2005 Season - Cougars v Eagels v Seattle July

Cougars rejuvenate season with ferocious display

Without a doubt this was set to be one of the biggest and most anticipated clashes ever seen in NWPAFL history and certainly for the 2005 season. Having successfully achieved one of the early ambitions of the bludgeoning NWPAFL league – to have two teams in Vancouver; no one could have envisaged such a strong rivalry between the two teams establishing so quickly.

Going into the weekend’s game, the Eagles had shot away to an impressive 4-1 lead over the Cougars. With only a few games left to the Grand Final weekend, vital rankings points are still to be had and this was not a game to be taken lightly. For weeks leading up to the clash there has been murmourings between players and coaches about stacked sides, missing players, injuries here and there etc. etc. Despite all that, this weekend’s game there was to be no excuses –footy would be the answer.

Game 1 – Burnaby Eagles vs. Seattle Grizzlies.

The weekend was not just to be a clash of the two Vancouver rivals though as Seattle came up to participate in a little 3 way tourney at beautiful Thunderbird Stadium at UBC. It was with some regret that the Grizzlies could only pull together about 10 players to make the trip as both the Cougars and Eagles had to supply volunteers to make up the numbers and it would also mean that many guys would have to play 3 games for the day.

The mixed team clearly caused some confusion for the Seattle boys as right from the opening bounce the Eagles took control and never seem to let it go. It seemed like the Eagles had the ball on a string. Nat “Goiter” Dinsdale was winning a large percentage of the tap outs and playing like a little rover, collecting grabs and kicks all over the ground. From the centre, Nick M, Luscious and James “Whiskers” Whiskin were carving up their Seattle opponents and bombing it deep into the forwardline, with Whiskers kicking a nice long running goal early. Randy Dick took some nice grabs and temporarily hit the front of the goal kicking ladder with a couple of handy goals early, a great effort for the Canadian.

When the ball did hit the backline, the Eagles defenders were all over it. Aussie MyK Harrison proved that he is over his nagging hammy/old age injuries with a couple of magnificent hard ball gets and runs out of the back-line. Pinkie Nolan and the Wiz were always there in support to repel any Grizzlie attacks and to provide a lot of run at the ball. The Wiz in particular seems to be going from strength to strength this year and is not afraid to run straight into an on-coming pack. As always Pete Taylor was the rock at CHB.

Freemo and Simon V were getting themselves into a lot of room on the wings, while Stone Cold Austin, Mick V and Chatty were providing some hard leads and being very elusive across the forward flanks.

The Grizzlies had nothing in response and by half time, the game was beginning to develop into the most lopsided game this year.

1st Half – Eagles 9.1.55 to Grizzlies 0.1.1

At half time, Eagles coach Freeman wasn’t about to ease up and called on his team to keep the Grizzlies scoreless. That they almost did. Once again Goiter continued his fine rucking display and gifted his receivers with the ball time and time again. Morgs added to Seattle’s woes with some strong play out of the backline while as usual, Stevie and Shane were solid. Despite a couple of Seattle goals, Burnaby continued to extend their lead.

After taking a nice (yet questionable) diving mark in the goal square, Handyman Hilton finished the job early in the half when he managed to convert from 4 metres out. More than one player noticed that the Handyman looked shakey lining up and only just managed to sneak the ball through the goals. Clearly Hilton seems to be psychologically effected by his miss from 2 metres out only a couple of weeks ago.

In the end, despite a more even half, the Grizzlies were way to strong…

Final Score – Eagles 13.3.81 to Grizzlies 2.4.16
Eagle Goals – Luscious 3, Randy Dick 2, Nick M 2, Shane 1, Sammy 1, James 1, Mick 1, Handyman 1, Damien 1

After a quick break it was onto the Main event – The Eagles v the Cougars. Before the game, the changerooms for both teams was electric as SuperCoach Grills and his protégé RookieCoach Freeman had both their teams focused on the task ahead.

Having suffered a humiliating loss in the last game and having to deal with two weeks of abuse from their Eagles counterparts, the Cougars whipped themselves into a frenzy before the opening bounce. It quickly showed.

Having watched the Eagles centerline tear apart Seattle with ease, the Cougars centerline took it upon themselves to give nothing to the Eagles and constantly put a lot of heat on their on-ballers with some hard tackling and niggling play right from the get-go.

Q1 – Cougars 3.1.19 to Eagles 1.1.7

The tide was beginning to turn. An undisciplined play by Troy lead to two 50 metre penalty’s in a row and gifted Luscious the easiest of goals to put the Eagles within a couple of points. As he ran back to the centre, Troy was berated by his teammates and challenged to get the next ball out of the centre and make up for his mistake…Typifying his resolve for the day, that’s exactly what he did. DJ tapped the ball down, Troy whipped through the centre, gathered the ball, broke a tackle, bombed the ball straight onto the chest of Walks who slotted home the major.

Q2 - Cougars 5.3.33 to Eagles 4.1.25
Q3 – Cougars 7.4.52 to Eagles 4.1.25
Final Score – Cougars 11.6.72 v. Eagles 4.3.27

Cougar Goals – Campo 3, Grilla 2, Richie R 2, Troy 2, Glamour 2, Bub 1, Cashie 1, Texas Ranger 1
Eagles Goals – Man Boobs 1, Luscious 1, Nick M 1, Stone Cold Austin 1

With the lack of players coming up from Seattle, clearly there was going to be a lot of tired players in this game, with a number of Cougars and Eagles (playing for Seattle) players lining up for their third game to make up the numbers. Coming off a glorious defeat of the Eagles the Cougar boys were fired up to make the day a clean sweep and it showed early.

From the opening bounce, DJ Bennetron again had the look in his eye of a man who was not going to let any ruck tap go without a fight and it quickly showed as together with his centerline players he had the Seattle boys scrambling for answers from the opening bounce. Within a minute, the Cougars had their first goal on the board as Troy bombed the ball long straight onto the chest of Vargo.

When the ball did manage to sneak into the backline, the Cougars backline was a solid as always and all over it. Coops as always let little passed his big hands and turned the tables on many a Grizzlies forward thrust. Despite clearly being tired in his 3rd game of the day, Cashie Snr. was hard at the ball and the man, leading to a lot of loose balls that were quickly gathered up by the Back Flankers. Moved to Full Back, Walks gave nothing to the Seattle Full forward while Teddy, Jimmy and Matty N were wearing their opponents like gloves.

It seemed that any time the ball got out of the back-line, the centerline ensured it kept moving quickly and straight up into the forwardline. Troy, Lappo, Grills, Campo, and Sammy seemed to be trading kicks as they took turns to sweep the ball long into the forwardline. Token Ananda scored a nice running goal to get the Cougars machine rolling and a nice running goal by Troy gave the Cougar a handy buffer at half-time.

1st Half – Cougars 3.3.21 to Grizzlies 0.3.3

With talk in the Seattle huddle overheard that “they were still in it”, the Cougars were fired up to dig deep and turn the game up a notch or to. The second half was a whitewash as the Cougars on-ball machine went into overdrive. DJ was getting the ball down to his centerline with ease and it seemed that someone had put the game into repeat mode for 20 minutes as the play seemd to copy itself – DJ taps the ball to Troy, Troy delivers a pin point pass to Vargo, mark – goal. DJ taps the ball to Cashie Jnr, Cashie Jnr delivers a pin point pass to Vargo – mark, goal. DJ taps the ball to Grilla, Grilla delivers a pin point pass to Vargo – mark, goal. DJ taps the ball to Lappo, Lappo delivers a pin point pass to Vargo – mark, goal.

The backline no doubt would have had plenty of time to smell the daisy’s as the forwardline was treated to an abundance of the footy. A highlight of the half was definitely young Scotty backing himself for a big grab in the pack, losing control but getting up straight away, gathering the pill and slotting home his first goal for the Cougars – definitely a future star of the senior team.

In the end, the Coguars completed the day on top with two resounding victories.

Final Score – Cougars 10.9.69 v Grizzlies 2.3.15

Cougar Goals – Glamour 6, Grilla 1, Troy 1, Scotty 1, Token 1