On Friday 5 October, 2007, LOG! gathered on the Ultimate fields of Macquarie University to compete in the 2007 Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships. LOG! started off seeded 14 therefore was one of the eight teams in the two cusp pools.
The first game was against the host club Hills Ultimate (Cosa Nostra). As LOG! stepped onto the field for out first game as a team we had a bit of a slow start, which may have been attributed to the three jetlagged players who arrived on Thursday or Friday from such far flung places as Darwin and Canada. Unfortunately due to the slow start we were unable to recover and lost ? to ?.
Our second game of the day was against Honey Badgers from Melbourne. This game was much tighter then the first. Jenn scored her first point with a Tassie team in this game only to have it called back (she got several later on to make up for it). We were coming into our stride but unfortunately still were unable to come out on top. Losing ? to ?
Our final game of the day with the wind picking up was against Wollongong. This was a very tight game with both teams trading points until Wollongong pulled away for a win ? to ? Kate and Bruce won MVP and were treated to Kicka's famous brownies!
Saturday started with blue skies and relatively still conditions. Our first game was against some old Tassie team-mates in Asher and Rachel Gentle, who were playing on Ambivalence. The game started slow but we picked up speed and managed to slow down their hucking game between Asher and "the really fast boy". We continued with our Zone D as the wind began to pick up with Felix and Button featuring as puppies. This was also Cookie's first goal of the tournament and the last person on the team to score a point.
Our second game on Saturday was against Ocean Madness. We knew this game was going to be fun when the opposing captain JJ mentioned he would be down for the Two Hat the following weekend. Again we spent most of the game trying to shut down JJ's hucks to anyone deep. The wind was a really blowing by now. The game became a close fought battle for who gets the most upwind points. Ash, Button and Mike (Bash) took over handling on those up wind points with Matt, Shavawn, Felix and Bruce doing lots of popping. We eventually started to increase out lead. We took the half in time for the wind to flip around for the second half resulting in us missing out on our downwind start. Both teams battled away for the second half with LOG! coming out on top ? to ?
With these two wins behind us we were bumped back up into the 9-16 pre-semi pools. Our first game was against 7 Nation Army, This was always going to be a tough game but the gale force winds were making it even harder! We traded points for the first few but 7 Nation Army began to pull away taking the half and eventually the game. Plays of note include: JK's 'huck' to the endzone that went some 20m straight up into the air towards the near by light post only to come back to earth landing right in Basil's arms in the end zone. Then a few points later JK blocks a backhand huck with his ribs... ouch. The solid team of Bash continued to handle on those difficult up wind points. Shelly and Jenn were fantastic wing deeps.
On day three we found ourselves playing off for 13-16 with yes wait for it ... the same three teams from day 1 (Wollongong, Honey Badgers, and Cosa Nostra). Our first game was against Honey. We traded point taking half 8-7. After half Honey came out strong. Eventually winning the game 10-13. On the next field Wollongong lost to Cosa Nostra in a very tight game, meaning we were playing off for 15th against Wollongong.
It was our last game of the tournament ... both teams seemed to decide that hucking was the play of the day. LOG! took the half and unlike the last game managed to hold onto the lead winning the game ? to ?, taking 15th place one below our original seeding.
LOG! would like to make a special mention to Shelly's parents, who were kind enough to open their home to 11 of the 14 players on the team. Thanks! We ate and slept well all tournament.
LOG! would like to make a special mention to Shelly's parents, who were kind enough to open their home to 11 of the 14 players on the team. Thanks! We ate and slept well all tournament.
Thanks to Shavawn Donoghue for captaining the team and for putting together the team report!
The 2007 LOG! team comprised:
| Shirt number | Name |
|---|---|
| 12 | Ash Martens |
| 14 | Jenn Lavers* |
| 11 | Kate Godber |
| 99 | Kath Downey |
| 24 | Shavawn Donoghue (captain) |
| 7 | Shelly Slater |
| 5 | Ashley Button |
| 9 | Basil van Riet |
| 4 | Bruce Hart* |
| 31 | Dave Cooke |
| 2 | Felix Kennedy |
| 3 | John Kristensen |
| 17 | Matt Petrie |
| 13 | Mike Baker |
LOG! team photo, Macquarie University playing fields, October 2007: (back row) Jenn Lavers, Kath Downey, Kate Godber, Ash Martens, Matt Petrie, Bruce Hart, Mike Baker (middle) Felix Kennedy, Basil van Riet (front row) Shelly Slater, Shavawn Donoghue (captain), Ashley Button, John Kristensen. Missing: Dave Cooke. Photograph thanks to Jenn Lavers.