big_icky
Smiling Politely
- Jul 26, 2023
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Welcome to Big Media's presentation of the Season 37 Grand Final between the Sin City Swamprats and the Ophidian Old Boys. Thirteen clubs began their season on the 4th of February and all of them had aspirations of reaching the final day in June. Only two will be given the opportunity to lift the premiership cup this Sunday at SFA Park.
We'll be going through the respective seasons of these two proud clubs, their histories of success, prior meetings, line-ups, match-ups and more - this is the definitive preview of the Season 37 decider. First, let's see how we got here.
SEASON 37 RECAP
East Side were the first big movers of the season before a ball was kicked in anger, announcing they would be reverting to their original Hawks moniker and bringing back a number of former club legends. The Swamprats thumped the Wonders by 64 points on the opening day to sit atop the ladder in Round 1 but it was the Old Boys with four straight wins to come flying out of the gate by Round 5. sausageroll kicked a whopping 12 goals against West Coast in Round 3 to tie the all-time game record.
The Dragons celebrated @Ljp86's 600th game and @Tandy gave the Sweet FA a shock with the establishment of a drug agency while a tight ladder saw just 2 games separate 2nd and 7th by Round 8, the Swamprats leading a pack of teams trying to hunt down the Ophidians. Gold Coast Royals skipper Cadsky posted the highest DT score of the year against the Gumbies in Round 8, with 36 disposals, 12 tackles and a goal powering him to 156.
The biggest controversy of the season came when the Fighting Furies failed to submit a teamsheet on not one but two occasions, earning them eight penalty points and the ire of admin @Elton Johns Wig. Despite their ineptitude however, the Bombers seemed intent on capturing the wooden spoon without the help of deductions. Swamprats winger ant555 had leather poisoning in Round 13, racking up 17 kicks and 22 handballs to lead all-comers for disposals in a single Season 38 game.
As we reached the 'weird bye round' segment of the season, fatigue set in and tempers flared. The Bombers copped flak for failing to nominate any players for the All-SFA team on their way to the spoon while Furies captain omgfridge and Hawks stalwart Tadpole hung up their boots. Amidst the drama, it was the Royals who came flying home in the second half of the season, picking up 7 consecutive wins on their way to pipping the Old Boys for the minor premiership. The Las Vegas Bears won on the final day to secure eighth, but they would have been ninth if not for the Furies' penalty points which cost them a spot in the finals. Royals spearhead Brenton Davy added to the joy at the Golden Throne by scooping the FRED Medal.
Finals got underway with the Roys and Old Boys winning their qualifying finals and securing passage to the prelims, while the Bears knocked out the inexperienced Wonders and the Dragons sent the Gumbies packing. The Drags weren't able to stop a career-best performance from Ant Bear in the 2nd semi final that ended their season, sparking a mass exodus of players and question marks over @Greenery's captaincy. Not willing to give up on their season so easily, the Royals bounced back from their week 1 loss to knock out the Bears and ensure that the top 4 home & away teams would all compete in the preliminary finals.
In the first prelim, the Roys got off to a hot start but couldn't stop a second half onslaught from the Swamprats, who booked their place in the Grand Final for the first time in seven seasons. In the second, it took less than 20 minutes for the Old Boys to hit the front and they never looked back, recording what would go on to be a comfortable win against Season 37's minor premiers, the Royals, in a feisty affair and to keep their dreams of #cup2spoon2cup alive.
CLUB RECAPS
SIN CITY SWAMPRATS
The Swamprats were relatively quiet on the recruitment front, signing damicky in a highly publicised transfer from the Wonders as well as rookie My Cotchin Rules, while losing Harvey Manfrenjensenden who moved back to Spotswood.
They opened their season with a big win against West Coast to sit atop the ladder after Round 1 and although their Round 2 loss to the Demons cost them that spot which they never won back, they still spent the vast majority of the season as a top four side. From Round 6 through to Round 13 they sat second behind their GF opponents the Old Boys but a bad run of mid-season form - three losses, a draw and two byes between Rounds 11 and 16 - had their double chance aspirations looking shakey. Fortunately for Sin City, they refound their form at the right time with wins over the Bears and Roys in their final two games giving them just enough of a gap to secure 3rd place on the ladder despite having a bye in the final home and away round.
This joy was short-lived however, as they came up against their home & away rivals in a qualifying final and got played off the park by a highly accurate Ophidian Old Boys outfit, including 7.1 from the aforementioned Harvey Manfrenjensenden, and forced the Swamprats to go the hard way. In their semi-final, they had a relatively even first half against the Dragons before some heroics from ex-admin Ant Bear lifted the side to another gear and a comfortable 37 point margin. It was a similar tale in the preliminary final - a slow start quickly reversed with a second half onslaught as the Roys were unable to stop the sewerage tsunami and Sin City booked their place in the decider with a 35 point win.
ant555 has been the standout performer for the Swamprats this season, leading the club for kicks, handballs, marks and Dream Team score and he also brings perhaps the best winning pedigree in the entire league, having been a part of seven premiership sides across his journey. Ruckman damicky proved his worth as a recruit with a strong season that could net him All-SFA honours, while legendary full forward okeydoke7 proved that age is just a number as he popped up for 73 home & away goals to finish fifth in the FRED Medal race. Rookie half forward My Cotchin Rules also had a great season playing on the half forward flank, and the Swamprats followers duo philreich and BloodySwan have been a force through the midfield throughout.
OPHIDIAN OLD BOYS
It was another very busy off-season for the Old Boys, signing three rookies in JuddgementDay, tigerland_1720 and myblueroan and then picking up four recruits from around the league, led by former Phoenix captain thewizardmelon, his teammate DemurePrincess who would go on to be the spammiest match thread poster in the league, Dragons S36 rookie King Tenz and an old flame in Harvey Manfrenjensenden.
The club were the dominant force in the Sweet FA for the vast majority of the season, starting by winning their first four games and seven of their first eight as they hit the top spot on the ladder after Round 2 and didn't relinquish it until Round 16. Some big wins over the Dragons, Warriors, Furies and Demons were the highlight of this great run but cracks began to show with consecutive losses to the Wonders and Hawks in Round 10 and 11. An upset loss to the Furies in Round 16 and then an excruciating one point loss to the Royals - the club that would rampage home to pip the Ophidians to the minor premiership - left them in third going into the final round but they did just enough against the Wonders to lock in a home qualifying final.
Led by ex-Swamprat Harvey Manfrenjensenden, the highly accurate Old Boys put Sin City to the sword in the second qualifying final, winning by a comfortable 56 points and sending the club through to the preliminary final. They were given the perfect opportunity for revenge in the Gold City Royals, who had beaten them so narrowly in Round 18 to effectively steal the minor premiership from under their noses. In a game that finished tighter than it really played out, the Old Boys won by nine points and secured a spot in their second Grand Final in four seasons in the league.
The club had a wide range of consistent contributors, especially across midfield, with thewizardmelon topping the DT charts and the centre line of DemurePrincess, Robertio and Irish BlueBagger getting plenty of the qooty. myblueroan had an excellent start to life in the league as a forward pocket and was rewarded with a promotion to rover in the back-end of the season, while Harvey Manfrenjensenden kicked 70 home & away goals and then an impressive 11 in their two finals victories to take his season tally to 81.
GRAND FINAL HISTORY
SIN CITY SWAMPRATS
The Swamprats have tasted the ultimate success on three occasions including wins in both their current iteration and as the old Alberton Swamprats. Their first grand final appearance in Season 5 made history by being the first drawn decider in the fledgling Sweet FA, but they would go on to lose the replay before avenging their loss with their inaugural premiership in Season 6. After folding and returning to the league, they had a sustained run of excellence with no less than four grand finals in six seasons from Season 25 to Season 30 - netting them a further two premierships in Season 27 and 29, defeating the Bears and the Demons respectively, but losing their most recent grand final to the Royals in Season 30.
OPHIDIAN OLD BOYS
Although they're only just finishing their fourth season in the Sweet FA, the Old Boys are no strangers to premiership success. In just their second season, they clawed their way into the Grand Final to face one of the Sweet FA's historically most successful teams in the Wonders and lifted the Season 35 premiership with a narrow 3 point win.
HEAD TO HEAD
LAST TIME THEY MET
We certainly don't have to look too far back to see the last time these two sides faced off, having played eachother in the first week of this finals series. The Old Boys, having been the dominant side for large swathes of Season 37, brought that form into the opening quarter slamming six goals and they never looked back from there. Harvey Manfrenjensenden did massive damage with seven goals as the highly accurate Old Boys romped home to a 56 point win. The Swamprats, despite a bag from veteran full forward okeydoke7, were unable to offer much resistance, losing every quarter and losing match-ups all over the ground, as evidence by the fact that five Ophidians recorded higher DT totals than the Swamprats' best on the day, damicky and philreich.
HISTORICAL
The two clubs have never faced off twice in a H&A season so they've only met five times since the Old Boys joined the comp in Season 34, with four of those games played at Spotswood Oval. The most recent shellacking in the qualifying final has tilted the ledger firmly in the Old Boys' favour, giving them a 3-2 advantage in the head-to-head and a healthy percentage. Before that, games have been relatively close between the two sides with the largest previous margin of 25.
Swamprats spearhead okeydoke7 is the goalkicking master of this contest with 13 in five games, while Harvey Manfrenjensenden is the only player to appear on both sides of the match-up. ant555, GotTheGoodes and BloodySwan have proven to be industrious midfielders in their games against the Old Boys and will be looking to carry that form into Sunday.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We're anticipating an unchanged line-up for the Old Boys from their preliminary final side while the Swamprats are expected to make one unforced change with My Cotchin Rules to be swapped back onto the field in place of sataris.
Both clubs are at full stength for the decider with particular interest in the battles at either end of the ground. Ant Bear will be looking to continue his outstanding finals form while Old Boys skipper Tigerturbulance leads a strong Ophidian engine room that will undoubtedly meet stiff opposition.
KEY BATTLES
Games can be won and lost in the ruck contest and that's where we're looking at our first key battle of this fixture. Old Boys captain Tigerturbulance is the heart and soul of his Ophidian side having championed their expansion bid and led them for the entirety of their existence, including their Season 35 premiership. With four All-SFA selections, a Mobbs Medal and a SFAPA MVP you would be hard pressed to find many more illustrious individuals in the league but his Swamprat opponent damicky certainly has put together a stronger Season 37. Averaging over 13 hitouts and 19 disposals as well as kicking a goal a game, he's right in the box seat for All-SFA selection which he has already gained in Season 35 and he also has the game's highest honour, the Mobbs Medal, in his sock drawer. Can Tigerturbulance use his experience to work over the premiership virgin or will damicky continue his fine form and give the Swamprats a massive edge in the middle?
It's pretty rare for a qooty team to achieve success without a gun spearhead and Season 37 has been no exception for both teams in the decider. The Swamprats boast 'Mr 1000' okeydoke7, who is one of the league's stalwarts and will bring a wealth of experience to the side. A 5-time All-SFA forward, a 1-time FRED Medal winner and the reigning SFACA MVP (albeit earned as a defender), he finished fifth in the FRED race in Season 37 but hasn't been firing on all cylinders this final series. His counterpart, a former Swamprat in Harvey Manfrenjensenden, meanwhile has shot the lights out in June with seven goals in the qualifying final against the Rats and four more in the prelim win over the Royals. He's also a big betting favourite for the Deestroy Medal, so if Rodney Dangerfield cannot shut him down at full back, then okeydoke7 needs to match or beat him down at the other end of the ground.
When it comes to Grand Final performers, there is one name that stands out more than any other. ant555 has a league-record seven premierships to his name with five at the Bombers and two at the Swamprats and he's been named best-on-ground in a Grand Final twice over his long SFA journey that began in Season 4. His opponent on the wing this weekend will likely be DemurePrincess, playing her 32nd career game and her first Grand Final. And don't think that ant555 is slowing down with age - he's been one of the league's top wingers and the Swamprats' leading disposal-getter in Season 37 with 21.5, and he beats DP in all major statistical categories. The reality for the Old Boys is simple here - the Swamprats have one of the game's, and more importantly the occasion's, all-time legends in their arsenal and DemurePrincess has a massive task ahead of her to try and quell his influence.
PRE-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCES
TIGERTURBULANCE (OOB)
Thank you for taking some time away from the campus to speak with us this morning Tigerturbulance. You've earnt a spot in the Grand Final with a narrow win over the Royals, were you satisfied with how the team played on Sunday or do you think there's more to work on throughout the week?
I was very pleased with today, we won! The Royals got ahead by 7 points in the first quarter and 15 minutes into the second quarter we took the lead and never lost it. The Royals went into this game very confident, some might say over confident, after finishing the H&A season Minor Premiers and having the FRED medalist Brenton Davy in Full Forward. However we Old Boys know the Royals have no heart for the tough stuff and their aerobic capacity is not up to our elite level. So our plan was simple, shut down their Full Forward and go in hard for the qooty and run them off their feet. We carried out our plan to perfection keeping Brendon Davies qoal less and rag dolling the rest of the duds including rucking plucking GreyCrow who only managed a measly 4 Hit Outs, it was a thing of beauty to behold.
It's been a long season and the Old Boys spent a significant chunk sitting on top of the ladder before slipping away a little in the run home. Now that you're back on a winning streak, can you tell us if the confidence ever wavered or was there always belief that the club would bounce back?
It has never been in doubt we will win the S37 Grand final. After tasting GF victory in our second season S35 we knew we were destined to dominate this competition and win more GFs. As the founding Chancellor of Spotswood I had a four season plan:
- making finals qooty and winning 2 Grand finals by our forth season,
- win a wooden Spoon and then win the following season Grand final,
- increasing the commercial strength of the club,
- have the strongest support base in the SWEET F.A., and
- enjoy the strongest emotional connection with our members and fans.
Much has been said about your quest for #cup2spoon2cup, it's certainly been a tumultous start to life for the Old Boys in the Sweet FA. What have you and your teammates learnt from the last couple of seasons where you really have seen the highs and lows this league has to offer?
There are a hell of a lot of people in the SFA that want to pull things down, criticize efforts of others without contributing themselves. We at Spotswood over our four seasons have learnt to shut the external noise out and focus on what we can do, and what we do is bloody great.
There's also been a lot of discussion around the club's recruitment practice by certain media figures and we'll see the likes of DemurePrincess, thewizardmelon and King Tenz line up in the purple and orange in the decider. But from your perspective, how big a role have these new signings had to play in your march to the Grand Final?
Our recruiting has always been one of our strengths and has payed dividends every season. This seasons new Old Boys DemurePrincess, thewizardmelon, King Tenz, myblueroan, tigerland_1720 and JuddgementDay have all been instrumental in getting to the Grand Final. The Wiz being an ex-Captain has added great value to our LG and the discussions we have in the PM. And the group as a whole has added new excitement and has been a great injection of enthusiasm into the side. The thing I am most happy about is how well they have slotted into Spotswood life and the pride they all have being Old Boys.
JACKSTER83 (SCS)
Thanks for joining us jackster83, I'm sure it was an arduous journey up from the sewers to be with us at SFA Park. Bit of a stunning turnaround to roll over the top of the Roys in your prelim final, and really the second week in a row that you've had this kind of second half performance. You must be confident in your side's ability to swing momentum regardless of the scoreboard?
Absolutely. We are spoiled for riches in our forward line. We've got a tough CHF in GremioPower, experienced half forwards in Ant Bear and sataris, crafty goalsneaks in Jewelsbon and HirdsTheWord and some other bloke who has kicked over 1000 goals. There's also our rookie My Cotchin Rules who can chip in with a few goals.
You've already played the Old Boys in the finals this season and it was a pretty disappointing loss for the Swamprats in the qualifying final. Do you think having that game in the back of your mind will spur the team to do better or is there any concern that it may weigh too heavily on the players?
Not at all. We drank so much that night that by the morning we had forgotten everything.
The Swamprats haven't competed in a Grand Final since Season 30 and there's been some list turnover since then, but the club still has a number of very experienced premiership players including ant555, a two-time Deestroy Medallist, okeydoke7, Ant Bear and your vice captain philreich. Tell us about the role of this calibre of player in guiding some of the younger guys and girls through a stressful week.
They all provide leadership in different ways.
Ant Bear tells us all to work harderer for longerer whilst sitting on a deckchair sipping his Coke cans.
philreich gets us all going during the week with his dad jokes, especially as he has a lot of spare time at work.
okeydoke7 and damicky provide a lot of the technical nous at training and team meetings, while the pre game rev up usually comes from ant555.
There must have been plenty of occasions in the second half of the season where this outcome looked unlikely; you dropped out of the top four late in the piece and only just snuck back in in your final game and of course have had to go the long way around to reach the Grand Final. How's the atmosphere within the club at the moment with so many trials and tribulations in the past month?
On a serious note, a number of us are dealing with personal or family issues IRL at the moment, so the qooty is a nice distraction.
The minor season did feel like a battle towards the end there (it's a very long season!) but we've never doubted the fortitude of this group. The confidence gained in our semi final and prelim final wins has us all up and about. We think we've timed our run to perfection!
Winning the season 37 premiership would put a smile on all of our faces. The celebratory qooty trip after a flag is the best feeling. The last one we had, GotTheGoodes and myself drank the plane out of grog.
BETTING MARKETS
Off the back of their stronger home & away form and their big win over the Swamprats in the qualifying final, we can see that the betting markets currently have the Old Boys as the favourite going into the decider. Their spearhead Harvey Manfrenjensenden is also favourite to kick the first goal and take home the Deestroy Medal on the back of his scintillating finals form, while BloodySwan and damicky appear to be the most likely to star for the Swamprats on the day.
EXPERT TIPS
We received more than 40 tips from around the Sweet FA in the lead-up to this game with a wide range of opinions on how this game will turn out. The Old Boys proved to be the marginal expert favourite for this match-up, with 21 SFA players tipping them to achieve #cup2spoon2cup, while 20 picked the Swamprats and dogs105 chose to sit on the fence with a prediction of a draw. Only one expert, GWS Goose, expects the match to be decided by 10 points or less.
CAPTAINS, PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR GRAND FINAL TEAMSHEETS BY THURSDAY 20TH JUNE 11:59PM AWST
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Ophidian Old Boys
Ophidian Old Boys
