OG League 2020 Round 6
BY HARRISON DALE 10 MARCH 2020
With help from Nelson Dale
After a brief hiatus last week the OG League is back. Last week Cargie, Wylie, Harry and Newbung all bagged wins. The result pushed the top two further away from the rest of the pack, and amazingly stretched Harry's winning streak over brother Nelson to 12 games. Nelson's last win in the rivalary coming in round 3 of 2016.
Round 6 Fixtures:
Wylie (4) v Cargie (5)
Harry (2) v AJ (6)
Newbung (1) v Nabung (3)
Nsync (7) v Nelson (8)
Sack Good View (495) vs (523) shAKIRA shAKIRA
Wylie (4) vs Cargie (5)
A tight middle of the table makes every win worth the world as we push towards mid season. Cargie has been climbing up from last place and continued his rise this week all the way to 3rd with another big score, and another big win. Two forwards, Rob Valetini (87 points) and Taniela Tupou (86) led the way for his team, while Akira Ioane's (58) return boosted his score. BLAM (48) also chipped in with a good performance to make up from an unexpectedly quiet Sevu Reece (19). Two bonus points for Wylie will do little to ease his frustration as he slides all the way back to 7th on the table. The shinning lights for Mr Good View were hattrick hero Rosko Specman (83 points) and Scott Barrett (77), with solid contributions from Jack Goodhue (48), Lachlan Boshier (44) and Leicester Fianga'anuku (42).
D.Mac & Cheese (411) vs (503) Stuck In The Middle With Samu
Harry (2) vs AJ (6)
The most inconsistent man in 2020, rookie AJ continues to put together a string of the best and worst scores in the competition. After notching a 253 loss last week he almost doubled his score two blow away 2nd placed Harry for his second loss of the year. AJ's big score jump came in large part thanks to Brad Weber's two tries (64 points), Tom Banks (59), Ngani Laumape (51) and Connel McInerney (43). Harry takes his medicine this week with his second loss in three weeks and the lowest score of the round. To make matters worse, he was the only manager to not take home an attacking bonus point, allowing the pack to slightly edge closer. Clearly hurt by his outside backs who are in disarray, not a single player scored over 50. Isi Naisarani (48 points) top scored with Carreras (47), Kuridrani (42) and Taukei'aho (40) the only other players to show up for work. Harry holds on to second spot on the ladder, but another loss would see him well and truly back with the pack.
That’s Wright, you’re Petti Schatz (521) vs (459) Rieking Havoc
Newbung (1) vs Nabung (3)
The highly anticipated match up of brothers Nabung was finally upon us in round 6. Top seed Newbung scored his third 500+ round of the season, still only managing the 4th highest score in round 6. He did however manage to get the job done thanks largely to the tireless efforts of Harry Wilson (79) who took matters into his own hands, notching up 22 runs and 10 tackles. Warrick Gelant (76) had his best score of the season, while his Chiefs contingent in Solomon Alaimalo (57) and Anton Lienert-Brown (50) also performed strongly. Nabung felt the pinch from some of his players' inconsistencies this season, with last weeks top scorer Vince Aso (9) scoring far below his 116 point high in round 5. Adding to that, poor performances from Emiliano Boffelli (5), Garth April (6) and Marnus Schoeman (6), Nabung had his work cut out for him. Ioane (70) found his mojo and went about Rieking Havoc after a slow return from injury the previous weekend. Codie Taylor's (59) and Jack Dempsey's (59) efforts to score their biggest totals of the season made sure Nabung didn't leave the match-up empty handed, bagging both the losing and attacking bonus points. Nonetheless, the calls for Nabung's name to be changed to Nabum are building in volume.
DNot Straussed About it (592) vs (538) Goosen we have a Problem
Nsync (7) vs Nelson (8)
If I were Nelson, which I am, I would feel hard done by in this one. As his fellow podcasters have regularly pointed out over the last few seasons "you've got to play the man". The problem radioed in to Goosen this week was that even with the second highest score of the round and the third highest of the year, it just wasn't enough to stop the barnstorming Nsync and his side. The top scorer for Nelson was none other than George Bridge (79), while new signing Pita-Gus Sokakula (62) relished the opertunity to play for his new side. Wandisile Simelane (15) finally received a start and the only thing he seemingly managed to do was pick-up a grade 1 MCL tear in his right knee. For Nsync and Not Straussed About it Mark Telea (103) was on fire, surely that's the only thing that can explain 11 tackle busts and 4 line breaks. Other notable mentions were Andrew Kellaway (70), Lukhan Salakai-Loto (66) and Sikumbuzo Notshe (56).
Extra Facts:
Best Player: Mark Telea (103pts – Nsync)
Worst Player: Jona Nareki (1pts – Harry)
Best Supersub: n/a
Best Free Agent: Shaun Stevenson (72 pts)
Biggest Coaching Mistake (player left on the bench): Cargie with Mike Stolberg (47 pts) left on the bench for Tyler Ardron (23 pts)
Team Scores Round 4:
The Table:
Round 7 Fixtures:
Cargie (3) v Harry (2)
Wylie (7) v Newbung (1)
AJ (4) v Nsync (5)
Nabung (6) v Nelson (8)