Gut Feelings - Brought to you by Regis Aged Care
Andrew Thomson
The Seniors are back in the finals hunt but it is going to be a nerve racking Saturday afternoon with several possibilities come 5 pm. The Magpies, Mt Gravatt and Labrador all sit on 24 points with percentage separating them . The Magpies hold down 5th place on the ladder on 96.84%, 1.1% ahead of Mt Gravatt on 95.74% but quite a long way ahead of Labrador on 82.55%. Simply put, the Pies must win over the second placed Surfers Paradise, as a loss is curtains for another year. If the Magpies win and then if Mt Gravatt defeat Labrador then it will come down to percentage who takes 5th place. A Pies win and a Labrador win will see the Pies stay in 5th as Labrador’s percentage gap will be too great to bridge. Calculators will be at the ready and the possibility of thumb RSI is well and truly on the cards.
Coach Brydan Morgan has all his players fit and firing with the only players missing with injury being Drew Mitchell and Logan Murray. The pieces have fallen in place with the Pies able to play a more direct style of football, especially as the forward line looks dangerous with plenty of options in attack. Brodie Lumber is clunking them and now kicking straight, Ryan Harwood and Claye Beams are both fit and firing and enjoying booting a few goals and dual Bill Peirce Medallist Val Pope was starting to look like his dangerous self. The midfield now matches any opposition with Gerard Moore being a revelation in ruck and Samson Ryan the up and comer.
Though sadly the Pies look likely to lose Caleb Franks, Samson Ryan and Bruce Reville to Redland this week, sure we can cop Caleb Franks as a Redlands listed player - but the other 2 boys are on the Magpies Primary list and have been pulled from pillar to post this year playing for 6 different teams. Are they really looking after the development of young players with this sort of treatment?
The Surfers Paradise match is a case of déjà vu as last year the winner of the last round match would make the five. Unfortunately for the Pies they were running on empty after playing a succession of virtual elimination finals in the second half of the season which took its toll and they went down. At the moment the Pies and Demons are the form teams of the competition and the home team will be playing for second place on the ladder and a home final so this match is a finals match one week early. However, unlike last year, the Pies are up and firing and all players look fit and despite the odd niggle are coming good at the right time of the season.
Riley Easton turned back the clock to a different era with a mullet a la Bailey Smith from the Western Bulldogs and Riles as usual was in amongst it despite the new look.
Mt Gravatt star Mick Hamill fractured the fibula in his leg in the second quarter on Saturday and it may spell the end of Mick's career.
Mick is as close to family for the Magpies as there can be for an opposition player as he was a junior star for Sherwood and played with his cousin Pat Garner before joining his brother Will at the Vultures. He has been a true warrior for Mt Gravatt and despite his thin frame he is as tough as they come and is highly regarded in the QAFL. All at the Magpies wish Mick all the best in his recovery.
Gut Feelings playing days go back a bit and it was only at the end of his career that there was some inspirational music in the rooms before the match. "Eye of the Tiger" comes to mind but on Saturday in the Pies' rooms before the match there was funky/hip hop music--not sure which-- that had the visiting Grey Magpies raise their eyebrows!
Whatever it was it did the trick as the Pies came out firing from the first bounce to take early control of the match.
Mitch Merritt had an omen of some sorts on Saturday when he had a magpie do his number and the droppings landed on Mitch. Now I am not sure how much of an omen it actually was--maybe if the droppings had hit a Mt Gravatt supporter it may have been an omen but whichever way you look at it the footballing Pies were all over their opponents on the field!! And Mitch took it all in his stride also running water for the senior team.
With Barts on his Europe trip and now preparing to watch the Aussies at Lords, up stepped supporters Peter Carter and Lindsay Hampson to work the BBQ with Heathy helping out as usual.
Peter is also a club sponsor with his law firm Carter Capner Lawyers and Lindsay was a past player at the club. They were very chuffed with their sales record, claiming to have outdone Barts and enjoyed themselves so much indicated they may get on the BBQ tools next season.
The Grey Magpies highlighted the career of Jim Evans on Saturday as he presented the awards for Saturday's matches. Jim won premierships as a junior and in Seniors for Sherwood and is still in good nick as he wore his Under 17 Sherwood premiership guernsey when he made the presentations to Dan Edwards in Seniors, Sam Hartog in Reserves and Whitlam Bishop in the Colts.
The BG Award went to skipper David Lewis who was inspirational across half back and as always displayed "Courage and Commitment".
a reminder to check out "Magpie Chatter" No 5, the Grey Magpies newsletter which has been posted on the Sherwood and Western Magpies Old Boys Facebook page.
The Woodsmen had a solid victory in Friday night's Elimination Final at McCarthy Homes Oval on Friday night over Morningside. A look at the best players list of Andrew Thomson, Jason Evans, Matt Hockley, Chris Judson , Tim Green and Kiran Verma would indicate an average age of well over 35 so not a bad effort from the mature players in the side!! You can’t buy experience!! Matt Hockley once again had the goal kicking boots on with 6 goals.
The Woodies travel up to Maroochydore on Friday night for an 8pm start to their First Semi Final.
Friday night saw a big crowd in attendance for the Woodies match which was preceded by the under 8s, Under 9s, Under 10s and the under 11 girls and boys matches. and it was also a "Pies For Pies" night and it was great to see so many families enjoying the footy on a Friday night.
Club President Andrew Thomson just made it for the game after the wild weather in NSW caused the cancellation of a large number of flights and Thommo had to drive from Newcastle to Sydney to get on a re-scheduled flight before a dash from the airport got him to Chelmer just in time to coach the u11s to a solid win over arch rivals Yeronga before strapping on the boots (and plenty of tape) to take on Morningside. He says he got plenty of advice from the sidelines from his young charges, with his own words ringing in his ears regularly!
The Reserves pushed the more fancied Mt Gravatt and had their chances to win but fell 6 points short. This was a 95 point turnaround as the Pies were defeated by 101 points in Round 1. The highlight was the late inclusion into the side of Sean McEvoy for his 200th Senior club game for the Magpies. Smack played a handy game in defence and he features in another story celebrating his milestone elsewhere in this forum. In typical fashion Smack also ran the water for the Seniors in another demonstration of the clubman that he is.
The Magpies Colts had their work cut out for them in the first half against Mt Gravatt but powered away after half time. The Colts have a big game against Surfers Sharks on Saturday morning. The Pies are in 4th position on equal points but with a large gap in percentage behind the 3rd placed Broadbeach. The Magpies must win and then hope Broadbeach go down to the 2nd placed PBC. Surfers pose a threat to the Pies as they have been playing good football in the second half of the season.
Good to see Alex Dickfos enjoying the footy on Saturday and catching up with his mates at the Magpies, including ex-captain Lachlan Woods, who had handy game in the Woodies victory on Friday night. Dicko played in the Wandsworth Demons premiership in London AFL last year but came home before this year's finals. He indicated he will be back at Chelmer next year in an early boost for the Pies’ 2020 prospects.
Congratulations to 17 year old Riley Greene who was this week’s QAFL Rising Star nomination. Riley has had an outstanding season to date and is a key member of the Pies backline. He is fearless in his attack on the ball and contest, puts his body on the line every match and for a 17 year old his footy smarts are well developed. He shows maturity on and off the field and is just a genuinely good bloke. He can hold a conversation with young and old alike and respects everyone in the footy club and understands the rich history of the club.He has not played a bad game this season and this week’s award is for consistency across the 13 matches he has played to date. In Gut Feelings opinion he has to be right in the mix along with Dan Edwards to take the overall QAFL Rising Star Award such has been his consistency.
“RG” will be a key part of the Magpies impressive defensive six as they take on Surfers Paradise on Saturday and should the Pies make the finals he will be a player to watch as this year he has stepped up on the big occasions when asked.
RG joins Dan Edwards and Jack Austin as Magpie Rising Star nominees for 2019, and Ethan Sivijs can’t be far from a nomination after an incredibly consistent season down back for the Pies. One of these boys could follow in the footsteps of Riley Easton who was the 2018 Rising Star winner, remarkably so given it was his 4th year of Senior footy!
Only a few rounds to go in junior footy and youth footy finals have now commenced, the U12s were unlucky to be knocked out and the absence of 3 x state players off in Perth certainly doesn’t help, but congrats again to the 3 J’s, Jacob Edwards, Jack Harrison and Jack Slater who were part of a QLD side who ran 4th, defeated SA and got closer than anyone to the Victorian side. The carnival was mostly played in tough conditions, but the boys did QLD proud under the guidance of club legend Noodles McEvoy who is the U12 state coach.