Hi Everyone,
Well apparently Worlds is over. For those of you who haven't been anxiously 'watching' our games 'live' on the WUGC website, ie the score updates, we came 4th. No medal :( However, we did have two strong games to finish on.
Just thought I'd give a quick round-up on some of the games. It does already all seem a bit of a blur but here goes...
So on day 3 we played Germany and there is a round up of that game. In the afternoon we played Columbia and while they had been a surpirse package in some of the divisions we managed to get a good start and pull away for a strong win.
Our win against Germany meant we were second in our pool and on day 4 the cross overs started. We were up against Japan first. Japan is known for a fast moving game with very accurate throws. They put a zone on us and we had a few issues getting the disc through that space. Again we seem to like to give teams a bit of a lead, but in teh end the score was 16-12, not too shabby but we didn;t play our best. Some of the highlights in tah game were th mtach up between Tex and and a particulalry tall Japanese player where Tex just kept skying him for scores. We did manage to shut down their up the line dump cuts pretty well. James Yorsten was cutting under brilliantly and had some excellent defensive blocks.
I have to sya the spirit was generally good. Sometimes with th language barrier it is a little difficult but there was a good vibe about this Japanese team. At the end of the game we shared some Vegemite with our opposition and were then rewarded with some Wasabi. As the guy standing next to be said 'aahh revenge' for the vegemite that is.
The afternoon saw us take on Canada and again we let our opposition get a jump on us. They were absolutely punishing us for any turnovers with a strong backhand huck game. Good post here http://www.wugc2008.com/node/691 about it.
So we had two losses that day and really needed to beat GB teh next day if we wanted to make it to the semis. While the first half with GB was pretty tight the seond half the Mundis really stpped up their game and dominated. THe offense was much cleaner and there were a few big Ds and good grabs to boost the energy. So we had qualified for the semis.
Our semi-final was against Japan. In our pool game we had had quite a few unforced errors anr we were planning not to do teh same again. We had played Man on man D and looked to try and follow taht through. However, things did not go to plan and we found ourselves 5-1 down, not a great start to a semi and head were down quite a bit. Then tehre was the inspired decision to try zone. Now Japan is known for being abot work well against the zone, but they struggled, and stuggled and Australia put some huge pressure on them and also managed to convert when we got teh turn over, always a bonus. So we made a brilliant run to take half 7-6. THere were many very hard fought points. James and Chris did a great job running on the mark. I was amped up at half time and incredibly proud of what we had done and really thought we had the game. We continued strongly but then Japan rallied, working it through teh zone and punsihing us for some turns. They took eth game by 2. All I can say is that it was horrible. However, we played well as a unit and really took it to the best in teh world.
We then had to back up the blow of losing teh semi and play teh US team who had lost to Canada. Again it was a pretty strong game and a close one. There was some not great calls from teh American team including a travel on JD who had just thrown a classic long forehadn to Tex for a score and earlier and foul on a great lay out from Warrick. Bec Carmen had some great d point including a layout. Yet, we had two strong game to finish and really managed to play well.
I'm hoping Adam will post some more details oh and someone shoudl definitely post about the parties!
I'm just going to go through our roster and say a coudple of things about each of my awesome team mates and their play because it was an absolute pleasure to be on the Barramundis 08. ok, here goes.
Lee Baker: Some great takes in the air and an awesome scramble layout catch in the endzone against Germany. Fabulous support and encouragement on the sideline.
Sebastian Barr: Cool, calm an collected. Had a brilliant game aginst the US in the pool round and was consistent the whole tournament.
Peter Blakeley: Surely the fastest player and worlds and bot did he let other teams know. While he was our highest point scorer Tex had some awesome throws too.
Rebecca Carman: Running long ad gettign free, but highlight for me was defintely her tenacious D in the 3/4 game against US.
John Damiani: Unfortunately the lovely JD didn't get to play the first few days but certainly made an impression on teh field when he did play. Skying people way taller than himself and a textbook layout to score against the US.
Al Don: our fabulous Captain who certainly played with 'mogrel' throughout the tournament. He had a big responsibility and carried it off with aplomb.
Christopher Freise: Running all day, taking some great long catches and putting up some sweet hucks.
Mel Gangemi: Cutting under, her two faboulous payouts in a row against Germany and then getting the pass of while being defended by someone twice her height. The absolute joy on her face when scoring!
Leanne King: Getting the disc moving all the time and quick reactions for D and her ever entertaining oneliners.
Cath Matthews: Fabulous running on zone d. and great pressure on eth mark especially against Canada and Japan. Being willing and more than able to step up and handle when we got the turn.
Gaby Melo: ahhh the wonder of having Gaby as axis it is such a great sight. Her leading flick that just gets us so much ground and her consistancy. Great marking of the under cuts too.
Brett Middleton: I am so proud of Brett and his involvement throughout the tournament. While he was unable to play cause of eth PCL he was very much there and part of each game. Of course his three scores from three points against Italy was brilliant and yes it made me cry!
Adam Mortimer: His speedy play, willinginess to throw himself at everything and ability to keep calling lines and come up with new ideas.
Kristen Nott: Fabulous grab against GB, I think, and D against Japan. Continual running to open up space for offense.
Vickie Saye: Classic Vickie Saye grabs in the endzone and some very calm assists.
Warwick Sheperd: Fabulous hucks and very strong under cutting that opened up a whole heap of space./ Layout d against US.
Lucy Stevenson: Lay out catch agisht Italy lay out Ds against so many people and basically marking #66 for Canada out of teh game.
Huy Vu: absolutley brilliant dump marking that got us numerous turns and some crisp and very efficient throws.
Andrea Wang: Great work on eth wing, some goals where she ws free by a mile and awesome pressure on the mark.
Stephen Wealands: Intensity whenever he was on the field, be that cutting hard under, taking some nice long grabs or working incredibly hard on d to get the disc back for the offense team.
Max Wheeler: As our number one goal thrower Max was involved in so much in every game. His ability to lift to a new level when necessary and leave everything on the field.
James Yorston: Fantatsic under cutting that got the disc moving for us on many occasions. His puppy mark (running in the wall was a pleasure) and his great Ds against Japan in the first game.
I could also do a whole other list of what I remember about people just from eth pre-tour an tournie not frisbee related but that would take way too long.
Thanks Mundis.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
sorry, running late on blog posts, but check out Seppo's take on our game v Japan here:
http://www.wugc2008.com/node/568
and some photos from todays play can be found here:
http://www.nzsnaps.com/gallery/5641325_K4bLu
http://www.nzsnaps.com/gallery/5641199_iJgxi
rundown of colombia game and canada game coming soon, soryr for the delay - recovery takes priority.
http://www.wugc2008.com/node/568
and some photos from todays play can be found here:
http://www.nzsnaps.com/gallery/5641325_K4bLu
http://www.nzsnaps.com/gallery/5641199_iJgxi
rundown of colombia game and canada game coming soon, soryr for the delay - recovery takes priority.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Women save the day
8.30am. Must win game. Germany. After another early morning rise for a light meal, the Mundis headed down to the main fields for a rematch with Germany, who were one of the 4 teams to beat Australia in Turku, 14-17. The queue to see Mike the physio seems to grow each morning and Andie was there too today, some meniscus issues keeping her out for the day. Tex sat the day out also with a groin strain. That meant we were down 2 of our leading goal scorers. My knee responded well to anti-inflams and my PCL was given the all clear after a layout v USA swelled overnight and I took it easy v Italy, so I was running with just minor meniscus issues.
Germany started downwind on offense first point. Our first O point they pulled the disc out of bounds, so we started from the brick mark. With no Tex, it fell to Wazza to scoot long and the first pass was duly sent deep. Too deep and out the back! We fought back and after a marathon point, we scored.
We expected the Germans to play the style of offense known throughout the rest of the world as 'German' (strange that :p ) and they did, levelling 1-1 before the 'Mundis went on a run 4-1, thanks to a big layout D from the birthday boy Steve Wealands and some tight clam zones which restricted the german style of play. However our offense was not as tight as it could've been with soft turns against the zone in our own half combined with hucks to contests or good huck options resulting in bad throws. Our offense crumbled, as their offense adjusted to both our zone and straight up offenses. German style involves lots of deep throws and our straight up negated that until they started running handler isolation plays with a very deep horizontal stack. They also landed a few cheap shots by throwing hammers and blades on high stall counts onto the heads of their tall men.
Germany took half 7-9 and we were looking frustrated with some simple drops and a bunch of bad throws. Cath and Leanne were both once again very dependable with disc in hand and Gaby was likewise, save for one brain-fart of trying to hammer over a german guy on the mark. Lucy and Mel had big layouts, on D and O respectively to win or maintain possession. Our turnovers seemed to be coming from our experienced men.
At half we rejigged a few things. In a bid to reign things in we clamped down hard on the dump area and played backhand force. Yorston was assigned to shut down their #1 man, captain Rue, and matched him admirably, keeping him to just 2 assists for the match, but one was blocked by Freise, however his man took an amazing reflex catch behind him on the big deflection. Watching the O team make simple errors can fire up a D team and with intensity we lifted; the blocks started coming again. Lucy finished with 3, Steve poached effectively for his 2nd and i might edit this bit when i remember who got the others :)
We came storming home over the top of them in the 2nd half taking it 10-5 to win 17-14. The second half was a better display or our game, however the structure was still lacking in places, especially near the endzone where after a timeout near the goalline it took us 16 passes to convert the goal. Patient yes, pretty no, structured, definitely not. To the Germans credit they played very effective poaching in the cutting lane, as they are a group who have played much ultimate together and are wily and cagey with their age and experience.
The Germans sang us a great song (involving beer of course) and Leanne and Lucy split the women's MVP with Wazza getting the mens. Max had 5 assists and Bec 4 goals. In a scare for the Germans, the Italian team nearly knocked them out of the next phase with a spirited showing, going down 16-13. That result showed us how much work we have in front of us to match the teams in the next pool.
Mundis will have to play better structured offense against GB and Canada tomorrow or we won't go far. We had just 16 turnovers for the game, but it felt like a majority of them were easily avoidable. Our women carried the day here.
Germany started downwind on offense first point. Our first O point they pulled the disc out of bounds, so we started from the brick mark. With no Tex, it fell to Wazza to scoot long and the first pass was duly sent deep. Too deep and out the back! We fought back and after a marathon point, we scored.
We expected the Germans to play the style of offense known throughout the rest of the world as 'German' (strange that :p ) and they did, levelling 1-1 before the 'Mundis went on a run 4-1, thanks to a big layout D from the birthday boy Steve Wealands and some tight clam zones which restricted the german style of play. However our offense was not as tight as it could've been with soft turns against the zone in our own half combined with hucks to contests or good huck options resulting in bad throws. Our offense crumbled, as their offense adjusted to both our zone and straight up offenses. German style involves lots of deep throws and our straight up negated that until they started running handler isolation plays with a very deep horizontal stack. They also landed a few cheap shots by throwing hammers and blades on high stall counts onto the heads of their tall men.
Germany took half 7-9 and we were looking frustrated with some simple drops and a bunch of bad throws. Cath and Leanne were both once again very dependable with disc in hand and Gaby was likewise, save for one brain-fart of trying to hammer over a german guy on the mark. Lucy and Mel had big layouts, on D and O respectively to win or maintain possession. Our turnovers seemed to be coming from our experienced men.
At half we rejigged a few things. In a bid to reign things in we clamped down hard on the dump area and played backhand force. Yorston was assigned to shut down their #1 man, captain Rue, and matched him admirably, keeping him to just 2 assists for the match, but one was blocked by Freise, however his man took an amazing reflex catch behind him on the big deflection. Watching the O team make simple errors can fire up a D team and with intensity we lifted; the blocks started coming again. Lucy finished with 3, Steve poached effectively for his 2nd and i might edit this bit when i remember who got the others :)
We came storming home over the top of them in the 2nd half taking it 10-5 to win 17-14. The second half was a better display or our game, however the structure was still lacking in places, especially near the endzone where after a timeout near the goalline it took us 16 passes to convert the goal. Patient yes, pretty no, structured, definitely not. To the Germans credit they played very effective poaching in the cutting lane, as they are a group who have played much ultimate together and are wily and cagey with their age and experience.
The Germans sang us a great song (involving beer of course) and Leanne and Lucy split the women's MVP with Wazza getting the mens. Max had 5 assists and Bec 4 goals. In a scare for the Germans, the Italian team nearly knocked them out of the next phase with a spirited showing, going down 16-13. That result showed us how much work we have in front of us to match the teams in the next pool.
Mundis will have to play better structured offense against GB and Canada tomorrow or we won't go far. We had just 16 turnovers for the game, but it felt like a majority of them were easily avoidable. Our women carried the day here.
Monday, August 4, 2008
'Mundis Looking Strong
With just one game today the Mundis were looking to bring a lot of energy and intensity to the game against Italy. The appearance on the sideline of our captain from '04, Matthew "seppo" Marcus lifting the spirits, the 'Mundis came out on O. Playing on fields removed from frisbee central by a short bus ride and sheltered by much greenery, the wind was minimal. The first point was a carbon copy of our first point v USA yesterday, 4 passes ending with Wazza hucking to Tex for an uncontested score. It's so eeeaaassy!! The Italians had brought their game though and we traded to 4-3 before the Mundis had a timeout before playing D. We then proceeded to make a run on defence. Lee had a come from behind layout block, Freise owned the sky on O- and D in both endzones, Max also saved a goal with a pack grab. Huy created chaos for their dump options, being in their face and hassling on the mark. He probably had 5-6 layout bids on short passes, just missing all of them but letting them know he was there. Lucy had a sweet layout goal take to a low fast disc moving away which surprised some on the sideline - "i thought that was a boy laying out" was the sideline comment by Erin Hobday. Wazza played solidly with great deep throws to Bec and a couple of sky blocks too and Mel's hands were safe as the Italian man flew past her. The Mundis took half 9-3. Yeah us!
However the story of the day belongs to one player. Player #1 - Brett "Sweet As" Middleton. After enduring the crushing news on the pre-tour his worlds campaign was over in Portland, he stepped out for the 1st time wearing the Australian Barramundis uniform in the 1st point of the 2nd half, taking his position as the deep in our pommie zone. Our sideline was anxious, but the physio had cleared him to play in a limited capacity. Laina obliged with a point block and in the ensuing chaos of the transition Sweet As found himself trotting towards the corner of the endzone as Max picked up the disc and floated it nicely out in front for a crowd-pleasing goal. There was much rejoicing. And a wet tear or two.
Not to rest on his laurels, he stepped back out a few points later and we pressured another turned. A few passes later, Sweet As was open in the corner again and Max duly delivered another onto his head. 2 points, 2 goals. Sweet...
But wait, there's more. One final D point, but this time we had to work the length of the field . Lee found himself double teamed but came down with the disc. He looked up, and at the other end of the field was Sweet As strolling towards the endzone. One solid huck later and Sweet was 3 for 3!! I think he even allowed himself a smile, or at least a wry grin.
Our offense line didn't get a lot of game time but they were played for 3 of the last four points, converting 2 D and 1 O point. The final score was 17-5 and a resounding win to the 'Mundis. During the circle of love we learned that italian women don't wear underpants when they play ulti and Lucy, after memorising the bum tautness of our players, also aced the bum quiz the Italians set up in front of her. Even if one boy was facing the wrong way.
Oh, and google Wreck Beach Vancouver. It was our recovery swim spot yesterday. oh the hilarity...
One more thing - we'd love to hear your comments. Please drop us a line to let us know you're armchair heroics and any news from home.
However the story of the day belongs to one player. Player #1 - Brett "Sweet As" Middleton. After enduring the crushing news on the pre-tour his worlds campaign was over in Portland, he stepped out for the 1st time wearing the Australian Barramundis uniform in the 1st point of the 2nd half, taking his position as the deep in our pommie zone. Our sideline was anxious, but the physio had cleared him to play in a limited capacity. Laina obliged with a point block and in the ensuing chaos of the transition Sweet As found himself trotting towards the corner of the endzone as Max picked up the disc and floated it nicely out in front for a crowd-pleasing goal. There was much rejoicing. And a wet tear or two.
Not to rest on his laurels, he stepped back out a few points later and we pressured another turned. A few passes later, Sweet As was open in the corner again and Max duly delivered another onto his head. 2 points, 2 goals. Sweet...
But wait, there's more. One final D point, but this time we had to work the length of the field . Lee found himself double teamed but came down with the disc. He looked up, and at the other end of the field was Sweet As strolling towards the endzone. One solid huck later and Sweet was 3 for 3!! I think he even allowed himself a smile, or at least a wry grin.
Our offense line didn't get a lot of game time but they were played for 3 of the last four points, converting 2 D and 1 O point. The final score was 17-5 and a resounding win to the 'Mundis. During the circle of love we learned that italian women don't wear underpants when they play ulti and Lucy, after memorising the bum tautness of our players, also aced the bum quiz the Italians set up in front of her. Even if one boy was facing the wrong way.
Oh, and google Wreck Beach Vancouver. It was our recovery swim spot yesterday. oh the hilarity...
One more thing - we'd love to hear your comments. Please drop us a line to let us know you're armchair heroics and any news from home.
Barramundis v Team USA (aka Shazam returns)
Fired up for the big pool game v USA the mundis on show field #1, in front of the bar and a growing contigent of aussie fans and a moderate up-down breeze, the aussies were pysched. coming out on offense up wind the crowd, and the opposition, got a taste of things to come. 4 passes later, tex was celebrating a goal after a smooth sequence and a wazza huck. the quote from the sideline as tex took off was simply "Oh!" as he left their speedster A-ron in his wake (the thunda boys had given up our secret weapon to them so they had heads up on the match up :( ). they scored the next upwind, using a timeout in the process as the mundis D repeatedly stalled their progress. then at 1-1 they burnt their 2nd (and last for the half) timeout as they discussed stopping Tex and playing zone D. we traded for a few more getting to 3-3 with our O-team playing some inspired defence upon turning it, with Seb and Notty getting layout and dump blocks respectively, as USA also turned up the intensity. A few soft/cheap (depending on your perspective) fouls fired captain aL up and he let the spectators hear upon celebrating a goal.
Their pressure around the disc and tightening up on our cutters saw them skip to a couple of goals break which they held through to half 6-9. our zone wsan't quite tight enough and they seemed to play thru the middle of the field with inside out breaks throws, so we changed our force at half from b/h to f/h after and that succeeded in forcing them wider. Vickie continued to get stronger as the game went on with blocks, goals and assists. JD asked me on the sideline how to fire Lucy up - 30 sec later she got a run through/layout block in front of us. sebbo kept getting blocks and aL had a sweet fully ho' saving catch up the line. leanne was strong anchoring our dump and offense and with aL and Sebbo, working a sweet combination. Mel and Laina were running machines, always presenting with big under cuts. Tex had a sweet trailing rim layout grab to save our offense. Yet the points got longer and our scoring dried up.
At 7-13 we played a particularly strong line and converted the goal. At 8-14 the game was rapidly slipping away. Yorston had a big point, saving a goal with a sky block before running long to pull in a slightly floaty upwind huck. This led to an upwind score and a mundi D run, as time kept ticking. A pick robbed us of an upwind goal from an endzone set play to Freise from a backhand around break, but upon checking it in, the inside out forehand break hit the same target. We scored to make it 12-16 as soft cap (100min) went. Game to 17 win by 2 or 18. The mundi D brought their game, scoring again and again from USA pushing passes too much. 14-16, the crowd was sensing something. We won another turnover as their late game tactic of hucking again failed. Alas it wasn't to be, ultimately our too many drops pulled us up short.
The MVP awards from USA went to Leanne and Vickie, Tex (4 goals) and Sebbo. aL also played superbly but without the extended highlight reel of the others. We were up against a very well rounded team, as their stats sheet will attest and when we sort the separation and timing between our handlers (the dump area) and our receivers (timing off the handlers dump cuts), we'll be a stronger team.
The handshakes were accompanied by many smiles as we recounted the overall high quality of spirit the game was played with and we traded games, clothes (both Mundi Undies and playing strips) and later that evening, hooch recipes.
Now we've got their respect, next time it will be their pride ;)
PS- as this post is late, i have just come from watching a sensational game between Japan and Canada, the latter rallying late to reverse a 11-15 score to a 17-16 win, thanks to a great pull and a 1st pass layout block on double game point. Righto, off to play Italy.
Their pressure around the disc and tightening up on our cutters saw them skip to a couple of goals break which they held through to half 6-9. our zone wsan't quite tight enough and they seemed to play thru the middle of the field with inside out breaks throws, so we changed our force at half from b/h to f/h after and that succeeded in forcing them wider. Vickie continued to get stronger as the game went on with blocks, goals and assists. JD asked me on the sideline how to fire Lucy up - 30 sec later she got a run through/layout block in front of us. sebbo kept getting blocks and aL had a sweet fully ho' saving catch up the line. leanne was strong anchoring our dump and offense and with aL and Sebbo, working a sweet combination. Mel and Laina were running machines, always presenting with big under cuts. Tex had a sweet trailing rim layout grab to save our offense. Yet the points got longer and our scoring dried up.
At 7-13 we played a particularly strong line and converted the goal. At 8-14 the game was rapidly slipping away. Yorston had a big point, saving a goal with a sky block before running long to pull in a slightly floaty upwind huck. This led to an upwind score and a mundi D run, as time kept ticking. A pick robbed us of an upwind goal from an endzone set play to Freise from a backhand around break, but upon checking it in, the inside out forehand break hit the same target. We scored to make it 12-16 as soft cap (100min) went. Game to 17 win by 2 or 18. The mundi D brought their game, scoring again and again from USA pushing passes too much. 14-16, the crowd was sensing something. We won another turnover as their late game tactic of hucking again failed. Alas it wasn't to be, ultimately our too many drops pulled us up short.
The MVP awards from USA went to Leanne and Vickie, Tex (4 goals) and Sebbo. aL also played superbly but without the extended highlight reel of the others. We were up against a very well rounded team, as their stats sheet will attest and when we sort the separation and timing between our handlers (the dump area) and our receivers (timing off the handlers dump cuts), we'll be a stronger team.
The handshakes were accompanied by many smiles as we recounted the overall high quality of spirit the game was played with and we traded games, clothes (both Mundi Undies and playing strips) and later that evening, hooch recipes.
Now we've got their respect, next time it will be their pride ;)
PS- as this post is late, i have just come from watching a sensational game between Japan and Canada, the latter rallying late to reverse a 11-15 score to a 17-16 win, thanks to a great pull and a 1st pass layout block on double game point. Righto, off to play Italy.
Barramundis First Game
Sunday Game 1 Hong Kong So the mundis have arrived at worlds. Ask Hong Kong.
Up at 6.30am for brekkie before we met at thunderbird stadium for our first game, ready to show the world how the disc spins down under. The pre tour is now well behind us and it was time to implement the lessons learned. The Thunda boys were making a lot of noise on the adjacent field and it was pretty awesome having them so close. Unfortunately we'd lost Gaby to illness overnight and vickie wasn't feeling 100% but she played anyway. JD is still nursing his pre-tour calf injury and also sat the day out.
Wearing our new green uniforms (which arrived just yesterday!) we came out on D fired up we won an early turn and punched the 1st goal home. The first half flew by with some early highlights including possibly the catch of the tournament by bec carman from a wealands huck. without breaking stride she extended fully horizontal with her left hand outstretch to drag in a brilliant goal, the mundis 3rd. there was much rejoicing. that must have been the extra gear she was talking up ;) notty and wealy also had offense saving layout grabs. their highlight was their second goal, a layout callahan after forcing us deep into our endzone.
the honkies didn't roll over, scored a few and broke our force with seeming relative ease. we'd held the force superbly all pre-tour, so this was disappointing. we tried a few zone combinations to try and fill the void left due to Sweet As' PCL injury. Wazza came over to the D team occassionally to support lee as our deep options in the zone and our transition worked nicely. our man defence was lacking a little intensity but the mundis played the game through taking it 17-5 after an 8-2 half. Huy and Lucy were given prizes as best on field, we were suspicious they just fancied Huy ;) Wealy was fired up and bidding on D. Andie scored some, and Bec reeled in what aL thought had gone way over her and out the side - nice one vickie, i mean, bec. Tex got a handblock (albeit on a girl :). Win one under our belts, we then cooled down watching thunda come from behind to take down france. and then the terra girls pull back the an early deficit to take down canada. yeah australia!!
Up at 6.30am for brekkie before we met at thunderbird stadium for our first game, ready to show the world how the disc spins down under. The pre tour is now well behind us and it was time to implement the lessons learned. The Thunda boys were making a lot of noise on the adjacent field and it was pretty awesome having them so close. Unfortunately we'd lost Gaby to illness overnight and vickie wasn't feeling 100% but she played anyway. JD is still nursing his pre-tour calf injury and also sat the day out.
Wearing our new green uniforms (which arrived just yesterday!) we came out on D fired up we won an early turn and punched the 1st goal home. The first half flew by with some early highlights including possibly the catch of the tournament by bec carman from a wealands huck. without breaking stride she extended fully horizontal with her left hand outstretch to drag in a brilliant goal, the mundis 3rd. there was much rejoicing. that must have been the extra gear she was talking up ;) notty and wealy also had offense saving layout grabs. their highlight was their second goal, a layout callahan after forcing us deep into our endzone.
the honkies didn't roll over, scored a few and broke our force with seeming relative ease. we'd held the force superbly all pre-tour, so this was disappointing. we tried a few zone combinations to try and fill the void left due to Sweet As' PCL injury. Wazza came over to the D team occassionally to support lee as our deep options in the zone and our transition worked nicely. our man defence was lacking a little intensity but the mundis played the game through taking it 17-5 after an 8-2 half. Huy and Lucy were given prizes as best on field, we were suspicious they just fancied Huy ;) Wealy was fired up and bidding on D. Andie scored some, and Bec reeled in what aL thought had gone way over her and out the side - nice one vickie, i mean, bec. Tex got a handblock (albeit on a girl :). Win one under our belts, we then cooled down watching thunda come from behind to take down france. and then the terra girls pull back the an early deficit to take down canada. yeah australia!!
The simple things
While I remember and have a moment to post about it I thought I'd share some discoveries made on the pretour. I often find when travelling that it is the seemingly simple or familiar things that can often contain some odd differences.
Take traffic lights for example. As a pedestrian I have been trained to listen for the change from beep, beep, beep to the wierd computer game shooting type sounds Australian traffic lights made. In California, no sound - however there is a count down for how long you have to get across the road which I rather like. The other thing is that if you happen to find you self j walking on quiet streets, and I certainly don't encourage this, drivers slow down. Also quite strange stop sign arrangements.
Coffee is another one. There are a few team mates who are very partial to coffee but one was quite perturbed when they were asked if they wanted their latte wet or dry. Apparently it refers to the anount of froth and milk. Also the sizes. I like coffee but I trying to get a regular Australian small size is tough, and then when you do ask for an exntra small or whatever you usually get a quizical response.
I also had an entertaining encounter when trying to order a sandwich. Now most of us have managed to pick up a little bit of an American accent, basically to make it easier ie the different ways of saying mocha or awesome. Anyway, I wanted a tuna sandwich, you can probably see where this is going. After me saying 'tuna' times and getting blank looks, I finally pointed at the word on the board, ahhhhh 'toona'. At least I provided some entertainment.
Probably the most intriguing of similar things though is the different showers. I have travelled a bit so have encountered various showers and pride my self on being able to work them out. I think every place I have stayed on eth pre-tour has a different system and I was doing very well. I'd pulled up levers and pulled out taps, managed to balnce water levels and deal with water pressure. So I was pretty confident when turning the shower on at our billets in Portland. Water comes pouring out of the bath tap, no problem, situation normal, but after twising, pulling and wrangling with everything I could see I had to give up and ask. The solution was to pull down the fawcet under where the water was running. Wonders never cease.
Anyway, in terms of ultimate we played our first two games yesterday. I won't write alot as I'm sure Adam will post a blog but just a few highlights for me. Hong Kong first up with us winning 17-5. Bec Carman had a great layout grab to score and there was some really hard pressure on the mark from Chris Friese. We then had the USA, a big game. We came out strongly with us scoring the first point, a beautiful long put from Warwick Shephard to the fastest man in Australian ultimate Peter Blakely. I was on the sideline at that stage and the comment from the Americans near me was an impressed 'oh'. We kept up with them for quite a while but had a slump in the middle which saw us go down 13-7, not great. However with our fighting spirit the Barramundis rallied and managed to claw back with the final score being 17-14 to the USA. I was really proud of the comeback and the determintation the Mundis showed. It was an incredibly competitive game but the spirit from both teams was fantastic. We did slump and we probably didn't play our best ultimate consistently enough but I thought the whole team put in a massive effort. There was some awesome play by Seb Barr, Tex, Warwick and James Yorsten, some very consistent dump cutting from Leanne great D by Vickie too. But really everyone was great, there were too many individual moment to mention here. Thanks too to the number of players who couldn't be on the field, Sweet As, JD and Gaby. They were fantastic support on the sidelines. The Aussie crowd too was tops, so thank you. I particularly liked the cowbell.
We play Italy today so we will keep you posted.
Laina
Take traffic lights for example. As a pedestrian I have been trained to listen for the change from beep, beep, beep to the wierd computer game shooting type sounds Australian traffic lights made. In California, no sound - however there is a count down for how long you have to get across the road which I rather like. The other thing is that if you happen to find you self j walking on quiet streets, and I certainly don't encourage this, drivers slow down. Also quite strange stop sign arrangements.
Coffee is another one. There are a few team mates who are very partial to coffee but one was quite perturbed when they were asked if they wanted their latte wet or dry. Apparently it refers to the anount of froth and milk. Also the sizes. I like coffee but I trying to get a regular Australian small size is tough, and then when you do ask for an exntra small or whatever you usually get a quizical response.
I also had an entertaining encounter when trying to order a sandwich. Now most of us have managed to pick up a little bit of an American accent, basically to make it easier ie the different ways of saying mocha or awesome. Anyway, I wanted a tuna sandwich, you can probably see where this is going. After me saying 'tuna' times and getting blank looks, I finally pointed at the word on the board, ahhhhh 'toona'. At least I provided some entertainment.
Probably the most intriguing of similar things though is the different showers. I have travelled a bit so have encountered various showers and pride my self on being able to work them out. I think every place I have stayed on eth pre-tour has a different system and I was doing very well. I'd pulled up levers and pulled out taps, managed to balnce water levels and deal with water pressure. So I was pretty confident when turning the shower on at our billets in Portland. Water comes pouring out of the bath tap, no problem, situation normal, but after twising, pulling and wrangling with everything I could see I had to give up and ask. The solution was to pull down the fawcet under where the water was running. Wonders never cease.
Anyway, in terms of ultimate we played our first two games yesterday. I won't write alot as I'm sure Adam will post a blog but just a few highlights for me. Hong Kong first up with us winning 17-5. Bec Carman had a great layout grab to score and there was some really hard pressure on the mark from Chris Friese. We then had the USA, a big game. We came out strongly with us scoring the first point, a beautiful long put from Warwick Shephard to the fastest man in Australian ultimate Peter Blakely. I was on the sideline at that stage and the comment from the Americans near me was an impressed 'oh'. We kept up with them for quite a while but had a slump in the middle which saw us go down 13-7, not great. However with our fighting spirit the Barramundis rallied and managed to claw back with the final score being 17-14 to the USA. I was really proud of the comeback and the determintation the Mundis showed. It was an incredibly competitive game but the spirit from both teams was fantastic. We did slump and we probably didn't play our best ultimate consistently enough but I thought the whole team put in a massive effort. There was some awesome play by Seb Barr, Tex, Warwick and James Yorsten, some very consistent dump cutting from Leanne great D by Vickie too. But really everyone was great, there were too many individual moment to mention here. Thanks too to the number of players who couldn't be on the field, Sweet As, JD and Gaby. They were fantastic support on the sidelines. The Aussie crowd too was tops, so thank you. I particularly liked the cowbell.
We play Italy today so we will keep you posted.
Laina
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Games in Portland...and sad news about Sweet As
Tuesday night saw the mundis play two games against local teams Orc$hack and Triceratops. Our first game was against Orc$hack, a well established team that has many skillful players (the Orc stands for old and retired with children). Our D team came out firing, with the mundis away to a quick lead. Vickie Saye played amazingly, getting two layout scores, one toeing the sideline, the other with heaps of air at the back of the endzone. Final score, 14-5 to the mundis.
The second game was against Triceratops, a newly formed team of mostly younger players. As our billets for the last few days have been from Triceratops, both teams were eagerly anticipating the game. The game was closer, with both teams moving the disc quickly up the field. It was exciting to see the mundis put numerous hucks up to their women, with Bec Carman and Andy Wang making some good long runs. Mention should also go to Laina who got 2 D's in the same point! Final score, 11-6 (?).
Despite the good wins, the team is pretty bummed at the moment as Sweet As (Brett Middleton) was injured in the first game and is out for Worlds. In laying out on D against Orc$hack, Sweet As tore his PCL. Everyone is in shock that this has happened and there is a sense of disbelief that he won't be leaping around in his usual style at Worlds. Hopefully, the PCL tear won't interfere too much with Brett's dance moves, as he has been the leader of the all male mundi dance troop who have some pretty snazzy hand actions to the Vengaboys hit "We like to party". Sweet, we love you lots and are thinking of you. I'm sure everyone back in Oz is thinking of you too, so please send Sweet As some pep up messages.
The second game was against Triceratops, a newly formed team of mostly younger players. As our billets for the last few days have been from Triceratops, both teams were eagerly anticipating the game. The game was closer, with both teams moving the disc quickly up the field. It was exciting to see the mundis put numerous hucks up to their women, with Bec Carman and Andy Wang making some good long runs. Mention should also go to Laina who got 2 D's in the same point! Final score, 11-6 (?).
Despite the good wins, the team is pretty bummed at the moment as Sweet As (Brett Middleton) was injured in the first game and is out for Worlds. In laying out on D against Orc$hack, Sweet As tore his PCL. Everyone is in shock that this has happened and there is a sense of disbelief that he won't be leaping around in his usual style at Worlds. Hopefully, the PCL tear won't interfere too much with Brett's dance moves, as he has been the leader of the all male mundi dance troop who have some pretty snazzy hand actions to the Vengaboys hit "We like to party". Sweet, we love you lots and are thinking of you. I'm sure everyone back in Oz is thinking of you too, so please send Sweet As some pep up messages.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The other side of the pre-tour
okay, so I know it is all about the ultimate but when you are in places like SF, Yosemite and Portland it is good to get out and explore a bit. Thought I'd give a few updates on other activities.
First stop in SF involved a fabulous bike ride across the Golden Gate and down to Sausolito, where it was so much warmer and where Cath and I discovered the joys of green apple on sandwiches, yum.
Yosemite saw me joining the anti-phaf bus and heading into the park very early for a full day hike up Half Dome. Yosemite was beautiful and one of those places where every corner you turn there is a more awesome view. The swim half way back in the crystal clear water was probably one of the best swims I have ever had.
We drove from SF to Santa Barbara and then to Yosemite so there were many car games, lots of singing and quite a few delirious moments, but I guess that is all part of team binding right?
Back in SF and we met up with our billets. They were all really lovely and accommodating. Cath and I have also been talking about claiming some of the trip on tax in relation to work so Cath has been taking photos of buildings (she is an architect) and I have been readin lots of signs about historic places. We did howeever make a concerted effort and went, with Gaby, to teh de Young Museum in Golden Gate park. The park itself is wonderful and the museum was great. Managed to see the Chihuly exhibit. I don;t know why but looking at his work just makes me happy. One od the exhitbits showcased his collection of Native American basktes amongst his own work inspired by the craft. Really interesting relationship.
WE then traipsed Haight street found some great second hand shop and an amazing collection of vintage hats.
Onto Portland which claims to be the city of roses, but I think yo can add dogs and subarus to that. Again we are being billeted but last night took over the house we are staying in and had a bbq. The house provides instant entertainment in the form of table tennis, pool and fussball. Awesome. think of that said in an American accent.
There has also been a fair amount of shopping going on with lots of people visiting REI the outdoors shop. Mel, Cath and I ended up visiting a whole lot of vintage shops on Hawthorne St near where we are staying and had a very successful morning. Tim you may need to bring another bag over!
Anyway, apparently we have some ultimate games this evening, but thought I'd let you know how hard we have all been working :)
Not long to go now and the big time begins.
Take care.
Laina
First stop in SF involved a fabulous bike ride across the Golden Gate and down to Sausolito, where it was so much warmer and where Cath and I discovered the joys of green apple on sandwiches, yum.
Yosemite saw me joining the anti-phaf bus and heading into the park very early for a full day hike up Half Dome. Yosemite was beautiful and one of those places where every corner you turn there is a more awesome view. The swim half way back in the crystal clear water was probably one of the best swims I have ever had.
We drove from SF to Santa Barbara and then to Yosemite so there were many car games, lots of singing and quite a few delirious moments, but I guess that is all part of team binding right?
Back in SF and we met up with our billets. They were all really lovely and accommodating. Cath and I have also been talking about claiming some of the trip on tax in relation to work so Cath has been taking photos of buildings (she is an architect) and I have been readin lots of signs about historic places. We did howeever make a concerted effort and went, with Gaby, to teh de Young Museum in Golden Gate park. The park itself is wonderful and the museum was great. Managed to see the Chihuly exhibit. I don;t know why but looking at his work just makes me happy. One od the exhitbits showcased his collection of Native American basktes amongst his own work inspired by the craft. Really interesting relationship.
WE then traipsed Haight street found some great second hand shop and an amazing collection of vintage hats.
Onto Portland which claims to be the city of roses, but I think yo can add dogs and subarus to that. Again we are being billeted but last night took over the house we are staying in and had a bbq. The house provides instant entertainment in the form of table tennis, pool and fussball. Awesome. think of that said in an American accent.
There has also been a fair amount of shopping going on with lots of people visiting REI the outdoors shop. Mel, Cath and I ended up visiting a whole lot of vintage shops on Hawthorne St near where we are staying and had a very successful morning. Tim you may need to bring another bag over!
Anyway, apparently we have some ultimate games this evening, but thought I'd let you know how hard we have all been working :)
Not long to go now and the big time begins.
Take care.
Laina
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tournament in San Francisco
(From Al with assistance from Mel and Notty)
After surviving Yosemite, we travelled back to San Francisco on Friday to prepare for our tournament on the weekend. There were seven teams from the Bay Area and LA out for a days fun in the sun (a nice change after the cool fog of our earlier time in SF).
First game saw us up against newly formed LA team "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow" featuring the familiar face of Minh Huynh (ex-Canberra). Mundis were starting to put their offence together, but a few turnovers capitalised on by Brown Chicken, Brown Cow's efficient play saw us go down 15-11.
The second game of the day saw us taking on the well established team Mischief, a team that regularly features in the business end of UPA nationals over the past four or five years. Efficient offence combined with some real intensity and cohesion from the D-line in ever increasing wind saw us take the half 8-5(?). We managed to maintain form in the second half and ran out with a very satisfactory victory 15-7.
The strength of wind was highlighted when on the same field a large children's jumping castle, complete with small children inside and diesel generator attached, blew over and started rolling down the field (don't fret, no small children, animals or players were hurt). It was in these conditions that our last game of the day against Brass Monkey, who were finalists at WUCC 2006 in Perth, was played. Brass Monkey came out a little flat against a fired up Mundi team who were looking to continue on from the success of the earlier game. The mundis took the half 8-2 before a spirited come back from Brass in the second half. Soft cap was called at 11-6, before the mundis took out the game 13-7.
Special mention should go to the efforts of our D-line who were down a couple of sets of legs due to dodgy ankles, tender calves and overly colourful knees (the timing of our physio Mike's arrival was impeccable). Yorston and Freise ran all day as key players marking in the Pommie and Max, along with impressing the ladies on the other team with his looks, ran like a machine all day. Brett (aka Sweet As) also deserves mention for a couple of awesome grabs that he took on both O and D during the day.
After the day's play, we headed into the city for dinner with the other teams. The Venga boys (Seb, Sweet As, Tex, Huy) impressed and made a little loose change with their dancing efforts outside the pub after closing time.
We are now in Portland for the last games of our warm up against an exciting young new team, Triceratops, and the old hands of Horseshack. Portland is beautiful and sunny and our hosts have been incredibly hospitable.
Bring on Vancouver (only 6 sleeps to go).
After surviving Yosemite, we travelled back to San Francisco on Friday to prepare for our tournament on the weekend. There were seven teams from the Bay Area and LA out for a days fun in the sun (a nice change after the cool fog of our earlier time in SF).
First game saw us up against newly formed LA team "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow" featuring the familiar face of Minh Huynh (ex-Canberra). Mundis were starting to put their offence together, but a few turnovers capitalised on by Brown Chicken, Brown Cow's efficient play saw us go down 15-11.
The second game of the day saw us taking on the well established team Mischief, a team that regularly features in the business end of UPA nationals over the past four or five years. Efficient offence combined with some real intensity and cohesion from the D-line in ever increasing wind saw us take the half 8-5(?). We managed to maintain form in the second half and ran out with a very satisfactory victory 15-7.
The strength of wind was highlighted when on the same field a large children's jumping castle, complete with small children inside and diesel generator attached, blew over and started rolling down the field (don't fret, no small children, animals or players were hurt). It was in these conditions that our last game of the day against Brass Monkey, who were finalists at WUCC 2006 in Perth, was played. Brass Monkey came out a little flat against a fired up Mundi team who were looking to continue on from the success of the earlier game. The mundis took the half 8-2 before a spirited come back from Brass in the second half. Soft cap was called at 11-6, before the mundis took out the game 13-7.
Special mention should go to the efforts of our D-line who were down a couple of sets of legs due to dodgy ankles, tender calves and overly colourful knees (the timing of our physio Mike's arrival was impeccable). Yorston and Freise ran all day as key players marking in the Pommie and Max, along with impressing the ladies on the other team with his looks, ran like a machine all day. Brett (aka Sweet As) also deserves mention for a couple of awesome grabs that he took on both O and D during the day.
After the day's play, we headed into the city for dinner with the other teams. The Venga boys (Seb, Sweet As, Tex, Huy) impressed and made a little loose change with their dancing efforts outside the pub after closing time.
We are now in Portland for the last games of our warm up against an exciting young new team, Triceratops, and the old hands of Horseshack. Portland is beautiful and sunny and our hosts have been incredibly hospitable.
Bring on Vancouver (only 6 sleeps to go).
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Barramundis v Gendors
Meeting on a sunny University of Santa Barbara field with a backdrop remininscent of the Kaimana mountainous skyline silhoutted by the setting sun, and only 90 minutes late this time (after a long drive from San Fran), the 'mundis warmed up with vigour, excitement and a little nervousness. There were many familiar faces on the opposition including current Jam players Greg Husak, Princess, Condors' Steve Dugan and kiwi Kim van Berkel and Fury's Jenn, who played a dominant role against the firetails in San Francisco on Sunday.
Lee sat this game out nursing his ankle, whilst Steve, Notty and Vickie all donned tracksuits early to manage their injuries also.
Australia started the game upwind on offence and after a few simple combination errors, were burning a timeout at 0-3. The play then mostly traded to half at 6-9, with the 'mundis D team converting a few, even reclaiming one upwind point. Our transition zones were working fluidly and offence against the zone was a strong point also. Our line management was thrown off a little playing lots of offense as we cycled many D players through to get everyone experienceing field time versus some quality opposition. Even captain Al didn't realise he was chasing Husak around for the first couple of points. Sweet As showed him how it should be done, pulling one down over the big man. Standouts for the Barra's included Max, Leanne and JD whilst Tex and Bec showed their speed will be a huge part of the 'Mundi's arsenal come worlds.
The Gendors closed the game out 10-17 after a few soft turns gifted them possession close to our line. We came away with some definite points to work on and knowing that cleaning up the basic errors will remove a majority of our turnovers.
We then headed to Jen's house for some pizza, brew and 'Go Juice', a local favourite cocktail with herbs fresh from the garden. A spot of croquet and ping pong rounded the evening before we bunkered down for the long trip back up to Yosemite. The next day or two will see some recreation time in the hills before returning to San Fran for games against Brass Monkey and Mischief.
Lee sat this game out nursing his ankle, whilst Steve, Notty and Vickie all donned tracksuits early to manage their injuries also.
Australia started the game upwind on offence and after a few simple combination errors, were burning a timeout at 0-3. The play then mostly traded to half at 6-9, with the 'mundis D team converting a few, even reclaiming one upwind point. Our transition zones were working fluidly and offence against the zone was a strong point also. Our line management was thrown off a little playing lots of offense as we cycled many D players through to get everyone experienceing field time versus some quality opposition. Even captain Al didn't realise he was chasing Husak around for the first couple of points. Sweet As showed him how it should be done, pulling one down over the big man. Standouts for the Barra's included Max, Leanne and JD whilst Tex and Bec showed their speed will be a huge part of the 'Mundi's arsenal come worlds.
The Gendors closed the game out 10-17 after a few soft turns gifted them possession close to our line. We came away with some definite points to work on and knowing that cleaning up the basic errors will remove a majority of our turnovers.
We then headed to Jen's house for some pizza, brew and 'Go Juice', a local favourite cocktail with herbs fresh from the garden. A spot of croquet and ping pong rounded the evening before we bunkered down for the long trip back up to Yosemite. The next day or two will see some recreation time in the hills before returning to San Fran for games against Brass Monkey and Mischief.
Monday, July 21, 2008
'Mundis hit the US of A
After arriving in dribs and drabs over a few days with Laina and James the last 'Mundis to touch down on foreign soil, the Barramundis are now ready to begin the next phase of our tilt at a world championship title. Gathered excitingly in San Francisco, we went out to watch the dingos and firetails play their opening tour matches. The reality of the pre-tour kicked in, knowing that come Tuesday it would be us fronting essentially anonymous opposition.
We've managed to squeeze some sights in, including the baseball, sampling the alcoholic delights of the tenderloin district where our hostel is located (JD even struck up conversation with a lovely young lady on the street) and ran up the hills to Alamo Square to see the Full House house.
On sunday afternoon we headed down to Golden Gate Park for our last intra-team scrimmage, which was primarily to run out some jetlag, which plagued the other aussie teams in the their first games. Our 3pm start (ok, so 5pm) saw us finish late with a feed of Mexican and a night of cocktails, dancing, pool and backroom poker...
We're off to see the traditional sights of San Fran today - the bridge, the hilly streets, the fast food spots and Sebbo is off to find a jumping leatherbar, as last night he missed his slot at the local amateur night at the neon club just around the corner.
So, til we check in again after our game with the Gendors in Santa Barbara, 'ooroo.
We've managed to squeeze some sights in, including the baseball, sampling the alcoholic delights of the tenderloin district where our hostel is located (JD even struck up conversation with a lovely young lady on the street) and ran up the hills to Alamo Square to see the Full House house.
On sunday afternoon we headed down to Golden Gate Park for our last intra-team scrimmage, which was primarily to run out some jetlag, which plagued the other aussie teams in the their first games. Our 3pm start (ok, so 5pm) saw us finish late with a feed of Mexican and a night of cocktails, dancing, pool and backroom poker...
We're off to see the traditional sights of San Fran today - the bridge, the hilly streets, the fast food spots and Sebbo is off to find a jumping leatherbar, as last night he missed his slot at the local amateur night at the neon club just around the corner.
So, til we check in again after our game with the Gendors in Santa Barbara, 'ooroo.
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