Back in the big game

In a tightly contested semi final the Moreton Bay Buggers edged out the Northside Cobras by a point to return to the BPL grand final after 3 years of semi final disappointment.

The spring 2009 grand final appearance was the last moment of glory for a once dominant Buggers club. In the 5 seasons leading up to spring 2009 the Bugs played in every grand final and won 4 of them, in the next 5 seasons they exited in the semi finals consistently.

Much has changed in the BPL over the last 3 years. When the Bugs last played the big game there were only 5 teams in the league and 2 of those were from UQ. The new kids on the block the Cobras were in their first season and no one had heard of the Slamtown F.C or the Heroes BPL team either.

The final was played out at UQ's oval 7 that season and the Bugs scored the last 3 points of the game to sneak past a strong Dojo team for a 13 to 12 win.

Plenty has changed on the Buggers playing list as well, the last Championship bug team looked like this:

Stuart Austin - played 4 more seasons with the Bugs including 1 as team captain
Adam Beu - left to play on the Heroes in the next season
Nich Coote - retired from the BPL
Ryan Flux - played 2 more seasons with the Bugs
Nandor Locher - left to play on the Gold Coast team in the next season
Trevor Lovering - hasn't missed a game since, 8 seasons with the Bugs
Stew McGlashan - left the Bugs
Michael Neild (C) - played 3 more seasons with the Bugs
Andrew Ogilvie - played 2 more seasons with the Bugs
Manuel Ramirez - played 3 more seasons with the Bugs
Jason Ray - never touched a frisbee again
George Salisbury - left to play on the Heroes in the next season
Spinner Sheppard - played 3 more seasons with the Bugs
Simon Statham - played 3 more seasons with the Bugs
Michael Watt - left the league

With almost half of this Championship team leaving after the season it is understandable that a period of adjustment followed.

The spring 2012 Buggers are one step away from emulating the achievement of the men listed above. It has been a challenging 3 years for Bug teams and getting back into the grand has not been an easy task. If there were bookies their odd would surely favour the minor premiers however history tells us that the Moreton Bay Buggers know their business when it comes to the the last game of the year.

Grand final week, its great to be back. Up the Bugs.

Fair trade

Field 1 sideline, score tied at 5 all.

M. Neild: No Burwell tonight.
S. Flanagan: Fatty isn't here either.
M. Neild: Oh well, fair trade.
S. Flanagan: No its not.


And so the Buggers and Dojo resumed their rivalry that is nearly as old as the competition. A rivalry that is based on a mutual competitive spirit, shared respect, humour and a slice of simmering animosity.

The Dojo and the Bugs have faced off in the BPL since the winter of 2006. The teams have contested 4 Grand finals and together can boast 11 of the 24 championships and 12 MVP recipients. It has been a running contest with the Dojo taking the majority of the honours over the last 2 years.

Thursday night's game was no different. After trading points down the gentle wind for the first 10 points of the game the Dojo scored the first upwind point to break the tie. The Dojo was having success using their zone defence and the Bugs were forced to make a lot of passes to get down field. Conversely the Bugger man on man set up produced a few nice blocks and challenged the Dojo to take on the challenge and throw to marked players.

After a few back to back points late in the Bugs managed to close the gap and both teams had the frisbee in their hands for the win during the last point after time cap. The Dojo again proved too good and took away the first game of the season by one point.

It was close all night and both teams would think there are areas for them to improve on. The defending premiers look on track for another great season and the Buggers can take heart from their competitive performance with plenty of room for improvement.

The Dojo come out on top of this close trading game, i'm sure the Bugs are already looking forward to returning the favour next round.

Spring time for the Buggers

Season 2 is upon us and the Buggers are back in business.

Suiting up this season under the Big Bug are:

Bug 13	#22 Adam Beu	13th season
Bug 64	#88 Buzz Burwell	5th season
Bug 71	## David Campbell	2nd season
Bug 62	#24 Tim Ferguson	6th season
Bug 63	#24 Tim Johnson	6th season
Bug 52	#12 Trevor Lovering	8th season
Bug 66	#5 Rob Lowe	4th season
Bug 72	## Brenton Mottershead	2nd season
Bug 25	#20 Graham Prickett	7th season
Bug 43	#50 Anthony Ross	9th season
Bug 11	#33 Mat Ryan (C)	13th season
Bug 74	## Jack Tudor	2nd season
Bug 75	## Timothy Webb	2nd season

The Bugger team for season 2 2012 is fairly similar to the season 1 incarnation. 12 members return to the action from season 1 and the addition of 7 season Bug legend Graham 'Special G' Prickett rounds out at 13 players.

This Bugs team is the most experienced in Buggers history with 79 total seasons with the Buggers and an average number of seasons with the team of 6. Time will tell whether this experience together helps the Buggers show cohesion on the field.

Team captain Mat and Jangles both rack up their 13th seasons and lead the team both on the field and in team culture. Encouragingly 4 of the 5 first season Bugs have returned for their second season and league rookies David Campbell, Jack Tudor and Tim Webb will all look to have fast starts to the seasons after the steep learning curve as a BPL rookie.

The back bone of the Moreton Bay Buggers this season will be the large batch of blokes playing their 4th though 9th seasons. The challenge for the Buggers in season 2 of 2012 will be to make the most of their shared experience and play to the team plan for each new opponent.

The Buggers are fired up for their 17th season in the BPL and are confident these are the men to drag the team back to the top of the competition.

Season 1 2012

Another exciting BPL season and another disappointing exit for the Moreton Bay Buggers.

The Semi final bracket has become a major stumbling block for the Bugs over the past couple of years, with loses to both the Gold Coast and the Dojo stinging our collective memory.

Congratulations to both the top teams in the competition for maintaining a high level of play over the last 4 seasons.

Highlights for the Buggers this year have been the great work of our rookies who have made some solid steps forward and are now beginning to look comfortable at the high speed of the BPL.

Also well done to the Captain Ryan, it is not easy to run a team and play at your best all season. Mat obviously did a fair job of both taking the Buggers into the Semi finals and being voted as the Most Valuable Player in the competition for the second time. Mat was the MVP of season 12 back in Autumn 2007.

Well done on the season Bugs. Season 2 is a couple of months away and the Buggers will be back hoping to take their season a little further as they battle it out in the 25th season of the Brisbane Premier League.

Bugs Vs Blitz - round 5

The Buggers had their first look at second season new comers Blitz last night. The result was a fairly convincing 15 to 6 for the Bugs.

Blitz were always going to do it tough with their so called best players absent from the game and a total team of 7 blokes available on the night. The game started well for the Bugs with the first 5 points going their way on the back of some tight zone defence and short field turnovers allowing for easy goals.

The story of the game did not continue in that fashion all night. Blitz showed impressive character to not become mentally defeated and managed to find avenues to score goals against the Buggers zone. League veteran Stew Mclashan can take much responsibility for the resilience of the Blitz team as he anchored the offence and continued to rally the team.

Many of the Blitz newcomers looked much improved after a season training with Firestorm. Consistency proved to be the main weakness of a handful of young players on Blitz. With more time together, and more time playing at a high level these players will be able to produce their best more regularly and the Blitz team will look significantly more dangerous.

The Buggers were too strong last night though and took the opportunity to work with their rookies in the name of strengthening the team for the second half of the season.

A good win for a middle of the table Moreton Bay Buggers, and some heartening signs for the Blitz team who would dearly love to be able to compete with their full roster.

The Bugs in 2012

The Moreton Bay Buggers are proud to introduce their season 1 team for 2012.

B11	#22 Adam Beu	12th
B62	#88 Buzz Burwell	4th
B69	## David Campbell	1st
B60	#24 Tim Ferguson	5th
B59	#35 Ryan Flux	3rd
B61	#24 Tim Johnson	5th
B50	#12 Trevor Lovering	7th
B64	#5 Rob Lowe	3rd
B70	## Brenton Mottershead	1st
B41	#50 Anthony Ross	8th
B9	#33 Mat Ryan (C)	12th
B71	## Luke Splatt	1st
B72	## Timothy Webb	1st

The old firm is back for the Bugs in 2012 with Buzz, Ferg, TJ, Trevor, Rob, TRoss and Lunchbox Ryan all returning after 2 years together in the Bug red and white. Mat continues as the Buggers captain in 2012.

There are some exciting developments for the team this season. It is great to welcome back to the Moreton Bay Buggers Adam Beu and Ryan Flux. Jangles returns for his twelfth season with the Buggers after spending a couple of years helping to develop the Heroes into a semi final team. Fluxy rejoins the Bugs after 3 seasons off.

Special mention needs to be made of the 4 new men to be a part of Buggers history. The 69th - 72nd players to take the field for the Bugs in the Brisbane Premier League. Brenton Mottershead joins the Buggers after stepping up to the BPL with the Bandidos. David Campbell, Luke Splatt and Tim Webb will make their BPL debut with the Buggers next Thursday night. We wish them all the best as they take on the challenge of our excellent open league.

It will be another exciting year for the Brisbane Premier League and the Buggers are enthusiastic to get down to business. Its been 4 seasons without a grand final appearance. Will this be the season that heralds in the grand old days?

The Buggers are keen to find out.