North Side Ultimate - New Club , New Style.

The Brisbane Premier League season 1 for 2012, beginning Thursday February 23, will be the first time the North Side Ultimate Club is represented in any league. It will hopefully be the beginning of a long involvement in all Brisbane leagues for North Side Ultimate.

At the stage we will play under the name - The NSU Cobras

NSU is about encouraging all those who live or are associated with the North Side of Brisbane to play together in leagues. Whilst it is not a rule that you must live or associate with the north of the river it is a about starting a culture and the NSU Cobras are that beginning. 

With this new beginning the NSU Cobras have come up with some guiding principles to play by:

1.               Hard Defence team - We are a D focused team so be prepared to work hard on Defence. 

2.               We take shots - Throw to your teammates in good positions.

3.               Work hard for each other –work hard to get free or present an option. 

4.               Tough but fair – Know the rules play within in them, but still play hard, uphold the spirit of the game at all times.

5.               Pride – We will ways play with pride we are who we are, we will never give up.

These are the guiding principles behind the NSU Cobras! Let’s show them throughout the season.

Now to the details of the league – we will post all information on the Facebook group and make sure to check it week for details and updates. It will be the major way we stay in contact.

Other than playing with the principals above – which we should always strive to do, the NSU Cobras have four goals for the year:

Goal 1 – learn to play together

Goal 2 – make a Semi final

Goal 3 – Win a semi final

Goal 4 – Win the league

~Always believe we can win every game we play~

Captain: Reece Stewart

What to look for: The NSU Cobras play in black shirts

Occurrence: Every Thursday night starting February 23 (weather permitting)

Where: Annerley Football Club, 98 Victoria Terrace, Greenslopes QLD 4120

When: Games start just after 7.30pm, be there no later than 7.10pm

Any questions go to the facebook page for contact Reece stewart.reece@gmail.com or myself, Finn huckleberry.mccarthy@gmail.com  

Remember sign up the Facebook group - @ North Side Ultimate group http://www.facebook.com/groups/223544444400014/

Come to the Darkside - The team formally known as the Cobras.

For years now I have been playing with Cobras a team started by Liam ‘wetnose’ Gillions. He saw a gap in the BPL market and snapped up all the players that didn’t attend UQ, weren’t old enough for Dojo, didn’t quite have the discipline for the Buggers and weren’t from the Gold Coast. Thus Cobras was born.

The Cobra’s were loosely formed from QUT players; we liked to play flamboyant, glory, high-pressure high-reward brand of ultimate. Whilst this worked for while, we have struggled a little recently.

Thus, we remaking the brand.

At this stage we are still the Cobras, we may change this over time. Then what is changing; we are now going to be bigger than one team, bigger than a captain we are now an idea.

From here on it the ‘Team Formally Knows as The Cobras’ will now represent the NORTH SIDE.

Too long has ultimate players, tournaments and Uni’s been associated with the Southside or Westside of Brisbane with no representation or identify to the much nicer North Side.

So Cobras are now for those in the North Side massive. So if you work, live, born or just identify with the North Side, you are one of us!

What doesn’t change is our brand of attacking, high tempo ultimate. However, we are now an idea with an identity. The goal of this is to represent the North Side be have at lease one team in all Queensland ultimate competitions. At this stage we will start with BPL, however, the invite is open to all North Siders.

So to all of you who have a bit of North Side in you, come over to the Darkside. We will play attacking, fun no-holds-bard brand of ultimate doing it for the North Side.

Those who attend North Side schools, grow up, move to or just live North Side become drawn to the Cobras (Or whatever the name is at that time). From this point on We Are NORTH SIDE ULTIMATE (NSU)!

If you are interested in playing for NORTH SIDE ULTIMATE (NSU) at BPL or in future leagues or tournaments send you expression of interest to Reece Stewart at stewart.reece@gmail.com or myself, Finn at huckleberry.mccarthy@gmail.com but most importantly sign up to the Facebook group.

JOINS US on Facebook @ North Side Ultimate group http://www.facebook.com/groups/223544444400014/

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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 4 vs Heroes

Week 4 saw the Cobras face up against the Heroes. The quiver was somewhat depleted this night with Finn, JJ, Tractor and of course Reece out of the mix. As a seventh cobra slithered to the line just before huck-off, the snakes, playing savage, knew they would have to play out of their scaly skins to avoid a repeat of the game that will live in infamy (as viewed through snake eyes).

The first few points were reasonably even with both the handlers from both teams able to evade the defenders and throw safe scores. The cobras then consolidated their stack movement and befriended the breeze, hucking their way to a 5-2 lead.

Not to be denied, the Heroes were able to curl the disc around the zone and shamed the odd defender by getting the disc on the open side in one-on-one contest. The men in green and white revelled in escaping precarious positions on the field and through quick disc movement, levelled the scores at 6-all.

From this juncture, the Cobras were poised to strike. They took half 8-6 running a clinic of endzone offence. The frisbee Gods smiled upon the serpents as an assortment of hammer-hucks, scoobers and other less-than-convential passes found their way into the Cobra endzone. It was also a much improved defensive performance from the snakes as they denied many a downfield option. Abra did well to keep Jangles under wraps, Kalin stymied all he faced and Wetnose showed the method to his madness of playing off an opponent with a goal-saving layout block.

After a post-half 6-0 run to bring up game-point, the Cobras let their guard down and allowed the Heroes a 3-0 streak of their own. Alas, it wasn’t enough to boost them out of the snake pit as a Mike Nolan scoober was clasped by a backwards diving Micka to seal the game 15-9. The serpents have gelled and unlocked the door to enjoying playing competitive ultimate. In hope to consolidate our spot at the top of the table, we now take on the UQ lovers in what should be an epic clash – just ask Erhart.

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.

Round One vs Slamtown

So all has been a bit quiet on the Cobras blogging front with the absence of young Reece Stewart to worldly travel for a few weeks.

In his absence, not-quite-so-young James "JJ" Jackson has stepped up the fill the void (at least for the time being). So here is what he had to say about the Cobras first up game, and first ever win, against Slamtown:


Coming back to the graveyard of last seasons final loss, Cobras were eager to bury the pain with a first round victory over Slamtown.

With the departures of receiver Dan Young and cutter Carl (to fierce rivals Heroes), coupled with the absence of Aussie Thunder captain Reece Stewart, there was a sense of uncertainty surrounding how the team would perform.

However, with the addition of experienced head Erhart (?) and the dynamic Kalin (fresh from Canada), expectations were still decidedly high going into the new campaign.

Slamtown, renowned for their raw athleticism and child-like enthusiasm for the game, came out firing, with gun players Steff and Morgs getting crucial connections to trouble the Cobras defense.

At 4-7, a worried Wetnose called a timeout, with slow transitioning and skill errors highlighting the Cobras game.

A concise and punchy pep-talk from Abra honed the teams concentration, with Cobras coming out the stronger after the short break, putting the clamp on the Slamtown offense with a seamless man D.

When the inevitable turns came, Cobras smooth and fast-paced O took no prisoners, with slick cutting from Finn and perfect service from Abra allowing the snakes to take half 8-7. After the break it was a demolition, with Cobras new found maturity allowing the snakes to pile on the points to take it out to 14-7.

A limp charge from the Gold Coast added some respectability to the scoreline, but not enough to get above the water line of double figures, the pain ending mercifully at 15-9.

Semi-Final against Dojo

So Thursday night saw the semi-finals played in BPL. Passion up against Buggers and Cobras taking on the well rested Dojo Mojo.

The Cobras got fired up in the warm-up with heaps of energy. Unfortunately at the start of the this energy was not put into focus and the disc was thrown away 2 or 3 times right outside our defending endzone. Dojo capitalised on all of the drops and went 3-0 up on the Cobras.

Cobras called a frustrated time-out to refocus in on the game and that is just what we did. We scored the next two points in a row to make it 3-2.

Cobra's were playing predominantly man, before pulling out a cup a few points to half, which seemed to work surprisingly well against the handler heavy Dojo. My memory of the first half doesn't serve me well and seeing as I probably wouldn't get the teams right. I will just say that Dojo took half 8-6.

We were disappointed with our first half efforts but knew that there was still another half to the game. We came out of half-time with a better attitude and execution. Our offence reeled in the shots and made more completions. I love playing good D and then scoring the point, when it all just falls into place, it's nice.

Fast-forward a bit and the game was starting to get down to the pointy end. Dojo had the disc on the sideline probably in line with their own brick mark. Sean might have had the disc and Dan Walls was being guarded by Abraham. Dan cut long and Abraham chased, Sean put the disc up right down the line. Abraham had caught up and got in a good position to body him out of competition. The disc was just flying overhead and Dan, as Dan does, snatched the disc out of the air almost effortlessly. That man has got some hops.

The scores were 13-12, Cobras up, when time cap went off, which made it a game to 15. Dojo scored that point and the next one to make the score 14-13. Cobras needed to score the next two points to win.

We scored the first point since we started on O and with the game coming to universe point, we needed to get the block to win the game. We came out on that last point in our cup zone. The Dojo were very patient with the disc and worked it up the field. My lungs were burning from having to run from side to side of the field chasing those god damn hammers, that I then needed to jump up on the mark to try to stop. The cup (Abraham, Isaac and myself) were starting to disintegrate as the point ran longer and longer. Fatty's hammers just kept coming out, being nearly a foot taller than all of those in the cup, it wasn't hard for him to get them over the top.

We were right on our endzone line, feeling like that winning Dojo shot was coming any second. A hammer went from right to left across the field, the recipient was Fatty. It was just a tad too high and Finn went after it, I was a few yards away and thought it wasn't going to come off for Finn. He leaped high and fast and just flicked the disc as it was about a metre away from Fatty.

Finn then dashed for the endzone. Abra picked up the disc and started shouting to Finn to keep going. He threw his OI left flick down the sideline. Coops was chasing Finn and caught up with him, incidentally clipping Finn while trying to get the D. Finn fell and called a foul. Coops contested the foul and the disc came back to Abra. The disc came back in and Dojo formed a quick zone. We kept our cool and worked the disc up towards the endzone. The winning pass went to Finn who completed the win with double happiness.

Next week is the final of Passion and Cobras. Game on at 7:30pm, 17th June at Annerley Junior Soccer Club. There will be a BBQ and Drinks down at the fields, $1 each. These will both be fundraising for the Juniors going to Heillbronn in late July for the WUJC. Please come down and support your league and the future of Brisbane Ultimate.

Premonitions coming to Fruition

So just a full round ago I declared that the Cobra's were going on a revenge rampage. Besides our bogey team, SFC. The Cobra's have started to fill out into the inflated skin they were put in by many players at the start of the season. We have turned a lacklustre start to the season into playing good frisbee when it really counts and coming into the finals, isn't a bad thing either.

So Thursday night against Passion was a real test for the Cobra's. The first couple of points were very close with the teams trading until about 5-all at this point I thought we really had a game on our hands. Cobra's finally got a break over Passion after some hard Cobra man D caused the turn. The pull went down to Passion's end as the Cobra's eagerly chased it, only for the Trachter pull to, as always, brick. Passion set up in a horo for John to bring the disc back in. The disc was brought in and cycled around for a while when I heard an up call. I saw the disc, it must have been an outside in J-mac forehand looking for Julz in the endzone. I was on Tyson who instinctively was also running for the disc, I was a couple of metres behind him. Wetnose was right with the loping Julz all the way and bodied him out of the competition for the disc. I thought he would catch the disc as He bodied Julz out so I slowed down. Wetnose kind of fell and let the disc fall behind him only for Tyson to streak through and catch the opportunistic goal. Passion then broke the next point to be evens again at 6-all.

The next point Cobra's scored with what might have been a home-grown inside-out backhand from yours truly to a streaking Micka deep in the endzone, only to take it what seemed to be less than a metre before the line. Cobra's then took a strategic time out.

Next thing I know it may have been 7-6 Cobra's or 7-all. Trachter or Abra might have been marking Dan and the stall count was getting high, I tightened down on Gref who was acting as dump. I could see the OI forehand go up and think 'that is a fair way out into space' the disc hit the ground and rolled nicely from about halfway to 5m outside the passion endzone. Trachter picked up the disc and called a time out.

The plan was for me and first dump make an upline cut and trachter to look for the second dump. I foolishly made the cut before the disc had even been checked in. Julz now knew my plan. I didn't know whether to continue with the play or do something different, with a little bit of imagination I knew what I would do.

I could see Julz pre-empting my upline cut so when the the disc got checked in he took a couple of steps towards the front corner of the endzone. I hadn't even moved yet, so he came back a couple of steps and that is when I went. He beat me to the front corner, but didn't keep following when I went deeper into the endzone. Trachter floated one nicely around the outside of the field for me to catch it right next to the line. Cobra's took half.

The second half saw one ridiculous incident of a stall being called by a Cobra's player on Gref. the disc was sent back and it came in on 9, only for Alex Livingstone to try to cheat and move before the disc came in, a violation was called on him and it got sent back again. It got checked back in and somehow Gref called a a stall on himself? Can we get any clarification on that? Either way the disc needed to be checked in once more. It was long and tedious, but we all eventually did it and got the game going again.

Passion's newest overseas recruit Dan showed us what the fucking Squids can produce. He was making big grabs all night and got a layout D on a stray pass from me to Abra. He is a very exciting prospect for Firestorm next year, hopefully.

Fast forward. The Cobra's are up 12-10 and Passion had been mounting a bit of a comeback in previous points. The Cobra's start on defence and as the pull goes down time cap goes off. J-mac might have gotten the disc and looked up field desperately and took a shot that didn't come off. Cobra's marched the disc down the field and patiently scored in the left hand corner of the endzone, Cobra's win 13-10.

Not it is time for the Finals and Cobra's have got those katakana reading boys from the Dojo. It should be a very interesting game. Also aL's short draft league is an interesting prospect for Brisbane Ultimate. It will be very useful to be getting game time before WJUC. Hopefully it goes ahead.

Triple Threat

This blog has been void of any updates since our last game against the Buggers 2 weeks ago. Cobras got up in this game on a universe point to extend their club-record winning streak to 3.

It has been 2 weeks since the game so details aren't freely coming to mind, but the Cobras got up 3-1 early on before the Bugs had their 7th player turn up. The game then seesawed with the Cobras playing sloppy on offence, despite getting numerous blocks on defence.

The score was 8-10 at one stage and the Cobras needed a late 3 point run to win the game 11-10.

Tonight sees the Cobras up against a resurgent Passion team hungry for revenge after the Cobras started Passion's 4 game losing streak earlier this season.

If the Cobras win they are into the semi finals, if they lose then they must rely on Slamtown to beat Lovers and the net result of the Slamtown victory margin plus the Passion winning margin to be 12 or less. A Lovers-Passion double will see the season over for the Cobras. All seems a little too complicated, so just winning tonight will be the main objective and the easiest way for the Cobras to go through.

Should the Cobras go into the semi finals, they will almost certainly face up against minor premiers Dojo, who will be out to exact revenge on the Cobras team who handed them their largest loss of the season.