Ant Bear
Swamprat
- Dec 7, 2012
- 37,285
- 86,535
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Port Magpies, Swamprats forever,
The coterie groups go nuts
HOW IT CAME TO THIS POINT:
In what will be a titanic struggle, The Gold City Royals and the Las Vegas Bears clash to determine which club will progress to the Grand Final next week. Although these teams finished the SFA Season 22 in first and third respectively, they took differing paths to this PreliminaryFinal showdown
Gold City Royals: Minor Premiers – 12wins, 5 losses, 107.94%
FIRST Qualifying Final – defeated Roys FFC 16.13 (109) – 12.11 (83)
Las Vegas Bears: Third – 10 wins, 6 losses, 1 draw, 111.56%
Second Qualifying Final – lost to Coney Island Warriors 13.10 (88) - 25.7 (157)
Second Semi Final – defeated West Coast Wonders 14.14 (98) – 14.11 (95)
For the winner, a historic Grand Final berth awaits. The vanquished will have to regroup for another tilt in S23.
HISTORY:
The Royals have never played the ultimate decider. Their overall finals record is 2/3 - in their maiden finals berth in S19, they eliminated the Bears in the first round before bowing out at Warrior hands in the semis, and last season they blew the double chance in a straight sets collapse to the Wolves and Wonders.
The Bears have not played in a Grand Final since December 14 2006, when they were defeated by the then-Alberton Swamprats, and since their readmittance to the league in S18 had only won one final before last weekend, beating the Wolves in the Elimination Final in S20 before crashing out at the hands of the Swamprats the following week. They were eliminated by the Royals in the first round in S19, and were eliminated by the Wonders in their only final last season. Their overall finals record is 4/5.
PREPARATION:
The Royals have had a relaxing week off, having accounted for the Roys by 26 points in the Qualifying final. Captains Blacky and Marlowe ordered a feast and three-day celebration as reward for reaching their maiden Preliminary Final
Finishing with the double chance proved crucial for the Bears, who looked like finishing 5th after a last round loss until a lucky simmer error allowed them to pinch fourth spot with a resimmed tie. They suffered elimination Final nerves, and crumbled to a 69 embarrassment against the Warriors, but skippers Dingster and Matera92 managed to regroup and found a muse to sooth their jangled nerves. #doitforAntBear will become a war cry for them for many seasons…
THIS SEASON:
The teams only clashed once in Season 22. In round 8, the Bears were on top of their form, brahj booting 7 goals as the ran all over the Royals after quarter time to win by 57 points, 22.11 (143) to 13.8 (86); however their overall record against the Royals is poor with only 2 wins from their 7 matches since their first meeting in S18.
MATCHUPS:
VS
Ruck - BigJoeD_ v DemonJim : DemonJim has amassed 178 hitouts this season at 10.5/game, 7th in the league, while league heavyweight BigJoeD_ has shared ruck duties with Footypie32, combining for 200 hitouts
VS
Full-Forward - ShanDog v brahj : ShanDog kicked 74.34 in S22 to rank 3rd in the Alf Andrews medal race, while brahj was just behind him in 4th with 71.39. In their only meeting this season, brahj took the honours 7 goals to 6
VS
Centrelines - J Shuttlesworth/ Marlowe/ Footypie32 v kane249/ Doctor Gero/ Matera92 : Both centerlines have been the centerpieces of their respective teams. The Royal trio have a combined disposal average of 60.5 , while the Bear triad averaged 58.6
Tip: Bears to #doitforAntBear by 8 points.
Captains must submit their teams in a post that contains the words “Official Team Sheet” by 11.59pm on Thursday 8/12/16. Penalty for incorrect team sheet may be as severe as a 4 goal start to the opponent and/or missing the Grand Final
Captains must submit their teams in a post that contains the words “Official Team Sheet” by 11.59pm on Thursday 8/12/16. Penalty for incorrect team sheet may be as severe as a 4 goal start to the opponent and/or missing the Grand Final
