Australian Nationals 2024
Yes I am aware I am late...
About a month prior to the tournament I got asked if I wanted to pick-up for Sunder. Wellington Wildcats had decided not to attend Aussie Nats in 2024 so just before rosters locked I quickly said yes to the Sunder leadership. Deliberation over which of the two Sunder x/y squads I would play for went on for a couple of days. At the end of the discussions it was decided that I would be playing with Slice, a team including a bunch of Dingoes players, young talent and, I cannot forget, Alex Gan.
It is now Thursday, the day before nationals. I have been following along in the team slack religiously, trying to foster some connections by watching training footage. I read all their strats and plays but without having played with any of these fellas before who knows what tomorrow will bring. For me, I know that to start with I will just be trying to gain synergy with as many individuals as possible so that I can use my skills effectively when we get to the pointy end of the tournament.
Come the morning of day one, I walk into the lounge of the main house to eat breakfast and begin to get acquainted with forty new clubmates. We head to the fields and our first game is up against Chilly, one of 3 Melbourne teams attending the tournament. I make a great first impression to the team with how I played in this first game. All my instincts are working, my immediate decision making is precise and effective, I take some 'difficult' but certain shots that help open the field and I also start to move the disc nicely amongst the rest of the O-line while learning a new offensive structure. My defence, although less of a worry coming into a new team, was also on form. I got a couple of well executed poach blocks in lanes and was able to run the disc quickly on the turns. We end up winning this game no worries 15-8 and I felt it was a very positive way to start the tournament.
The next two games of day one go similarly smoothly for the team with two victories. Against Manly Mullets I got two consecutive handblocks on their key handler (the first one was caught again) followed by an imaginative two meter assist to Thomas with a high release backwards bladey backhand over both our marks. Alongside this play I also thoroughly enjoyed a couple of poach blocks I ended up with against Krank after some well orchestrated team D. That evening we had a good steak dinner followed by some tactical discussions about what Saturday would bring and we were ready for it.
Saturday was the last day of pool play, we had 2 games, firstly against I-Beam and then against defending champions Ellipsis. Against I-Beam we had a comfortable victory 15-6 which put us in a good place come what we knew would be the most difficult match of pool play. My most memorable play against I-beam was a two-pass score to Leon that came after an undercut followed by a shimmey to open up a full field flick huck to the back left side of the endzone to win the game.
Before we talk about the Ellipsis match and the playoffs that follow I want to touch on my mental state at this stage of the tournament. I am not usually one to feel any negative symptoms of pressure, but right now I was struggling not to hyperfocus on how I could perform better. I think a couple of things had created this. This was my first time being a pick-up player for an already well established club without training with the team prior. My first impression to the team was when I played super well in that initial game and got the praise for it. This meant I wanted to recreate that feeling every moment going forward and when I didn't play to that standard in the following games it meant I was further thinking about how I could perform better for the team. Secondly, I knew that a lot of trust had been put in me as a fresh face coming into the team when I was put immediately onto the offensive line as well as the 'kill' line. Usually this wouldn't impact me and although it didn't impact my execution it did change how aggressive my options were and how proactive I was directing space on the field. I discussed this with the leaders on the team as well as people back home at the time and just by acknowledging the issue I felt that the problem was effectively sorted for the remainder of the tournament.
Now for the big pool play match up, the game to decide 1 and 2 seed out of the pool stage. The other pool at this point is going crazy, and depending on results could finish up with a 5 way tie for top seed (didn't end up happening but the numbers said it was possible). But we needed to win this game to give ourselves the best chance of not crossing over with the other Sunder team in the quarters or semis.
The game starts well, both teams trading for a few points. Our defence is applying good pressure and Ellipsis seems to have started to shorten lines by the end of the first half. We break a couple of times and take half 8-7. Come the second half we trade for a few points again and then we go on a run. 9-9 to 12-10. We are up and relatively comfortable but then Ellipsis takes their turn. The team in white and green brings it back to 13-13 and then 14-14. Game point for both teams. We come out on offence and going upwind manage to hold for the win scoring the final point of the game with a cross-field blade from Alex Gan to myself in the back corner. We had made it into playoffs top of our pool and have a good run through the bracket, hopefully towards the final.
The knockout games go smoothly with a 15-9 win over Sublime in the quarters and a 15-5 in the semi-final, a repeat of our comfortable victory over Hot Chilly in our opening game.
So here we are, in the final. Once again matching up against Ellipsis Men. My last two matchups against Ellipsis had been victories, pool play earlier this weekend and a 15-6 victory the year prior in the Final of New Zealand nationals, I was confident. Regardless of our confidence, Slice knew that Ellipsis had a talented top end of the roster and we were going to need to dig deep and perform consistently to take the win. I know this is a few months late but if you want to watch the game without spoilers go here - LINK
The match started off with great energy and both teams were throwing bodies on the line. A block in the first point was called back on a foul and so we missed our chance at an early break. The next few points are a bit of a blur, we break to go up 2-1 but then struggle to maintain momentum. Ellipsis is scoring quickly with their deep game and a couple of cold drops don't help our case. I then am the victim of a great block on a run through D. Another drop and we are suddenly losing 6-3. Slice stabilises and we manage to get a break back but Ellipsis still ends up taking the first half 8-6.
The second half starts off much the same. The shots that were working for us throughout the rest of the tournament were not coming off and we were having too many uncharacteristic drops and other mistakes. At 10-7 we start making more 'nothing to lose' bids and earn some blocks. I personally pick of a couple of loose high balls which helped the energy in the Slice camp. As seems to be tradition now in any oceanic final; there is a couple points where offside calls are traded and the competitive tension steps up to another level. 11-9. In the next point I made my personal best play of the tournament.
I send the pull up and find my matchup. Ellipsis's deep threat #35 McGuckin. I am backing pretty generously so end up following him to a shallow position where he receives the disc on the open sideline. Here I sense my opportunity, I have spotted a player cutting deep and hear the sideline’s urgency of 'no huck!'. I then bid and get enough of a touch on the open side flick huck to put it out of bounds and give Sunder another break back in the game. 11-10.
The game continues and unfortunately the momentum we built slowly faded and Ellipsis closed out the game with a clean final point to win 15-12. gg.
Throughout the tournament I was super fortunate to be welcomed in to the Sunder club so openly and I learnt so so much from the experience. I am very excited to match up against these lads again come WUC in just a few weeks now. See you all there ;)
Thanks to kreatifminds for all the photos <3
