In 2008 Mixed Nationals was hosted in sunny Brisbane. Most of us rocked up early to take in a bit of the warmth before meeting up at the fantastic house that Basil found for us to stay in. The first night gave us the chance to meet two of our new players, Amanda and Stefan, both Canadians. Amanda was passing through Brisbane on her travels and Stefan lives on the Gold Coast. Liam was our other non Tassie-based player. He would be joining us on the second day of the tournament.
After a yummy dinner and a good night sleep we had our first game against Vintage (Vic). After a lot of disorganisation on their side they finally got 7 on the line 10 minutes after the game started. We held our own for the most part but were punished for every turnover by Gack and co. The final score was 5-15. Highlights of the game included Basil catching the disc from under Gack and for an awesome hammer to score.
Our next game was against Smurf (SA). Again we started out well but our throwing and catching let us down. Jessie, a bit frustrated early in the game, was heard to have said "I want to do something special". The very next point she grabs a rubbish throw to pass it onwards for our first point of the game. I reckon that counts as "special". Felix also had a good game getting a D off Owen and JK caught a huck in the endzone from Cookie (one of our two points). The final score was 2-15.
Not sure if it was the heat or what but a good throwing session after lunch and before our third game gave us renewed energy. This last game of the day was against Great!Sugo! (Qld). This game was much closer. We were close to even going into the half. But a few turnovers and the game was theirs. Sugo won 7-15. A highlight of this game was Eliza's two Ds and goal in one point. She went up in the air against two boys and came down with the disc on her back? How she managed that we are still trying to work it out. Emma also had some great grabs as Wing Deep and got some much needed goal assists. That night we headed home for a team dinner and beer on the porch.
The next day, refreshed, we played Hills (NSW). Right from the start we went up 3-1 then we traded points until Hills narrowly took the half. Hills played a tight zone making us work for every point and they really did like their long game. We tried playing the long game as well with JK and Stefan hucking it long. After half, Hills stayed on a roll winning the game 8-15.
Our next game of the day was against Rubi (NSW). This was a rough, very low spirited game that was very disappointing although we did try to rise above this. Cookie scored two goals in this game, Liam had some great layout Ds, Amanda scored her first goal of the tournament, and Jenn had a great catch in the endzone behind one of the really tall boys. We lost in golden goal (13-12) but at least we had the moral high ground.
The last game of the day was against Discasaurus Rex (NSW) another awfully spirited game. Memorable moments of the game by LOG included, JK trying over and over to cut the very long grass with the disc (too bad that is a turnover), Huddy got called for a travel, and Stew and Basil kept meeting in the endzone trying to steal the disc from each other ... they really needed to stop meeting like that. In the end we lost this game 8-15. But at least we won the spirit game after. We managed to get our clothes off and spread them across the field much quicker than Rex, thanks to Stefan's bandage from his quad which he pulled earlier in the day. So after another day of close but winless games we ultimately found ourselves playing off for the 21-24 seeds. That night we headed off to the party in downtown Brissie. There were some fantastic outfits and Felix made sure that we all had the right cards for the Casino night.
The next morning we headed off to the fields one last time. On the way there Eliza had the worst luck of all and some how managed to get run over by a push biker on the main road. She was much missed in our last few games. The first game against Wollongong was our big win of the tournament 15-7. Everyone played really well ... Kieran and Dave were getting some great throws off and with Stew and Emma catching in the end zone we stayed ahead for the majority of the game. Although again this was disrupted by lots of foul calls and debates. Sad to say this is the worst spirited tournament I have ever played in...
Our last game was the playoff for 21st against Lounge Lizards (I think). We lost this close game to finish the tournament in 22nd.
Shavawn won the female MVP.
LOG! finished 22nd out of 24 teams - after initially being seeded 16th.
Thanks to Shavawn Donoghue for captaining the team and for putting together the team report!
The 2008 LOG! team comprised:
| Shirt number | Name |
|---|---|
| 2 | Felix Kennedy |
| 3 | John Kristensen |
| 4 | Amanda Martin* |
| 6 | Stew Wilde |
| 7 | Shelly Slater |
| 8 | Emma Pharo* |
| 9 | Basil van Riet |
| 10 | Kieren Blake* |
| 13 | Stefan Rappazzo |
| 14 | Jessie Erickson* |
| 24 | Shavawn Donoghue (captain) |
| 29 | Liam Gillion* |
| 31 | Dave Cooke |
| 33 | Eliza Burke-Polden |
| 42 | Huddy Fuller* |
| 99 | Jenn Lavers |
LOG! team photo, Brisbane, October 2008: (back row) Jenn Lavers, Liam Gillion, John Kristensen, Dave Cooke, Stew Wilde, Kieren Blake, Felix Kennedy, Eliza Burke-Polden, (middle) Stefan Rappazzo, Basil van Riet, Jessie Erickson, Huddy Fuller, Amanda Martin, (front row) Shelly Slater, Shavawn Donoghue (captain), Emma Pharo. Photograph thanks to Jenn Lavers.