GUT FEELINGS XIII - A COLLECTION OF DEEP THOUGHTS FROM INFLUENTIAL MINDS DEEP INSIDE THE NEST!
Andrew Thomson
Sherwood and the Western Magpies will celebrate 50 years of senior football this Saturday, August 18th when the Magpies host Sandgate at McCarthy Homes Oval at Chelmer.
The celebrations will be semi-formal with several speeches and finger food and will commence at 6 pm in the Sports Bar at the club. Cost will be $30 per head which includes food and a drink or two.
The club has a Commemorative Guernsey with the names of all players and coaches to have played or coached a game in Seniors, Reserves, Thirds and Woodsmen and will be worn during the Seniors and Reserves matches. The guernseys are for sale at $100 each and can be purchased at the reunion.
The club is in a position to order more guernseys if required.
Ex players who are returning after many years will notice the club's new Honour boards which were erected last year. You might notice a few gaps in the record and the club hopes ex-players will recall who won what and when, especially in the Reserves and Western Warriors days. Please let Greg Thompson or Kevin Kluver know if you can fill any gaps.
Plenty of discussion between AFLQ and QAFL Clubs about a QAFL salary cap and revised player points system in 2019. Labrador Tigers were quoted in the Courier Mail as being opposed to the proposed $70k cap in 2019 and $60k in 2020 but would settle for an $80k cap. No doubt all clubs have their challenges, but as a known footy nursery - the Magpies will not be impacted
Luca Winton might feel aggrieved from the Pies report on the club's Facebook page of the win over Labrador as co-defender Doug Lawrence was credited with keeping Tigers star forward and ex -AFL player Bryce Retzlaff to 2 goals when in fact it was Winton who kept the big full-forward quiet. It is no surprise he did the job as Winton has been a sensational pick-up for the Pies and has not had a bad game this year. He would be well in the mix in the Pies' Bill Peirce Medal voting.
Well, well the practice of jumper punches and blocking well off the contest and holding off the ball, which Gut Feelings thinks is a blight on the game, has come home to roost.
The Seniors had a grinding win against a negative opponent last week and unfortunately the niggle cost the Pies their young key position player Aaron Highlands who was reported for striking. Vision shows a forceful push during the mid second quarter push and shove and Highlands was offered 2 weeks with 1 week for an early guilty plea. The club decided to go to the AFLQ Tribunal but he was found guilty and then given 3 weeks!! Interesting !!! gut Feelings can only assume there was some vision not available to the rest of us!
Senior coach Brydan (or should that be Bryan?) Morgan was quoted in the Quest Newspapers Westside and South-West News about how even the competition is and the Pies "could finish from third to sixth, we just need to keep winning. We can finish in third and are more than capable of winning our two remaining matches.
The Reserves remain on life support after another close win over Morningside on the weekend keeps their finals aspirations alive. Having now beaten all other finals contenders, if they get there - nobody will want to play them!
The Pies Colts won a tough contest against Labrador to go a game clear on top of the QAFL Colts ladder, before easily accounting for Morningside to consolidate tops spot ahead of their bye. The Colts depth was again on display as they had a number of key players out but still were able to come up with consecutive wins.
The Magpies had a big day out last Saturday with victories in all grades on the day over Morningside. The seniors had a 101 point victory, a margin that no-one saw coming, The Reserves held on for a 4 point victory to keep their finals hopes alive and the Colts had a comfortable 44 point win to stay on top of the ladder. And to round out the weekend, the Woodsmen secured top spot on the ladder and a home Second Semi Final tomorrow night
The Pies inflicted the worst defeat on Morningside in living memory with as comprehensive a victory as you could imagine. Panthers coach Steve Wildschutt said his side were beaten in every facet of the game and Magpies coach Brydan Morgan said he thinks his team has finally realised how good they are and what they are actually capable of when they click into gear.
The Pies won all the stats that matter but for Morgan it was the contested football which included the defensive running, the tackling, the pressure at the contest and smothers that pleased him the most.
The Reserves had a narrow win that keeps their season alive, although they still need results to go their way. The Pies are still in sixth place trailing Morningside on percentage. Both clubs play cellar dweller Sandgate and the Pies have Surfers paradise while Morningside have a tough assignment at Labrador. It could be that all three clubs finish on the same points and percentage will be the decider.
The Colts were tradesmanlike in a comfortable victory which cements them at the top of the ladder and a guaranteed rest in the first week of the finals. The Pies enjoyed getting one back on Morningside as the clubs have had a healthy rivalry at Colts level for many years and also have had many a battle over many years of junior football.
The Woodsmen are in the Second Semi Final in QFA Friday Night Footy after a strong win over Queensland Uni last Friday night which secured them top spot and a home semi final tomorrow night. The match commences at 7.30 pm at McCarthy Homes Oval at Chelmer
The Woodsmen's Matt Hockley has kicked 50 goals to win the Division 4 goal kicking by a fair margin. Hockley has been a classy player for the Pies since crossing from Springwood 9 years in 2013. He captained Springwood as a 20 year old to underline his class and leadership abilities and played Seniors for the Pies and he still shows the way at the Woodsmen.
Club Legend Chris Mihalopoulous also plays for the Woodsmen and was the 2017 competition leading goalkicker, he's also joined by multiple Senior Premiership teammate Chris Judson and two current footy club Directors in President Andrew Thomson and Director Mitchell Merritt
Gut Feelings understands it was a firey selection debate this week at the Woodsmen, showing there is depth at all levels of senior footy in 2018!
Premiership players Val Pope, Gerard Moore and Sean Mewing turned back the clock on Saturday as all three were in magnificent form and were influential players in the Pies win.
Pope won plenty of contested football and has regained the form many Pies supporters recall from his heyday, Moore dominated the ruck and was a steadying influence in the tense final quarter and Mewing mopped up brilliantly across half back and on a wing then used his long left foot to devastating effect.
Jake de Winter booted 4 goals to go to 42 goals for the season and he now trails ex Magpie and current Broadbeach full forward Matt Fowler by 10 goals.