Great to see the recent confirmation of Sherwood Footy Club improving on 2019 when they were 3rd in Australia and #1 in QLD in the Good For Footy Rally, this year were went to #1 in the country thanks to the amazing support of our extended Magpie family and the great generosity of club patron Peter Sherwood who purchased a large batch of tickets just as the raffle was closing.

Sherwood's 5 Senior teams have all reached the finals  even though the Womens team still have their final home and away round this Saturday evening but cannot finish any lower than second on the ladder to earn a home final next weekend. 

The Firsts finished 4th and host Maroochydore in an Elimination Final at McCarthy Homes Oval at Chelmer on Saturday, the Reserves and Colts both finished 6th and faced a long trip down to Currumbin for their matches today

The Woodsmen were refreshed after a weeks rest and took on Morningside in the Preliminary Final last night at McCarthy Homes Oval at Chelmer with the prize for the winner a Grand Final  berth next week.  Morningside finished 6th on the ladder but upset 3rd placed Jimboomba last week.

The Woodsmen were heavily depleted by injury and unavailability, but hit the front in the last quarter only to be run down by a fit and firing Morningside. While it wasn’t great news for the team footy wise, it was great news for star ruckman Gerard Moore and his wife Charlotte who welcomed their first son Max, forcing big G to miss the game.

Liam Dawson finished second on the QAFL goalkicking list with 29 goals to trail Morningside's Matt Hammelman who finished with 34 goals.

AFLQ have decided that this season's Vote Count for the Grogan Medal and other Best and Fairest Awards will occur  on a weekly basis throughout the finals with blocks of votes released on the AFLQ Facebook pages each week. The leading Sherwood player after 3 rounds is Liam Dawson on 4 votes,  trailling the leader on 6 votes. Further votes released next week then final announcement will be in the week leading up to the Grand Final with all medals presented on Grand Final Day. 

Syd Guildford voting as voted on by opposing coaches has Dawson in second place after 3 rounds on 16 votes, 3 behind the leading player. Check out the AFLQ Facebook page for  weekly voting.

 No Sherwood Reserves or Colts player features in the early voting and the Womens voting has not been released as yet. Woodsmen Captain-Coach Chris Mihalopoulos  is on 6 votes after round 6, 2 behind the leader.

The Reserves wobbled into 6th place with only 2 wins, while the Colts with 4 wins could also finish no higher than 6th. The Reserves competition  saw the top 5 teams well clear of the bottom 4 teams so it was basically a battle between 3 clubs for 6th place on the ladder and finals berth. In the Colts, it was a more even spread of teams with not much separating the top six teams and only percentage separating 4th, 5th and 6th placed teams on the final ladder.

The Reserves almost coughed up their finals place with their worst loss for the season. While all eyes were on the Surfers-Maroochydore Reserves game as most Pies supporters and players  thought the Demons were the side that could displace the Pies but with Maroochydore heading for their first victory of the year this  threat dissipated. What most observers forgot was that Wilston-Grange with a bye  had a percentage that was not going to change while the Pies could drop below  the Gorillas if their loss was of a big enough margin. Luckily the Pies lifted after half time to limit the damage and hold onto a finals place with a 4% gap after starting the game 13% in front before the last round.

Senior Assistant Coach David Hamill  assumed the role of Reserves coach 4 weeks ago after the departure of Corey Hopkins from the role after the Maroochydore match. Hamill has impressed most observers with his input last year and this year and has long term coaching prospects with a great footy brain. He was named the Russell Greene Coach of the Year in 2019. The club and Hopkins decided to part ways after a difference in philosophy about the Reserves coaching role. 

The club's resources will be split this weekend with Seniors at home to Maroochydore and the Reserves and Colts down the Currumbin on the Gold Coast, all on Saturday. 

Colts co-coach Drew Mitchell will leave their match at halftime to travel back for the firsts final and will leave coaching to fellow coach Ben Jaenke-Cain and Assistant Coach Bryce Crossley. David Hamill will also leave the Reserves at half time to get back to assist with the Senior coaching and Jaenke-Cain and Crossley will then take charge of the Reserves at half time. Support staff will include Phil Kelemen, Brian Millar and Des Lashman but it is not ideal.

AFLQ decided to stick with the formula of the finals and gave no consideration to playing across different days as is tradition in the past.

Cameron Smith has done a great job interviewing Senior coach Anthony "Macka" McDonald after each match but we might have to nickname him "Absolutely" after he has answered the first question in every interview by  starting the sentence with "absolutely"!! 

 Mitchell Merritt showed true clubmanship by running water at Labrador last Saturday.  

Mitch is the coach of the club's Womens' team and he worked hard to make that happen and is also a club Director so puts in lots of time and effort  for the Magpies. Drew Mitchell also featured on Facebook cleaning out the change rooms and injured players Riley Greene and Ethan Sivijs also were involved in match day support last week. 

Shane Bridley's funeral was yesterday at Maroochydore but due to Covid-19 restrictions the numbers who could attend were limited but  a sizeable crowd gathered at the Sherwood Social Club at 10.30 am yesterday for the livestreaming of the funeral. 

Thanks to Club President Andrew Thomson, Grey Magpies committeeman Craig St John and Club Manager John Mitchell for getting the livestream feed up and running.

 all past players and friends are also invited to have a drink in the Social Club at half-time of the Senior match on Saturday to celebrate Shane's life and contribution to the club as a player and official and also in recognition  of his part in the re-establishment of the Old Players Association. The Players will also wear black arm bands on Saturday. 

 great news the Magpies young defender Jack Briskey has been selected to participate in the AFL Combine later in the year. This is where talented players can be tested in variety of measures which is then used to assess  their overall ability and it is the pathway to being picked up by an AFL club in the national draft.

just another reminder  that the club honour boards have been updated.. There are still a few gaps in the history  especially Reserves  but each year the gaps are  closing.

It will be well worth a look in the Sportsmans Bar area of the club on Saturday if you haven’t already done so to check out the updated honour boards.

a reminder the club still has a number of commemorative guernseys available for sale. The guernseys have every Senior, Reserves  and Thirds players and coaches to play for Sherwood, the Western Magpies and the Woodsmen from 1968 to 2018.  Please see Dr Greg Thompson if you want to purchase a guernsey, price is $70 negotiable!!

 a reminder to all people attending the football on Saturday to observe Covid-19 restrictions and be mindful of social distancing especially with the Ladies day function, Colts reunion and a number of grey magpies returning to the club.

Please scan the digital sign in QR code with your iphone and register your attendance   The QR codes are  posted on walls and at the canteen and simply put your iphone camera over the code and then it is a simple process to register your attendance online.