Home of the Central Blues Australian Football Club

Well that was a quick turnaround, this OAFL Stuporhero caper is definitely not all it's cut out to be. In fact I've forgotten why I'm even here! What do I care what the OAFL bloggers are saying?? Although the World XVIII diaries kept by the two OAFL players (John Elliot and Riyad Karacic) have been very very good. Check them out HERE. These kids are living a once in a lifetime opportunity in being a part of the first ever "world team" that will compete in the AFL Under 16 Championships. Seriously, I don't see any "ultimate" frisbee players being sponsored by their league and major governing body to be flown to the other side of the world to play "ultimate" frisbee... What sort of sport calls itself "ultimate frisbee" anyways?!?!? Aussie Rules is bad enough in terms of looking at it from an international markeing point of view. But that's a whole other argument. But back to these two youngsters, they are receiving world class coaching using all the available tools used by the AFL clubs in Australia. Imagine having a guy like Michael O'Loughlin (who was a superstar with the Sydney Swans) as your coach?! Amazing. Much like the Eagles Aaron Falcioni who trained and played a season in Australia - these two youngsters will have a huge advantage over other Canadian players with the insights into the Australian game that they will receive during this AFL experiment. The Etobicoke footy club has done a top notch job in developing these kids already and will be reaping the benefits of their ongoing support well into the future I'm sure.

There's only 4 games this weekend with the Guelph Gargoyles and Ottawa Swans enjoying a weekend off to feed the black flies and mosquitoes in the wonderful Canadian wilderness.

Kangas V Eagles: Given the status of these two sides, it's clear that this game will be viewed as the match of the round. The fact that these two heavy weights have accounted for the last four OAFL Premierships (Eagles having won the "06, 07 and '09 titles, while the Roos took the '08 premiership) shows that these clubs (especially the Eagles) knows what it takes to be the best. Both sides have been huge players when it comes to the development of their Canadians and it's with no surprise that the former coaches of these two clubs were and are now involved with the Northwind program as Head Coaches (formerly Mark Block & now Emile Studham). This game will be played Friday night at the Roos home ground. If you don't have a hot date, I suggest that you make your way down to watch the fireworks, because these two sides don't know the meaning of taking a backwards step. An absolute cracker of a game here.

Beetle's Call:  I'm going to call the Roos to upstage the Eagles in this game. 2 goals.

Catters V Dingos: The Dingos sit in 6th position on the ladder with 3 wins, while the Catters are also on 3 wins but due to percentage are 7th. Top 6 sides play finals. Need I say anymore? Sure it's only Round 9, and there's another 5 games to play for these sides. But this could be the critical game which will decide which of these two sides slip into the top 6. After this round, the Cats have: Eagles, Blues, Rebels, Roos and Swans. Based on the season they've had so far, I don't see them winning against Eagles, Blues or Roos, which leaves 2 wins after this. For the Dingos, they have: Swans, Demons, Hawks, Rebels and Blues. They should really win against Swans, Dees(? I only include this because they did beat the Hawkers) and Rebels and against the Hawks and Blues the Dingos would be 50-50 prospects. So you could argue the Dingos should have 3+ wins after this game. Based on this ridiculous analysis which I just came up with whilst I inhaled two Jamaican patties for lunch - I would argue that the Wildcats need to win this game if they want to stay in the hunt for finals in 2010. Lose and they're gone for the year. Might as well start Mad Monday next week. Jean and Phantom mentioned injuries sustained by a list of Wildcats players, including Hill, Johns and off-season recruit Luke Lombardini (ruptured ear drum) in their wrap up of last round's game verses the Gargoyles - these players are crucial for the Wildcats and will be sorely missed if they don't suit up.

Beetle's Call:  Dingos will have too many options while the Wildcats look shaky with the reported injuries. Dingos by 6 goals.

Dees V Rebs: The Dees have had a big couple of weeks. A morale boosting win against teh top notch Hawkers before losing to the Etobicoke Kangaroos four days later. Then this week they hit the headlines again with the announcment of the appointment of Ashley Martin as the club's Assistant Coach. Odd that this announcement was made really since it is only an assistant position - unless of course they have bigger plans in store for Martin. Could we be witnessing the transitional gameplan of the Dees in replacing club saviour Martin Walter? Dun Dun Dun! DRAMA! Meanwhile the Rebels have not been in the limelight too much, although their efforts against the second placed Blues last week was certainly a respectable one. Given the fact that the Blues kept higher ranked sides such as the Dingos and Gargoyles to total scores 14 in their match ups earlier in the season, the Rebels should be very pleased with their output - kicking 8 goals 5 behinds against them.

Beetle's Call: And it is because of the Rebels performance last week that I will be tipping them this week to get over the Dees. Rebs by 4 goals

Hawks V Blues: Both these sides have been threatening to join the ranks of the Eagles and Roos in the past couple of seasons. But it has been two very different stories this year for both sides in 2010. The Blues look like they have arrived to become one of the top sides in the comp given they've only lost to the Eagles so far after 8 rounds of footy and defeated the Roos for the first time in their 5 year history a couple of weeks ago. While for the Hawks, the wheels look like they're mighty wobbly and threatening to fall off any second. Their shock loss to the Demons last week would have been the Hawkers lowest point to date in the past 3 years - and although they did come out to beat the Swans the following game - they are looking extremely vulnerable at the moment. But it is because of this that you should not underestimate the Hawkers in this stoush. Great sides are the ones who step up when their backs are up against the walls, and the Hawks are no slouches. Their season is still very much alive with a 4-4 record. A win against the Blues could be the launching pad that they've been looking for to jump start their 2010 campaign.

Mystery surrounds the Blues arsenal of Aussies, as some of their big names enjoyed a week in Calgary for the Stampede. The coaching group have not released their line up at this stage and it doesn't look like it's going to appear anytime soon given the lack of response that I'm getting from the coaching group. Which leads me to thnk that perhaps the worst case scenario is looking likely. But regardless they proved last week that they're still capable of kicking a winning score - with Shorty kicking 10 goals (the most any Blues player has kicked in one game). Daniel "D-Train" Zimmerman is shaping up to be an X-factor as he's been played in a number of different positions all season. Being thrown into the midfield in La's and the Aussie contingent absence saw the big fella exert some serious presence in the Blues engine room. Coach macumber could be looking to continue on with this experiment going forward - as not many players in the league can match up to the steaming Train when he's on.

Beetle's Call: Blues to scrape in in a close one to see club legend Jase Cain enjoy a winning milestone game as he becomes the first and only Blues Australian player to reach the 50 game milestone. 2 goals.

And there you have it for another weekend's game of OAFL footy. Some huge match ups, for me Wildcats V Dingos shape up to be the most interesting match up given what's on the line for both sides. Goodluck to all sides for this weekend's battles. The Beetle will be watching, especially you Steven....