Greetings one and all, long time no write. Apologies for my lack of witty and entertaining prose over the last month or so, but as The Chard is yet to be racking up the kind of hits and views that would result in some payment for this long suffering scribe, I had to attend to actual work. You can help avenge this miscarriage of justice by telling all of your friends about gridirondownunder.com, where we plan to have original video content on the site for the first time, during the upcoming GV Women’s and Junior season in 2017.
But I digress. Right now, it’s about the Gridiron Victoria Division 1 Semi-Finals taking place this weekend, at arguably the finest playing surface in GV. A little place I like to call “Arena Parade Arena”. It’s got a certain indefinable charm to it.
The cream has risen. The wheat has bid farewell to the chaff. 4 teams remain. 2 will advance to Paradise at Lakeside. Get your butts down to Arena Parade Arena on Saturday to find out who.
DIVISION 1
Saturday October 8th – Heatherbrae Reserve, Officer – 11:00am
Western Crusaders (2nd Place, 9-3-0) vs Croydon Rangers (3rd Place, 7-4-1)
Last Time: Week 8, 2016: Crusaders 44, Rangers 26
The story of this rivalry in recent history is well documented. Despite their championship success, Croydon’s Kryptonite are the lads in Red, whom they have not beaten since 2014. This game will be another fierce contest, and much like red kryponite, hopefully unpredictable in nature. Success and failure for each team will once again lie in the trenches, where the All-GV Crusader front four will be looking to establish their dominance and lead the Wild Westerners to their first VicBowl appearance since 2007. The Rangers are a desperate and proud outfit, and despite a shaky last half of the season will give everything they have for a chance to defend their 2015 title. This will be epic.
Stafford’s Prediction: Crusaders ??, Rangers ??
Saturday October 8th – Heatherbrae Reserve, Officer – 2:30pm
Monash Warriors (1st Place, 11-1-0) vs Geelong Buccaneers (4th Place, 7-5-0)
Last Time: Week 8, 2016: Warriors 44, Buccaneers 13
The Warriors have stormed home to another first place finish and are hot favourites to make to a 5th consecutive VicBowl. To get there, they must defeat their 4-Time VicBowl rivals in the Geelong Buccaneers. These first two sentences indicate both teams are loaded with playoff experience, leading to an even contest. But Monash have been a cut above the competition over the past 6 weeks and would appear to have Geelong’s measure. If they get the ball to the outside with Luke Jackson, Travis de Niese, and the returning Heath Decker, the speed advantage they have could be too much for the Buccs to overcome. Geelong’s best chance lies in ball control and winning the time of possession battle to keep it close deep into the game.
Stafford’s Prediction: Warriors 30, Buccaneers 12
Peace Out peeps, I hope to see you all down at Arena Parade Arena this weekend for the best football Victoria has to offer.
