Gut Feelings IX - Brought to you by Regis Aged Care
Andrew Thomson
Jack Austin joined a rare group when he earnt his 2nd QAFL rising star nomination in as many seasons for his excellent game vs Surfers Paradise last week..
JA got the gong in Round 1, 2018 vs Mt Gravatt in a year when he played 7 senior games, already eclipsing that with 8 in 2019.
Ryan Harwood only took 1 game to get his groove back, when in just his 2nd outing of 2019 after a 12 week injury layoff he landed a perfect 10 votes in the Syd Guildford Trophy after a BOG performance vs Surfers.
Other Magpies to poll were Riley Easton (6), Luca Winton (4) and Samson Ryan (2)
Coach Brydan Morgan was elated with the victory as it keeps the Magpies in the finals race and maybe a little shudder is going through opposition camps going into the second half of the season.
Regarding the match against the then second placed surfers Paradise, Morgan said "We were playing for our season. It was a massive improvement. In recent matches we only had 5 winners on the day but when had 20 against Surfers and it is about even contributions". Morgan said the Pies now have a foundation to push toward finals football after the bye this weekend. Morgan said it was no coincidence the win came with captain David Lewis and reigning Best & Fairest Ryan Harwood playing together for the first time this season. Lewis bolstered the defence and Harwood was dangerous up forward then when into the midfield for a few short stints. He said their presence was infectious and helps others grow around them.
Luca Winton further enhanced his reputation as one of the QAFL elite defenders with another accomplished performance on Saturday. The ex-Sherwood junior returned to the club at the beginning of last year after playing with some mates at Kedron and he has been a revelation. He arrived hoping to break into the Pies seniors in the pre-season last year with and he has just gone from strength to strength in his season and half at the Pies to be one of the first picked each week at selection. He keeps on getting a few votes each week in the Syd Guildford Award to be arguably the QAFL's most consistent player this season and at a guess will be leading in the Pies Bill Peirce B & F voting at this stage of the season after being runner-up in 2018.
How's this for one of the Pies' legends-- Peter Kilroy took the opportunity in the previous round's bye weekend to fly to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa for a gig with his band "Hey Geronimo". Reunion is a French Overseas Department and Killer says it was an interesting place to visit--"different" is how he described it. He and the band had an interesting journey to get to and from there, flying via Dubai with travel times of 33 and 28 hours with some long stopovers in Dubai.
Once again the "Grey Magpies", led by Shane Bridley and Terry O'Shea, arranged best player awards which were presented to the recipients by club legend Warren Selvage. The winners were debutant Bruce Reville (Seniors), Rory Johnson (Reserves) and Whitlam Bishop (Colts).
Warren Selvage also made the guernsey presentation to exciting speedster Bruce Revklle before the match. Reville showed his class with a 20 plus possession game on a wing plus a goal and but his skills under pressure and decision making were first rate. If he does as well as Selvage's 9 premierships (8 in a row and coached 2 of them), 200 plus matches for the Pies and Life Membership as well as an AFLQ Recognition of Service Award he will have a pretty good footy career!
Great to se plenty of players from the 2000s-- "Noughties"-- return last Saturday to swell the crowd. Colts coach Alan Hagley (2002-03-04) and his assistant coach Wil Ivinson organised the reunion of Colts players they had coached in that period and they all had a great time as well as cheering on the Magpies. Hagley was a Queensland schoolboy representative then developed a reputation as a coach while still in his late 20s and coached the Magpies Colts to a flag in 2003. He had a knack of developing players and making them better as individual footballers and also as team and many went on to play Senior football for the Pies. It was great to see Hags after a long absence and he held court with his ex-charges like he was coaching them again!! Hags also coached the 2007 3rds Premiership side and along with Laurie Nipperess was instrumental in the Magpies having a 3rds for the 15th consecutive season in 2019.
Rhys Bridge, who had a season with the Pies a few years ago before returning home to Cairns, played on a back flank for North Queensland in their clash with South Queensland which was a curtain raiser to the Suns v Saints AFL match on Sunday.
The only negative for last weekend was the Reserves loss. The Pies on paper had a strong team (before losing 2 key players before the game) but they did not come to play and poor skills and decision making resulted in a disappointing loss. The reserves competition at QAFL level is very strong and Gut Feelings knowledge and observations suggest many QAFL Reserves teams would be very competitive in many regional Victorian and southern NSW First grade competitions. Still, the Pies should have done better and now face a hazardous journey to make the finals after slipping a couple of games outside the five. Next weeks match at Broadbeach will decide to they continue in the finals race--against a side they defeated earlier in the year, a Pies win keeps them knocking on the door while a loss will make the equation much more difficult.
The Woodsmen got out of jail with 2 late goals last Friday night against Mayne and the win sees them entrenched in fifth position but 2 games clear of the sixth placed Yeronga. The Woodies welcomed back the much decorated Chris Judson who in his 3rd game for the year was the pies best player.
On a small field with a genuine ‘down hill’ end, the Woodies struggled in the first quarter and were scoreless, before making use of the ‘slope’ to bang home 7 straight goals in the 2nd quarter, including 3 to Club President Andrew Thomson to take control of the game.
Mayne came hard late though and snatched the lead with a minute to play before ‘Juddo’ burst clear around the 50m arc and made no mistake as he ran into goal. A goal after the siren by irishman Sam Banim extended the margin to 10 points.
In a bye weekend for the QAFL, the Woodies were the only senior side to play in the most recent weekend and it was a Saturday game Vs Marcoochydoore, a tough ask for a Friday night centric side to travel a few hours up the highway!
They managed to cobble together 16 players, then got some help from local clubs the Jindalee Jags and Ipswich Cats to field a final 22 and put up an excellent account of themselves to go down by just 20 points against the defending premiers.
Games like this really build spirit and culture, despite the loss. The Magpies/Woodsmen simply refuse to throw in the towel, while several other clubs simply opt to forfeit in similar circumstances.
The Colts had an important win over the Surfers Sharks ( a combined Surfers Paradise and Southport team). The Pies were challenged and in a tight see-sawing contest were headed late in the game in what would have been an upset loss and a severe dent to the Pies finals hopes. As it was the Pies got the four points to sit in fifth place on the ladder. They face a tough encounter against the third placed Broadbeach who defeated them comfortably earlier in the season but the Pies were slow out of the blocks in that match. Coach Dallas Gallagher will stress to his team to have a good start against the Cats.
It was a classic ‘Pie Night’ at the club a few weeks ago, and with such a huge success the format will likely be repeated before the year is out.
Details for the David Parkin Luncheon on July 20 have now been widely advertised, with invitations out. Be sure to secure your place as soon as possible!