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.
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