The Bugs played against the UQ Lovers this week.
The UQ Lovers. 2 teams merged into 1, one of the few teams in BPL history to have to make selections, a team with a rock solid list and an intermittent performance record. They might be clearly the best team in the competition or just another group of battlers. Its hard to say with the range of performances they have put in over the last month.
Regardless of what is said about them they were good enough to knock over the Buggers for the second time this season, this time without two of their big guns Al and Dan.
The game was tight all the way through with both teams having success at various stages. The Lovers looked good in man on man with both vertical and horizontal stakes in operation. It was a game of regularly shifting strategies. It was really enjoyable from from a tactical perspective to work though the team's defensive options in order to find a defense that got blocks.
The Bugs managed to do this and got the game back onto serve late in the game. UQ scored a goal to even the scores back up at 12 all 2 seconds before the time cap. 2 seconds, hard to believe really but that is the theater of sport. It was also the difference between a second draw in 2 weeks for the Lovers and a result.
The Bugs started on O for the last point of the game and managed to turn it over 3 times to the Lovers' 2. I've been saying it to the Bugs all season and alluding to here on the blog. Loose control of the frisbee will not be good enough this season.
The Lovers impressed with their top line players, however it is their solid team all the way across the roster which makes them particularly tricky.
Next game's top of the table match between UQ and the Dojo will be very interesting.
As for the Bugs, back to the drawing board on offense and good news with another defensive option now on the books. Steaks for the Buggers this week and then a round 1 draw rematch against the Flatball Club in 2 weeks time. Looking forward to it.
Friday, 15 October 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
The Bug and the Snake
In 2006 when Thong attended World Club Championships we were in pool A as the 10th seed. We won our first games against seed 1, 11 and 20. We then went on to win 3 games in the power pool before we finally got a pounding from Victoria's Chilli, our first loss - 17 to 3. Things had taken a turn for us. The next day we played our quarter final against Doublewide from Texas. We dropped the first 3 points and standing in the time out huddle following a sound beating in the previous game and a shock start it was time to execute on offense or get bundled out of the tournament.
Thong went on to win that quarter final, and then the semi against Chilli to go on to the final at World Clubs and win the Silver medal against a rock star team from Japan, the Bunka Shutter Buzz Bullets.
That game was 4 years ago now however after going down 5 to nil against the Cobra team in round 1 of the BPL and then finding themselves down 3 to nil last night, the Moreton Bay Buggers faced a similar situation - execute or loose all the progress we had made over the last month.
All the great defensive structure and individual desperation available to a team are little help to you when you are playing your 4th O point in a row. You just have to settle down and find a way to score. For the Bugs this way into the enzone turned out to be paved with cross field hammers from the handlers and bit of quick movement down field. The Buggers put the goal in and then the game turned.
The nearly full strength Bugs battled the whole first half out in a high turnover 15 points, to finish with the game back on serve at 8 to 7 MBB. The second half started with the Cobra team on O, and they scored with an aggressive full field huck against the zone. Following up with a Callahan score in an apprentice vs the master handler moment the Cobra team had started the second half much like the first and were up 9 to 8.
At times this season the Buggers have produced periods of strangling defense. The rest of the game was characterised by this as the Bugs scored 6 goals in a row to virtually end the game. After opportunities from both teams the Cobras scored their first goal in 25 minutes and the last goal of the game to complete the game after time cap, 14 to 10 MBB.
Plenty of zone from both teams and a fair chunk of man as the game got down to later stages. The turnover rate was really high in this game. There were blocks from both teams both short and long however there were way too many easy mistakes, included a dropped pull from both teams.
The Cobra team looked both extremely energetic and stifling with their defensive pressure, and nervous and unsure with the frisbee at different times during the game. If they can regain their early season consistency then they will continue to be an absolute handful.
From the Bugs a standout defensive effort for the season. The challenge will be to combine the defense pressure from this week's game with the offensive control from the Dojo game. All part of the building process that is going on inside team this season. The top of the table clash next week against UQ will be a great opportunity.
Up the Bugs.
Thong went on to win that quarter final, and then the semi against Chilli to go on to the final at World Clubs and win the Silver medal against a rock star team from Japan, the Bunka Shutter Buzz Bullets.
That game was 4 years ago now however after going down 5 to nil against the Cobra team in round 1 of the BPL and then finding themselves down 3 to nil last night, the Moreton Bay Buggers faced a similar situation - execute or loose all the progress we had made over the last month.
All the great defensive structure and individual desperation available to a team are little help to you when you are playing your 4th O point in a row. You just have to settle down and find a way to score. For the Bugs this way into the enzone turned out to be paved with cross field hammers from the handlers and bit of quick movement down field. The Buggers put the goal in and then the game turned.
The nearly full strength Bugs battled the whole first half out in a high turnover 15 points, to finish with the game back on serve at 8 to 7 MBB. The second half started with the Cobra team on O, and they scored with an aggressive full field huck against the zone. Following up with a Callahan score in an apprentice vs the master handler moment the Cobra team had started the second half much like the first and were up 9 to 8.
At times this season the Buggers have produced periods of strangling defense. The rest of the game was characterised by this as the Bugs scored 6 goals in a row to virtually end the game. After opportunities from both teams the Cobras scored their first goal in 25 minutes and the last goal of the game to complete the game after time cap, 14 to 10 MBB.
Plenty of zone from both teams and a fair chunk of man as the game got down to later stages. The turnover rate was really high in this game. There were blocks from both teams both short and long however there were way too many easy mistakes, included a dropped pull from both teams.
The Cobra team looked both extremely energetic and stifling with their defensive pressure, and nervous and unsure with the frisbee at different times during the game. If they can regain their early season consistency then they will continue to be an absolute handful.
From the Bugs a standout defensive effort for the season. The challenge will be to combine the defense pressure from this week's game with the offensive control from the Dojo game. All part of the building process that is going on inside team this season. The top of the table clash next week against UQ will be a great opportunity.
Up the Bugs.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Moreton Bay Buggers' History
The Moreton Bay Buggers have been a Queensland team for over 10 years and a BPL team for 14 seasons. During those 14 seasons the Bugs have entered 18 teams, blooded around 60 athletes and created plenty of history.
The Bugger blog is a home for the club's history, and a little bit extra has been added this week.
We are celebrating the men who have served the club for 10 seasons or more.
Michael Neild, Nandor Locher, Adam Beu, Alex Chadwick, James Larkin, Jason Ray and Liam Gillions have all been long serving champions of the club and now have their names on the honour board. Many of these blokes learned their frisbee trade with the bugs and have now moved on to great things on other teams in the competition.
A bit of a slide show is now scrolling away on the front page as well. There are some action shots from Buggers teams on the national stage as well as some BPL action and team photos. Feel free to click on a picture to go check out the captions and leave a comment. More to come soon.
One of the great things about the BPL is the ever growing history of the teams in the competition. The Bugs are looking forward to building and recording more memorable moments over the coming weeks and years.
From deep in the archive here is 20 seconds of action from the grand final of the first every season the Buggers played in, Winter 2006. The black clad Bugs went down to a Whippett Good team completing a repeat. Notice the man who drove the Moreton Bay Buggers from a purely tournament team into the BPL, Rueben Berg throwing the goal in the number 8 shirt.
Enjoy, and we'll see you out there soon.
The Bugger blog is a home for the club's history, and a little bit extra has been added this week.
We are celebrating the men who have served the club for 10 seasons or more.
Michael Neild, Nandor Locher, Adam Beu, Alex Chadwick, James Larkin, Jason Ray and Liam Gillions have all been long serving champions of the club and now have their names on the honour board. Many of these blokes learned their frisbee trade with the bugs and have now moved on to great things on other teams in the competition.
A bit of a slide show is now scrolling away on the front page as well. There are some action shots from Buggers teams on the national stage as well as some BPL action and team photos. Feel free to click on a picture to go check out the captions and leave a comment. More to come soon.
One of the great things about the BPL is the ever growing history of the teams in the competition. The Bugs are looking forward to building and recording more memorable moments over the coming weeks and years.
From deep in the archive here is 20 seconds of action from the grand final of the first every season the Buggers played in, Winter 2006. The black clad Bugs went down to a Whippett Good team completing a repeat. Notice the man who drove the Moreton Bay Buggers from a purely tournament team into the BPL, Rueben Berg throwing the goal in the number 8 shirt.
Enjoy, and we'll see you out there soon.
Monday, 4 October 2010
Training?
Training week in the BPL.
I often think about what the Brisbane Premier League will look like in 20 years. I think it will still exist, or at least some form of it will. Most likely it will be much the same as it is now, however there is a chance that it will be a much bigger and badder event. Clubs, teams, home grounds, away grounds, pie nights, etc. That is the version of the BPL that I like to ponder on.
Some time between now and my mega league of 2030 things will change. Team training will be a part of this change. This week the Buggers took a step the direction of the future with a team training. It was bloody good too.
In this extremely competitive league it was important for us to maintain the momentum that we had generated with our last 3 weeks of steadily improving performance. Offensive structure was the focus for our training. We ran a group of challenge drills with the Red shirt proving to be a little stronger than the first season rookie White shirt.
During our post training beer and chat session we learned that against long odds Manuel is in the hunt for the most focused Bugger with a copy of the draw printed out in his wallet. At one stage Buzz had us all sitting around like 3rd graders to hear some stories from the good old days. "it was a cotton shirt which I knew would be tough so I bit the collar. I then ripped the shirt in half right through the logo".
Top session from the boys, and an enjoyable chat and beerie to cap off the night. One step closer to the hard working teams of the near future, maybe?
I often think about what the Brisbane Premier League will look like in 20 years. I think it will still exist, or at least some form of it will. Most likely it will be much the same as it is now, however there is a chance that it will be a much bigger and badder event. Clubs, teams, home grounds, away grounds, pie nights, etc. That is the version of the BPL that I like to ponder on.
Some time between now and my mega league of 2030 things will change. Team training will be a part of this change. This week the Buggers took a step the direction of the future with a team training. It was bloody good too.
In this extremely competitive league it was important for us to maintain the momentum that we had generated with our last 3 weeks of steadily improving performance. Offensive structure was the focus for our training. We ran a group of challenge drills with the Red shirt proving to be a little stronger than the first season rookie White shirt.
During our post training beer and chat session we learned that against long odds Manuel is in the hunt for the most focused Bugger with a copy of the draw printed out in his wallet. At one stage Buzz had us all sitting around like 3rd graders to hear some stories from the good old days. "it was a cotton shirt which I knew would be tough so I bit the collar. I then ripped the shirt in half right through the logo".
Top session from the boys, and an enjoyable chat and beerie to cap off the night. One step closer to the hard working teams of the near future, maybe?
Friday, 24 September 2010
Sometimes it just feels right
The first game of the second round, our first game against the Frisbee Dojo in season 2, the first point of the game:
The Bugs scored the goal with a 3 pass offense that could have come directly from page 1 of the Moreton Bay Buggers 2000-2005 nationals offensive play book. Safe, controlled, aggressive and purposeful - everything you want from your first point in a big game.
After the first point the Bugger's improved defensive mindset and structure generated some stops and the score quickly reached 4 to 1 to the boys in white. The Dojo dug themselves in and the score traded up to 8 to 5 at half.
All was working nicely for both teams on offense with man and zone defenses being tested out. This was the highest energy half of frisbee that we have been involved in so far this season. The defense from both teams was tight, and offense had to be played with control.
During this first half there were some unusual events. A pull hit the middle of the away sideline light pole half way up and came bouncing right back. Lankowski ripped out a sweet mid field 2 handed rugby pass style Greatest. Next point while fielding a wayward swing pass Andy balanced his ledger by ground stripping himself inside the endzone. Bugger Neild attempted to block a cross field swing however due to the sticky ground conditions the knees then hips and finally chest and arms all ended up on the ground well before the frisbee gently touched down 2 meters away. All a bit 'special'.
To start the second half the Dojo scored a few points in a row and forced the Bugs into a time out and an offensive recap. The trend did not continue however and once the Buggers got back onto defense momentum swung back in favour of a determined Bug team.
The Bugs outscored in the second half to the tune of 7 to 5 for a final score of 15 to 10. The Dojo suffered without frisbee weapons Leon Mac and Ryan Black, and they failed to capitalise
on the last minute inclusion of former BPL regular Chris Cunliffe. An almost complete MBB attendance lead directly to lots of enthusiasm for game time and a high work rate out in the mix.
The positive steps taken last week continued into this weeks game for the Buggers. Blocks were generated and the frisbee was controlled rather than risked. A trait that may become more and more important for all premiership hopeful teams as this league continues to be the most competitive yet.
The best game of the season, and maybe even the year for the Moreton Bay Buggers. It just felt right.
The Bugs scored the goal with a 3 pass offense that could have come directly from page 1 of the Moreton Bay Buggers 2000-2005 nationals offensive play book. Safe, controlled, aggressive and purposeful - everything you want from your first point in a big game.
After the first point the Bugger's improved defensive mindset and structure generated some stops and the score quickly reached 4 to 1 to the boys in white. The Dojo dug themselves in and the score traded up to 8 to 5 at half.
All was working nicely for both teams on offense with man and zone defenses being tested out. This was the highest energy half of frisbee that we have been involved in so far this season. The defense from both teams was tight, and offense had to be played with control.
During this first half there were some unusual events. A pull hit the middle of the away sideline light pole half way up and came bouncing right back. Lankowski ripped out a sweet mid field 2 handed rugby pass style Greatest. Next point while fielding a wayward swing pass Andy balanced his ledger by ground stripping himself inside the endzone. Bugger Neild attempted to block a cross field swing however due to the sticky ground conditions the knees then hips and finally chest and arms all ended up on the ground well before the frisbee gently touched down 2 meters away. All a bit 'special'.
To start the second half the Dojo scored a few points in a row and forced the Bugs into a time out and an offensive recap. The trend did not continue however and once the Buggers got back onto defense momentum swung back in favour of a determined Bug team.
The Bugs outscored in the second half to the tune of 7 to 5 for a final score of 15 to 10. The Dojo suffered without frisbee weapons Leon Mac and Ryan Black, and they failed to capitalise
on the last minute inclusion of former BPL regular Chris Cunliffe. An almost complete MBB attendance lead directly to lots of enthusiasm for game time and a high work rate out in the mix.
The positive steps taken last week continued into this weeks game for the Buggers. Blocks were generated and the frisbee was controlled rather than risked. A trait that may become more and more important for all premiership hopeful teams as this league continues to be the most competitive yet.
The best game of the season, and maybe even the year for the Moreton Bay Buggers. It just felt right.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Release the Bug!
Alright, so we might be back.
It will take a couple of weeks to tell for sure however good things are happening down the bottom of the pond.
Our slow start to season 2 is reminiscent of our slow start to season 1. It will be interesting to see if our competitiveness holds up against the competition leaders. Although this season the competition leader is a fairly fluid term with many teams 'leading' the competition at different stages.
Tonight's game showcased how we can play when things click. The Hero boys struggled to get into the contest after putting in the first point of the game from offense after a double turn. From there the Bugs locked things down in the tricky wind and scored 8 consecutive to get to half.
In the second half the Heroes put in 3 goals to the Bugs 7 for a final score of 15 to 4. The game involved plenty of junk defense with hammer throws being popular despite their questionable value and conversion rate.
There were some really bright spots in the Heroes night, however they were not frequent enough and skill errors regularly derailed some quality momentum. They have some good elements in the team and it really does just seem like a mater of time and exposure to quality training before they become consistently competitive. The question is do they have the fortitude and passion to last the long journey from beginner team to BPL champions that they are on? I hope they do.
So the bugs are back to basics, we are starting to learn how to use our weapons, and we might have found our belief and passion. The big Bug is out, and we're pumped to see what happens next.
It will take a couple of weeks to tell for sure however good things are happening down the bottom of the pond.
Our slow start to season 2 is reminiscent of our slow start to season 1. It will be interesting to see if our competitiveness holds up against the competition leaders. Although this season the competition leader is a fairly fluid term with many teams 'leading' the competition at different stages.
Tonight's game showcased how we can play when things click. The Hero boys struggled to get into the contest after putting in the first point of the game from offense after a double turn. From there the Bugs locked things down in the tricky wind and scored 8 consecutive to get to half.
In the second half the Heroes put in 3 goals to the Bugs 7 for a final score of 15 to 4. The game involved plenty of junk defense with hammer throws being popular despite their questionable value and conversion rate.
There were some really bright spots in the Heroes night, however they were not frequent enough and skill errors regularly derailed some quality momentum. They have some good elements in the team and it really does just seem like a mater of time and exposure to quality training before they become consistently competitive. The question is do they have the fortitude and passion to last the long journey from beginner team to BPL champions that they are on? I hope they do.
So the bugs are back to basics, we are starting to learn how to use our weapons, and we might have found our belief and passion. The big Bug is out, and we're pumped to see what happens next.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Honey i'm home.
After a few weeks of returning home on Thursday night with our fresh white shorts tucked between our legs, this week was a positive change.
That being said only 3 blokes on the team are involved with frisbee girls so i'm not sure exactly how much concern there has been at home.
This week the bugs managed to find a way to create some turnovers on defense, and we also managed to hang onto the frisbee for long enough to score a few points. Slightly more than a few points in fact, we got up to 14. The impressive Gold Coast team also produced 14 points and the first draw of season 2 has been recorded. We have 2 more to go in order to equal last seasons effort.
The game was tight the whole way through with the Gold Coast generating the first up wind break to push the margin out to its largest of the game at 10 - 7. After a short field turn over the bugs manged to punch in an up wind break of their own to bring the game back to even.
Both teams completed many unbroken offensive points during the game in what feels like the new standard in the BPL. If you can't put the frisbee in consistently on offense then you are not up to scratch in the 2010 version of our competition.
The final two points of the game last night were clear examples of this. With the score locked up and time running down both teams had opportunities to break and score for the win. First the Gold Coast worked the frisbee down field with a lot of short and controlled passes. The bugger zone applied some pressure at the pointy end of the game however the Slamtown boys held their nerve and stuck it in to go up 14 - 13.
It was then the Bugs turn to produce and with a short pass from the brick followed by a long bomb the point and the game was over.
In the new and increasingly competitive BPL, teams need to find their way to score despite defensive pressure. It will be interesting to see how all the teams respond to the challenges of our competition.
As for us, we are just happy to be able to report something closer to a win to the girls at home this week.
That being said only 3 blokes on the team are involved with frisbee girls so i'm not sure exactly how much concern there has been at home.
This week the bugs managed to find a way to create some turnovers on defense, and we also managed to hang onto the frisbee for long enough to score a few points. Slightly more than a few points in fact, we got up to 14. The impressive Gold Coast team also produced 14 points and the first draw of season 2 has been recorded. We have 2 more to go in order to equal last seasons effort.
The game was tight the whole way through with the Gold Coast generating the first up wind break to push the margin out to its largest of the game at 10 - 7. After a short field turn over the bugs manged to punch in an up wind break of their own to bring the game back to even.
Both teams completed many unbroken offensive points during the game in what feels like the new standard in the BPL. If you can't put the frisbee in consistently on offense then you are not up to scratch in the 2010 version of our competition.
The final two points of the game last night were clear examples of this. With the score locked up and time running down both teams had opportunities to break and score for the win. First the Gold Coast worked the frisbee down field with a lot of short and controlled passes. The bugger zone applied some pressure at the pointy end of the game however the Slamtown boys held their nerve and stuck it in to go up 14 - 13.
It was then the Bugs turn to produce and with a short pass from the brick followed by a long bomb the point and the game was over.
In the new and increasingly competitive BPL, teams need to find their way to score despite defensive pressure. It will be interesting to see how all the teams respond to the challenges of our competition.
As for us, we are just happy to be able to report something closer to a win to the girls at home this week.
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