Richie Hayes Wins Jim Foley Medal

Rarely does anyone have the opportunity to be a hero. To lift their side to victory when all seems lost. A sensational round of Plus 5 by left hand stalwart RICHIE HAYES lifted the undefeated Wood Duck team to a dramatic 1 point win over a desperately unlucky Cup Hunters side. Reeling from a season that they already would prefer to forget, the Cup Hunters had seemingly done enough with one Wood Duck left to post a score, the sun setting and the night cooling. The song that has been sung just once this year in victory was ready to be belted out again, excitement filled the air, the year would be back on track. It was a dagger in the heart, thrust left handed, sinking deeply in, the match lost, shattered and the year for this once proud team; all but a dead duck. Those dreams of glory that at the seasons start were so vivid in the mind of new Captain MEGALOUDIS, have been replaced by the visions of a maniac. It is only April, and the nightmares that now come to this captain in his deepest sleep, will continue for some time as the season heads into the depths of winter. Darkness is sweeping over this team, they are all but gone for the year and the captain is slowly going insane.
Last years mid season blockbuster and the grand final rematch between the Ferrets and the 2 time defending champions the Buglers, has come and what a difference a year makes. Ironically they met in Round 7 last year, The buglers struggling to find early season form and the Ferrets flying. Nothing has changed here with the Ferrets winning a classic a year ago however the ultimate revenge in the Grand Final was the Buglers salvation. What is to become of this match this year? The tidal wave of emotion that swept over Etihad stadium that helped push the Storm to their greatest victory, will be nothing like the tsunami that is approaching Latrobe. The Buglers are struggling again to find traction for their defence again, stumbling through wins that see them out of the 8 and doubt setting in. The Ferrets, Teflon like, closing ranks, will need all their ability to surf the wave of emotion that is building, a barrel of water that is gaining speed and due soon to crash over the Premiership at Latrobe. It has become the year’s most anticipated match; as much for who will be playing (last year’s Grand Final BOG TIM JOHNSTON returns) then for who will not be playing. Two giants of the competition collide, the swirling winds of change to these teams will create its own weather pattern; and in all its wonderful irony, in Melbourne this Saturday it will be ‘The Perfect Storm’!
The 4 teams that enjoyed priority picks in this seasons Boags Classic Blonde Draft have taken separate paths early in the season. Triple WWW and the Vultures have endured 2 seasons of pain and now look up the table again from its depths. They see perched high up in the tree of premiership destiny, the Wanderers and F Troop, both enjoying the sunshine that comes with their high perch. It is a place they have only previously dreamed of. This brilliant sunlight and its comforting warmth doesn’t penetrate to the lower branches of this tall tree, especially into the root system that the Vultures sit amongst with the Cup Hunters and the Brothers in Arms. They have been desperately unlucky falling for the second week in a row by a solitary shot, so close but so far. It is a brutal life if you lose the close ones, teams push you down rather than help you up. Branches are chopped from underneath you; it is easier to fall then to climb. Triple WWW heaved itself up a branch with victory against F Troop a rare feat this year but may be the start of more climbing, the sunshine now so close they can see it but not yet feel it. Its warmth is a powerful motivator, another win and they may feel some of this heat radiating down to them. F Troop and the Wanderers both lost, still enjoying the sun but they slipped closer to the shade that covered them for all of last year. From those high perches momentum is a hard force to stop, and if they were to slip again in Round 7, a free fall can begin plunging in a devastating drop to the darkness of the bottom branches, a place they know too well and a place they are keen to keep away from. There they will find the Brothers in Arms, a team with a fading tan, a Captain who is chilled to the bone and who is desperate for his team to start climbing quickly before the coldness of winter takes all their heat away.......