Submitted by Some Random on October 7, 2009 - 5:22pm
Posted in
So I figure I should write something up in the way of a UGs report. I have left much of the social highlights out, mostly because (quoting a team member) I am "a worse piker than Jeff", but also because there are simply too many.
Last week, AUTC once again sent a mixed team to compete in the annual Australian University Games, held on the Gold Coast. Touch, and in particular mixed touch, proved to be a popular sport, with 12 division one & 18 division two teams (a total of 30 universities in mixed alone) fighting it out to score points for their respective universities. The AU team (members listed below), competing once again in division one, was in for a tough week, especially given the loss of many of the better players of the 2008 campaign.
Team members:
Adelaide Png
Alex Cassegrain
Ashley Johnson
Ben O'Donnell
Brittny Roberts
Catriona Murphy
James Haddy
Justin Saegenschnitter
Lara Scrimgeour
Mel Johnson
Steven Dutschke
Emily Moore (team physio)
The 12 teams were split into two pools for the majority of the week, and would then be split into a top 8 & a bottom four for the final games. Knowing that the bottom four teams would likely be relegated to the dregs of div 2 in 2010, the team was fairly keen to finish in the top 4 in our pool.
Monday morning lulled the team into a false sense of security. Faced with Southern Cross University (SCU) first up, the team was able to score almost at will, and without any substantial phaseplay. Hat-tricks to Alex and Ash saw AU run out 10-1 winners against one of the few easy-beats in div 1.
A few hours later, we came up against long time rivals Griffith University (GU), who we have just got over the line against in the previous years. Unfortunately, following on from the SCU game, a lack of team play saw AU play a dismal first half, and only GU's many turnovers gave us a half time lead of 1-0. Unfortunately, GU wasn't going to be dropping balls all game, and run over AU in the 2nd half to eventually win 4-2.
Tuesday was always going to be a tough day, with AU facing off against eventual top four teams Melbourne (MELB) & Wollongong (UOW). Hopes of pulling off an unlikely upset were dashed when Alex, the team's leading scorer after Monday, pulled up sore and was unable to play (he later found out he had broken a toe and missed the rest of the week, except for a cameo in the last game). MELB, one of the competition favourites, showed no mercy, and relentlessly targeted the three remaining middles of Ash, Ben & Steve in their attacking sets. A brilliant bit of team play from Steve & Justin, resulting in a Justin dive & score was a brief highlight in an otherwise forgettable routing, with AU going down 11-1, a loss which was further darkened with Adelaide injuring her ankle late in the game.
The afternoon game against UOW provided the team with some respite. Having already sured up a top 2 spot in the pool, UOW was keen for a nice & easy game ahead of their clash with MELB the next day, and given our injury woes, the team was quite happy to compete in what was probably the slowest game of touch ever played, with neither side willing to exert too much energy in the heat. In the end UOW literally walked away 4-1 winners.
Wednesday morning saw AU up against Notre Dame (UNDA), needing a win to guarantee a top 8 finish. Having quickly established a winning lead, both teams decided to pull out the trick plays, including "quarterback" - which resulted in being penalised for a 30m forward pass (& Ben being force-subbed after "arguing" with the ref), and a punt move, which oddly resulted in Adelaide (both the player & the team) being awarded a touchdown. Further shenanigans saw AU going down to one defender, and UNDA players doing push-ups after making a touch. AU eventually won the game 9-3 in a fun game (with the fun continuing with a joint AU/UNDA bbq & kangaroo court that night), and was rewarded with a top 8 finish, and a match up against competition favourites QUT that afternoon.
The game against Queensland Tech (QUT) was a whitewash. QUT, having gone through their pool games undefeated, severely punished the undermanned & overly-sore AU, demonstrating the ability to score on will that would eventually see them win the tournament. A touchdown to Mel Johnson was one of the brief highlights for AU, who fought hard but were smashed 11-1 by a much stronger team.
The Thursday offered slight relief, in that there was only one game to be played, versus Macquarie (MQU). Some solid defense & brief moments of brilliance in attack showed that AU wasn't far off the mark, but eventually MQU skipped ahead and won 5-3, in a game that was overshadowed by asickening knee injury to a MQU girl as she attempted a step.
The final game on Friday, against the Australian Catholic Uni (ACU) was the 7th/8th playoff. Adelaide played strong and scored some good touchdowns, however in the end some poor defense & panicking in attack saw the team go down 6-4, & finish the week in 8th spot. Sadly, everybody had scored at least one touchdown by Wednesday, so no AU players were present in the friday afternoon nudie-runs.
The best players (male & female) for the week (as voted by the team) were Ben & Lara, with Lara in particular having a great tournament in her second year, and receiving a few green & gold votes throughout the week.
The best first year player was given to Mel Johnson, who had an outstanding debut tournament, and is sure to be a key player of future UG campaigns.
The most improved award went to Justin, who had an absolutely fantastic week on (& off) the field. Under an injury cloud coming into the tournament, Justin had an absolute cracker of a week, scoring some great touchdowns, getting involved in the rucking, and even defending a fair bit in the middle following the injury to Alex. Justin also picked up the team mascot, Excitable Caitlin, as the social award, for his efforts off the field.
The MVP (Most Valuable Person) of the tournament went to the the team physio, Emily, who had a very busy week, & kept almost half the team strapped together towards the end of the week.
Although not as high as previous years results (6th in 2008, 5th in 2007), given the team available & the losses of key players from last year, AU performed well,and should have done enough to avoid relegation and, given that we weren't far off the mark against MQU, GU & ACU, we should be able to compete strongly next year (PERTH 2010) in division one.
Ben O'Donnell
