed through for his third goal of the day, and of many for his career.

Season one for the great man, was a rather good one as he would take home both the awards for the Best and Fairest and Goal Kicking for the Dragons FC.

Fun fact:

• Ljp86 debuted against the Las Vegas Bears and will play his milestone 400th game against the Las Vegas Bears in Round 12
• The simmers got his name wrong in his first game, and he was not happy about it!

Las Vegas Bears 14.10 (94) lost to. Dragons FC 15.8 (98)​

_

A Leader & Contributor:

The Sweet F.A every season sees a host of people come and a host of people leave the league. There is very few people who can say that they have been around, consistently contributing and being an active member of the Sweet F.A. Ljp86 can absolutely claim he is one of them.

Following the unexpected merger of the Dragons FC with the Southern Sharks after the conclusion of Season 07. Ljp86 would play a massive role in the newly formed Southern Dragons in his first season at the club, before taking over as captain from Pie 4 Life in Season 08, where he would go on to captain the club for a record shattering 10 consecutive seasons and winning 4 more Best and Fairest Awards.

Here is what Ljp86 had to say regarding the merger:

From a personal perspective I was very disappointed with how things turned out. The Dragons were going okay as a club and to be forced into a merger with no consultation and the general rushed nature of the move left a lot of Dragons players rather upset and somewhat angry with the decision. The fact that the Sharks weren't all that interested in the idea and weren't bringing a lot to the table didn't help much either. It was certainly an interesting time for the league back then and is one of the most controversial events that has happened in the SFA in my opinion.

I was lucky enough to play alongside Ljp86 for more than 100 games at the Dragons FFC. Simply being around his posts, you learn a lot about the league and what type of Qooty player you want to be. We managed to share a premiership together back in Season 19, which came after a long stretch of time. Ljp86 was very pleased to be apart of it after the effort he had put into the club, and we were all proud we could get him the clubs first flag:

Here is what he had to say regarding the Season 19 flag:

The Dragons premiership in Season 19 is my favourite memory. As a club after the merger we were fairly inconsistent, no finals one year and then finals the next. Then when we'd make the finals we would lose, so much so that we lost the first eight finals matches we played in. It was frustrating and I know some ofthe guys there were also frustrated to the point where we lost a few to other clubs.

Whenever I am in need of some research or information on the league, my first point of contact is usually Ljp - his ability to recall accurately and know the league back to front is incredible and he has contributed an incredible amount to the league to keep it chugging along for 25 seasons.

Ljp86 not only captained the club, but has been behind establishing the foundation of the league behind the scenes including being part of many early committee discussions, being of great use to every Administrator during the last decade. My favorite part, which I recently discovered after research, which shouldn't have been a surprise, but Ljp86 has been doing the leagues match results and ladders for the better part of MORE than a decade. He has certainly been along for the ride.

Here is what he had to say regarding the evolution of the league:

It has changed a lot. Back when I first started there wasn't much activity and most threads would struggle to get past three pages. A lot of the posts were just a general "Go team" or "Carn team" (e.g. Go Dragons etc.) type posting with maybe a little bit of interaction between teammates or opposition posters. It was like this for a few more seasons after I joined before activity started to pick up around Season 9/10, there was then a decline around Season 12 before things picked up again in Season 13/14

He is an ornament of the league and as such, very much is a deserving Immortal member of the Sweet F.A Hall of Fame in which he was inducted in Season 13, and elevated to Immortal Status in Season 22. To go with his Hall of Fame status, he is also the recipient of not one, but two Frankston Rover medals which further highlights his contribution to the league.

Hopefully the above has given you a glimpse into how important Ljp86 actually is to the league. Now let's dive into how much of a dominant force on-field he has been.

All-Time Games Played

​

Come Sunday, Ljp86 will join the late great league legend, Fred, in the exclusive 400 Game Club - just the second person to ever play 400 games. Mobbenfuhrer and rfctigerarmy are next in line to join the club.

After 399 Games, here is a look at how the Dragons FFC superstar has performed over the duration of his career.

Disposals Per Season

DreamTeam Points Per Season

Winner, Winner, Winner!

Ljp86 has an incredible record in his games played both as captain and over the duration of his whole career.

Other Data:

• On 125 occasions Ljp86 has racked up 20 or more disposals in a game​
• On 27 occasions Ljp86 has racked up 100 or more Dream Team Points in a game​
• 3 Mobbenfuhrer Medal Votes in 15 games​
• 59% Goal Accuracy - 336 Goals, 236 Behinds​
• Highest Disposals: 38 Disposals - Round 21, Season 6 vs Roys FFC​
• Highest Goals: 9 Goals - Round 22, Season 5 vs. Sin City Swamprats​
• Highest Dream Team Points: 130 - Round 8, Season 14 vs. East Side Hawks​

Awards Showcase:

Congratulations on a terrific 400 games, and here is to 400 more! Thank you for your contribution to our great league.

#LJP400​

 

[Hate]

FULL INTERVIEW COURTESY OF Hatchy1992 AND Ljp86

Q. Firstly, thanks for taking the time out of your tight schedule on Dragon Island to be here with me today. 400 games this week mate. How did your career in the SFA start? How much has it changed overtime since you began?

No problem Hatchy1992, happy to be here. Originally I signed up with the West Coast Warriors in the BigFooty Fantasy Cricket League (BFFCL) and I believe my old mate Pie 4 Life was part of another side there. Pie was looking to enter a side into the SFA for Season 05 (2005) and he PM'd me asking if I'd like to join. I think I was a little unsure as I didn't understand the game but after Pie explained that it was similar to the cricket simulator I was more than happy to join the team. Originally I said I'd like to join the team as a defender, preferably in a back pocket. As it turns out, I was named in a forward pocket, kicked three goals and won the Power_Shock05# award in my first game.

It has changed a lot. Back when I first started there wasn't much activity and most threads would struggle to get past three pages. A lot of the posts were just a general "Go team" or "Carn team" (e.g. Go Dragons etc.) type posting with maybe a little bit of interaction between teammates or opposition posters. It was like this for a few more seasons after I joined before activity started to pick up around Season 9/10, there was then a decline around Season 12 before things picked up again in Season 13/14.

Nowadays match threads are extremely active with threads having hundreds and even thousands of posts, some match threads even go past 100 pages which is obviously a lot of posting. It's a big change from the threads I was a part of when I first started playing in this competition and it can be a lot to take in at times, particularly when you haven't been able to get online much for a period. It would be much more daunting for the rookies these days with so much activity and not quite knowing where to start or what to post at times.

Q. You've been with the one club your entire career, currently the Dragons FFC, prior to the merger at the beginning of season 8. For all those that don't know, tell us a little about that, what were the initial reactions and the feelings by all those involved at the time.

At the end of Season 07 the SFA had 12 clubs and it was clear that this was far too many, a lot of clubs had a handful of posters and many threads weren't getting past a couple of pages. It was decided that the competition would be reduced to eight clubs for Season 08 in order to have more posters at fewer clubs to increase activity and interaction in the SFA. The AFL All-Stars were brought in to eliminate the bye (we had 11 teams of actual BigFooty members) so they were logically the first to go. Las Vegas Bears were struggling for activity so they went as well with Alberton Swamprats also being axed for similar reasons. That left nine clubs and it was thought that the Southern Sharks would go as they too were also battling for activity.

It turns out there was talks behind the scenes with regards to a merger of some clubs, talks were fairly informal from what I could gather and it was all done via PM. There was no indication of anything happening in terms of a merger so it was more a case of going about things as usual at that point as nothing had been discussed or even mentioned publicly.

I remember logging in during an afternoon and had discovered that Dragons FC and Southern Sharks had been merged to create Southern Dragons, thus reducing the competition to eight clubs. It was all done very quickly with little to no consultation of each clubs' players (except the captains of each side). Pie 4 Life was captain of the time and he was also surprised to see that the merger had gone ahead as the talks that were had as the captain of the Dragons were merely a few discussions about a way forward for the competition, I think a merger wasn't even mentioned at that stage and it came out of nowhere really.

The entire concept was cobbled together pretty quickly and I don't think either side was truly thrilled about becoming a merged entity. The Sharks didn't have a lot of players to come across and those who did lost interest soon after the merge occurred and there were a few players from either side who left before we played our first game as the Southern Dragons. All up I think either club was not completely satisfied with the arrangement but we made do and eventually started playing as the one team.

From a personal perspective I was very disappointed with how things turned out. The Dragons were going okay as a club and to be forced into a merger with no consultation and the general rushed nature of the move left a lot of Dragons players rather upset and somewhat angry with the decision. The fact that the Sharks weren't all that interested in the idea and weren't bringing a lot to the table didn't help much either. It was certainly an interesting time for the league back then and is one of the most controversial events that has happened in the SFA in my opinion.

Q. Have you ever had the temptation of changing clubs over the course of your career and do you see yourself staying in the Green and Black for the rest of your career which hopefully is still some time away!

Not really, there was never any real temptation to change clubs. Back when I first started there wasn't a lot of poaching, most players made moves of their own accord and I was never really asked back then. I became captain of the Dragons in Season 09 so I never considered moving as I was the leader of the club. What sort of leader would bail on their team and go elsewhere? I was asked maybe a couple of times while I was captain of the Dragons but I never considered the offers that were made. I also value loyalty quite highly so I've never really entertained the thought of moving to another team and I also wanted to be at the club when we started to see some success. It was quite pleasing to be able to share part of that with the rest of the team when it did happen

I don't see anything changing anytime soon. I enjoy playing for the Dragons and we have had a really good group of people at the club for a long time now. It's more enjoyable for me to play at a club with a relaxed atmosphere and easygoing feel which is something I enjoy being a part of.

 

[Hate]

Q. Over the years since you started your career, the activity in match threads and the league as a whole has changed enormously, do you go about things differently now to keep up with everything?

It has changed a lot. To be honest, I think the posting these days is completely over the top at times. Whilst posting is the lifeblood of the SFA, there can be too much of it on occasions and most of it is informal chat rather than actual banter. The restrictions on what posters can actually do these days is part of the reason for that and I think that too much emphasis on posting is made with regards to higher honours (All SFA etc.) and that has lead to activity like that being encouraged which has created some fairly questionable inclusions over the seasons and also some of the current problems we have with spamming and high amounts of activity.

Working full-time has restricted the time I have in order for me to post. I don't post during the day so I'll try to post when I can during the week and try to read every post in the thread. Sometimes when threads get too big it makes doing that tough as on occasions I have multiple days worth of posts to read up on. That's part of why the league needs to consider what path it takes regarding posting. To participate in the league and play a prominent role requires full-time access, you need to be on here every day for multiple hours per day and some players simply can't do that due to other commitments. These type of players are then being squeezed out or just simply lose interest because they don't have the time and get sick of having to wade through vast amounts of posts just in order to be across things.

The type of activity we have has also changed as well. With regards to posting there's less we can comment about and we can't take things too far anymore without fear of someone getting upset and it seems that some people are taking themselves a little too seriously in that regard. I am understanding of that but it is part of the reason why posting is maybe a bit less enjoyable for some because of what we have to abide by without someone making a fuss over another poster making a comment or two. I'm sure that the vast majority of people here who might make a controversial comment or joke don't actually believe what they say is right or have the opinion they made regarding that comment. The SFA as a competition is about escapism, being able to get away from work, university, school and other aspects of life and come into a league, have some fun, make a joke or two and not take everything so seriously. It's perhaps why some of the enjoyment of the league by several posters has declined because of this.

Q. Just to touch on that further, how much do you see things progressing in the league down the track 2 or 3 seasons from now, and further?

In terms of posting, not much. I think the general feel of the league is that posting the way things are now is the normality so I can't see too many changes. The way things are now though, posters are getting burnt out quicker. Posting so regularly takes its toll and we are seeing captains having shorter stints as skipper because of the demands that the role includes while other prominent posters aren't staying around as long because of the effort required to maintain those levels each week. The way things are going however I don't see it changing anytime soon simply because that's the accepted standard now.

Looking at the league long-term is a bit harder to do. I think the general gist of what we are seeing now will be similar and I think posting will remain around the mark it is now in terms of activity and creativity. As to whether there are more teams is anyone's guess. Personally, I don't see it on the agenda for a while, there are clubs who are probably a little under where they'd like to be in terms of activity and I think that all clubs need to be strong off the field before you can consider adding additional clubs. Another question worth considering is do we want more activity? If expansion did occur I couldn't see just one new team being admitted as that would create a bye so it is more likely that two more clubs would join the SFA to avoid that. That would obviously lead to an increase in posting and general activity and I'm not sure if the SFA is really ready for that or even wants that at all.

Q. Do you have any favourite memories of your time at the Dragons, and in the SFA?

The Dragons premiership in Season 19 is my favourite memory. As a club after the merger we were fairly inconsistent, no finals one year and then finals the next. Then when we'd make the finals we would lose, so much so that we lost the first eight finals matches we played in. It was frustrating and I know some ofthe guys there were also frustrated to the point where we lost a few to other clubs. The Dragons winning our first final in Season 17 was great to see and then being a part of the Dragons' first flag in Season 19 was very rewarding particularly for those players who stuck with the club and we were able to be a part of that success even if it was in a simulated footy game. It's a shame that there are still a very small minority who harp on about the circumstances of the match but that select few are just bitter about it really.

The State of Origin wins by Western Australia in the earlier seasons were a highlight as well. SOO was pretty big back then, it was the best of the best in the SFA representing their state and in those days it was highly revered as everyone wanted to be the best. Winning those three titles and being captain for two of them was fantastic and I got to do it alongside some pretty great people back then which made it pretty cool too.

Q. How much have you enjoyed being involved in the league since you commenced your career, and would you have done anything differently in hindsight?

Yes, I have enjoyed being part of the SFA. To me, my favourite time in the SFA was from about Season 10 to 19. There were some excellent posters in those times, some great media and things were a lot more relaxed and people didn't take themselves too seriously. The scope to work with regarding posting was a lot wider too and there was less restrictions so you could attack your opposition a bit more. There were times where people would be having a crack at each other in a thread yet joking about it in a PM or over MSN Messenger.

I don't think I'd change anything, maybe the merger scenario between the Dragons and the Sharks but everything that lead up to this point has been all part of the journey. For the most part it has been great fun and I have enjoyed being in the SFA and have met some quite good people over my time in the competition.

 

[Hate]

Q. And finally, how do you prepare for the training, and the games over at Dragon Island? Like do you have any pre match rituals?

Being a veteran now means I have to dial it back a bit at times when appropriate. At training and on game days I'll always compete hard and crack in but you do need to be smart as you get a bit older. Doing all your recovery and preparation during the week is a must and also the same on gamedays. I do like to have a little bit of something sweet (usually chocolate) before I play to give me a bit of a sugar rush and extra energy for a game.

Thanks for your time mate, and all the best for the upcoming week, and the game on Sunday!

You're welcome, Hatchy1992. Thanks for having me on and I look forward to running out with the Dragons on Sunday!

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Congratulations to you Ljp86 on your big milestone. My first co-captain who taught me the ropes very early (with boncer34 as well) which is always appreciated. Glad I was able to help get you a premiership in what was the biggest season in Dragons history both on and off the field.

 

[Hatchy1992]

Always a pleasure to line up beside him week in, week out.

 

[boncer34]

Harvs give me a shout out? Reference your nickname at all?

 

[The Half Back]

What a legend.

 

[Yakker]

To commemorate this great occasion Cloud_ commissioned me to do a portrait of the great Ljp86

It can be viewed here
https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/sweet-fan-art.1187106/page-13#post-55180971

 

[Pugsley]

Master of the game. Congrats

 

[Elton Johns Wig]

Outstanding effort to reach 400 games, congrats Ljp86. Especially at one club.

Great work Hate and Hatchy1992, this is awesome.

 

[TRUMAN#1]

Great stuff. Certainly is a great achievement. Hope your next 400 are just as good.

 

[KohPhi]

Magnificent effort and a most envious record. On behalf of all past and present day Bombers, we salute you Ljp86

 

[sante]

Weird. I’ve never heard of him

 

[The Half Back]

Weird. I’ve never heard of him

 

[sante]

 

[haydo]

View attachment 484402

Should have asked Yakker to have done your picture, he's much better

 

[Wosh]

Congratulations Ljp86 on a whopping 400 games, and still contributing with the really important things here that keep the league ticking and real..fixture, stats, ladder etc. Incredible effort and much respect and gratitude to you.

 

[The Half Back]

View attachment 484402

Haha I understood it mate, I know you've been around a long time.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Congratulations Ljp86 , you’ve been a true giant of the competition and it’s been a pleasure to go head to head with you. Your contibutions to the competition have been immeasurable and so many people here have been able to enjoy what you have in a large way built.

Enjoy 400

 

[I Dont Care]

Congratulations Ljp86 400 is a big number..too far for me to count. I tried to count to 100 4 times, and having failed that, I tried counting to 4 a hundred times. But then I decided to get drunk instead Happy Birthday or whatever it is we here for

 

[fitzroybowiedog]

Awesome stuff Ljp86
incredible achievement and resume.
I doff my hat to you

 

[cats2rise]

#fanfare
#ljp400

Sorry Headless. I got caught up in the moment.

 

[Dingster]

Grats on the big 400 Ljp86. An amazing record and your always willing to help out with stats for the match OPs. A gentleman and a superstar.

 

[Freofalcon]

Congratulations Ljp86

Now do your job and post up the WAFL tipping results.