The CULT - Week 2 Review

Holey Moley Tuesday was a wet one! With driving rain and squally winds buffeting both players and the disc, it was a mammoth task for all concerned to keep their eye on the game (much worse for contact lens wearers!) and their minds off the warm showers and hot chocolate that home provided them. It just goes to show how hardcore Ulti players are that we got such a good turn out when people from other sporting codes kept telling me "We'd never play in this weather!"

Having watched both games this week (damn you injured hand!), I was really impressed to see the level of ulti being played in such tough conditions.

Huck -vs- Meow
Resplendent in their new green strip, Huck's biggest problem was finding enough players to wear them! The rain was surely a dampener for their new recruits (someone tell those ladies there is now such a thing as waterproof mascara!), but playing savage in such savage conditions was a tall order ... especially against Meow, who had a line of subs stretching as far as the eye could see. Fortunately, general tallness is something that Huck have in spades (especially with the addition of Stretchy Pete, who raised the average height by about 2") and they manfully rose to the challenge. League rules dictate that, "should a team be able to field the minimum number of players, they may not enlist substitutes", which meant that the big men had to slog it out on their own. Tactically, Huck's major failing was not taking advantage of the Jamie-Pete endzone combo ... a combined 14 feet of receivers, both of whom are highly athletic, should have been receiving big Hucks into the corners. In my (never very humble) opinion, Jamie was wasted handling the disc. I know he can throw, but the good Lord made him big for one reason ... to Sky shorties!

Meow were, as we have come to expect, drilled, disciplined and fast; their handlers made strong use of backhand passes to avoid 'slippery fingers syndrome' and their cutters were just too fast, even for the lanky green machine.

The final score of 9-2 was telling, as Meow found a rhythm and never looked back. Overall, I think that Huck did well to hold up as well as they did to the Apocalyptic onslaught that Meow threw at them ... I can only hope that the resultant gamma rays beef up their lineup in preparation for their clash with the rapidly improving Boomstick next week. As for the AM crew? Their 2-0 roll is, no doubt, fueling their confidence leading into their round three slugfest against the equally dominant Empire. The for-against balance is still in Meow's favour, but its a close run thing.

Empire -vs- Boomstick

Loving the NQ weather, new migrant Liam Gillions took every opportunity to wet his nose by laying out constantly into the soft, wet ground. My question (directed squarely at Matt Ryan and Ryan Black), is "how can you not love a guy who is willing to layout for the T/O with three minutes to go when his team is 5 points up?"

As for the rest of the game? How would I know what happened? I was huddled under my insufficient umbrealla-ella-ella ey'o wishing I could retreat to the clubhouse! Seriously though, this was a more tightly contested game than the 11-5 scoreboard indicated. Empire scored their points in flurries, with protracted back and forward turnovers in between. Their scoring opportunities seemed to primarily come off the back of Wetnose's big defensive efforts or when Boomstick lost focus.

At the risk of blowing wind up my own kilt, it was clear that the deadites suffered from a lack of on-field leadership this week. Brent did a stellar job of handling in only his second week of ulti, but a lack of direction meant that he was often left without a dump option and trying to throw through traffic as Empire's seasoned veterans poached at will on the inexperienced 'stickers. Stuart Craig was, as always, a champion in defence and Shaun really stepped up to take a leadership role in the latter stages of the game - deciding that throwing it a long way away was better than easy poaches in spitting distance of our end zone*. Next week is going to be a big one for Boomstick; they are improving every week, but they are going to have to be disciplined if they are going to topple the tall timber of Huck.

As for Empire, expect them to have a very clear game plan going into their titanic clash against Meow. The Liam-Jacob connection is working well and their sole new recruit (whose name escapes me temporarily) is finding confidence with every point he scores and every hand-block he makes. The Evil Empire are really starting to gel as a team and it is going to be very interesting to watch their progress as they hit their straps. Of all the teams in the league, I think it is Empire who have the capacity to explode in terms of teamwork and fluency. Is it enough to topple the juggernaut that is Apocalypse Meow? You know what? I think it might just be.

With lightning forcing the game to a premature end and the lack of a Duckworth-Lewis system for Ultimate, Boomstick are willing to be gracious and offer Empire a gentleman's draw. If we had played that last three minutes, we are quietly confident of a comeback victory.

Hello? Empire? Don't worry ... we'll wait for you to get back to us then?

Until next week folks, Mr Ed out.


*Cairns Ultimate Disc does not condone spitting at endzones. Endzones have feelings too and should be afforded the same respect we all expect.