Finals Preview 1 (this wasn't written by Mansauce)

Here we are. The Finale. The Big Cheese.  The Big Show. The End Game. The only game that really matters (unless you’ve got sidebets of cookies riding on other games). All season has come down to this. And doesn’t it promise to be a cracker!

But first, let’s look at the tasty appetizers happening prior to the final to whet your Ultimate appetites.

The battle for 3rd

Pinky v Firetrucking Red

What can I say about this game? How about I almost forgot about it and am actually writing this preview last. All season long Pinky were the team to beat. This team is more stacked than a stack of people stacking stacks at a stack stacking contest. They cruised through the regular season, only dropping games when missing key players. EVERYONE was tipping them to make the final. Even Bucky Brooks and that guy knows his football. At the start of the season red didn’t look particularly exciting. About mid way through though they started to put the pieces together. A universe point win against fan favourites #YOLO really ignited their inner fires and propelled them all the way to the semi final. Where they lost. I didn’t see the semi due to complete indifference, but I’d say the reason they lost was because Rob Dehollander wasn’t tall enough.

For Pinky it’s all about doing what they’ve done all season. I’m not sure what that is, but I gather it’s pretty successful. For Firetrucks, it’ll be all about O. It’s gonna be hard to shut down the Pink offence, so converting their scoring opportunities is key.

Pink FTW

The battle for 5^th

Pancakes v Green Street Elite

This is probably where Pancakes deserve to be. Even after their upset win in round 1 of the finals, this team has as much depth as Xena has height. GSE will probably feel unlucky to be here, however they had the hardest run through the finals and much like the NZ Americas Cup team, they just didn’t have the legs. Or should that be hulls? Rudders? Kiwis?

The key for Pancakes is hard D. They’ve got strike weapons on O and their captain seems to be in oddly consistent throwing form, however shutting down GSEs handling line will be tough. For the green machine, it’s all about giving more disc to Tyson and less to Scott. And by that I mean that Scott will no doubt be marked by a good defender so taking said defender out of the contest is a good idea... Not that Scott is rubbish compared to Tyson. I mean, Scott’s good at New Zealand trivia. That’s gotta count for something. Right?

I’m picking GSE over Pancakes.

The battle for 7^th

Phantasm v Huck Buddies

Given how these teams performed during the regular season, playing in this game is a good result for both sides. Phantasm were inconsistent all season, mirroring Phil’s throws. They would get beaten soundly 1 week and then pull out a grinding win the next. Huck Buddies on the other hand were very consistent all season. You have to be to finish 10^th. The mid season injection of tattooed speed demon JD certainly helped the Huckers fortunes, resulting in some form at the right end of the season.

This is a tough one. Both teams are have a solid selection of (semi) experienced players leading them around.  The key for Phantasm will be structure – patience on O and pressuring HBs fragile handling line on D. For the Huckers it’s all about playing up tempo disc. When they play run and gun, it’s hard for most teams to keep up.

I’m tipping Phantasm in a completely unbiased pick.

The battle for the Spoon.

#YOLO v The Dream Team featuring Weise

Here’s a match-up no-one predicted. Early season favourites #YOLO finished 3^rd on the ladder and were looking the goods to make the semis at least according to many pundits. That is until they lost key player and all-round nice guy Wes in the first 10 minutes of their first round finals match against Fawn. YOLO went on to choke badly after that, losing to a particularly robust Fawn side and then giving up against Huck Buddies. If I could speculate why #YOLO dived so badly in the finals, I’d say it was a combination of Bob playing too safe, Mansauce not getting angry enough and Wes not being not injured enough. On the other side of this coin of failure we have Weise. The black team easily have the best jerseys, the best hammers and the most Weises of any team playing. They also have a habit of depending too heavily on long bombs from Osuv to Riley. That’s not to say that’s not an effective game plan, it’s just easy to heckle. Oh that’s another thing, they are good at heckling. Apart from Weise. That guy’s heckles are as good as Finnys. Cos saying ‘dicks for fingers’ constantly doesn’t get old. Ever.

The key for #YOLO is keeping calm. And reading the disc. But mainly keeping calm. The key for Weise is shutting down the upfield options of Bob & Sauce. It’ll be impossible to shut Sauce down, but stopping his easy options upfield will go a long way to securing a W.

#YOLO to avoid the Spoon.

The Grand Final

Ducks Tie Together v Robust Fawn

This should be a great game. Apart from the premier match-up of Finny v Christian, this game should have plenty of intriguing battles. Finny’s team have looked surprisingly solid all season. A 7v2 record and good for and against tell the tale. Even after the rather large hiccup against Pancakes the other week, Ducks managed to show why they deserve to be in the final. Robust Fawn have had to do it the hard way. They’ve have to beat teams with serious quality to make the grand final and they’ve done it well. The best zone in the league combined with some precision offence makes Fawn a serious contender.

The key for Together will be how they handle the junk Fawn will no doubt employ. With the leagues best deep in Christian protecting against long bombs, it’ll be up to the Tie Together poppers to get the job done. For Fawn it’s about shutting down Finny on D. Shut down Finny and Ducks fall apart quicker than Colin Duffys pants come down after playing beer pong.

This is a hard game to tip. The sensible bet is tie dye, especially with Zane rumoured to be absent for Fawn, however Fawn have been a tour de force in the finals and momentum is a key factor. I’m going Ducks in a game tighter than Finny’s wallet.