Gut Feelings VIII - a weekly collection of thoughts from influential minds deep inside the nest

• Back pocket Luca Winton has arguably been the recruit of the year at the Magpies. Winton, a Sherwood junior, returned to the Pies after stints at Morningside and Kedron and has gone from strength to strength in every game this year. He has been in the Pies top players in every match and as he has grown in confidence he has been a key player in the Pies backline. He can play tall and is equally good at ground level and his hand and foot skills and decision making have been one of the highlights of the season as another local junior steps up to senior football.
• The Magpies will unveil their Indigenous designed guernsey on Sunday to celebrate NAIDOC Week. As mentioned last week, the guernsey has been designed by current and past players including Anthony Corrie, Chris Hunt, Aaron Maricic, Logan Murray, Dean Parkin and Wil Ivinson

• Unfortunately due to a clash, Mt Gravatt will be unable to wear their indigenous jumper on the day
• The Pies have had several tough closely fought matches in the past month and it started to show in the second half against Broadbeach. A Broadbeach stalwart commented the Pies appeared to be "playing sore"  after halftime and it is no coincidence that the Pies opponent from the previous week in Morningside were also overrun on Saturday late in their game. The Pies last quarter at Broadbeach was the first time the Pies have been outscored in the last quarter this year and that was by only a single goal. This week may have been a bit lighter on the track and the extra day to prepare will help the Magpies. 
• The Pies brought their famous "prison bars" guernsey out of mothballs for the match against Broadbeach as the QAFL strangely deemed there was a guernsey clash. The Pies seemed energised by the guernsey in the first half but could not keep the momentum going after half time. Still looked to be a handsome guernsey!!
• Syd Guildford voting this week for the Magpies went to Ryan Harwood 5, Kale Reed 4 and Riley Easton 3. Voting is on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis voted on by each team's match committee with maximum votes being 10.  Ryan Harwood has 25 votes with the leader Blake Ericsson from Broadbeach on 43 votes.
• The Reserves went down again to a very good Broadbeach team after the Pies were slow out of the blocks. The match confirmed the general view that the standard of QAFL Reserves has gone up a couple of notches this season.
• The Pies have a mixture of young and old, with coach Des Lashman pointing out that four of his six backmen were 19 years old or younger with 21 yo Harry Marshall and Chris Hunt in his mid 20s the exceptions. Lashman was especially pleased with back pocket Tristan Dowdy who did a good job on a regular senior player. Zach Collison gets better with each game and the other youngsters were Kurt Vine and Sam Hartog who were both consistent performers. Other 21 year olds or younger in the team were Lachie Dennis, Jeremy De Rooy, Jack Austin, Monty Vine, Ethan Sivijs, Sam De Nys, Sempatike Kwizera and Rory Johnson.
• the Pies Reserves fielded 12 players with Senior experience in recent seasons to underline the quality of the team and how hard it is to win matches in QAFL Reserves.
• The Western Magpies Colts are in second place on the QAFL ladder after sneaking past the third placed Broadbeach in a closely fought match. Coach Jake Fuentes was full of praise for the fighting spirit of his side , who were without three key players  on Queensland Under 17 duties as Bruce Reville joined Sean and Samson Ryan in the state team. Fuentes says his team has plenty of depth and with a squad of 30 players he has plenty to choose from and picking the team each week is a difficult task for all the right reasons. Several of the Colts have tasted Reserves football which will prepare them for some big games coming up in the next few weeks. 
• The Woodsmen had another solid win on Friday night to return to the top of the table, and the regular use of players who miss reserves selection is proving a winner for the club as a whole as players get continuity and youngsters get the opportunity to play with older experienced heads and a different style of football.
• The experienced Gabe McKinnon was prominent, while Tom Roderick continues to put his case forward for Reserves selection with consistent form with the Woodsmen
• Matt Hockley put up another bag of 6 goals to be well clear on top of the goalkicking going into the 2nd half of 2018
• The Woodsmen will take on Maroochydoore next Saturday 14 July in Maroochydoore in a top of the table clash, and with the Seniors/Reserves/Colts having a bye - a bus trip is planned to provide plenty of support for the boys, and a rowdy trip home!
• As part of the club's 50th Year of Senior Football celebrations on August 18 when the Pies host Sandgate at McCarthy Homes Oval, a Commemorative Guernsey will be worn by players and will also be for sale after the game.
• The guernsey will have the name of every player and coach to play a game in either Seniors Reserves, Thirds and Woodsmen and as it stands now the guernsey will feature 962 names on it. More details about the celebrations will be forthcoming in coming weeks but all past and present players are invited to the event which will be held at the Chelmer clubrooms from 6 pm. Everyone is invited to watch the Pies in action in the afternoon against Sandgate before the event commences in the clubrooms. 
• The Pies host Mt Gravatt in a Sunday match at McCarthy Homes Oval in what shapes as a cracker of a match. The Vultures are third on the ladder 3 games ahead of the Pies who need to start winning the tight games to stay in contention to host an elimination final.
• Despite the disparity on the ladder,  educated footy followers know the Pies match it with the Vultures and were unlucky not to win their Round 1 clash. What a difference a win makes with both the clubs' fortunes going in different ways with Mt Gravatt gaining in confidence to go on a 5 game winning streak while the Pies found new ways to lose the close ones.
• Sunday's game will be another live broadcast, so if you can't get down to the ground - look for the link in the Place Match Preview later this week
• Seems like we had our information all messed up last week when we said the 1978 premiership team were underdogs and stole the flag. It has been pointed out that the 1978 Sherwood premiership team were dominant throughout the season to finish on top of the SQAFA ladder with 20 wins and 1 loss and a percentage of 266.9%. The Pies defeated Mt Gravatt by 34 points in the second semi final then easily defeated the Vultures in the grand Final at Dittmer Park, 19.18-132 to 11.12-78. It was the 73 side that pinched a close one to prevent a Vultures 3-peat! Other clubs in the SQAFA in 1978 were Acacia Ridge, Aspley, South Brisbane, Banyo, Wynnum and UQ. 
• The 1978 Premiership team will celebrate their 40th anniversary celebrations along with the 10 year celebrations of the 2008 Western Magpies Premiership team on Saturday, July 21st when the Pies host Palm Beach-Currumbin at McCarthy Homes Oval, Chelmer.
• "Great Clubmen" - Chris Dennis has been a vital part of the resurgence of the Sherwood and Western Magpies over the past 8 years, being a Board member since 2011, Junior Chairman 2012-14 and Club President in 2014-15. He is now the club's Facilities Director and is responsible for the Social Club.  He has written the submissions the club has made for grants to build the clubrooms, upgrade the ground lights and do upgrades on the oval.
• At season's end the oval will get a major makeover so that it can better withstand the traffic it gets during the season, though the actual traffic will also need to be reviewed in 2019 planning.
• Writing grant applications is a huge task and Chris has been able to secure several hundred thousand dollars in grants for the club to continue to develop its facilities. 
• Not satisfied with that Chris does a power of work during the week and on game days with ensuring all is in order for players to perform at their best and to cap it off escorts Heathy to be the umpires escort at home games. Chris was rewarded with club Life Membership last year, a most deserved award.
• Sherwood player Darcy Prest has been selected in the Queensland Under 16 team which will play NSW/ACT at Metricon Stadium on Tuesday, July 10 in round 2 of the Australian Championships. The Queensland team lost their first round clash last month to Tasmania in Sydney.