When the Batteries Go Flat...

We've been putting off writing about last Thursday's game against the all-new UQ Lovers team for a few days now, partly due to other pressing matters but primarily out of denial.

You see, just how Dojo lost to this all-star UQ team isn't exactly clear upon first examination. The score was pretty close throughout, the teams pretty much evenly matched on a pound-for-pound talent basis, but somehow the formely-maroon-clad, temporarily-in-light-blue and soon-to-be-in-who-knows-what UQ lads simply managed to quietly and inexorably pull away from a mildly implosive Dojo team.

Perhaps the scars on every bony surface of this writer (no doubt Dan Walls is still festooned with bruises as well) are a clue to how things seemed to fade away toward the end of the game. Whereas the Lovers played a smooth, full-field game all night, it seemed that the Dojo players were constantly forcing themselves to do something special to score goals or even just retain possession. As the game wore on, coming up with something brilliant every point proved more and more difficult and eventually the inevitable just sort of happened...

But let's not sell the game short - there was some absolutely first-rate play from both sides throughout the night. From UQ it was mostly sweet, sweet long throws from Buzz and Al into the wide-open hands of Big Julz or Gref, and from Dojo it was mostly Dan Walls putting his body in danger catching heavily contested discs and going horizontal to save an overly-ambitious Dan B throw for goal.

Given that the kenshi spent most of last season learning to overcome this self-defeating style, it's a little disappointing to see it re-emerge so soon. But no matter - it will only be a matter of time before the Dojo style adapts to the return of old guns Ryan Black and Andy McLean and the rhythm returns. For now, let's just say that next week's opponents UQ Passion can expect to have their deep defences severely tested...

We're also pleased to advise that Big Julian Sacre is out strolling the Dojo bamboo grove at the moment, and today he appears to have some colleagues with him. We'd better rush out to catch them by the Eastern Gate for a quick chat about last week's game and the season ahead.

In the meantime, our usual MVP poll is to the right, and the MVP standings have been updated below. Vote for as many players as you think deserve it!

Waving the Gunbai with Johnny Mac

Scholarly as ever, John McNaughton arrived at our Dojo "Sumo Showdown" over the weekend with textbooks in hand and could be seen between bouts busily memorising what appeared to be the notes from his elective subject in pre-Socratean sophistry. Not sure what that has to do with his course in Human Movement (or some such Phys-Ed pursuit), but those ancient Greeks did invent the Olympics after all...

And as if that preamble isn't obscure enough, once the winning Rikishi had been awarded we then got down to dissecting last week's game. Here's what John had to say:

DojoMojo Blog: John, as usual it's a privilege to have you join us here by the Dojo Dohyo. It's hard to believe that's really Dave Watson and Dan Blacklock wearing Mawashi and grappling each other, isn't it? Anyway - onto last week's game. When you looked to the other end of the field before the first point and saw just the six Dojo guys standing there, how did you expect the game to play out?

John McNaughton: The six were no slouches, most having played several Nationals, but I thought we should take the game comfortably. The Dojo didn't look very fired up, Passion had recently been talking about getting more fired up and playing better, and we had essentially our full roster present. I thought it should be a comfortable victory against a team that probably wouldn't fight hard if they started going down.

DMB: That's funny, because we've already admitted that we were thinking the same thing. But something strange happened and we quickly started turning the run of the game in our favour. A few points in, it seemed that the quick disc movement from the Dojo offence was actually rushing the numerically superior Passion D. Is this how you saw it?

JMcN: You were certainly rushing us, but I feel that our D positioning was quite average. Dojo has become excellent at taking short opportunities, maintaining possession, and looking to create flow generated by handlers, and our poor handler marking certainly didn't help us to defend this. I think your perception is true, but for analysis' sake, I would add that one of our D weaknesses (inexperienced handler defenders) played into your strength, allowing this to happen.

DMB: Sounds about right John. And then you tried something I don't think we at the Dojo have ever seen before - a team doing drills at halftime (admittedly doing drills anytime isn't really a key part of the Dojo Way). What were you trying to change about the way your guys were playing?

JMcN: Really? I think more teams should try it. We ran a very simple defensive drill, one on one, to try to teach people to play proper man on man defence. We'd been getting roasted open and under all game, so I was trying to get people to wake up and learn to cover a position. Unfortunately, it didn't help a lot - we came out with a couple of quick points (playing junk) and then didn't change after that.

DMB: Indeed. Perhaps you should also try our own patented email-warmup technique? At the very least no-one can say it doesn't work... Still, there was plenty of first-rate action on field, and it was a shame we couldn't get any video from the game. The Buzz Burwell / Dan Walls collision would have provided some excruciating viewing afterwards... Any other moments stand out as particularly memorable from the night?

JMcN: I actually missed that moment... I thought Dan's IO backhand huck, length of the field past a poaching lane defender, was one of the best throws I've seen this year. Sensational. A good D from Andy on a Buzz scoober that saved a goal, Dan Walls taking a couple of excellent catches under pressure, Matt E had some excellent throws (low percentage but accurate and completed).

DMB: Yep - we certainly got away with more than our share of low-percenters. It was also clearly evident to us that a fair degree of frustration was building in the Passion camp through the game, and Buzz Burwell, that purveyor or fine entomological anecdotes, had some interesting words to say in the post-game huddle which seemed to sum up the Passion sentiments quite effectively, if somewhat less than elegantly... Without giving everything away, what will you guys be changing next week to avoid having that happen again?

JMcN: I think our warm up (or lack thereof) is a problem. We've talked about it for the last few weeks, and haven't actually changed anything. Most people do some stationary throwing before a game, and that's it. We may institute a team warm-up, including both the physical and skills-based, and see if this brings results.

DMB: Well, with a born leader of immense charisma and magnetic manliness like you at the helm John, we've no doubt that Passion will be back playing your famously dangerous style of Ultimate very soon. Thanks for taking a few moments out from your studies to discuss the game with us. Sorry you also had to endure the unpleasant sight of Andy McLean getting a wedgie and a slap in the face from Lee O'Dwyer here at the Dojo Sumo Hall...

Look how far they've come...

Even though he still hasn't dropped by the Dojo kendo hall for a nice chat, Dave Watson AKA the Golden Boy of Queensland Ultimate has managed to find the time to dig through his immense photographic archives to track down some of the earliest recorded images of some current (and not-so-current) Dojo stars.

We're going back to the days of UQ's Field 7 being the solitary home of Brisbane ultimate circa early 2000's. See if you can recognise a blonde-headed, Danish-descended kenshi with a funny surname in this image:



Yes, that's right - it's a much younger (and Dave claims faster) Steve Hjelm. Looking good Hjelmie, and happy to keep a low profile looking slightly shifty in the back row as usual. But speaking of shifty, have a look at Sean Flanagan second from the right in the back row (behind Jay Sansness of whom more shortly). There's something very "Today Tonight" about his look back then, wouldn't you agree? Also looking happy in the front left is Helen Spurling who stopped smiling (and playing) only a year or so after this photo was taken and pretty much immediately after she was struck in the sternum at point-blank range by a Buzz Burwell huck. Ouch.



The question here is not why Jay Sansness is in every team photo, but who that mysterious and goofy-happy looking Dojo-er is at the right-hand rear. And the answer is Dan Blacklock. You'd think that after all these years he'd have stopped living in a share house with other frisbee players, but no - not Dan.



Sansness again. But of greater note is that this image not only contains every male McNaughton that's ever thrown a frisbee but it also contains a younger, happier Andy McLean. That's him with the question mark over his head to the right hand side. Note that he's showing a lot of big hair promise even in these early days. Also, Dave has noted that the individual to the front left of the photo is in fact a much younger-looking Matt Eastburn. Hasn't Matt changed.

Ever the frisbee historian, Dave leads us to believe that this particular winter league, fought out on the cold, dark, pre-desertified UQ fields, was won by a team chock full of Dojo talent...