OPENS
Write up brought to you by Tiernan Somers
The final of the Opens Division was always going to be a thriller. Both teams were playing for their first ever gold medal at this tournament, meaning the stakes and the tension were incredibly high.
It was a rough start for the Dingoes, who went down two breaks after some uncharacteristic turnovers from the o-line. They managed to gather themselves together in the third point of the game, Thomas Vo scoring the goal off a nice swing from Alex Ladomatos.
After a clean hold, the unrelenting Philippines’ defence came back out, supercharged by the constant cheering of their home crowd. Their immense pressure created another turnover, and they managed to break once more: 4-1 Philippines.
At this point, you could almost see as the “that’s enough” switch was flicked by handler duo Jono Keyes and Tom Tullet. The pair came out and tore open the Philippines’ defence with two very impressive high release flicks, marching in a clean, stylish hold for the Dingoes. The Pack then went on to get their first break of the game, thanks to Dylan Bennett’s clean run-through D. Nic Lelli showing great patience behind the disc before a Scott Perry flick to Lado was pulled down with authority.
And yet despite this stamp of defiance from the Aussies, the Filipino men continued to cause chaos, earning themselves another break to bring the game to 6-3. Their use of give-go movements and effective inside shots allowed them to find flow excellently on the field, making the Australians scramble to try and stop the assault.
The next break for the Dingoes came after their junky D look, which also seemed to include elements of match, forced a turnover that they were able to capitalise on, bringing the game within one point, 7-6. Undeterred, however, the home nation managed to retain their lead and end the first innings with a hold.
A missed break opportunity for the Dingoes resulted in a score for the Philippines, despite Dylan Bennett’s huge bid. He was giving it his absolute all out there, it was so impressive to watch. The tension was thick like the Manila air, you could really feel the pressure start to grow as the clock uncaringly wound down. The Aussie’s needed to break.
11-6 now due largely to the 100% efficiency of the Philippines D-line who were six from six on break opportunities, but our Australian brethren were far from done. Mark Wee continued to find space in the endzone. 11-7. Peter Eley and Olly Loughnan combined to punch in a break (anyone else think Olly was about to do a shoey on stream after this?). 11-8. Wes Flavell was ripping pulls deep into Callahan country and after a cold drop on the endzone line, Ferdy Rhamadan converted another to bring the score to 11-9. 15 minutes to go, also known as the time to cook.
All cylinders were firing for the Dingoes now. Once again Dyl Bennett left his feet for a spectacular shadow D that eventuated in another Australian score. 11-10. A little over ten minutes to play. If your seatbelt wasn’t already on, you were sure to be doing a lot of jumping around at this point. And to that effect, we saw what might have been the play of the game as a Philippine huck that was seemingly sailing out of bounds was clawed at and toed-in remarkably to stop the Aussie momentum. As much as this hurt, you have to recognise the spectacular when you see it.
Maybe eight minutes to go now, and it was painful to watch as another foul call dragged precious time away from the Aussies. One of the commentators put it excellently when he said that there was just “silence, a hush over the crowd. Everyone [knew] how important this [next] point is.” And when it went the way of the Philippines for another break, you really knew that it was now or never for the Dingoes.
At 13-10 you might think that players would start to narrow their vision and look for the simple options. But Jono Keyes was not having a bar of it, and with the confidence that you would be hard-pressed to find in another 22 year old, he launched a flick huck to Rob Andrews who was able to calmly dish out the goal to Thomas Vo. 13-11, 5 minutes to play, if that.
It was at this point that we were treated to another series of ad breaks, and - if you’ll allow me to break the third-person writing style here for a moment - I have got to say that I was so sick of Carrie the Pocari Sweat mascot. In a time where my heart was racing and I wanted nothing more than to be on that sideline cheering on the boys, I did not appreciate seeing her again on my screen. With that said, I hate to admit that I realised I was probably forgetting the sweat that I was losing while watching this game. Well played, Carrie. Well, played.
Thankfully, we returned to the action where a huge pull chase from Mikey Truong, Tony Castrignano and Kyal Oh - who were brilliant at this all game - caused another turnover from the Filipino O-line. A fruitless greatest attempt from T-Cas saw the Philippines work it up the field for an outrageous grab to bring the score to 14-11 with no more time on the clock. This was it. Game to 15.
The “battle of wits and wills” was personified by young-gun Jono Keyes, who once more defied defeat by making a tremendous full extension layout grab to save the play before throwing the goal to Sam McGuckin. 14-12. Hold on to your hats.
In what would ultimately be the last point of the game, no hats remained on the heads of Lado, Guck or T-Cas, who threw themselves in front of the disc in utter desperation, as they attempted to stop the Philippine team from scoring. But to no avail. The battle ended 15-12, breaking Australian hearts. If you shed any tears at this defeat, make sure you refuel: it won’t be hard to find a drink that has the ions you need to replenish.
Congratulations, Dingoes, on your silver medal efforts, we are incredibly proud of you all. But do not think that the Pack is done yet, with WUC being played on home soil next year, it could well be a different story for this team in 12 months time.
WOMENS
Write up brought to you by Helen Epstein
It must be one of the toughest feelings going into a final against a team you’ve already lost to. But the Firetails came into this game with their heads high and their minds made up.
It was oppressively hot, if judging only by the number of ice packs on heads and the amount of sweat being wiped out of eyes, not to mention Dot Lee rocking the wraparound sunnies.
As a viewer, one might have thought that the early turnovers seen from Japan were uncharacteristic for them, but as this game went on they became more and more frequent. The Firetails were also showing some cracks, with a few unfortunate drops and heartbreaking overthrows. The day five fatigue was clearly setting in.
All this made for a vicious, tightly contested, low scoring game. But each point had its magic - a huge hammer from Caro Ma to Eva Weatherall to score, Angela Pidgeon in her element in the air, Alex Paterson and Anna Roesler scoring spicy goals, and we can’t forget Ali Lim and Kat Smith’s expertly drilled layout grabs to keep the disc alive.
Some incredible focus was shown by Georgia Egan-Griffiths, Alex Prentice, Jess Parkes and Caro Ma to keep the disc moving among the handlers in immensely high pressure points.
On defence, a run through D from Caitlin Grange was game-changing, with an immediate score to bring us up 5-4. Anna Roesler charged in with some effortless D’s in the endzone and we saw some prime body positioning from Alex Paterson for a clean block. Last but not least, a textbook Sally Yu layout D to save the disc in the penultimate point.
The adjustment to a flatter mark, stepping off slightly to stop the sharp insides that Japan is known for, was a powerful factor in the Firetails’ defence. It seemed to force some high throws which were to our advantage.
Trading almost the whole game, the Fireflies (I mean Firetails) held their position in the pointy end of the game, never letting up. It all came down to a nailbiting offensive hold in the final point. A powerful around backhand from Georgia Egan-Griffiths sailed across the field to a wide open Dani Alexander to take the game 11-10.
What an incredible achievement under challenging conditions! The Firetails have made history and brought home the gold. Massive congratulations to the team from everyone back home. We’ve loved every minute and couldn’t be more proud.
MIXED
Write up brought to you by Gus Macdonald
We knew that the AOUGC Mixed Division gold medal match, the last game of this mammoth five day tournament and a uniquely high stakes Trans Tasman battle, was going to be “electric”—but very rarely do we mean this in the literal sense. A bizarrely stressful thirty minute lightning delay must have given both teams all kinds of head static ahead of the biggest game of their young, Oceanic lives.
The Mundis thundered down on D, and after a bit of funny business around the disc, Manuka’s Liam Haberfield positively ripped a backhand huck the full length of the field to Samantha Ruhlman. Not the last time we’ll see this kind of thing. New Zealand have fearlessly thrown their way into the final, playing an unapologetic long game that feels unbeatable when it connects. To wit, a Mundis offensive miscomm gives Lauchlan Robertson the opportunity to boost a backhand to Nick Whitlock, who had been terrorising the division with his size and speed for the better part of four days. 2-0 New Zealand.
After chasing Asia’s best and most zippiest (sic) players around all AOUGC, there must be something greatly relieving about all the hucking for these teams. It’s a style we’re all comfortable with down south. We can relax about the inside breaks. And though there are turns, and though there are travel calls and tension and traffic jams in the middle of the field, the game settles into a familiar rhythm. For the Mundies, Chodos and Reeve run the show, providing release valves and pinpoint deep looks. For New Zealand’s offence, it’s all about Liam Haberfield. Tired (or, perhaps, bored) after throwing two goals, he drifts downfield and catches three in a row to make it 6-4 to Manuka.
Both teams try a zone and neither team succeeds—it’s actually a well-documented bad idea to play a zone when Maximillian Halden is on the field. The Mundies downfield trio of Owens, Fleming and Barcharm are really solid through this middle phase of the first half, bouncing, bounding around like they’re playing jazz.
A timing error (even jazz has its boops) sees NZ get their paws on the disc, and Whitlock calls a timeout. After the Pocari Sweat commercial is over and we all feel really thirsty, he uses his enormous frame to immediately launch a backhand goal to the back of the endzone. 8-5 to the Kiwis. Umm. Hello? Have they never read an IOU article before? Don’t they know that’s the most dangerous margin they could possibly have taken into half??
How Manila manages to transform from thunderstorm to blue, clear sky is beyond those of us in the lower latitudes, those of us who find humidity data to be existentially alarming. Nonetheless, as we start the second half, NZ come storming down the field on what is now a bright, hot, colourful day, like the saturation on the TV has been turned way up. They get a big piece of an Australian huck and, you’ll never guess, launch a huck of their own to Nick Whitlock. It lands. 9-6. Mundies Swing line then does its job perfectly—Yoshida and Ha grind together and find a streaking cutter on the breakside. Josh Lipari, a man who knows how to give the people what they want, catches the goal and immediately produces a spirited arm-folded “staunch” pose à la Whitlock and his cronies. The crowd enjoy the antics.
But antics only get you so far. Though the Mundis get a turnover at 10-7, the resulting huck is well-covered by Haberfield. Ireland leads a free-flowing, low stall, high energy offensive move down the field, proving that Manuka have more than just the long ball in their bag of tricks. The Mundis have a tense hold, bringing it to 11-8 (the third most dangerous score in ultimate). A strategic gender mismatch introduces a bit of chaos, and the Mundis win a turn on an errant deep look. It’s a long way to go in the brutal Philippine conditions, and a shortfield spillage gives it straight back to Manuka. Many stoppages and a time out later, and Anna Crosby reels it in over a flying Daniela Florez, New Zealand showing a bit of wow factor to convert their O point. Not to be outdone, two huge Mundies hammers from Chodos and Sotddard make it 12-9—dire, but by no means done for the Australians.
Two conversions either way, and a timeout is called at 13-10. If ever there was a time for the break train to leave the station, it’s now. Maybe it was actually a few minutes ago, since in truly logistically tragic scenes, as many as eight Mundis are seen in the shade tent hurriedly collecting their things to make their way to the airport. A hybrid D-unit are unable to convert their break chance and the new look Mundis O-line hold to make it 14-11.
This final point is a particularly painful one for Australian eyes. Though some game-point nerves make Manuka cough up the disc as many as three times, and two of the resulting Mundis possessions get as far as the final pass into the endzone, it’s not enough to punch in the game-changing break. On their fourth crack with the disc, New Zealand’s Liam Haberfield flips it to Charles Paterson for their nation’s first ever AOUGC gold medal. Congratulations to our frenemies across the ditch.