The Colts came back to earth with a jolt last Saturday, being well beaten by Palm Beach-Currumbin in the Second Semi Final at Currumbin last Saturday. They were unable to re-produce the intensity from the previous weeks final vs Wilston Grange and some inefficiency also cost them.

They  missed tackles and fumbled more and while they were accurate the week before, the goalkicking yips  saw them trail 7.1 to 1.7 at half time , 5 goals down with the same scoring shots. The Pies worked hard in the third quarter to narrow the gap but could not get reward for effort after having more inside 50s then tailed off in the last quarter.

The Colts get another chance this Saturday and in good news the match has been transferred from Surfers Paradise to McCarthy Homes Oval at Chelmer this Saturday, to commence at 10 am.  A great common sense decision from AFLQ!

The pies get the home ground advantage due to defeating Grange  last week. It would be good for a big contingent of Magpies supporters to get down to the ground to support the boys in their quest to have another crack at PBC in the Grand Final. The Pies will need to bring the same intensity and attack on the ball they displayed in defeating the Gorillas in the Qualifying final

The Magpies Colts have defied the odds to even get to the finals let alone reach a Second Semi-Final then the Preliminary Final. With injuries in the senior ranks a number of Colts players filled the gaps in both Seniors and Reserves early in the year but with their return to the colts plus some players returning from injury and various representative duties their stocks picked up to be at the stage they are still in the finals and challenging for back-to-back flags.

Coach Dallas Gallagher has an astute football brain and he has been able to marshall his players throughout the year. He is not afraid to make game day moves and can note trends in the game early and make changes to either press home an advantage or manage a part of the Colts game that is not working well.

Well, the sun, planets, moon and stars all got the wobbles in the last round and the Pies could not get the job done, falling at the last hurdle yet again. In a case of deja vu again (if you doing mind the tautology!!), the Pies had to win over the Demons and then hope Mt Gravatt didn't catch them on percentages.  When Mt Gravatt were 7 goals in front  of Labrador and the Pies 4 goals down all looked forlorn but the Pies closed the gap to under 2 goals and Labrador rallied but in pushing hard the Pies leaked three late goals to Surfers Paradise to blow the final margin to 5 goals, which did not reflect the tightness and closeness of the contest for most of the match. 

In their last match of the season at Surfers Paradise  the Reserves looked like they couldn't wait until the end of the season and it was a disappointing end to a disappointing year. The Pies only fielded 20 players after a number of match eve withdrawals and finished with 16 on the ground.  The Magpies did struggle against the top side and who could blame them in the circumstances. Well done to all the players who turned up and did battle out to the end of the season but who could blame them when they looked relieved at the final siren. 

The Reserves will always have a number of player changes at selection but this year the Pies had a huge number of changes at selection every week and had 1 match with 10 changes and three matches with 8 changes and most matches had at least 4-6 changes. This meant they could not get any continuity to develop a fluent game plan. That said several players stood out during the season with Zac Collison having a consistent season, Jordan Bonney came on in leaps and bounds to be rewarded with several Senior games, Sam Hartog relished his time on a wing toward the end of the season and Jesse Hampel has had a consistent season.  

The Woodies also completed their season 2 weeks ago after a convincing win in their first final vs Morningside they failed to turn up at Maroochydoore for the first 3/4 and an embarassing exit was on the cards, then a last quarter fightback when the Woodies chased down a 7 goal lead to put a famous victory on the table before just falling short to bow out by 2 points.

There was a large contingent of Magpies current past players and past players and officials at Steve Mitchell's funeral last Tuesday. Included in the gathering were a large number of Steve's premiership team-mates and representatives from AFLQ and Brisbane Lions, testament to the high regard Mitch was held in throughout the AFL community in South East Queensland. 

In a moving ceremony the many layers of Steve Mitchell were mentioned, from the fun loving and sometimes larrikin youngster, to his love of family and friends and his love of football and the Sherwood Football Club. 

Eulogies were given by Steve's sister-in-law Michelle, wife of brother Rob, who spoke eloquently of the family and Steve's unconditional commitment to his large and extended family and to the fun loving bloke that he was. 

School friend and junior football team-mate Keith North spoke of schooldays and trips to the coast and of playing football together, mentioning that Steve was challenging the accepted rules from an early age and thinking outside the box, which he continued to do throughout his life with his thoughts on life and football. 

Premiership teammate John Cawcutt spoke about Mitch's football career and how we was a player who would go over hot coals for his teammates and was an integral part of three Sherwood premierships. Oh, and a mention of a suspension where coaching Sherwood Under 16s--something about not agreeing with the umpires!! 

Sons Drew then Luke spoke brilliantly about their Dad and the support he had given them and the sage advice he was ready to impart. They also thanked him for guiding them in their careers, in football and in their personal lives and that he had given them strong building blocks to be good citizens and good people. That both have become strong leaders in the football club speaks volumes for the legacy Steve left his sons.   

And of course his funeral finished with the strains of “We’re from Tigerland”.

The club's Presentation Night has been scheduled for Saturday, October 19th. The Bill Peirce Medal Count will be a highlight while the Reserves John Burkett (JB) Medal, Maurie McNamee Medal for Colts and the Nipperess Medal for the Woodsmen will all be watched with interest.

Bruce Reville and Samson Ryan played for Redland in the NEAFL last round the weekend before last in their upset win over Canberra and then this weekend they  must have their head spinning as both will line up for the Brisbane Lions in the NEAFL Finals. The Lions are undefeated but have been blessed with an almost full list all season but NEAFL rules restrict them to 14 listed players in the finals when taking on non AFL aligned clubs hence the need to top up with the likes of Reville and Ryan. It will no doubt be a great experience for the 2 Rs and good performances at this level will certainly push their names forward and attract attention from the AFL recruiters.

Riley Greene was also on the Brisbane Lions NEAFL radar before it was discovered Riley is aligned to the Gold Coast Suns due to residency regulations as he lives at North Maclean and was therefore ineligible to play for the Lions. It is unfortunate as Riley has had a great season for the Pies and at 17 years old would not have been out of place at NEAFL level so it is a missed opportunity to show what he is capable of. 

Best wishes to the Magpies contingent at Aspley as they continue their finals campaign when they play Southport at Fankhauser Reserve at Southport at 1.30 pm on Saturday.  Skipper Jackson Allen and Tom Baulch (a Magpies player but not seen in the black and white very often this year) will line up while Cal Carselkdine, who missed the Hornets win last week over GWS Giants may come back in to the side, but Doug Lawrence will miss due to a late season ACJ dislocation. Lawrence was playing his best football for some time at CHB when injured and Tom Baulch has now established himself in the starting side after starting on the bench in many earlier season matches. 

The QAFL Grogan Medal Count will be held at the Gabba on Sunday, September  8th. As well as the Grogan Medal, the QAFL Team of the Year will be announced and the Pies Luca Winton must be a good chance to be named. Dan Edwards and Riley Greene will be right in the mix for the Rising Star Award  as both have had outstanding seasons and both have been consistent performers all season. 

Ipswich Eagles take on Wynnum in the QAFA Division 3 Preliminary Final on Saturday at Wynnum and will feature 3 ex-Magpies in Chris Devlin, Nick Barling and Michael Lyons. Lyons won 2 QAFL Reserves Best and Fairest Bill Clerke Medals in 2004 and 2005 and was Magpies Reserves Best and Fairest winner in 2003.   

Luke Scott will try to guide Mitiamo to a long awaited flag after they won through to the Loddon Valley Grand Final to be played on Saturday. Mitiamo won the Second Semi Final over Pyramid Hill and had last weekend off and play the same team in the decider. Mitiamo, located 35 km north of Bendigo,  were beaten in last year’s decider (by a side containing club President Andrew Thomson’s cousin who put them to the sword in what were absolutely horrific conditions with sleet and gale force winds blowing, not ideal conditions for FIFO players from QLD!)

Jonesy, a FIFO player,  has played in most games this year but Jim Rozynski only managed 4 games before suffering another tear of his ACL in terrible news for the Magpie legend. Also in the Mitiamo team is ex PBC ruckman Michael L’Anson and ex-Noosa coach Lucas Matthews.

The Magpies QAFL Senior side is now looking for a new coach in 2020 with the departure of Brydan Morgan after 3 seasons at the helm which featured 3 consecutive 6th places. Morgan was a dedicated coach who left no stone unturned with his incredible work rate in the role. The immeasurable time, care and unmatched preparation Brydan put into the role went above and beyond expectations and the club thansk and acknowledges Brydan for his 3 years as senior coach.

Other roles in the football department will be advertised in due course, as will some other exciting club announcements.

Junior Presentation Day is scheduled for Saturday October 12, while the Bill Pierce Medal will be held the following Saturday on October 19.

Sadly on the weekend the last remaining youth Magpie team were defeated by Aspley in the U14 Division 1 Northern Conference Grand Final, the boys had a wonderful season and after a bright first half were unable to hold on again a strong Aspley side who were very good on the day.

The Magpies will be entering a womens team for the 2020 season in the QWFA and have fielded several enquiries about both coaching the side as well as many many enquiries fro current female footballers who started their journey with the Magpies and wish to return to where it began. If you’d like to be involved as a player, coach or volunteer - get in touch president@westernmagpies,com.au

In other news, the Magpies have been promoting the Toyota Good For footy Raffle in droves, with the club now ranked 2nd in the country for tickets sold - a huge effort from everyone involved! We’re not far of getting to the top, so to purchase some more tickets follow this link