Group Therapy...

Here's the scene: The alarm signalling the final point of the match has just gone and the score is 12-12. The team to score the next goal will win, and DojoMojo is in the advantageous position of starting the point on offence. All that needs to be done is to weave the disc past an opposition that has recently been reduced to six players after a string of injuries. But it's their six most in-form players, three of whom are current Australian representatives, and they've managed to claw back a two-point deficit thanks to gritty determination (and some poor Dojo play), in the last four or five points played...

The pull comes down, a few passes are thrown and some yardage is gained until a fuse in the brain of Matt Eastburn blows and he hucks it high in the direction of Slippry's dominant big guy Mike Neild (and apparently a Dojo receiver running long as well). The inevitable turnover sees Slippry work the disc steadily back towards the Dojo goal. But with only six players on the field (of whom only 3 are really taking an active part in play), it's not easy to get into the Dojo redzone and an impatient pass is thrown just out of the reach of a typically desperate Mat Ryan...

Play then resets where the point started – on the Dojo goal line – and this time the Dojo are patient and smooth, making good progress with open cuts up the field. So open in fact that a Dojo receiver is standing stationary in the Slippry endzone completely undefended when the disc goes up – the win is in the bag!

Apparently not. The catch isn't completed, heads hang, and Slippry move the disc back easily past a demoralised Dojo defence to score the winner... It's still a very painful memory 4 days later.

But that was just how the game ended. On the way there there was a lot of sweet, sweet Ultimate played. Dan Walls and Mat Ryan both went horizontal in spectacular style, the usual big Neild grabs were in plentiful supply, Jangles was poachy as ever and plenty of long Dojo bombs found their targets. And it's all on video thanks to the injured but still present Stefan Rappazzo. Check it out (please excuse Stefan's shaky handheld work - it took him a few points to work out that walking is not compatible with stable filming):



The second half had just as much action, not to mention the disastrous conclusion described above (but not to be seen on video due to a shortage of battery lifespan...) - here are the highlights:



So that's it for this week. Dojo lose out to Slippry 12-13, but do so knowing that a different result is well within reach in the finals and with plenty of motivation to draw on when the time comes... The Above&Beyond poll is updated to the right, and we should see some interesting movement in the standings this week.

And now that we've put all that on paper and let go of the disappointment we'll hopefully be back at our conversational best with a Slippry Bug in the next couple of days.

Preview From the Bamboo Grove

Most people would agree that having Wetnose as the most recent DojoMojo Blog interviewee for 10 days is long enough. Many would also note that seeing the Dojo anywhere near the bottom of the BUB blog list (presently occupied as usual by the Buggers blog) is a situation needing immediate rectification.

As it happened, our usual posting pattern was interrupted last week by a non-starting game against a forfeiting Rawhide crew. No game played, no video recorded, no post-game discussion to be had - what to do? And the answer of course was to be found wandering around the Dojo bamboo grove on a Monday afternoon as usual - big Julian Sacre.

So we strolled together for a while, chatting off the cuff about the work of Sun Tzu, and instead of analysing a previous encounter we contemplated the match-ups ahead for our respective teams in BPL Round 6 this week. Here's an excerpt from the conversation:

DojoMojo Blog: Julz - I see you're tipping a Slippry win over Dojo in Round 6. Why is that?

Julian Sacre: Well despite the spanking you gave them earlier in the season, I think they've really got their game together since then. They were quite impressive with a close win over us last week, they have a lot of depth and consistency across their roster and of course, the gun player in Mike. I think they're the more formidable of the 2 Buggers squads this season and the team to beat this league.

DMB: That's a big call Julz, especially when you consider that Pete Allen has put the kiss of death on the Slippry team by tipping them this week... But okay then - if they're such a threat, let's say you were asked to come up with a couple of strategies to take the Slippry Bug wearing the #1 shirt out of the game on O and D. What would those strategies be?

JS: Not a new strategy by any means, but I think putting maximum pressure on the gun throwers who will put it to him is the way to go. Mike will always do his thing in the endzone and there's not much you can do about it, but you can definitely do your best to shut down the strike handlers.

DMB: Our thoughts exactly. Now - who are you tipping to top the Dojo's "Above & Beyond" voting for this round, and why?

JS: Dan Walls - MVP for a reason.

DMB: There you go Dan - another member of the ever-expanding Walls fan club. And lastly Julz, you're playing the other Bug team this week, and the tips on BUB are going each way. How do you plan on following in the Dojo's footsteps and beating Messy?

JS: Going either way? Pretty sure only Wetnose and Will Churchill have gone for Messy so far. Wetnose is hardly an unbiased tip and Churchill... well... enough said. Last time we played Messy it was a tied game, however given that we were down 8-3 at half and it was the first time the new-look Lovers were playing together, I'm pretty confident we can come out ahead tonight. After much pondering of strategy over several visits to the bamboo grove this week, I believe that hard running on D will be required to generate blocks. Buzz will then take care of the offence. Easy.

DMB: Sounds like you've got it all worked out Julz. Thanks for the chat.

Lovin' It Sick

Poor old Johnny Mac. Last season his UQ Passion team were in the final, then most of them migrated over to UQ Lovers and now suddenly they're on the receiving end of a 15-4 hammering by pretty much the same Dojo team that they narrowly beat in the semi last season. Okay, we didn't have Lee O'Dwyer with us this time around...

Anyway, there's very little to say about the game other than it being an early tussle for the first few points before the Dojo got its game together and asserted its dominance. As so often happens in games with these sorts of scorelines, UQ scored most of their goals early while Dojo were using the first half-dozen points as a warmup and it was pretty one-sided thereafter. So let's allow the video footage to do the talking (thanks & credit as usual to the delightful Marijke Walls) n.b. very infrequent coarse language ahead:



Yes, some of those points aren't in chronological order but we've exercised our directorial privilege to arrange them in favour of a more interesting storyline. "Never lays out", eh Johnny? Does falling over count? Also included there was a rare insight into the mensa-grade strategic machinations of a Dojo halftime huddle...

But the Ultimate coverage from last night doesn't end there. Once Dojo and Lovers had wrapped things up on Field 2 there were still a few points left to be played in the Field 1 derby match between the two Bugs outfits Messy & Slippry. So in the interests of providing maximum Ultimate entertainment for nil cost we thought we'd include some of the highlights of the last few points between these two now-evenly-matched teams. Our in-house post-production team has been working by lamplight through the night in their tatami-floored rooms to bring you this coverage...

But before we press play on this, it's also worth noting that there were some highly controversial moments in the dying moments of this match which, thankfully for the generally well-spirited cause of the BPL, occurred off camera. We have no doubt those unfortunate incidents will be discussed widely elsewhere, so we're sticking to our policy of providing only the most hard-hitting Ultimate entertainment and BPL commentary here (n.b. a little more of that occasional coarse language ahead):



Yes, once again the batteries in the Dojo video camera ran dry with just moments remaining. And once again it didn't really matter - the match ended with Messy scoring to save a draw against their Slippry pals. Is "pals" still the correct term?

Anyway, enough about them - back to the Dojo. The MVP standings have been updated to the right and a new poll is ready to receive all the automated votes Stefan and Dan keep getting any computer near them to send in...

So You Think You Can Pull

Another season of the Brisbane Premier League got underway at the Annerley Junior Soccer fields on Thursday night, and DojoMojo came out in force with subs to spare.

Dojo's Round 1 opponents were the new-look Slippry Bugs, or at least they would have looked new had their latest pickup, former Messy CEO Mike Neild turned up for the game. Come to think of it, we distinctly recall seeing big-haired youngster Reece (thanks for the correction) on the field in the Season 2 final last week as well...

In fact the sheer quantity of unexpected team defections (mostly of the incestuous bedhopping variety within Brisbane's two mega-teams UQ & Bugs) has taken many by surprise this season, especially given that it all happened in less than a week! And no-one would have been more surprised than poor old Johnny Mac who arrived at the field to discover that the top half of his Passion roster had suddenly decided it was playing for Lovers instead! On top of that, new LD Stu Austin deemed his moment of ascendancy an appropriate one to also ride away alone from the circled wagons of his old Rawhide compadres and follow the Lovers trend.

Yes - it's going to be a tough start to the season for the tipsters (don't think anyone tipped a Lovers/Messy draw), but as ever there's one team with a roster that can be relied upon season after season - and that team is DojoMojo. Okay, so it's never certain which (if any) of those rostered players will actually play in any given fixture...

Anyway, all this guff about the weirdness surrounding the new season must be a subconscious attempt on the part of this writer to avoid the main subject of this post, that being that Dojo simply cruised through to a very easy win over a 6-man Slippry team, eventually taking out the game 15-5. There were a few stutters early, and a few noteworthy efforts from both sides. Jangles must have got at least half a dozen run-through blocks on stationary receivers during the night.

To make it all easy to digest, we've collated the highlights of the game (and a few full points to give them a nice rounded flavour) into a single video. As usual the credit and thanks go to Marijke Walls for the camera work:



That last point on the video was also the last point of the night - interesting to hear Dan Walls behind the camera hoping for a turnover so he could get back on the field before the game was over... And on reviewing this footage we were surprised to discover just how much smack talking Matt Eastburn does throughout a game, at least one where he's not running so hard he can't see straight... Makes it all the more enjoyable to watch him drop that push pass over and over again.

But we've saved the best moment of the night for last, and it involves a brand new concept (creative direction by Dave Watson) that the Dojo will be progressively rolling out during the season - the choreographed pull:



That should do it for now. With any luck we'll soon have at least one of the top Slippry thinkers around for a few games of Go and a chat about the season ahead. In the meantime, feel free to vote for this week's Dojo MVP in the poll on the right. As usual, voting for multiple players is a-okay. Oh - and this season we're changing the MVP scoring system so that every vote counts, rather than the one-winner-per-week system we'd used previously. So vote carefully!

The Minor Premiers are...

At the Annerley Junior Football Club last night it was the big showdown between the two top-of-the-table teams, DojoMojo and Slippry Bugs. Each team was eyeing the Minor Premiership and a theoretically easier semi-final match, and the sense of occasion was high! So, what happened when these two illustrious teams met under the bright lights of Field 1???

Dojo forfeited. Yep - it seems that all the talk about winning with six players last week left those kenshi with a long drive or a lonely heart (Dan B is reportedly wallowing in the depths of despair after his former "housemate" Matt ran off on his honyemoon with someone else) believing that they could stay home in front of the fire with the slippers on, safe in the knowledge that their teammates would triumph nonetheless...

But of course under the draconian rules our diabolical LD Jon has had chiselled into stone, a team that cannot put five players on the line by 7.30pm forfeits the game. Suggestions of using the ceremonial Dojo katana to slice Steve Hjelm in half (he could still hop faster than most can run, and could easily get by with just half a brain - some say he already does) were also considered to be against the Spirit of the Game, so with just the four of us cleated up we had to concede. Dave Watson arrived about 15 minutes later...

So that's that. Minor Premiers for BPL Season 2 2008 are Slippry, and Dojo plays its semifinal against Passion next week. Yes, that's the same team we rolled with six players last week, but watching them beat a full-strength Messy Bugs last night they looked an entirely different team. Still no more attractive in those faded pink shirts though.

Rounding up the regular season, placings are: 1 Slippry Bugs 2 DojoMojo 3 UQ Passion 4 Messy Bugs 5/6 UQ Lovers/Rawhide (not sure who won their game to decide the placings last night). Next week sees a 1v4 all-Bug semi and 2v3 Dojo v Passion. Will Dojo still be missing most of its key players? Will Passion be keen to regain some cred? Which Bug-team will the winner play in the gala Grand Final? If it's worth reading it'll be here on the DojoMojo Blog.

Oh yes - and Andy Lankowski's fan club really put in a big effort this week to give him 14 MVP votes, trumping Hjelmie's 12. So that leaves the season's in-house MVP table as such: Matt E (3.5), Stefan (2), Dave W (1), Mike (1), Andy L (1), Stephen C (0.5). With just two games to go at most, only Stefan could take it away from Eastburn, so would people please stop voting for Coopers... Due to the forfeit there's no MVP poll this week.

Mud Sticks But Slippry Slips

Everything the Dojo players have been working on over the past few weeks finally came together on the muddy AJFC field last night. And by "working on" we mean simply receiving (and perhaps reading) email tirade after tirade from Sensei C. Just goes to show that emailing is every bit as good as real training.

Even Stefan got the message after an early rush-of-blood throwaway, so we must be doing something right.

Anyway, the short story is that a disciplined and determined Dojo rolled through last night's game against Slippry Bugs to win 15-6. Some might say that those two "d" words aren't really in keeping with the Dojo Way, but times change and clearly natural charm and stunning talent are no longer enough to stay at the top of what has often been described as Australia's best frisbee league.

Short completions, rapid resets and a variety of impenetrable zone D's characterised the Dojo approach to last night's game and it really stuck. A few long bombs were of course thrown in just to keep the Slippry D guessing, including one pure magic arcing huck from Matt Eastburn to an apparently levitating Steve Hjelm. If only Dom had his video camera handy for that one.

We're expecting a visit from the Slippry leadership to the Dojo bathhouse sometime later today (we're always happy to share our post-game recovery facilities), so expect to see that conversation posted in the next few days. There's also the latest MVP poll for your voting pleasure to the right - vote for as many players as you think deserved it!

And BTW - current MVP standings are Stefan (2) and Mike (1).