Separation Issues

So Thursday night saw Cobra's take on the boys in white on the night, Dojo. Luckily the heaven's finally cleared after a week or so of continual rain, the grass was freshly mown low, the dirt moist and the air was electric in anticipation of the clash of the renowned under-achievers of BPL.

Cobra's came out on D and played some hard man to force the turn to start the game with a break. Dojo then scored. Only for import Kalin and semi-native Abra to get some D's and put some hucks up for 3 points in a row, Cobra's pulling away to be 4-1. The Dojo were making basic skill errors and giving the Cobra's the disc and not playing too hard on D making it easy for Cobra's to pull away.

After a rousing time-out speech from Sensei himself (I believe it started something to the sound of "We can easily beat this team") the Dojo came out with their trademark 'Fatty Fence' zone. The Cobra's couldn't handle the pressure of his wide spread arms and turned the disc over multiple times for the Dojo to capitalise and level the scores, 4-4.

They eventually took half 8-4 with their zone forcing turns from the Cobra's. A special mention to Wetnose who redeemed himself while saving a pass from yours truly with a greatest sailing straight back into my hands.

We came out of half fighting back to make the score 10-all. Pete was picking off all of the wayward passes out the back for the Dojo and Cunliffe was monstering around in the cup getting layout D's. The Cobra's found an offence that was working better with Kalin, Abra and I working through the middle of the zone to open it up.

It was coming very close to time cap and Cobra's kept turning it over for the score to be 14-10 in favour of the Dojo. Up until this point the game had been everything you would want, it was spirited, physical, full of passion and each team wanted the win. The next point brought all of that crashing down for me and brought the game into disrepute.

Time cap had been called during the point, this was the last point of the game, Cobra's on O. Kalin brought down a disc, stumbled and rolled into the endzone. He took a couple of steps back to the line and tapped the disc back in, UPA style. The Dojo were on the backfoot, scrambling to make some type of defence. He was about to throw a goal when travel was called by a member of the Dojo. When questioned about his call he responded by saying 'He didn't even think it was a travel, it's for a shit call made by you (directed at Wetnose)'.

There was a bit of an explosion at this point, as there always is when there is that much passion in the competition. I tried to have a on field discussion, which fell on deaf, yet steaming ears. This call was made in spite of an earlier call as there was no real premise for a travel to be called. This is just another timely reminder to all players in this competition that being a player you are also an umpire and you MUST know the rules. As tricky as this may be we need to separate ourselves from emotion while discussing the rules. And as a player, it is our responsibility to play by the rules and facilitate discussion when a call has been made. It is not only a new learning experience every time, it is what makes this game different to every other out there.

Kalin ended up throwing the goal for the game to end 14-11.

Round 3 vs Dojo

Mike Nolan Jr with this week's write up:


Hello again from the depths of the Cobras’ Lair. Apologies for the sparse updates recently, but resident typo-machine Reece Stewart has still been too busy bouncing between European countries to do the write-ups. This week, I’ll do all I can to make with the opponent bad-mouthing and Cobra confidence building. So on to the match report!
Week three of the latest BPL season saw the Cobras taking on Brisbane’s perennial bridesmaids, the DOJO. The Cobras and DOJO traded a few points at the start of the match, but then DOJO turned it on to take a few breaks. They must have pulled strength from deep within their angst in losing twice in a row to the Cobras during the reptiles’ unbeaten streak in the previous season to reach the finals. Regardless of their motivation, the DOJO easily took half, leaving the Cobras down by more than a few and needing to rally hard in the second half.
Following some much needed motivation and team-strategy halftime talk, the Cobras came out firing on all cylinders, bringing the game to within three points shortly after halftime. Sadly, they couldn’t keep the momentum long enough to bring the score differential to within two, and the DOJO wound up scoring the final goal to finish off the Cobras 15-13.
The match was quite even-sided for most aspects of the game: Cobras’ offence was patient but lacked decisiveness when it came to tough throws while DOJO seemed to swing the disc successfully 20-30 times before pulling out a dodgy hammer or scoober. In the end, the height and ability of players like Leon and Pete Allen afforded an all-too-easy emergency option on four or five desperation hucks, blady forehands and hospital-pass hammers to the endzone. The Cobras need to develop a strategy to shut down these primary receivers during their next meeting with the DOJO in order to turn their three point loss performane into a one or two point victory.
The next week of games sees the Cobras taking on the fledgling Heroes, who are out to prove that they can beat any BPL team on any given Thursday. One can only imagine that the Heroes will be turning on the pressure, hoping to repeat the result of their lone victory over the Cobras from the last BPL season. It shouldn’t be a game to miss, especially considering it will be the first time the Cobras play against ex-fellow teammate Carl “Bear Hug” Behrendoofus.
Until next time, see you out on the fields.

Love and kisses,
Mike Nolan, Jr.

Back to Back

For the first time last week, in Cobra's short but highly celebrated past, we broke a club record. Finally Cobra's have strung together back to back wins. Just in time too, as we come down to the pointy end of the season, Cobra's seem to have kicked it up a notch with a comprehensive win over Dojo Mojo.

The night started off as like any other Thursday night. Cobra's rocked up and threw for a while before getting into the pre-game ritual of the highly recommended dump-swing-score. The clock struck 7:40pm on that somewhat nippy night and stand-in BPL overlord Wetnose pushed the button on the timer to begin what would be a ground breaking 90 minutes.

The entire first half was trading with a break to Cobra's. At about 3-all. The Cobra's received the pull right at their goal line. Foolishly Isaac Stone got himself up to a high stall count against the Dojo zone. He looks for his dump in me, about 4m away. In what was a very easy break mark shot, Isaac somehow shanked the short pass. It was floating halfway between me and a defender. I could see him running for it and as I got lower to try to catch it, the defender got his hand to it and smacked it down. But I was still falling towards him and he was still running towards me. I was getting lower and lower until my nose and lips copped the full brunt of his shoulder. I knew it was going to bleed so I took myself off quickly to get some tissues.

The next few points seemed to haze into one another as I was frantically trying to stop the bleeding. Taking medical tips from people who had done a first aid course... years ago, Mike Nolan (who used to be a paramedic) and of course Isaac who is an absolute amature, I eventually stuck some tissue in my left nostril and got back on the field.

It was an O point that I rejoined. I caught the pull and looked to Trachter on my left. I think my eyes were still a bit shaken up because I threw it plain away. I took myself off and played sparingly until half-time. Cobra's went into half full of energy and confidence but knowing that there was still another half of ultimate to be played, the score being 8-6.

The score traded for the first 3 points of the second half, from then on it was Cobra's all the way home. Highlights included; Finn catching a Callahan, Abra getting some sweet horizontal D's, Dan Young using his hops to get blocks and 2 filthy (not in the good way) hammers from Wetnose.

So that was the night for Cobra's we played really sweet offence most of the time and hard man D. We also dabbled back into the zone from last week, which seemed to work well, even against Dojo being so handler heavy (by that I mean old) team.

This week sees the Cobra's got head to head with Minor Premiership contenders Moreton Bay Buggers. We are hoping to revenge this team for the draw the occurred between the teams last round. This time we take them on with more bite.

Apologies & Finding Form

First and foremost let me apologise for the coverage (or lack thereof) of last weeks loss to the tall bamboo of Dojo Mojo. Game highlights can be seen here. Although to call them highlights is very Grechian. I seem to recall a Callahan by a certain loudmouth cobra that somehow did not make it onto the post. The tapes have been hidden way down in the archives of the Dojo Tea Room, never to be seen again.

All in all it was a somewhat disappointing game for the Cobra's. Many passes were not completed and we just did not have the height to contend with many long shots going to Pistol Pete Allen and Fatty. Dojo Mojo defeated Cobras 14-7.

Which brings us the struggle that unfolded tonight against the Moreton Bay Buggers (MBB). The Cobras came out this week with something to prove, penned by many to be good only on paper, the Cobra's are on their way to proving these knockers wrong.

The game started soon after Abra, Trachter and Mike Nolan all turned up late. The first point the Cobra's coaxed the Buggers into a false sense of security with a drop close to the line for an easy score. Buggers up 1-0.

The game had a couple of breaks from each side, until Buggers scored to make the score 7-all. Buggers time-out was called as they plotted to take half. The Cobra's went into this point with a cool head and chilly O. The Buggers came out with their usual transition zone. Cobra's handled this very well all night. After the zone had dissipated we quickly got into our efficient vert stack and marched it down field for the score to take half 8-7.

During half Abra spoke about not getting caught up in the emotion of taking half and losing focus. Our Puppy-Fence was forcing many turns from the Buggers offence all night, forcing them to throw a lot of hammers. And also switching it up intermittently to man just to throw them off. Our man-d was a lot better tonight also. Special mention to soon to be husband, Mr Wetnose for disrupting many of the deep shots, that Mike usually scoops up with ease.

Cobras got a break on the Buggers' leaving the scores at 10-8. The Buggers then scored, leaving the scores at 10-9. Cobras started out on O, we worked it up to about half, when there was a drop. We quickly scrambled to man. The Buggers worked it up close to their attacking end zone. They waited until there was a clear shot down the middle of the stack and took the shot. Unbeknownst to many on the field, time cap had gone off during the point. Finishing the game at 10-all (may have been 11?). Although it is disappointing to see a game end in a draw, it reflected the game very well, two teams, both with different strengths battling it out. It was a very enjoyable game.

The Cobra's players have gelled well over the last couple of weeks, there is still a bit of straightening out to do, but the mid-season come-back is on the cards. We have a bye next week, you may see some dedicated players down there training. Wetnose will be skipping it due to his wedding being that weekend (yet he has been using for the last 2 weeks). And Myself Isaac and Abraham will be down at the Aussie Thunder (yes, that's right) training camp. Which leaves only top of the table, Passion for the remaining round, before we begin our revenge rampage.

Call it or leave it

We've all had those moments on the field, right? That one where you think you were fouled/picked/double teamed and didn't call it. What did you do? Did you start getting into a shouting match with the other team? No. You walked away, learnt your lesson, and reminded yourself that if you believe you are wronged you call it. Well, maybe some people need a refresher in that course after the Cobras/Dojo game last night. People from both teams. Perhaps a new post on the Dojo blog that now is looking as active as the Buggers blog?

That being said, it was one small blip on the radar that was a hotly contested match last night. When it was all said and done, all parties involved agreed that it should either been called and discussed, or left alone, then shook hands and congratulated each other.

The Dojo got up in this game 15-10 to reach the half way stage of the season undefeated, and the Cobras suffered their 2nd ever defeat to sit in 3rd place for the season with a 2-2 record.

The real difference in this game? Option taking by the Cobras. With most of the Cobras tall timber sitting at home/Sydney/Canberra with either work commitments or other pussy-related injuries, the Cobras needed to play a quick game against a much taller opponent, but failed to put this into action.

The handler heavy Dojo worked the disc well all night and punished any mistake taken by the Cobras. A mid-game black out resulting in a field change also didn't help the Cobras, who would have taken the game on what has become their favourite field. That being said, the Cobras do remain undefeated on all games played and completed on field 3B. Yeah 3B!

The Cobras now don't have a game for 4 weeks due to a training week, a bye week, and a week off for AUG, which really is just the LD's way of showing UQ some love. They need it after all, with both UQ teams fighting it out for the half way stage wooden spoon last night with Lovers getting the win after finally getting all their main guys in the field and getting their rookies improve and an exponential rate.