2014 State of the Villainous Empire! Part 3/3

Welcome back reader, prepare yourself for the final installment of this years trilogy!!! If you're a baddie and haven't read the other two... Part 1 & Part 2.

Part 3 - The year to come (the remainder of 2014):

Halibut is coming, August 23 – 24! Once again Townsville will be sending two teams! Jerseys have been ordered, accommodation is being booked, however teams are yet to be finalised as we’re waiting to see which women will be available for the tournament. Andrew Gosbee and Laura Knecht are your contacts for this team.

Australian University Games is in Sydney this year, if you’re keen let Tim Saunders and Andrew Gosbee know.

Semester 2, 2014 will be run by Andrew Gosbee and Tim Saunders. There is a discussion about modifying the current format to a Div 1, Div 2 style with the intention of higher level players in Div 1 and the social league being Div 2. This should allow captains and key support players to be better supported in both formats. Regardless of the format the feedback from last season is to make the games a little longer. The only way to do this will be to have the fields opened at 6.30 for a 6.45 start which should extend the games by a further 10 – 15 minutes but having the late game still finish before 9.30. If you have a passionate feeling about this, let Andrew Gosbee know!

TSVL Season 4 will be kicking off shortly after the social league. Again this will be run by Andrew Gosbee and Tim Saunders. An announcement will be made when registrations open and players will be expected to pay if they wish to be drafted. There is also a bit of a debate with regards to what should happen with late registrants, primarily if the draft cycle should continue, or if they should be allocated to the team with the lowest numbers, or some other method. Again, let Andy know your feelings on the subject!

The big discussion item among the senior members at the moment is the selection process for this year’s AMUC team. The process hasn’t been finalised yet, however trials will be needed and the process will be laid out so everyone knows what will be expected of them and the captains. The group has a number of resources being provided to make this process as transparent and fair as possible.

Speaking of AMUC, there will be a need for a large volunteer base to effectively deliver the event. If you’re keen to help out let me know. Currently the website is being developed, the disc design has been finalised, merchandising has been sourced and a number of grants have been applied for to reduce the cost of the event. Primarily we’ll need people to help out on the day setting up cones (fields will be line marked), setting up scoreboards, setting up marquees, filling water, manning the canteen, and being visible to help players with any questions. At this stage our jerseys will remain the same unless someone chooses to design something.

A massive thank you to those that have helped out over the year, particularly Scott, Bob, Andy, Saunders, Phipps, Phil, Kramer, Timmy and Finny.  

A special big thanks to Laura for being the acting President whilst I’m overseas and doing special jobs for me.

Thank you to the Townsville City Council for your support of AMUC and through the Excellence in Sports Grant.

Thank you to QUDA for the subsidies that allow our members to attend Northern Regionals and Halibut.

Thank you to all of the members for making this sport and club as amazing as it is!

Chris Ende

President

2014 State of the Villainous Empire! Part 2/3

I see you're still reading this epic novel! If you missed Part 1, GO BACK AND READ IT!!!!

Part 2 - The year that was (2014).

With all of this new equipment Townsville did something that hasn’t been seen in many years, training commencing in January! Although the rain made some sessions harder than others, it was great to see Scott Adams leading the charge with Dave Dehollander in improving the skill and fitness level of about 15 members a session. Several members purchase the Tim Morrill f.u.t.u.r.e. package and others subscribed to Rise Up. Both resources have been invaluable to improving movement and skill.

2014 Northern Regionals in Brisbane was a massive learning experience for a number of players. Despite losing all three games, the team was the best spirited on the day and several players have since started training with intent. The training session held on Sunday was a massive benefit to those that attended as it gave them an opportunity to train alongside Firestorm and to learn from two coaches that had attended the RISE Up workshop in Melbourne. It is great to see a those players putting what they learnt into practice.

Semester 1 saw big changes for the social league as it moved to a dual pool and dual timeslot format with a record breaking 12 teams. A massive thank you goes to the captains, David Dehollander, Rob Dehollander, Scott Adams, Michael Kramer, Matt Hamilton, Timmy Roland, Josh Phipps, Ash Dodd, Tim Saunders, Sean Beveridge and Phil English, for making this a fairly smooth transition.

The season was relatively close with one team probably being a little overpowered... The final saw Blue Balls of Steel continue their undefeated streak knocking over Titans of Terror. A super big thanks to Scott Adams for running the league, to Tim Saunders for setting up the fields every week, to Andrew Gosbee for keeping track of scores and MVP’s, to Timmy Roland for the Social Event shenanigans, and Laura Knecht for doing all of the admin stuff I didn’t have time to do (like entering 150 members into the AFDA website)! You all make this league a success and it is a far cry from the days of one person doing everything!

The TSVL also underwent some changes moving from a dual time slot to a single time slot in the hopes that availability would improve. Personally I don’t think the participation numbers improved, and the second field is not the same quality as the first. It was certainly worth trying something different though. Thanks to Scott Adams for his administration prowess, Tim Saunders for setting up the fields, Andrew Gosbee for tracking MVP’s, Spirit, attendance and scoring and to each of the captains, Matt Hamilton, Scott Adams and Dave Dehollander. The final saw Gon’ Need a Wheel Chair knock off the Ninjas to take the shield home.

This was also the last game for our Kiwi duo, Scott Adams and Kat Gregory, as they pick up their lives and relocate to Mackay! Thank you Scott for all of your help, in particular running the seasons, training sessions, and numerous strapping jobs this year! All the best!

During the semester the club was nominated for the 2013 Townsville City Council Sports Awards – Team of the Year. With eight other teams competing for the prize, the club was selected as one of three finalists. However that was as far as we got, a massive congratulations to everyone that represented the club last year and it is great to see our club being recognised in the wider community considering the multitude of other sports in Townsville.

April saw the TownsVillains participate at Division II of the Australian Ultimate Championships being hosted in Adelaide. The team performed exceptionally well particularly with a number of players putting the lessons of Regionals into practice. The two day tournament concluded with us taking 5^th overall and Matt Finn taking tournament MVP for the second year in a row. Well done all!

Over the past few months a Tyson Buhagiar was commissioned to develop a website in conjunction with Ultimate Central, which is the new website platform that the AFDA is moving its site to. You can check it out here in all of its glory! There are a number of features still to come like the gallery and the history, which will hopefully be finalised before the end of the year.

Part of brining in a website is the hope that members will be able to register and pay through PayPal instead of hunting Matt Hamilton down or incurring bank fees when making a direct deposit from an overseas bank account. This will hopefully be trialled for Semester 2, 2014 and TSVL Season 4. Thanks to Matty and Tyson for their continued efforts.

One of the side projects has been trying to establish a schools program in Townsville. Unfortunately this has proven to be much more difficult and time consuming to get going. Therefore the QUDA Development Officer, Mat Ryan, is now taking over the initiative as he has more resources available. It is envisioned that our level 1 coaches will be doing the coaching and perhaps in a few years time the club will start seeing a return on this initiative.  

Earlier this year Michael Kramer was appointed as the clubs Grant Administrator to make our grant applications more consistent and to be written at a more suitable level. This largely came about due to my inability to allocate suitable time to each application. The club has been successful with a grant from the JCU Student Association, and a travel grant from the Townsville City Council’s Excellence in Sports, however all other grant applications have been rejected primarily due to “stronger” applications. Thank you Kramer for your time and patience! Oh and we won a water cooler from Gatorade!

The club had its AGM in May this year. Thank you to the elected and non-elected members of the executive that have helped over the year. The club truly doesn’t function without a team of people behind it. The minutes are here. Congratulations to the new elected members and non-elected members. You can see all of the positions here.

The NQ Hat was hosted in Kuranda near Cairns on the 21^st to the 22^nd of June. It was a great success and everyone had a fantastic time! There are plenty of photos on FB so go and check them out! The hat returns to Townsville next year so if you’re interested in Event Management and would like to be the TD, send an email to townsvilleultimate@gmail.com 


Part 3 - The year to come (the remainder of 2014):

2014 State of the Villainous Empire! Part 1/3

As with last year I've broken this into three posts as there is simply too much happening to cover it all in one or two posts!!!! So without further ado:

Part 1 - The year that was (the remainder of 2013).

Since August last year, Townsville Ultimate has been growing locally and achieving a number of milestones. Townsville Ultimate commissioned a new jersey for Halibut and we sent two teams to compete. The tournament provided a great learning experience with which some of those lessons are being applied this year. I’m happy to say that this year we’re looking to send another two teams (albeit smaller teams), and I believe Mackay and Cairns are also looking at sending a team each to Halibut.

It would be incredible to see four teams from North Queensland attend this year particularly as it wasn’t that long ago that it was a struggle for one team to be sent! Part of this is due to Queensland Ultimate Disc Association’s (QUDA) continued commitment to the region by providing a subsidy for the players attending. Townsville Ultimate has also been making the tournament more affordable for members by covering the team fee and reducing the cost of the jerseys to $50.

September was a busy month with the AFDA Women’s Conference, the Uni Games Fundraising Tournament and of course, the Australian University Games. The AFDA Women’s Conference was attended by Matthew Finn and I on behalf of the club after we had canvassed for other participants, however they all had previous engagements.

The conference was hosted in Brisbane over two days and it was a magnificent networking opportunity. After attending a number of individual sessions I’m happy to say that what we’ve been doing over the years in regards to recruitment to grow Ultimate in Townsville is the correct path, and we now have the resources and confidence to take Women’s Ultimate to the next level!

It makes me very happy to announce that as a result of the conference, the support of a number of women across Australia, QUDA, and AFDA, that Queensland’s next representative team will be, The Powerpuffs! This team will be captained by Laura Knecht and Ashlee Dodd. The team will have full access to the club’s resources and the team has already commenced training. Their first goal is to prepare for the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships as they will be the primary picks for the mixed team, The TownsVillains. The Powerpuffs are planning to debut at the 2015 Northern Regionals and potentially attend the 2015 Australian Ultimate Championships.

September also saw a successful fundraising tournament held for the JCU Uni Games Team. The tournament catered for four teams and raised enough money to cover the Uni Games team’s food for the week. This team was the first JCU Uni Games team for a number of years. The team performed exceptionally well quietly surpassing everyone’s tips to finish 4^th in Division 2 and winning an award at the JCU ceremony, “Most Unexpected Result”! 

October saw a number of Townsville players travel to Charters Towers and Mackay to help spread Ultimate in the region by providing coaching support. Three cars travelled to Charters Towers to help Ashlee Dodd and Tyson Buhagiar run an exhibition match at the Active Lifestyles Festival. There were a number of spectators and the local players enjoyed the structured games. Thanks to QUDA for providing the money to cover the fuel.

Mackay saw its first Level 1 Coaching Course and a car full from Townsville made its way down to also participate. As a result both clubs now have additional level 1 coaches which should make teaching beginners much easier. Thanks to QUDA for providing John McNaughton as the coaching presenter and covering the fuel costs for Townsville to travel down.

October also saw the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships (AMUC) being hosted in Canberra. The TownsVillains sent a team and started with a bang knocking off the 4^th seed, Canberra’s Burley Griffins, on universe point in the opening match. A full write up of the tournament can be read here. 

The Villains had a number of hard fought games and ended up placing 14^th at the end of the tournament. Our highest finishing place at AMUC since 2005. On top of this, it was officially announced that Townsville had won the bid to host AMUC 2014! This is the third time in the history of the event that AMUC will be hosted in Regional Australia and the first time it will be hosted in Regional Queensland! This is an amazing opportunity for the region to display high level Ultimate and to encourage club development beyond grass roots skills. AMUC will be hosted on the 18^th – 20^th of October 2014.

November saw the wrap up of both Townsville leagues with Robust Fawn taking out the social league in a dominating display over Ducks Tie Together. Meanwhile in TSVL we saw Rainbow Seagull Fantasy edging out Demigods in their final. This was Ash O’Sullivan’s last competitive match in Townsville as he moves on to greener pastures in Sydney to do his Masters. Good luck O’Suv!  Thank you to Matt Finn and Scott Adams for running the leagues, to all of the captains, Tim Saunders for setting up the fields each night, and Timmy Roland for being the Social Event Guru.

The Queensland Hat was also hosted in November and with the event came the 2013 QUDA Awards. The TownsVillains took out the Club of the Year Award and received a $150 rebel sport voucher from QUDA which was used to purchase 8 agility poles, 50 cones and 2 whistles. The club also took the opportunity to invest in a pair of agility ladders and is storing the equipment in the new kit bag which was given to the club at AMUC. Thank you QUDA!

That's the wrap for 2013, for the continuation: Part 2 - The year that was (2014).

2014 Townsville Ultimate Disc Inc. AGM

Location: Strand Park

Meeting Open 10/05/2014 15:17

Attendees: Christopher Ende, Michael Kramer, Luke Sturgess, Andrew Gosbee, David Dehollander, Scott Adams, Tim Saunders Laura Knecht, Ashlee Dodd, Michael Saunders, Sean Beveridge, Joshua Phipps

Apologies: Phil English, Matthew Hamilton

Item 1: President's Report

State of the Villainous Empire! (short version)

The year that was:

NQ Hat – We had 6 teams participate, aside from the draw it was a highly successful tournament, big thanks to Andy Gosbee for his help. The NQ Hat has grown to be QLD's third largest tournament missing out on the second spot by only half a dozen participants. 

Halibut – 2 teams were sent, new jerseys were designed, the teams were too big, it was great to see 32 NQ players participate

Women’s conference – what we’re doing is on track, it was a great networking opportunity

Fundraising tournament – for uni games, 4 teams, successful, covered the teams food for the week

Uni Games – 4thDiv 2 – fantastic result

Charters Towers and Mackay coaching/training we now have a number of level 1 coaches, QUDA supported by covering the costs for fuel

Mixed Nationals in Canberra equaled Townsville's highest result ever, 14th

Townsville's Mixed Nationals bid was successful and will be held on the 18, 19 & 20 of October

Townsville Ultimate was awarded Club of the year by QUDA, we were presented with a $150 rebel sport voucher which was used to purchase 8 agility poles, 50 cones and 2 whistles

Training commenced in January, under the guidance of Scott Adams and Dave Dehollander

Regionals, big learning experience for a number of players, for those that attended the Sunday training session they learnt a lot. Thank you to QUDA for the travel subsidy

We were nominated for the Team of the Year through the Townsville City Council Sports Awards where we made it to the final 3 nominations.  

Division 2 Campaign – 5th overall

Semester 1 – big changes for the league moving to a dual pool and timeslot format with 12 teams. Big thanks to the captains for making this a relatively easy transition

Website – Tyson has been working on this, pay-pal is coming! Check it out

AFDA registration – Big thanks to Laura for entering 200 people into the AFDA registration system

Schools program has been difficult to get going. QUDA is now taking over that initiative as they have more resources with the DO. It is hoped our level 1 coaches will be able to do the coaching

Kramer has applied for a number of grants however at this stage we haven’t been successful in securing any additional funding

Looking forward:

NQ Hat is coming up in Cairns June 21-22

Mix Nationals – There will be a team selection however at this stage we're unsure how that will take place

Halibut – we're probably sending two teams which Scott and Dave will be organising

Semester 2 – looking to modify the current format to a div 1/div 2 with the intention of higher level players in div 1 and the social league being div 2. Allows captains to be better supported in both formats

Mix Nationals will require bulk volunteers, website currently being developed, disc design being developed. At this stage jerseys will remain the same

A Women’s team is in the planning stages of being formed and will be led by Ash Dodd and Laura Knecht

Thank you to those that have helped out over the year, particularly Scott Adams, Dave Dehollander, Andy Gosbee, Time Saunders, Josh Phipps, Laura Knecht, Phil English, Michael Kramer and Matthew Finn

Thank you to Townsville City Council for your support through the Excellence in Sports Grant.

Thank you to James Cook University for your support through the JCUSA Clubs and Societies funding

Thank you to QUDA for the travel subsidies to attend Regionals and Halibut

Item 2: Other Business

TSVL - Attendance issues due to no commitment from players early on. Strategy moving forward should be upfront payments. TSVL is a league for regulars, so there doesn't need to be a grace period like with the Wednesday night league.

Mix Nationals Qualifier - Need to organise a Northern Regionals. (Andrew Gosbee)

Jersey Design for Mix Nationals - Scott Adams nominated to organise.

Grants Coordinator: Gatorade promotion successful, Michael Kramer attended Grants Clinic to better understand grant applications and what they're looking for.

Training:

-  Luke Sturgess suggested occasional organised training clinics separate to regular training. eg (Rise up). Luke Sturgess nominated for new position - Clinic Coordinator. (motioned J Phipps, seconded T Saunders)

- Training sessions/strategies to be reassessed

Tournaments: - Fundraiser Tournament for Uni Games earmarked for September (Andrew Gosbee)

Women’s Team - Committee formed with Ash Dodd and Laura Knecht

Item 3: Voting in New Committee

Position	Nominee	Motioned	Seconded	Successor
President	Chris Ende	Joshua Phipps	Andrew Gosbee	Chris Ende
	Tim Saunders	Scott Adams	Michael Kramer
Treasurer	Matthew Hamilton	Scott Adams	Laura Knecht	Matthew Hamilton
Secretary	Laura Knecht	Scott Adams	David Dehollander	Laura Knecht
	Joshua Phipps	Scott Adams	Sean Beveridge

Confirmed Positions- President (Christopher Ende), Treasurer (Matthew Hamilton), Secretary (Laura Knecht)

MEETING CLOSED: 16:15

State of the Villainous Empire! Part 1

The year kicked off with the locals partaking in some pick up indoor ultimate at the Aitkenvale PCYC. It was great to try a different form of Ultimate but unfortunately the venue really wasn’t up to scratch. We’ll look into this again after the semester 2 league and hopefully we can find a more suitable venue.

Shortly before the semester 1 league kicked off, Duncan informed us that he was leaving for WA (I’m really concerned about this trend of President’s moving to WA….). Duncan has been with the club for many years and has been a great contributor to the sport, not only at JCU but also through his work and community engagements. You will be missed sir!

Our Regionals campaign had a somewhat slow start this year with QUDA giving people minimal notice of when (and where) it would be held. Fortunately this was offset with a generous subsidy from QUDA which was around $150 per person to attend (Thank you QUDA!). A full write up by David Phang is available on the blog http://townsvilleultimate.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/northern-regionals-2013.html

The QUDA AGM was held on the same weekend as Regionals and the QUDA committee had some fresh blood elected in.

President - John McNaughton - president@quda.org
Secretary - Jo Ashdown - secretary@quda.org
Treasurer - Myall Hingee - treasurer@quda.org
General Members - Chris Ende, Emma Briggs

A part of my role is looking after Regional Development. At this stage that has primarily been securing funding for regional teams to attend Halibut, assisting with the establishment of Mackay as a new club, and supporting the group in Charters Towers to establish some regular pickup. In the not too distant future I hope to see a School program being rolled out and hopefully some support for players wanting to try and make the U19 team next year. If you have any ideas or concerns, feel free to contact me townsvilleultimate@gmail.com. 

Semester 1 League was the largest Townsville has seen, 173 active members across 10 teams (we wanted to push for 12 teams but with Duncan leaving we didn’t have the captaincy capacity)!  As far as results go, it was certainly a motley arrangement with the undefeated Fluro Fantasy going down to the bottom placed Purple Haze in the final round robin round. This result cost Fluro Fantasy the minor premiership and seemed to have a cascade effect as they narrowly lost to Tie Dyenosaurs in the semi-finals. It only goes to show, you gotta win them all! Congratulations go to The Seagulls for winning the final over the Tie Dyenosaurs.

Townsville had two representatives attend the U23 training camps, Dee and Matt Finn. By all accounts both played extremely well and it is encouraging to see Townsville players being considered for National Team selection. I have no doubt that Dee can make the team in 2015 if she keeps at it. Hopefully QUDA will attempt to bridge the gap between regional centres and high level ultimate player development in the coming year.

2013 was the first year that Townsville (and Queensland) sent a team to Division 2 Nationals. The team was formed with the strong core of Townsville players from Regionals and members of Firestorms Ignition, UQ Lovers and Griffith A-Team. Undoubtedly considered the underdogs by many, the team jelled together extremely quickly and we showed how strong we can be once we unleashed our inner mongrel!  A full write up by our injured correspondent David Phang (for those interested, rolling your ankle two weeks before Nationals is not a recommended training regime) is available on the blog http://townsvilleultimate.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/nationals-division-two-mens-open.html

Part 2 will be next week so until then, scheme well!

Evil Genius

Nationals Division Two Men's Open

Townsville Ultimate! Sorry there has been no previews/reviews this week. Things deviated from the norm when the league decided to play two games on Wednesday instead of the usual one and it was just too much to keep track of all the games. Plus I had to go down to Melbourne to cover Townsvillains in the Nationals Division Two Men's Ultimate Tournament. This tournament saw a fair few Villains veterans participate and it also featured rookies Riley Smith and Josh Mcintyre in their first tournament. The Villains team also had the opportunity, and luck, to recruit players from Brisbane like Ashley Donaldson, Dan Cohen, Brenton "Moto" Mottershead, Luke "Staarky" Lynch, Tim Webb, Keegan Miskimmin, Tyson Buhagiar and Slamtown veteran Alistair Don. All in all the Villains were packing a pretty strong line-up and were ready to bring the heat to grey and windy Melbourne.

Day 1

Game 1 - Townsvillains VS Funny Duck
Townsvillains win 11-9

The first game of any tournament is always testy. Teams will be fresh on the field and looking to assess their opponent's ability and this game was no different. Funny Duck started strong enough and took two points right off the bat and left the Villains pondering their chances in the tournament. Thankfully it was just a sluggish start. The Villains quickly hit back and managed to tie the game up 2-2. After that it was a point-for-point rally between the two teams as they tried to pry the downwind break point from the other team. The Villains managed to hold on to a slender lead and went into half-time 8-7 up. The second half saw more of the same rallies but the Villains ability to switch between a vertical stack offense and a horizontal stack offense kept Funny Duck guessing and prevented them from getting into their groove. Although a little hesitant at first (maybe because of the wind), the Villains eventually started looking for open long puts and managed to stick them. It was an exciting point-for-point exchange until the Villains managed to pull away at 10-8. It looked like victory was within grasp but Funny Duck somehow managed to steal a break point and had the advantage playing offense downwind with the score at a nail-biting 10-9. However, the Villains  managed to keep their wits about them and were able to take the game 11-9 at the end of the time-cap.

Game 2 - Townsvillains VS Head of State (HoS)
Townsvillains win 12-10

Townsville once again started extremely sluggishly in this match. Maybe they let their first victory get to their heads and allowed HoS to go 6-1 up within 15 minutes of the game. Morale was low in the Villains camp at this point and the players thought that the match would be over soon. However, Finny decided to make a radical call and play a puppy-cup defense. It was a bold move cotton, I can tell you that, but it certainly paid off. HoS, perhaps getting a little too complacent with their early lead, crumbled under the pressure put on by the puppy-cup. The tides were turned and the Villains soon had complete control of the game and put in point after point to lead 8-6 at half-time. The second half saw more of the same plays with the Villains' puppy-cup forcing turnovers from HoS. The match should have been over when Tyson managed to intercept a swing pass from HoS handlers in the end-zone but he failed to convert a two-handed Callahan grab (he tried to grab it but it slipped out from his grasp). If he had managed to do that it would've been morale-crushing for HoS and the Villains would've stomped all over them. Although HoS managed to score four more points, the Villains were in too comfortable a position to lose and they were able to win the game at the end of the time-cap.

Game 3 - Townsvillains VS Karma
Karma win 15-7

Game 3 took place after lunch. Everyone was feeling a little sluggish, lost 15-7. Villains played hard but just couldn't come away with a result. Nothing much else to comment on.

Day 2

Game 4 - Townsvillains VS Duff Punk
Townsvillains win 13-12

As usual, the Villains started this match slow and allowed Duff Punk to score some quick points to go 4-0 up. Villains tried different set-ups but were unable to to catch up to Duff Punk and ended up trailing 8-3 at half-time. Chins were pretty down at this point but Finny and Al put in a good half-time pep-talk to light the fire in the team once again. Villains put on a tight man-mark and went mongrel on the Duff Punk boys to really pressure them into throwing away the disc which the Villains gladly capitalised on. Duff Punk held the lead by one point for most of the point but Townsvillains managed to draw the game at 12-12 to bring the game to universe point. A forced turnover and a good put saw the Villains take down this match to win 13-12. A lot of bold calls were made in this match which went in the Villains's favour but still, they took every chance they had and played extra hard to earn this victory.

Game 5 - Townsvillains VS Wild Chilly
Townsvillains win 15-8

This was an important one for the Villains because it determined if they would make it to the semi-finals of the tournament. The Chilly team are a pretty well-known team in Melbourne and their first team recently came second in the Brisbane-Canberra Invitational. So despite this being a third-string team, the Villains were still cautious going into this match and had to make sure they did not get overly complacent. The game started in a surprising manner as Townsvillains went up 4-0 before Wild Chilly called a timeout. For the first time in their tournament, the Villains were not the first team to call a timeout and morale was high in the team huddle and everyone was sure of themselves. After the timeout, the Villains came out looking to score another point but Wild Chilly surprised them but putting one on the scoreboard to make the score 4-1. Townsvillains were still pretty confident at this point and thought "hey no big deal we've got a decent lead". The Villains managed to put a few more points on the board but Wild Chilly managed to get a few break points of their own. Townsvillains then decided to put on a strong offensive line to close out the game. An easy game and a well-deserved win to earn a spot in the semifinals.

Semifinals - Townsvillains VS Nova
Nova win 13-8

The semifinals of the Division Two Nationals Men's Open saw Townsvillains go up against a Kiwi team from Wellington. The Villains wanted to bring the heat against a Kiwi team that were used to the wind and rain and cold. That was, however, not the case. They put an extremely hard mark on Finny who had a been a beast as a receiver in previous games. Maybe they scouted a few of the Villains games before and saw Finny in action, we'll never know; all we know is they had their best defender not more than a meter away from Finny all game long. Nova managed to establish a lead and the Villains had trouble catching up and eventually lost the semifinals.

3rd/4th place playoffs - Townsvillains VS Ballarat Ultimate
Townsvillains win 13-8

The game of truth. Will the Villains go home with a bronze medal or empty-handed? When the horn sounded to signal the start of the match, both teams were still finishing up their lunches so it was perhaps fortuitous that the Villains weren't going to be the only team that would start the game without warm-up. The Villains started the match strongly by scoring two points to take a 2-0 lead but Ballarat quickly evened up by scoring two after. The match then went point for point with Townsvillains keeping the lead but the Villains eventually managed to snatch a break point to lead 8-6 at half-time. The second half saw more of the same exchange until Ashley Donaldson, who injured himself in the first game and had to sit out most of the tournament, made a surprising comeback into the lineup. Some swift passing saw the Villains move the disc to the edge of Ballarat's end-zone before Ashley Donaldson made a cut to the back left corner and Al Don hit him with a backhand huck. It looked like a sure turnover as the huck was floaty and two Ballarat defenders converged on the disc but Ashley managed to jump over both of them and grabbed the disc one-handed for the point. He proceeded to spike the disc while still falling and the sideline erupted in cheers. That play might have given the Villains the extra momentum they needed as they raced away to take the game 13-8!

Villains take home the bronze in an amazing, frisbee-filled weekend that was fueled by jagerbombs, jars, buckets, and buffalo wings. Finny was awarded tournament MVP and Alistair Don was the first runner-up in the MVP awards. Kudos to their amazing performances on the field and congratulations to both of them. Townsvillains would also like to thank all Brisbane players for joining the team, as well as an unforgettable weekend!