New kids on the block

As I've been away for the last couple of BPL rounds I don't have much to write about the games. I was however over at the Gold Coast blog and there were some interesting comments which got me ready to write. I was going to write about some aspects of the league at the end of the season however now seems like a good time.

This season has been great for many reasons. I think we are looking at the most competitive and open finals series in a few years, which comes on the back a very competitive season. There have been new blogs, plenty of off field comment and discussion. Crazy tipping, wild swinging results from draws to blow outs to golden point games. Most exciting of all there have been two new teams in the competition.

The Heroes have had a rough season with their results, they have also had some good patches of play and improved as a team. I think they have been a good addition to the competition. Their season would have been a fair bit different with the addition of one more experienced BPL player. They had enough close games that they could have won if an Al type handler had of been playing for them.

The Slamtown team has had more success with results during the season and are hopeful of flying into the semi finals on the back of some wild results and prayers this week. They are a template for BPL teams of the future - specific team association (in their case regional), a large recruiting pool all to themselves, uniforms, history and a team list that is all used and involved when they are playing well. Time in the BPL, increased experience of their rookie players and continued recruiting will continue to improve this team.


In the BPL we have had enough good players for 6 or 7 teams for a few seasons. What we haven't had is 6 or 7 distinct leadership groups.

The Slamtown Flatball and the Heroes clubs have added these required leadership groups to our competition. Prior to the rise of these two leadership groups it was difficult to see a clear path for our competition to grow. If results this season eventuate that these teams finish their rookie seasons in 6th and 7th place I think it is very possible to argue that they have been a success

Given that there are now 6 or 7 distinct leadership groups in the competition I'm hopeful that we can look forward to more highly competitive and exciting seasons in the future. I'd like to think that during the transition between leagues in 2010 there are a few brave individuals (George, Jangles, James and Nandor style) who migrate between teams with the goal of building up these new and exciting teams.

I'm looking forward to watching the business end of this season from afar, and I hope that team leaders and open minded players have a productive off season 'trading period' prior to season 2.

Good luck teams.

Frisbee Flux

Continuing the theme of MBB match reports from
players on the team this week we will hear
from the man in the headband, reigning BPL
champion and second season Bugger Ryan
'Fluxie' Flux.

This weeks game saw the Buggers victorious in a
tight game against the UQ Lovers. The game saw
the team gel a bit more and lift that intensity -
certainly a good sign coming into the back end
of the season.

Prior to the game the importance of controlled
and patient offense had been talked about and
the team certainly listened. The first two points
in particular were great examples of this
combining plenty of smooth safe passes with nice
short cuts to see the disc move steadily up the
field and into the end zone (Ed - Ryan may have
the rose coloured memory cap on for this point
as we turned it over enough for him to get 2
blocks in the endzone). This conservative
offense was a feature for most of the game.
The D too was good - there was a great deal of
variety in the strategy and everyone worked with
great intensity.

The Buggers kept pushing through the first half
to take the lead 8-7 at break. Unfortunately
the second half saw the momentum swing the other
way with the Buggers conceding two quick points.
Regathering from this glitch the team regrouped
and clawed its way back into the game.

The end of the game was a close, nail biting
affair and having the final point called at 13
all was pretty fitting. A nice take in the end
zone saw the Buggers take the game 14-13 -
excellent stuff boys.

fluxie

Doing what we do best

Trevor Lovering is an example of the new bread of frisbee player on the Brisbane Ultimate scene. You know the type, they started playing frisbee in high school, by the time they get to uni they already have 2 BPL championships under their belt and sometime soon they'll be heading overseas to play frisbee for Australia.

I hope Trevor is just one of many exciting new players who we will see playing in the BPL in years to come. In the mean time here he is to tell us about this weeks clash with the UQ Passion team.


After a few wins, a lose and three too many draws over the first half of the season, the Buggers are back to doing what they do best, winning games through grit and determination. We are now well and truly on the road to a third straight dog cup after a nail biting victory over the full strength Passion team.

The new look 2010 Buggers have been going through a few growing pains over the season. With some familiar faces no longer with us and some fresher faces finding their place on the team, BPL season one was always going to be a challenge for us. This week we found that sweet spot with a strong man and zone defence as well as a cool, calm and collected offence.

We started strong taking an early lead but the emotion of Passion proved strong as they took half 8-7. Passion carried this momentum through to the second half extending their lead to 10-7. The Buggers called a much needed timeout to regather our thoughts and calm down. Our offence was the patient and conservative, giving Passion nothing and pressuring turns with our hard working D.

Our efforts brought the score up to 12-11 to the Buggers with last point called. After a dropped hammer to the Passion end zone, the Buggers walked it up the field to score the winner and avoid our forth draw of the season. Congrats on the win boys.

Trevor Lovering.

"So, nice to finally win a game eh?

Special guest blogger Simon Statham - 4 times Moreton Bay Bugger and current defending BPL champion - shares his thoughts on this week's game.

"Two draws in a row don’t look great on the stats but it hides two very hard fought games that we deserved to get something from. Last night was a different sort of game. A ‘potential banana skin’ (to paraphrase English football managers). We probably always thought that we could win but to manage that complacency and to come out with a very controlled game where we worked hard to get turnovers and took our opportunities was very satisfying.

We put a lot of things in place last night that we have been talking about and trying to achieve all season. Our man-D certainly seemed to shut down the pitch very effectively against a team of (for the most part) younger and fitter guys. This was particularly effective in marking the ‘under’ cuts, but we did get mismatched on speed a couple of times for the ones over the top so we should continue to watch that. If there was one thing that might have put even more pressure on it was they often had a dump pass to get out of trouble – but they rarely moved forward.

O was very patient. The poor shot selection that characterised the crazy 10 minutes against Dojo, when they scored 6 or 7 points in a row, seemed to have been rectified. Sometimes we didn’t get very far very quickly but (aside from the last 5 mins) we turned over pretty rarely. For me that was probably the biggest plus. We dramatically cut down on the unforced turnovers, which will put us in good stead against better teams.

I thought the new Bugger buddy system was good. I for one found it useful at the end to talk openly about the mistakes I’d made – helps me to put them at the front of my mind so I can learn from them and not gloss over it.

Finally, it was nice to see Tony going long for some scores! When was the last time we saw that happening?!

Cobras beating Passion was very good news for us. The league has closed up and it proves that anyone can beat anyone else in this league. We’ve got to believe that we can win the thing again this season – C’mon the Bugs!

Si"

Good news for the bugs

Round 6 saw the Moreton Bay Buggers play in their second draw in a row. These results came on the back of a single point victory over the UQ Lovers, which was preceded by a pounding from the league leading UQ Passion team.

Its been a strange run of games for us. While the outcomes have not been ideal, at this early stage of our team building project we are happy to focus on the process and hope that desirable outcomes follow.

We feel like we have turned a corner recently with how we are playing. The lesson for us has been persistence and experimentation. We have tried a number of different adjustments over the last month of frisbee and its because we have kept working at our issues that we feel like we've made a break through.

Time will tell whether we have found the right mixture of tactics and utilisation of player skills for us to continue to play good ultimate. At this stage however we are feeling happy about the progress evident in the team over the last couple of games.

Unlike previous Buggers teams that have been quickly successful based on high quality athletes and simple tactics. This season's team has required a change in direction and a different focus for us to find our rhythm.

The team is excited about the progress we are making and look forward to continuing to test ourselves in the very competitive environment that we find ourselves in.

Buggers teams from previous leagues

The Moreton Bay Buggers have been a part of the Frisbee landscape in Brisbane for a decade.

As a Brisbane Premier League team the Buggers are now in their 5th year of existence. In those five years many players have proudly and enthusiastically worn the Bugger black, blue and red.

I've dug into the vault and found the team lists from the last five years. I'm missing the original team list as Rueben Berg was the captain and mastermind behind the Bugs entrance into the competition. The lists and number of season played by each Bugger can be found on the right side of the page.

Many players have come and gone from the Bugger teams. Some have moved away from the competition and play in other leagues. Some have thrown their last disc in anger and now only participate through the email list. Young men who learned their frisbee craft with the big bug on their chest are spread across the BPL teams including 2 other club captains.

The MBB club has always been active in bringing new players to the competition. Over 30 genuine new-to-frisbee rookies have had their first taste of organised competitive ultimate at the club.

It is worth mentioning the following long serving sons of the Moreton Bay Buggers for their efforts over the years.

13 seasons
Mike Neild

12 seasons
Nandor Locher

11 seasons
Adam Beu
James Larkin
Jason Ray

10 seasons
Alex Chadwick
Liam Gillions

9 seasons
Nich Coote
Mat Ryan

It is a proud history full of excellent players, great teams and good frisbee times. I'm hopeful for many more.

Up the Buggers.

Youch!

This week we played against the UQ Passion team. The now clear league leading UQ Passion team.

They beat us good. In fact I can't remember being beaten that badly in the BPL for a long time.

We just didn't control the frisbee on offense, UQ did, and that was the main theme of the game.

We are a new team this season and we will continue to work ourselves out over the season. We're looking forward to many new challenges.

Speaking of challenges this competition is great. On the other field the Heroes knocked off the Cobra team is a 1 pointer. What this means is that after 3 weeks there are 5 teams all within 2 competition points of each other fighting it out for the bottom 2 semi final places.

I know its only the start of the season however I get the feeling that its going to be really hard to get into the Semi finals this season. It has been tough the last couple of leagues because all five of the teams have been great, however with 7 teams capable of winning games this season its actually a pretty short list who get in. Yikes!

I was actually thinking that in order to get really good this season we might need to start doing some training. I wonder if we are approaching the stage when teams are going to need to train regularly to be able to win this competition. Not this league I think, however it would change the success of the Buggers and most teams if they were to do two sessions a week.

We're looking forward to next week already.