Eaton them alive
Backman are a very under appreciated commodity at times. They don’t get the glory, they don’t get the limelight, and they definitely aren’t the rock stars of the team, but without them, teams don’t win. That was proven in the last quarter of Saturday’s QAFL senior game between Wilston Grange and Palm Beach, when Frazer Eaton transformed into Dustin Fletcher, circa 2001, for 30 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, Eaton has been very good this year for the Gorillas, doing a number of jobs on key forwards, but he pretty much saved the game two or three times with intercept marks, a spoil, or a dashing run off half back to get it out of the danger zone. The team owed him a few beverages that night, that’s for sure.
Did two just become three?
Last week, it was Zillmere who put their hand up to say they aren’t done with in 2015 just yet. This week, it was Yeronga who raced right back into QWAFL premiership calculations with a win over Coolangatta-Tweed on Saturday. Yeronga have been very good this year, and sit in third on the ladder for a reason, but their biggest problem was not being able to bridge the gap to the top two. Not anymore. Welcome to the premiership discussion, Yeronga.
Academy lads star in NEAFL wins
The Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS NEAFL teams both had two of their best wins of the year on Saturday, and two of the Queensland State Academy players lead from the front. Corey Wagner finished the day with 23 possessions, eight marks, and four rebound 50’s, leading the Lions to a seven-point win over Redland at Tidbold Park. The running machine was everywhere, racking up touches in every part of the ground. The length in his game in phenomenal.
Not to be outdone by his academy teammate, down in Canberra, Dyson Budarick was instrumental in the SUNS’ big win over Ainslie. He racked up possession after possession in the middle all afternoon. AFL clubs would be absolutely crazy not to have them in draft calculations come December.
Pinched at the death
Going into last week, Kent Abey was the clear favorite to take out the QAFL goal kicking, holding a four-goal advantage over the rest of the competition. Labrador’s Josh Baxter had other ideas. Like he has done all year, when Fraser and Lappin are missing, Baxter steps up to the plate. He kicked 11 goals, to Abey’s four, to leapfrog him, and take out the crown with 68 majors for the home and away season. Baxter has kicked a few bags this year, but none were more important than that.
Like a thief on a Friday night
12-minutes into the third quarter, 16-points down, with things not going their way, the Woodsmen were staring down the barrel of a straight sets finals exit. Instead of rolling over and waving the white flag in 2015, they went on to kick six of the last seven goals of the game to storm home 13-point winners, and book a spot in this Friday night’s QAFA (B) grand final against Kedron at Zillmere. If they can play for four quarter this week like they did in the last quarter last week, they are a real chance of an upset.
Friday night’s grand final will be blogged live, so tune into www.aflq-new.fspdev.com at 7.15pm to catch all the action as it happens.
By Andrew Wiles – @andrewjwiles
