The vagaries of the packed quidditch schedule and all it demands means that 2014’s edition of Midwinter comes without either champion from 2012 or 2013 and without more than a dozen would-be tournament stars. Australia’s 21 fairest and finest are spending the present fortnight plying their trade across the Pacific Ocean, representing their country on a grand tour which culminates in Global Games 2014 in Canada next weekend. While any tournament will of course suffer to an extent without its most eye-catching superstars, there is instead an air of even greater excitement at the magnitude of unknowns going into Midwinter 2014.

So many of the absent players have defined the successes of their teams, at Midwinter and beyond, for more than two years. The powerhouse UNSW and UWS units are understandably the most affected by far, with five legends each missing. UNSW have such depth that they may still be impossible to beat. UWS on the other hand will relinquish their title. Unable to manage a full and competitive squad after being so decimated by the loss of their leadership core, their remnants have put the icing on the newly risen Victory Belles mercenary team, who structurally revolve around an experienced sextet of Sydney Unspeakable travelers. This means that the 2013 champions join inaugural title holders Perth in not returning this year for a second tilt at glory.

Meanwhile, Newcastle and Macquarie bring their own new cards to the table, even without any major Global Games disruption, while Wollongong will need all their experience to overcome their personnel shortfall.

UNSW

UNSW were undefeated until the final last year only to fall to UWS. They are yet to engrave their names on the Midwinter trophy and with captain Rajtilak Kapoor, Andrew Culf, Minh Diep, Emmanuel Berkowicz and Rhiannon Gordon all missing, it looks at a glance like they won’t be able to do it this year either. But any complacency against the Snapes from any team and they will be punished.

Deputising captain Michael Thomson has the temperament and guile to run an efficient well-oiled machine. Filling that leadership void and creating a sense of purpose will be their biggest challenge, because they will have no trouble filling the quality void. Phil Vankerkoerle remains to steer the chaser ship, while Nick Allan and Holly Shuttleworth’s vast utility experience will serve them well. New generation talents like Leigh Morrell, Chiani Sharma and Emily Webster fill out an impressive line-up which though depleted is at least still perfectly balanced.

Prediction: Should make the final really. Their best seven still looks near or at the top on paper, so they’re every chance of winning the whole thing. Only question mark is over depth and how an unusually small squad of 13 will hold up over a weekend.

Newcastle

Newcastle come into Midwinter 2014 with only Dameon Osborn of their central old guard busy across the Pacific. Yet the old guard still barely remains. Drastic rebirth in early 2014 has seen the Fireballs dramatically power their way back to top form, with new general James Mortensen marshaling troops from the back and a plethora of spectacular new talents. The Fireball chaser stocks have been given a distinctly muscular and athletic injection with the rapid development of Marcus Bradtke and Liam Dawson, while the beater team also has newfound variety thanks to Jordan Hunt’s wily work and a further influx of rookies.

Experience is clearly what’s lacking, especially considering the reshuffle that has taken place even within the old hands. Matt Ingram rarely finds himself beating and Desany Phanoraj now sits firmly planted at the back, while the keeping power of Roy Velting is often witnessed with bludger in hand these days.

Prediction: If you look at things in terms of outright firepower and pure peak performance potential, Newcastle will win it. But the Fireballs possess an alarming lack of big game experience and they’ll need to hope that their revitalised squad has left behind the old habit of falling at late hurdles as well as it has left behind its former structures and strategies. A big step to say that they should win it, but anything less than a final berth would me a major disappointment. Call them slight favourites.

Macquarie

The Macquarie Marauders have certainly flown with the winds of change in terms of personnel shuffling, but not in terms of form. Macquarie’s annual pattern now seems set in stone. They slowly build over the second half of the year and compile all their resources for a huge tilt at QUAFL glory. Then in the afterglow of that hard work, things decay to an extent and the opening half of the subsequent year meanders alarmingly. Midwinter last year represented the lowest point of their indifferent mid-season. It may be slightly cruel but not necessarily unjustified to suggest that this year will mark the same, if only because their results have been reasonable, even if consistent form has been hard to come by.

The basic infrastructure is still there for Macquarie to succeed. They provide the tournament’s biggest squad, anchored by the imposing rotating duo of Dan Phipps and Scott Palmer and shaped by the collective wisdom of the Laura Bailey, Allison Hore, Amber Williams and Maria Wizbicki brains trust with all its vast experience. Kieran Richards and Adam Halliday are also developing into classy chasers who could provide the ball-carrying support needed for Phipps and Palmer to achieve penetration. QUAFL megaseeker Daniel Commander is on hand to ensure that every team will have to work to get forty clear as their top priority.

Kieran Tolley is always talismanic with bludger in hand as well and in Morgan Thorndyke he has an able starting partner. But beater depth is where the Marauders’ problem lies and the issue is major. Tolley may find himself unrelieved and no-one can carry a team with that kind of workload no matter how stellar.

Prediction: Most of the key ingredients are there to be fundamentally competitive, but they lack of bit of star power and more than a bit of necessary beater relief. Watch for them to start strong in both individual games and in the tournament as a whole, but even despite their healthy roster, sustaining that form may prove tough. Don’t rule them out, eventual glory is far from out of the question, but it would be worth riding a good dollar or two on because the odds are long and juicy. Expect them to come in 3^rd  at a stretch, though 4^th  might be more realistic.

Wollongong 

For Wollongong, Midwinter looks to be yet another example of the frustratingly pleasant problem that has dogged their season so far; everyone is amazing now. The Warriors are now a classy team but somehow, because there are no true easy-beats anywhere in NSW quidditch, they’ve once again been shuffled to the back of the queue and are finding victories extremely hard to come by. This is likely to be the case this weekend too, thanks largely to their lack of numbers. Just nine Warriors have made the trip and though they are all high quality Warriors, nine just isn’t enough to cut the mustard with in such a quality field.

Defensively, expect Wollongong to be as sturdy as ever, with Brandon Heldt’s goal-saving guile and Huw Tomlinson’s physicality both providing high quality presences in goal. Aman Nalli remains one of the country’s very best off the ball beaters and Hannah Davidson is steadfast at the back. Jacob Fleming is a highly astute leader and knows how to get the best out of his team, especially his rotating chaser unit which the energetic Jarrod Simpson and Ezekiel Azib fill out, alongside the ever-present experience of Morgan Legg and Nicole Cabrera.

As good as they are at stopping them these days though, the Warriors’ problem all year has been scoring goals. This is where they badly miss the services of Michael Krysa and Daniel Lowe. Josh Nielsen’s absence may be felt just as keenly this weekend though, for his unwavering plant defence takes crucial pressure off Nalli and relieves Davidson.

Prediction: Given the quality of the squad, it feels sad and cruel to have to say 5^th, but it is probably the reality. It all comes back to numbers. The Warriors will be fantastic in periods and if they can find a way to efficiently sustain their resources for whole games on multiple occasions, then they could win a couple and who knows how other results might fall their way. But a win or two and maybe 4^th place seems to be the likely peak. 5^th is even more likely.

Victory Belles

As with any mercenary team, it is impossible to judge just what the Victory Belles might bring to the table. The team is made up of six Unspeakables, five Thestrals, a Manticore and a Muggle. What is immediately clear is the intimidating quality of the core UWS quartet present. Daniel Ormshaw and Bianca Connell are always immense at the back. But the real difference for the Victory Belles, which may genuinely propel them from typical mercenary also-rans to legitimate title chances, will surely be Christian Barquin and Stephen Butler. In this Global Games depleted tournament, no-one can lay claim to such a mighty beater unit. This pair will no doubt start and if they can gain beater control, that alone may completely control proceedings, regardless of how well their disparate chaser elements gel. Emma Morris will be the crucial third point in this beating triangle, a triple threat which may very easily take the Victory Belles deep into Sunday.

The chaser unit is far from a weak one. Sydney’s experienced and reliable rotating quartet of Ajantha Abey, Kathryn Cooper, Belinda Toohey and Meredith Apps will provide the strength in depth around which Lachlan Chisholm and Ormshaw can work, with Nicola Gertler’s passionate and demonstrative leadership rounding out proceedings. Connell gives permanent assuredness in defence. Liam O’Callaghan, whose catches in the QUAFL quarter final and World Cup have built him a serious reputation, will also keep the Victory Belles in any game as long as the margin is thirty or lower.

Prediction: The hardest prediction to make. 1^st and 5^th are equally likely, or perhaps anywhere in between. It will all depend on how long Butler, Barquin and Morris can retain the control they will almost without question gain in most matches. I’ll tip them to lead at some point early in every match. But I’m not sure they have the depth to win too many. Looking at 3^rd or 4^th.

With so many teams and so little time, Melbourne MudBash 2014 will be the first Victorian tournament to have two pitches and two pools of play.

POOL A.

In Pool A (otherwise known as the Pool of Ultimate Destruction) we will see the reigning champions (Melbourne Manticores…not that you need a reminder, they are always reminding you) face off against the newly crowned victors of the Victoria Cup, the Monash Muggles. The two powerhouses will meet with the Northern Direwolves and the Australian National Nargles all of whom will be fighting it out against a surprisingly impressive mercenary squad.

Melbourne Manticores

The Melbourne Manticores are coming at you with a larger squad than ever before. Some of our oldest players will be retiring after MudBash 2014 and many of our rookies are using MudBash as the diving board for their jump into the quidditch world. They are ready to shake things up against the Victoria Cup champions, the Monash Muggles, and relish in the defeat of the Welsh Green mercenaries, many of whom come from the Manticores’ longstanding frenemy team the Newcastle Fireballs.

The Manticores were flying high on a winning streak after Winter League and only barely missed out on a medal during the Victoria Cup, they will be fighting their hardest to get back on top, instilling fear into their enemies with the mightiest of roars.

Northern Direwolves

Who better to temper the sheer size of the Manticores than the ever-enigmatic and persistent Northern Direwolves. If there was ever a team that truly exemplified the idea of underdogs, it’s the Northern Direwolves. Coming dead last in the Victoria Cup, with a grand total of zero victories, they appear utterly underwhelming on paper. But out on the pitch, it’s a whole different story. Out there, their passion and heart shine through, refusing to give up even when they have no subs, or when facing teams three times their size. A team known for casually strolling to the halfway line before either charging head first through the defenders or hurling a half-pitch Hail Mary, Direwolf strategies are either genius or non-existent. Few sides manage to match the spectacle these red riders produce, resulting in a uproarious cheering from the crowds with every successful play, although whether this is in support of newbies or out of fear of their ginger giant known only as “Baberaham” is still up for debate…Ready yourselves, because this MudBash, Winter is most definitely coming.

Monash Muggles

At the other end of the table we have the Victoria Cup winners, the Monash Muggles. Coming out of Vic Cup as the inaugural champions, the season saw the Muggles in top form, dropping only one game by a snitch catch. The Victoria Cup has seen the Muggles, led by Captain Georgia Tredrea and Coach Nicola Gertler, transform from a team of hopefuls to a team of victors.

MudBash, however, will be a test to the Muggles ability to hold their own and endure over a series of games, rather than just give it their all in a single match. The Muggles usual squad of 12 will be extended to 18, including debuts of new players and the return of some more experienced players who were unable to attend season matches. An extended sub-line will benefit the team in the scheme of the whole tournament and allow for injuries unlike the 10 man squad of 2013. The addition of new Muggles Grace Levens, Erin Pratt, Tom Dortmans and Neil Kemister shall add to the Muggles depth of squad and physicality.

The Muggles strength as a contender for the title of MudBash Champions of 2014 shall lie in their ability to retain their strong defensive line-up that emerged as a key feature of the team’s strategy during the Vic Cup. Overall the Muggles look set to take MudBash as a time to test out new strategy against both Victorian and interstate teams as well as breaching the gap between new and experienced players.

Australian National Nargles

Don’t let their story fool you, the Muggles will definitely be fighting hard for victory while they try out their new tactics against local teams and travellers. One such team that many of you in NSW have seen around the block a few times that hasn’t really had a presence in Victoria is, of course, the Australian National Nargles. The Nargles have been nestled in the mistletoe of Canberra, hidden away for a while, only emerging to the open world of Sydney for Triwizards. Now they will emerge for the first time in the great city of Melbourne to meet and compete against the many teams of the VQA.

The team will be led by the ever tough Captain Laura Smith and new Vice Captain Danny Fox. They will be supported by the founding players and strong veteran beaters of Morgyn Benstead and Andy Cruwys, and all-rounder Matthew Armstrong, will be followed by chasers including Merryn Christian, Nathan Askey-Doran and Beater/Chaser Nic Radoll; as well as debut year chaser of Merryn Roe, beater Oscar Cozens and finally all-rounder Gary Hague. Plus special introduction of Perth Phoenixes’ Adam Jasko This all new line-up will test the limits of all the Victorian and NSW teams with the experience of years and international skills. They pride themselves on not only smashing teams, but enjoying quidditch with their emblem referencing “Be a Man” from Mulan, and travelling down in the “Narglebus”.

Welsh Greens

Rounding out the Pool of Ultimate Destruction we have the effervescent mercenaries, many of whom are coming the to visit the shiny shores of the VQA for the first time. Last year they were team Amazeballs, this year we meet the Welsh Greens. The true exciting exotic flavour on offer at MudBash 2014 comes courtesy of the Welsh Greens, mighty mercenaries who have come together from near and far to put up a genuine challenge for glory.

This team has risen from the ashes of 2013’s gallant Team Amazeballs, whose legacy is carried on into the Welsh Greens by their un-substituted hero Brodie Smart, and captain James Hosford. There is a rumour that we will also be seeing the return of dominant keeper and playmaker Daniel Ormshaw.

The core of the team around our returning mercs has been formed from great NSW rivals Newcastle and Wollongong, who each bring a key set of their crucial superstars to the party. The Warrior road trip comprises their former and current captains, with the vast experience of Morgan Legg and the calm leadership of Jacob Fleming aptly anchoring the team. Josh Nielsen provides key depth in both chasing and in particular beating, in support of Wollongong’s bludging master Aman Nalli. For the Fireball contingent, veterans Matt Ingram and Tom Russell are joined by fellow established beater star Joel Murphy and the strong bustling defensive force of Ryan Hanwright.

The already impressive line-up is completed by the addition of Alex Langdon, Vanya Geelings and Madeline Coleman-Bock, who provide crucial squad depth and even more vital inside knowledge of local teams, players and conditions. It is the experience and depth of their formidable beater line-up which will surely be the key to Welsh Green success.

POOL B.

While the Pool of Ultimate Destruction battles it out for glory on one pitch, our spectators will be required under penalty of unfettered poking to wander over to the other pitch and watch an equally impressive battle to the death in Pool B (or as we here at MudBash HQ like to call them, the Pool of Frenzied Extermination).

Blackburn Basilisks

The Pool of Frenzied Extermination is headed by the reigning silver medallists the Blackburn Basilisks. These fine warriors slithered into existence in early 2013, and quickly climbed the Victorian ranks. With an incredibly strong chaser side and an ever increasing squad size, the Basilisks earned the title of the most offensive team in the most recent Victorian competition.

Yet to have secured anything but silver around their scaly necks, (2nd place MudBash 2013, 2nd place Winter League 2013, 2nd place Victoria Cup 2013-14) they are keen to continue fighting their way up to the top, tooth and fang. With a complete change of Coaches and Captains, will this be the tournament that they finally claim the elusive gold? You’ll have to wait and see who comes out of the mud victorious!

Wrackspurts QC

Another team who always seems to score the same result, always just outside the top three we have the Wrackspurts Quidditch Club trying to claw their way to a medal. The Wrackspurts are constructed from a bunch of misfits and deviants and some say Monsters that get in your head. Coming 4th in the Victorian cup after losing to Manticores, Wrackspurts have been training harder and are determined to make a stronger appearance at MudBash.

USyd Unspeakables

In the hopes of showing up the rest of NSW, and on the back of their recent trip to the IQA World Cup in South Carolina, USA we have another team who is putting in the time and effort to travel to southern land of Victoria. The University of Sydney Unspeakables are a relatively new team in relation to the others existent in NSW. With a 3rd place finish at QUAFL 2013, they have proven themselves to be tough competition for anybody, a team that nobody can just ignore. With a solid beater and chaser game there is opportunity they have a solid line up which lets certain players shine. Their main strength lies in their player quality, with strong players a plenty in their usual squad.

Their main disadvantage going into Melbourne MudBash will be their minimized roster, though their 2 national players will both be present. How crippling this will be to their chances is unconfirmed but it will definitely make it difficult for them to remain competitive over the two days. Realistically it will be tough for the Unspeakables to win MudBash, though we all believe it is uncertain to all how long it will take them to be knocked out.

Melbourne Unicorns

The final Victorian team in our MudBash line up comes in the form of a team new to the MudBash scene, some of their players joined us last year, but many are MudBashing for the first time ever. The Melbourne Unicorns have been preparing for the MudBash tournament since they were founded in the wake of the last tournament. After a strong Vic Cup season of growth and development, the Unicorns are ready to take the field with force. Despite the challenge of being a young team, their enthusiasm, commitment and team spirit will complement their extensive training. The Unicorns are looking forward to taking on the established teams and the interstate visitors and coming out with a win.

Friends of Stephen…

And of course the Pool of Frenzied Extermination is rounded out by a team clothed in mystery, Stephen And Friends, who have only this to say “We are Stephen…with some friends…you need know no more!”

So who will take home the MudBash title? Will there be enough Mantiscores for the returning champions to keep their title? Will the Basilisks finally snag themselves a gold medal? Are the Muggles ready for some more shiny metal? Or will our previous medallists all be upset by two of the seven other talented teams hitting the pitches at Alma Park East? You’ll need to come down on June 28 and 29 to find out! We’ll see you there, bring on the mud!

The Victoria Cup has seen the Monash Muggles, under the leadership of Captain Georgia Tredrea and coach Nicola Gertler, transform from the team that just enjoyed having fun and drinking like the undergrad university students they are to a team that has developed into a compact well-oiled unit of quidditchy goodness.

Created and captained by Scott Cody, The Blackburn Basilisks defined themselves as serious contenders for the Cup even before the season started with impressive lead-up performances against all teams, only falling short to the Melbourne Manticores in a number of close encounters.

Previous matches between the Muggles and Basilisks have seen mixed results result, however recent encounters have been of the highest quidditch standard. While the Basilisks prevailed easily over the Muggles in both the VQA Winter League and Mudbash 2013, their first clash in the Victoria Cup saw the Muggles pull off a 90*- 40 win, while they advanced to the Grand Final with an 180*-70 triumph in the Preliminary Final just weeks ago.

Both teams provide a diverse range of skill and tactical moves, but rely on largely different styles of play. Where the Basilisks’ skill relies on the physicality and height of their chasers, the Muggles place great pride in the role of their beaters. Led by Dean Rodhouse, arguably one of the best beaters in Victoria, the Muggles’ beaters are disciplined and accurate in their defensive formation. This is not to discount the Basilisks beaters though. Their form has improved in recent times, as shown by their displays in wins over the Melbourne Manticores in Round 12 (130-70*) then again in the semi-final (130* – 80). The Basilisk beaters were instrumental in those wins, ensuring a solid defense to go with their always impressive attack. However the semi-final was both beneficial and detrimental to the Basilisks’ squad. While their triumph earned them a well-deserved spot in the Grand Final, the squad suffered some heavy blows in the form of injury to beater Adrian Marshall as well as minor hits to other players.

The most obvious difference between the Muggles and Basilisks on game day is the size of their squads. Will the tightknit Muggles usual roster of 10 to 13 players be able to match the depth of the Basilisks’ 21 or will that staying power and the seemingly endless line of subs be able to tire out the Monash kids.

This could so very easily be a snitch catch decided nail bitter of a match. Snitch Sam Washington is no newbie to the art of dodging seekers and avoiding capture. The catch will rely on the skill, speed and smarts of the seekers, with Muggles Georgia Wallis and Nathan Morton and Basilisks Luke Teys and James Osmond all potential seeking heroes, so this is truly going to be one to watch.

Will the Muggles’ Shake n’ Bake be able to out-score, out-beat and out-chase their more aggressive opponents, or will the Blackburn Basilisks be able to power their way to victory?

The match will take place at 11am on Sunday June 1, at Fawkner Park in South Yarra.

In May 2014, two years of Triwizard was marked with the biggest and grandest enterprise yet attempted, down the road at UNSW’s David Phillips Sportsfield professional complex. Each of the thirteen Triwizard tournaments we’ve had so far have brought something memorable to the table, but it took until this fourteenth gathering for the first ever attempt at two fields of play, the first such attempt at any Australian tournament outside QUAFL in fact.  This allowed a record sixteen matches to take place within one single Triwizard, with all eight established NSW teams once again represented.

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 The hosts opened play as always, against a UTS team they always comfortably had the wood over throughout 2013. The 2014 edition Opaleyes definitely look like they bring more to the table though. Encouraging March performances suggested this and for May they brought another full and varying squad of old and new talents.

But the early stages were business as usual, as can be expected considering that teams of far greater experience and pedigree than UTS have been consistently blown away all season.

UNSW barely raised a sweat in drawing 70-0 clear, with chaser leader Michael Thomson and anchor Leigh Morrell dominating proceedings. But the lethargy caused by such a pedestrian start created problems for the relaxed Snapes. UTS brought a sustained depth and quality to their performance. UNSW in turn had many of their best missing, either through total absence or selective resting within the squad, so the gap between the teams was smaller than it initially seemed. To truly put UTS to bed, the resources available at UNSW’s disposal on this occasion needed to be at their ruthless best, which they weren’t. The beater game in particular was disjointed and the Opaleyes began to regularly find open space in centre-field. Arthur Triantos led the way from the back, with newer recruit Kevin Yates providing the crucial support as the tables turned and from nowhere, 70-0 had become 90-50.

UNSW battened down the hatches, tightening up their defence to make sure victory was never under threat. Though the same rhythmic ease of scoring never returned, the Snapes did just about enough, extending their lead back to seventy before the snitch catch finalised a 150-50 win.

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 The first ranked match of the day was between UWS and Macquarie, who were sharing a mutual lack of human resources.  It was the eight Thestrals who had a slight early supremacy over the nine Marauders. Daniel Ormshaw and Hannah Monty established a 20-0 lead before beaters Evan Wright and Stephen Butler were called into action as Macquarie began to pile on some early pressure. Butler and Wright expertly saw off a number of threatening advances from the Marauders’ keeper and general Dan Phipps, preserving the narrow early advantage and paving the way for the thrashing to come

A shorthanded UWS is a very different beast than a shorthanded Macquarie, primarily because UWS have spent more than two years being almost permanently under-resourced, while the Marauders’ strength has always lay in the depth of their massive squads. UWS also retained the majority of their leadership core within the available eight, while Macquarie most of all missed Daniel Claxton and Kieran Tolley. But even if both were present, it may only have slowed down the rout rather than preventing it, because UWS quickly began to power through their struggling opponents and overpower time itself.

Hannah Monty’s astonishing four goal sequence within ninety seconds characterised the magnitude of the destruction, as UWS blew through the century mark in just eight minutes. By the ten minute seeker release, the goal count was up to twelve.

Very early on UWS appeared to miss their most notable absentee, Dom Bell, as Maria Wizbicki’s experienced head kept herself and untested rookie Helen Glover in the contest and pressuring the still learning Wright. But the lack of any established and experienced Macquarie beater was the key, with Butler controlling the contest efficiently and ensuring total control of the whole field. The UWS chaser firepower is always immense but rarely do they have such open spaces to work in, hence the unusually rapid rate of goal scoring.

The procession only slowed in speed as the Thestrals began to tire themselves and Scott Palmer eventually managed to restore some Marauder pride with an eighteenth minute goal. But UWS still achieved a mighty double-century, led by captain Monty’s eight goal haul, while Corey Ingold-Dawes and Arfy Papadam each amassed small fortunes of their own.

Daniel Commander’s snitch catch gave Macquarie the last laugh, but 200-40 was still a dire final score.

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The Wollongong Warriors faced the University of Sydney’s Unspeakables for the second time in 2014, having gone all the way to overtime in March. Both squads were full of experience and quickly looked set to stalemate once again. This match marked the first time a sizeable and near full-strength Unspeakable squad lined up back in Australia since their return from World Cup. It certainly showed, more in style and intensity than anything else. Sydney brought a new level of physicality to the field in both their legal and technically well-oiled tackling, as well as more borderline efforts influenced by mighty Americana.

The aggression would have been too much for lesser teams, but there is barely such a thing these days. Certainly the Warriors are no such thing and their gradually developing solidity of structure and presence serves them particularly well for such an occasion.

It was the Unspeakables who were firmly on the front foot, propelled by Cameron Brown who managed to grind out a hard-working hat-trick over ten minutes. The Warriors were content to defend expertly and counter-attack, effectively dulling most of the Sydney threat and keeping them well in check. But they could only manage one goal of their own over the same period.

The lack of a Daniel Lowe kind of x-factor which Sydney clearly had in Brown was the only real difference between two uniformly even teams. The top class beating quartet of Luke Derrick and Rob Wells vs Aman Nalli and Hannah Davidson ensured neither chaser unit could find any sustained space and take any kind of command over the contest.

Goals for Shara Longbotham and Cameron Brown gave Sydney brief breathing space before Brandon Heldt’s second brought it back to 50-20. The level was supreme from both teams, but the Unspeakables were showing the greater depth and sustained performance, once again finding themselves fifty clear with a further pair of goals. Seeker Liam O’Callaghan’s catch ended a high quality match 100-20 in favour of the narrowly superior but still highly impressive Unspeakables.

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As UNSW and UWS warmed up for an unusually early morning instalment in their most grand of rivalries, focus turned to the beginning of play on Field B. Newcastle’s first game of the day was against a competitive looking UTS. Given the Fireballs’ struggles in April, their even smaller May squad had definite cause for concern against a team easily capable of an upset.

The concerns would prove semi-founded. UTS confirmed that their chaser unit had not been made to look unduly strong by UNSW’s fun and games early in the morning. The quality was there, deep, and genuine. The Fireballs, still adjusting to many radical new procedures and equally fresh personnel, were ragged in defence. Both chasers and beaters sat markedly back in play, visually more reminiscent of a UWS, but they struggled in their communication and UTS were able to find room and tick their score along nicely.

Newcastle’s offensive firepower was striking though, with the playmaking James Mortensen and the burrowing Desany Phanoraj running an efficient and powerful ship. The alternating triple threat of Mortensen, Joshua Naismith and Dameon Osborn did enough to take Newcastle just about out of snitch danger, before Osborn sealed a 170-90 victory. But UTS were a clear force to be reckoned with, as they had also proved in their March efforts, while Newcastle’s potential was very obvious even if the cracks were still far from ironed out.

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The second in Field B’s opening unranked non-tackle match pair was another contest between a professional, well-drilled, rapidly improving unit of the UTS variety and a reinvented rebuilding anomaly somewhere in the Newcastle realm. But in both cases these roles were amplified, for the Warriors are now a genuine match for anyone in ranked play and the Nargles are a total unknown quantity, trying to break out of baby steps and into some kind of eye-catching brisk jog.

The recruitment drive was certainly effective, with the imposing Zac Dee and the agile Danny Fox loudly announcing their presence on the national stage with some strong early charges on goal, handing the Nargles a surprise lead. With Laura Smith missing, stand-in captain Joseph Ray proved immediately adept at his job for the day, running a smart and well-organised little tug-boat of eight. It was clearly depth and experience which would be the dangers for the Nargles, but the experimenting Warriors often seemed confused and failed to take full advantage of what on paper looked like a slightly weaker team in all areas.

The experience shortfall was partly covered by the crucial addition of Canadian import and established international quidkid Elizabeth Martel, whose natural adeptness and familiarity with the game was plain to see and provided further firepower to the fading but still leading Canberrans.

Wollongong eventually managed to close the Nargles down to just a ten point lead, ensuring that it would all come down to the snitch. Rookie Zac Dee was entrusted with the vital task on debut and despite no experience or training in the role, he was able to make the catch and hand the Nargles a significant 100-60 win, their first in proper competition for more than eighteen months.

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There was no time for reflection on the dramas of Field B, for Australia’s two great powerhouse teams were meeting once again, for the fourteenth time across their rich thirty month history. Even this showdown would take a lot to match the standard that was popping up across every team and both fields. The promise was there at least, with UWS having shown clearly more impressive form during their respective openers.  UNSW always step up though and the fresh Raj Kapoor and Andrew Culf both scored early to establish a 20-0 lead and early momentum.

Corey Ingold-Dawes replied for UWS in the fifth minute, before scoring opportunities dried up as both chasers and beaters on each side stood tall in defence. Dom Bell was back, giving the Thestrals extra beater-strength to back their on-form chasers who were just about matching the usually unparalleled UNSW unit. Snape beaters Emmanuel Berkowicz and Nick Allan were immense though, monstering the opposition chasers and beaters, allowing UWS no space to work with. The increasingly frustrated Thestrals constantly threatened but could not finish and as their formation began to unravel slightly, UNSW pounced.

A quick trio of sudden goals from Culf, Kapoor and Thomson broke the 20-10 impasse and heaped the pressure on the fading UWS. With a squad more than double the size of their opponents, UNSW were always going to have the legs at the end. Even a red card to the dominating Allan didn’t arrest the momentum as Culf and Kapoor duly completed their respective hat-tricks and put the game to bed at 80-20.

Nothing could stop Berkowicz either, not even a nasty head knock after shifting to seeker. He caught the snitch and took his team home by a margin of ninety, despite all the early competitiveness.

*

Newcastle and Macquarie’s second matches of the day saw them face off for the first time since the titanic struggle that was the QUAFL 2013 Semi Final. Neither team has started the season in quite as good a place, but it was the Fireballs who had to be definite favourites based on both teams’ first performances. Kieran Tolley was however back in the fold and against UWS the Marauders had started reasonably before simply dying far too dramatically.

James Mortensen scored almost immediately at brooms up, but the early minutes otherwise belonged to Macquarie. Newcastle’s defence continued to struggle and their beater game in particular was being outclassed. The presence of Tolley made all the difference, while his strong leadership in turn elevated Wizbicki, turning the pair into an effective partnership. A pair of Dan Phipps goals gave the Marauders their first lead of the day and first genuine early lead of the season, but some brilliant counter-attack led to goals for Mortensen and Ingram and a restored Newcastle lead.

The pace of the game and the pace of scoring continued frenetically, with Mortensen and Ingram both scoring again, still well inside ten minutes. Phipps also completed his hat-trick, but with just nine players available (Tolley having directly replaced the departing Glover rather than adding to the numbers), the passage of time was against Macquarie once again.

Newcastle were slowly taking total control. The thankfully fit and healthily returned Joel Murphy was as brilliant and wily as ever, leading the rapidly improving rookie Jordan Hunt under the radar. The pair stepped up when needed, finding a new level and ultimately outlasting their opposition beaters.

At this point, Newcastle also conveniently introduced Dameon Osborn late into the game and he quickly scored, handing the now quaffle and bludger controlling Fireballs a 60-30 lead that looked sure to grow.

But thanks to some timing confusion, the snitch was back well and truly ahead of schedule, creating a spectacular scramble from Daniel Commander and Joshua Naismith. This was an opportunity for an unlikely get out of jail free card for the Marauders, who were fading badly but still able to take the game to overtime. Luckily for Newcastle, Naismith’s quality shone through and he beat QUAFL’s standout seeker fair and square to a quality catch, bringing Newcastle home 90-30.

*

The morning’s games ended with a pair of far from leisurely unranked games which largely mirrored each other, both presenting opportunities for unfancied non-tackle teams to take it to established opponents but along opposing trajectories.

UWS vs UTS started slowly before the Thestrals’ drew comfortably away towards the end. Meanwhile, the Nargles and the Unspeakables started frantically but wrestled their way to a tense low-scoring struggle.

UTS had shown flashes of threatening brilliance in both their opening losses, but didn’t ultimately push too worryingly close in either case. Given the standard of the opposition here, similar could be expected. But the difficulty UWS had in scoring goals was surprising even considering Opaleye form and their own penchant for unranked experimentation. Despite UWS controlling all facets of the game, they led only 40-10 after fifteen genuinely tight minutes, somehow seeming unable (or to be fair, unwilling) to put UTS away.

The game ran cruelly long for UTS though, with the late returning snitch allowing enough time for UWS to do as much as they needed and eventually grind their way to fifteen goals. Such a margin was not befitting UTS’ effort so it was a welcome consolation when Arthur Triantos caught the snitch, finalising the score at 150-40.

On Field B, the Nargles had once again come out like a house on fire, putting pressure on the Unspeakables. A 20-20 deadlock was quickly established then notably prolonged, as the professional Sydney setup took general control. But though it slowed the Nargles down, control could not equal a flow of points for the Unspeakables, thanks largely to the absence of Cameron Brown. Recognising the shortfall of chaser fire, captain Luke Derrick transferred himself out of his preferred beater role. Though Derrick chased strongly, few anywhere can match the impact of Brown, nor can many match Derrick’s beating aplomb. So both areas ended up somehow lacking, keeping the stretched Nargles in the game.

Sydney did enough to scratch out a 40-20 lead, but an early snitch return meant they were still in danger, especially considering the revelation that was Zac Dee. He once again did the business, catching the snitch and stealing an amazing 50-40 upset for the high-flying Nargles.

*

After a brief lunch, the Macquarie Marauders and Sydney Unspeakables continued in earnest. Injury to Alexander Enrico limited his chasing availability, adding further concerns for a rapidly depleting and limping Sydney outfit. This played Macquarie into the match as they would crucially prove a match for the opponents in longevity as well as quality.

This was lucky because a strong ending was going to be needed for either team thanks to a deadlocked start, which saw no goals for eight minutes. The only early trouble on the scoresheet was in the form of a yellow card to the usually seeking but presently chasing Liam O’Callaghan.

Both teams lacked true chaser penetration and shared a general underwhelming but still professional evenness across the field. With such a consistent standard of experienced guile, neither side could simply rely on errors from the other, because they were rarely forthcoming. Instead they needed to make the play and find space which neither side had the weapons to manage.

Dan Phipps, always a strong Macquarie weapon, finally opened scoring in the ninth minute, a lead which Scott Palmer then doubled shortly afterwards. Though his absence from beating was keenly felt by the Unspeakables, Luke Derrick was at least proving to be a quality chaser. The Sydney captain struggled to find the right passing and running lanes early, but in the second ten minutes stepped up with a quality hat-trick.

The score was now 30-30 after twenty bruising minutes of rough rib-rattling quidditch. A conveniently malleable snitch preserved the tension, as both scrabbling fading bandaged units fought desperately to hang on to some kind of supremacy.

A first goal for rookie Marauder Kieran Richards made it 50-40 to Macquarie, but half an hour had passed and the snitch was all that mattered now. It was Daniel Commander who triumphed, his catch taking the breathless Marauders to an 80-40 triumph over the battered Unspeakables.

*

UNSW and UWS’s next jobs were to simultaneously face up against an improved and threatening former minnow each. The Snapes were the latest team to face the mysterious threat of the nebulous Nargles. It was always going to be an unrealistically big ask to expect a hat-trick of spectacular upsets from such an inexperienced and tiny squad of future superstars. But UNSW by no means had it all their own way. Danny Fox continued to capture the attention of all and Elizabeth Martel continued to ensure no game passed without her name featuring on the scoresheet.

With the stressed and stretched hosts once again foregoing the use of some of their otherwise occupied tournament-organising stars, the Nargles gained enough of a foothold to briefly threaten. Four goals against the often impenetrable (though admittedly beater-scratchy) Snapes is a big enough ask. Restricting them is even more impossible, so by the return of the snitch UNSW had gotten to relative safety at 90-40, before snatching their way to an eventual eighty-point win.

UWS faced the somehow winless Warriors, who were frustrated at having wasted an opportunity to grind down the Nargles. Hannah Monty wasted no time playing herself in on this occasion, potting the first two goals in a tight start. But 20-0 quickly became 30-20 thanks to Brandon Heldt’s double. That was as close as it got through. Daniel Ormshaw and Arfy Papadam re-established the Thestral ascendency before a pair for Bianca Connell took them towards some kind of safety.

As always, the Warriors’ structure was sound and firm, but their temperament and endurance was failing them to a certain extent. Though Wollongong’s beaters were competitive, UWS always had just about enough in hand to deny the Warriors’ merciless assaults on goal. As frustration grew, so did the errors and as the match meandered away, UWS began to slide through goals of increasing ease.

By the end, runaway goals were the order of the day, shared nicely between the constant triple threat posed by their five rotating chasers. One aspect of their game not clicking though was the seeking. Wollongong’s consolation catch meant that UWS finished the day with none from four on the snatching front, but they at least could rest on the laurels of a strong 160-50 win.

It was far from time for resting for UNSW or Newcastle though, despite impressive undefeated days for both.  A late forfeiture for the wounded Unspeakables and subsequent tinkering with the schedule rushed us forward to the day’s final extreme grudge match.

*

With clouds beginning to converge, the formerly mightiest of rivals faced off. Head to head pickings had been lean for Newcastle in modern times though, with UNSW having won three straight, stretching back more than a year.  Besides, nobody had gotten close to UNSW all year regardless of how their form looked. Most signs pointed to an emphatic UNSW triumph, but they hadn’t been at their best for most of the day and would need to step up to make sure of things.

The very first minute certainly suggested a competitive fixture, with Newcastle winning possession at brooms up and slicing through to score.  UNSW could not find immediately reply either, despite controlling possession. Raid after raid on goal was rebuffed by a tougher and more physical defence than had yet been seen from Newcastle.  The early goal and much of the initial impenetrable defence came courtesy of Matt Ingram, confirming that his strong effort when used as a surprise chaser against Macquarie was no fluke.

After five minutes, Andrew Culf finally equalised, before Michael Thomson followed up to take UNSW to the front. But it was still anyone’s game. Recognising the need to bring a greater brute strength to the fore against figures like Mortensen and Osborn, the Snapes threw all their star cards on the table in Kapoor, Culf, Diep and Thomson, while also rueing the lack of Beth Crane to barge through up front. This saw a polar shift in strategy as Rhiannon Gordon and Holly Shuttleworth took up the beating mantle in place of Berkowicz and Allan, despite their ruthless brilliance against UWS. The Snapes lack nothing in Gordon and Shuttleworth, but even a pairing of that quality and experience was being made to look almost average such was the work rate of the Fireball beaters, particularly the indefatigable Murphy and Hunt again.

A goal to Minh Diep made it 30-10 but Liam Dawson, yet another of Newcastle’s high level athletes from the 2014 production line, quickly replied. Kapoor in turn restored the twenty point advantage as the game shifted up another gear.

The match was beginning to make a statement as a landmark in the still learning landscape of NSW tackle quidditch, with the Snapes and Fireballs colliding with a rare ferocity. Tempers were fraying on both sides, with the Fireballs slowly losing control of the game but doing just enough to frustrate the Snapes, not letting them escape. UNSW wrestled their way to a definite upper hand in the second phase of the game and the lead slowly crept its way above forty. The opportunity was there to take control on the scoreboard, but some poor finishing would prove costly as a number of sure-fire goals somehow slipped bafflingly away at the last minute for the stylish but less substantive Snapes.

70-30 was far from a safe margin and Newcastle made them pay.  Joshua Naismith’s second immense catch of the day, besting national seeker Emmanuel Berkowicz, looked to have finished proceedings 70-60 in favour of UNSW. But after consultation between assistant referees and both teams, it was determined that without question, a disallowed goal for Osborn had in fact been scored. Sensationally, the final score became 70-70 and overtime was to be had, justly given the definite score Osborn had made but undoubtedly unjustly too, for a difficult precedent had been set to the detriment of the sporting Snapes.

As seemed inevitable from this divisive point forward, it was Naismith who prevailed again, catching the overtime snitch and winning the game 100-80 for Newcastle. The result may have left a hollow feeling, but the contest most certainly did not, nor should the performance of the spectacular Fireballs. An undefeated season is always a nearly fanciful proposition, but if ever such a feat was possible, it was beginning to look like the 2014 Snapes might be the team to do it. Even if they were going to inevitably lose one sometime, few would have expected the upset to come from the rebuilding Fireballs given how freshly out of apparently early-season doldrums they seemed.

*

With perhaps the season’s first true all-time epic concluded, a nice chaser of two unranked games wound down this officially immense day nicely. Speaking of immense days, the Nargles had themselves one well and truly. They were the story of the day in many ways, perhaps now alongside Newcastle. But a final and distinctly achievable looking victory over the war-weary and guest-aided Marauders would cement May 2014 as a landmark turning point for one of the country’s noblest elder teams.

Yet again, the chaser firepower of the Nargles took an unsuspecting opponent by surprise and once again an early lead ensued. But with Kieran Tolley and the borrowed magnificence of Aman Nalli on hand to control the bludgers, Macquarie were always going to be in the contest. Tolley and Nalli gelled splendidly given their unfamiliarity together and began to assert a dominance over the oncoming Nargle chaser train. But they never had it all their own way despite their less fancied opposite numbers. The undemonstrative threesome of the experienced Morgyn Benstead and Bec Armstrong and the learning, smart and well-led young Oscar Cozens were magnificent, matching their seriously elite counterparts.

In an understandably sluggish game, the Marauders languidly crept their way to a 50-40 lead, only for Zac Dee to almightily pull victory from the jaws of potential defeat with a third nimble-fingered grab.

The score was 70-50 to the Nargles, who finished with an amazing and form-book shredding three from four, a vintage result from a rather less than vintage squad.

But the nature of both scheduling and the game itself is such that a similarly impressive effort from UTS had yet to yield a single win. Nor had the consistent Warriors yet managed victory from their three games. Both facts felt strangely unjust, but at least one would be guaranteed a success as the Opaleyes and Warriors played out the day’s denouement.

UTS’ strength had come from a powerful chaser unit, while the Warriors continued to anchor their efforts in a strong core defence. The increasingly irresistible force clashed firmly against the continually immovable object. A low-scoring arm-wrestle eventuated, unsurprisingly. Early goals were scarce and it was the more experienced Warriors who looked strongest initially.

But UTS simply had the fresher legs, thanks both to their bigger squad and to their less intense games. The Warriors had suffered through a couple of thrillers and were still a little worse for wear from the bash and rattle tactics of the Unspeakables in their early morning clash, an eon ago.

The Opaleyes worked out to a thirty point lead when the consequently alive snitch was caught by Triantos, sealing a 70-10 win.

*

That’s three Triwizards down for the year, meaning break time as autumn fades to winter and then, two months down the track, Midwinter Cup 2014. Despite their first loss of the season, UNSW remain the clear No.1 team and will go in to Midwinter as deserving favourites, especially considering the tribulations of the Global-Games decimated reigning champions from UWS. But virtually any team could make a deep and genuine run into Sunday afternoon. May Triwizard dramatically revealed just how even NSW quidditch is and for perhaps the first time ever, there are absolutely no true easy-beats.

RESULTS

UNSW Snapes on a Plane:

As dominant as ever, UNSW came out with their regular and full squad of nearly 21 and won all of their games convincingly, playing Macquarie, Wollongong and the (unranked) MacArthur Weasleys. Their dominant chaser play is their real strength, as always, enabling them to put a huge tally of points on the scoreboard in short order. Their seeker game, headed by Emmanuel Berkowicz, is strong, persistent and athletic. In their game against Macquarie they showed their depth with Nicholas Allan swapping into the position of seeker for the final few minutes before he made an athletic catch to end the game. With only one new player so far this year, they have a full experienced lineup with lots of depth and mobility. If they need to alter anything it’s their beater play, with Macquarie being a challenge to them in that regard. UNSW is in a dominant position right now over NSW quidditch and it seems like this might be completely and utterly their year.

UNSW – Wollongong: 170* – 0

UNSW – Weasleys: 130* – 10

UNSW - Macquarie: 180* – 30    

UWS Thestrals:

The other undefeated team at April Triwizard were UWS. With an incredibly athletic squad including their new players, they exercised a winning streak just as successful, if not as dominant, as UNSW’s. Their strong chaser game is complemented by two of the best females in the NSW scene right now, Hannah Monty and Bianca Connell, and finished off with the dominant speed and skill showed by Corey Ingold-Dawes. Their beater game is solid, experienced and skilled. It seems the only ingredient they are missing from their perfect combination is a powerful player to drive through tackles towards the hoops. Their passing is accurate and scores them the majority of their goals, but when their passing lanes are shut down they seem to be unable to convert. Their three wins show their skill and finesse at the game but the small score margins suggest they could be stronger. They also lack depth in their substitutions. With new players coming in it seems this is starting to change, but they will need to train up their newbies to make a real run against UNSW in the coming months.  

UWS – USyd: 90* – 30

UWS - Newcastle: 70* – 50

UWS – Weasleys: 180* – 20    

Macquarie Marauders:

After their second place performance at QUAFL 2013, Macquarie looked set to be a strong force in 2014, however this weekend showed where their main weakness is. Though they had two wins, both were within ten points before the snitch, showing their reliance on their seekers. Their loss against UNSW by 150 points showed their lack of offensive potential on the day. Dan Phipps, their starting keeper, controls the ball well and has accurate passing and shooting skills, but when shut down has little support at times. With Daniel Commander notably absent from their roster this weekend, Daniel Claxton had to take over as seeker, meaning one of their key offensive capabilities on the quaffle was busy elsewhere for much of the game. However, this weekend did show the strengths of the Macquarie game. Their beater play was strong in defense, able to keep both the chaser cores of Wollongong and University of Sydney (unranked) to a minimal score. They had good control of the ball, able to hold onto it through tackles and harassment. Overall, Macquarie is a strong team, shown by their two wins. But their loss to UNSW by 150 points show how far they need to come to compete with the big dog on the block. It seems that the key they are missing is a fast offensive game and, if they get one, they should be a true contender for the rest of the year.

Macquarie - Wollongong: 80* – 40

UNSW – Macquarie: 180* – 30

Macquarie – USyd: 60* – 30    

University of Sydney Unspeakables (Unranked):

The University of Sydney Unspeakables chose to be unranked due to their small roster coming into this weekend, with only six players from their World Cup team available. Bringing only a few new players along meant they had the smallest squad of all at the tournament. Even with their small squad the Unspeakables showed they were able to compete with their opposition, beating Newcastle and coming within snitch range of both Macquarie and UWS. It seems unfair to judge the Unspeakables team on their performance due to their lack of players and their captain being injured in the first game; unable to play the other two games. But a few things can be seen from their performance. Firstly, their new players scored the majority of their points showing the incoming skill and offensive potential. Secondly, they lacked a fast offensive capability to score on the counter attack, as they were missing both Alexander Enrico and Patrick Ward. Overall, it seemed surprising they were able to compete with seemingly stronger teams with such a limited roster. It will be interesting to see how they do at the next tournament in the coming month, especially if they can bring their full squad.

UWS – USyd: 90* – 30

USyd – Newcastle: 100* – 10

Macquarie – USyd: 60* – 30    

Wollongong Warriors:

The Wollongong Warriors experienced one win on the weekend against the Newcastle Fireballs, with one close loss against Macquarie and a blowout against UNSW. They showed off their quick chasers and a determined seeker who won’t stop at anything to catch the snitch. However, overall their team is just lacking another star player. Unlike most similar-level teams have, there is no clear person on the team to be scared of, which the enemy team has to counter or they will lose. They have a decent beater game to go along with their decent chaser game and decent seeking game. They seem to be lacking that person who can make shots from halfway, or can make those impossible beats, or drive through three tackles to score. Wollongong are a decent team, shown by their win against Newcastle and their close loss against Macquarie. But their loss against UNSW shows their faults. Against a dominating defense and aggressive offense their decent players cannot stand up and the team suffers for it. For them to make a run at the national championship in November, they need to find some star players or develop some from their existing squad.

UNSW – Wollongong: 170* – 0

Wollongong – Newcastle: 70* – 50

Macquarie – Wollongong: 80* – 40

Newcastle Fireballs:

The Newcastle Fireballs were the only team to play four games on the weekend, with their only win coming against the unranked MacArthur Weasleys. With lots of new players, along with most of their experienced team from last year, it seemed like Newcastle was ready to compete in a big way but on the weekend they just weren’t able to convert. There real weakness seemed to be in their ability to score, unable to penetrate defense after defense scoring only 70 quaffle points in their two ranked games. They also seemed to lack a strong way to regain beater control after losing it, with many of the opposing teams holding beater control for the majority of the games. They also had a lack of communication within the team, which is understandable considering their large amount of new players in the team. Hopefully, once the team cohesion improves, they will be a strong contender for the rest of the year. Overall, it seems like this team has lots of potential, and has many strong players like Dameon Osborn and Matt Ingram, but they were just unable to compete in a serious way on the day.

Newcastle – Weasleys: 140* – 10

UWS – Newcastle: 70 – 50*

USyd – Newcastle: 100* – 10

Wollongong – Newcastle: 70* – 50

MacArthur Weasleys (Unranked):

The MacArthur Weasleys are the only community team currently competing in the NSW quidditch scene. Lead by Arfy Papadam, this team won against the more experienced Nargles in March so with a full roster has strong potential. But they fell short this time. Their roster is just lacking experienced players, other than Papadam, and as such, like most new teams, they are unable to compete against the big dogs in the league such as UWS and UNSW. However, their skill sets are sound and many of their players show confidence with the ball and athletic skill suggesting they could be true competitors once given time to really come into their own and if they can keep all their strongest players available. Right now, the Weasleys just don’t have the players to compete against these larger and more experienced teams, but given some time there is no telling what they could become.

Newcastle – Weasleys: 140* – 10

UNSW – Weasleys: 130* – 10

UWS – Weasleys: 180* – 30

World Cup buzz was the order of the day.  World quidditch’s great and mystical centrepiece had been run and won just a week previously, complete with magnificently boisterous representation from the University of Sydney Unspeakables, who were the first Australian club to make the journey. Australia’s ambassador team returned seasoned and hardened. Her ambassador snitch returned freshly glorified and unionised, resplendent with American solutions to the conveniently prescient problem of difficult snitch boundaries. The surrounding border of public road and private housing lining the field ensured that off-pitch seeking this month was out of the question. The complexion of the day was therefore changed as each snitch camped inside the hard boundary awaiting the sudden madness of a seventeen minute seeker release.

This created a day of slightly shorter games on average, but such a trend was surely perversely welcome to the Wollongong Warriors in their first match of the day. Chris Rock’s first snitch catch of the season, emphasizing the demoralising depth the Snapes have even in this most specialised position, mercifully ended a 170-0 thrashing before the score could get worse. A bigger margin would not have befitted the efforts of the Warriors. Much like Sydney and Macquarie in March and one suspects much like more teams later on this season, Wollongong were perfectly adequate in their general performance but just not able to stay with the UNSW juggernaut.

Minh Diep and Phil Vankerkoerle started together on this occasion, with Andrew Culf kept on ice. Diep scored in the opening minute, but play was otherwise slow and slippery in the early exchanges. The dew-heavy long grass of the pitch clearly affected the handling of both teams. Perceptions were perhaps amplified by unfair comparisons to recent select World Cup viewings that were fresh in the memory, but even by usual Triwizard standards, play was clearly proceeding turgidly.

Vankerkoerle provided much of the necessary spark, scoring twice early and having a hand in other goals as UNSW took control of the match. By the ten minute mark their lead was 70-0. With the result reasonably secure and their flowing rhythm back, the Snape train began to roll through the madly defending Warriors’ solid structure.  By the time Rock caught the snitch, fourteen goals had been managed, with Minh Diep just taking the scoring honours with five goals.

As if UNSW’s dominance in depth wasn’t already clear enough, they annihilated any doubts by comprehensively sweeping aside a quality team, largely without requiring the services of their star chaser Andrew Culf, who barely featured and was not to be found on the scoresheet. The hosts would turn around in an hour’s time for the second ranked game of the day as well, against the Macquarie Marauders. But before then, two games of very different competitive quality were to be had.

The Macarthur Weasleys, albeit highly depleted, nevertheless brought a team to compete for a second time. First they would face the Newcastle Fireballs, who were also present in March but in decidedly smaller numbers. Later contests today would see the restocked Fireballs play ranked for the first time this season. This first match would be an acid test of their very new look line-up, to see how untried figures likes James Putin, Bryson Davey and Liam Dawson would go gelling with trusty old hands in funky new arrangements under the untested leadership of new captain Joshua Naismith.

So much was new for this match on both ends of the pitch, but familiar faces dominated play. Captain Arfy Papadam ran play for his Weasleys as always, with special guest Morgyn Benstead expertly keeping the beater contest alive and even. Newcastle were never under threat though, with captain Naismith, anchor Roy Velting and marquee man Dameon Osborn all calmly using their experience and power to comfortably execute, leading the Fireballs to a 140-10 win.

Following this though, was a high quality tight tussle between UWS and Sydney, unranked only due to the understandable Unspeakable shortages in the wake of having only returned from across the seas in recent days.

Captain Luke Derrick and star chaser Cameron Brown were present however, with Brown’s early goal matching Corey Ingold-Dawes’ first minute effort. Sydney’s beater unit announced themselves at QUAFL 2013 and made waves in America where they impressed many, so by now they were in their element, able to just about stay with any beater pairing.

Ingold-Dawes was proving to be the early X-factor, with his hat-trick establishing a 30-10 lead. Captain Hannah Monty, as she so often does, slowly played her way into the match, taking control in the middle stages as UWS crept away with goals to Monty, Daniel Ormshaw and Juan Demin. Sydney were never far away though, with their three goals keeping the match tenuously alive at 60-30 by the lifting of the seeker floor. UWS deserved the win though and were duly assured it by Christian Barquin’s catch.

Last time quidditch was here in Wollongong, the Warriors’ rivalry with the Macquarie Marauders was just heating up. Wollongong’s Midwinter triumph was fresh in the memory and both teams struggled at a September Triwizard dominated by the UNSW and UWS powerhouses that made up the four team line-up. In a thrilling battle for pride, victory came down to the snitch, so it was perhaps a vague surprise that the always snatchtastic Warriors came up short. This match-winning catch for Macquarie definitively marked the arrival of Daniel Commander, who before September was known as a relatively undemonstrative relief chaser, but went home as the country’s new seeking prodigy. By QUAFL he was arguably the best of all nationwide, leading the Marauders to within inches of ultimate glory.

But here Macquarie were without Commander for the first time since then. So further Daniels took up the slack of maintaining the name’s quidditch pride. Daniel Lowe and Daniel Claxton dominated their respective sides of the scoresheet, each scoring three times in a pair of frenetic chaser performances as evenly matched as the rest of their teams were across the board. Claxton took only forty eight seconds to put Macquarie on the board. Less than a minute later Lowe had equalised. A bit later on Claxton scored again, so Lowe saw fit to reply less than sixty seconds subsequently once more. But the intervening five minutes were a roller-coaster, with both teams’ chaser units finding space in centre-field but being unable to quite execute at the finish.

When Lowe completed his hat-trick, Wollongong were 30-20 up and luck seemed to be on their side as further missed and disallowed opportunities passed the Marauders by. It was a faster and more back and forth neck-turner of a match than the score suggested. Both teams’ beater strength lay in their last line defence, with Hannah Davidson and Morgan Thorndyke both immovable at the goal face.

Macquarie’s depth began to shine through but they continued to waste chances, aided by some adept adroitness in goal from Brandon Heldt. Wollongong captain Jacob Fleming broke the Danielopoly in the fourteenth minute, taking Wollongong twenty clear, but Claxton hit back for both Team Daniel and Team Marauder quickly afterwards. A quick follow-up from Scott Palmer tied the match, which remained at 40-40 as the seekers took flight.

Dan Phipps then threw a spanner in the works, throwing his own name into the ring of Daniel. Phipps gave Macquarie their first lead of the match and Team Daniel their biggest, 70-20 over the mortals of humanity.

Then a Daniel caught the snitch. It was long clear that the final snatch would decide the meaningful Macquarie vs Wollongong portion of the contest. So the big question was which Daniel had smeared themselves in glory. It wasn’t Commander, absent as he was. It wasn’t Lowe this time, as it so often is. It was, more unusually, the Daniel of the Claxton variety.

It was the Marauders who won therefore, 80-40 over the continually luckless Warriors in a tense but frustrating match which both teams had ample opportunity to put to bed early but couldn’t.

Before UWS and Newcastle prepared to face off for the first time this year it was time for the Weasleys to front up, hoping to give UNSW any kind of substantial workout.  The Snapes, with fresh troops at their disposal and a ranked clash against a more confident Marauders still to come, relied on many of their ‘second string’ players (ala some of the best players in the country) to blow the Weasleys away.

Macarthur, with further personnel at their disposal since their early morning game, showed greater attacking flair, with Sam Legeret in particular penetrating deep into the Snape keeper zone in wily support of Arfy Papadam’s anchoring runs. With the result well and truly clear and the snitch nearly caught, the Weasleys to their credit manage to do what not even the experienced and polished Warriors unit could do and put a goal through the UNSW hoops. But this would be their sole triumph in a gallant 130-10 loss.

For the Newcastle Fireballs, it was finally D-Day.  Newcastle’s first ranked match of the season pitted them against UWS, the bogey team who had caused the Fireballs their greatest problems consistently throughout 2013. But this was a fresh and revitalised Newcastle unit. It was the most immediately impressive of these rookies who opened the scoring, James Putin establishing an early Newcastle lead which Dameon Osborn quickly doubled. Daniel Ormshaw’s attempt at a quick restart was scuttled by the attentions of Putin, who promptly earned a yellow inside the first three minutes of his official career for not retreating from the keeper zone.

Bianca Connell utilised the extra space of the seven-on-six advantage to hit back, before Dom Bell crucially freed Newcastle of what had until then been total beater dominance from the beleaguering Tom Russell and the unswerving Kalinda Gibson. With bludger control emphatically secured, the momentum shifted towards UWS, who wasted no time in taking the lead through consecutive goals to Corey Ingold-Dawes and Hannah Monty.

Newcastle’s improved chaser depth consistently put UWS under pressure, but the Thestrals’ beater dominance was too thorough, allowing them to dictate play and slowly draw away.

Ingold-Dawes and Connell both added a second, before Juan Demin continued to display the added effectiveness of UWS’ new generation, taking the margin beyond snitch danger. It was Newcastle’s new captain Joshua Naismith who ruthlessly snapped the snitch, just seconds after being released to pursue it. But the game was already out of reach, as he recognised in haring straight after the tag rather than consciously defending. With Newcastle’s catch, UWS settled for a 70-50 victory but one which after the opening few minutes never looked in any doubt.

Newcastle’s season had started promisingly in patches, but more would be needed if they were to overcome the Unspeakables, who pushed UWS far closer in their earlier match. However Luke Derrick had sustained a hand injury in that defeat, ruling him out for the remainder of the day. This presented a clear opportunity for the Fireballs to take advantage of a team whose balance changes completely without its inspirational leader. However Sydney countered smartly, shifting Cameron Brown to beat with Paul Harrison, who was already ably covering for the absent Rob Wells.

With Brown occupied beating and Patrick Ward still in the States after his world cup sojourn, Newcastle should have had the superior chaser firepower to overrun the Unspeakables. Certainly the lack of penetration hindered Sydney early on and they led only 10-0 after five minutes dominated by a tight beater tussle. The power balance with the quaffle was then redressed when James Putin was controversially sent off for an un-malicious albeit extremely clumsy tackle, ending up both high and behind.

Still, Newcastle only needed to stay within thirty shortly, as seeker Liam O’Callaghan was yet another absentee for Sydney. But even that was proving difficult. The astuteness of shifting Brown to beat became clear as time passed. His dominant athleticism was such that despite his relative inexperience in the role, his combination with Harrison was once again sufficient to deprive the struggling Newcastle beaters of possession.  With their beaters’ total bludger control affording them the room to move, Sydney’s rotating roster of experienced and heartily solid chasers, led by Belinda Toohey and Ajantha Abey, made wily progress on the scoreboard.

The Fireballs could only score once as Sydney drew safely clear, then sealed a striking 90-10 win when Isabella Moore pounced on the snitch, ably covering in O’Callaghan’s absence.

For the second straight month, UNSW and Macquarie clashed. Macquarie entered this match full of confidence having professionally worn down the potent Warrior threat in their tight victory. But Andrew Culf’s quiet day had been building to now. He proceeded to score a goal per minute over the first five, unanswered by either opposition of team-mate. 50-0 was a decisive and confidence sapping start for Macquarie.

The Marauder beaters are always competitive in the bludger contest, especially with their full quality quota available. The rotating pair of hulking keepers Dan Phipps and Scott Palmer provided strength from the back, feeding Daniel Claxton’s direct and efficient charges. But without the consistent firepower across the field that characterises a chaser unit like UNSW’s, the Marauder attack lacked a certain variety and therefore was increasingly easy for UNSW to structure a defence against and easily pick off.

Quaffle possession was even more evenly shared this time around than it had been in March, with the Marauders attacking just as effectively from their own half as the Snapes were. But just as against Wollongong, they could not find a way to break through the last line and efficiently finish. 50-0 had become 80-0 by the ten minute mark, before Laura Bailey finally scored only the second goal against UNSW in 45 minutes of quidditch for the day. It came in an appropriately unlikely way. With the firm Snape defence pinning Bailey in her own half, this particular play was a lost cause for the Marauder captain who was left no option but to fire a looping lob towards the powerlessly covered Claxton at the hoops. But the quaffle happened to descend straight through the middle hoop and Macquarie were suddenly on the board.

Andrew Culf continued on his merry way to seven goals for the match, but the pace of UNSW’s procession slowed significantly.  Play continued beyond the half an hour mark thanks to snitch Dameon Osborn’s inevitable monstering of his hapless seekers. The second half of the match was characterised by a marked tactical shift from the struggling Marauders. Unable to control the Snapes’ march towards another belting, Macquarie shut up shop completely, slowing the game to a crawl by holding onto the quaffle for long periods inside their own half. UNSW’s ever professional beaters refused to break formation and force the play, preferring to let Macquarie sit on their heels safe in the knowledge that their defensive structure was set and ready for anything that might eventually come up at them.

To their credit though, the Marauders shook things up and the tactics can be said to have succeeded to some extent, as Bailey managed a second goal of her own and Phipps added a third. Meanwhile, UNSW were only able to score five goals over the last fifteen minutes of match, thanks largely to Minh Diep’s late surge towards a match tally of five for himself. But the match was already lost in the early stages, leaving lingering questions of how next time might go if Macquarie play that way straight from brooms up.

At long last, Osborn was bested, when Nick Allan spectacularly vaulted over the snitch’s shoulder and snagged the tag from above, finalising a 180-30 win for the peerless Snapes.

The third game of the Weasleys’ day was against UWS, completing a cruel trilogy of fiery quidditch indoctrination at the hands of an improved and physically powerful Newcastle, the No.1 ranked UNSW, and their great No.2 rivals UWS. But this was a day of learning for the rookie team and there is no better learning experience than coming face to face with the best of the best. UWS were not exactly the best of their best here though, utilising what is these days the rare opportunity to face a definitively weak opposition. Many usual positions shifted, led by captain Monty who took up the mantle of beating. Fellow beater Dom Bell also had the distinction of scoring a goal, when Ingold-Dawes broke clear with no Weasley keeper at home, allowing him time to toss the quaffle up in front of the hoop for Bell to propel a bludger at.

It was all a bit mad-cap for UWS as they proceeded to effortlessly dismantle their opponents, with the relaxed Thestrals making room for the Weasleys to have a bit of fun, or disrespecting them entirely with their antics, depending on your perspective. But no one could deny that the match was an enjoyable lark to behold and UWS still did their work efficiently, winning 180-20. It was Chrystal Player who finished the match by spectacularly surprising all, herself more than anyone, with a first ever snitch catch.

With the vaudevillian diversion over and done with, it was serious business time again. The last ranked match of the day saw the hosts take on the Newcastle Fireballs, the great old rivals finally meeting at long last, for the first time since Midwinter. Wollongong have come a long way since then, kicked off by their breakthrough efforts that weekend in Newcastle. The Fireballs, though impressive in reaching the QUAFL semi-finals, have nevertheless come rather back to the pack. Clashes between Newcastle and Wollongong have historically been one-sided, with a narrowest margin of sixty and an average score of 145-29 over eight perfect wins from eight for the Fireballs. But it was clearly not going to be the same story today, with these teams now evenly matched in most areas.

Captain Naismith led from the front, opening the scoring after two minutes. But it was the Warriors who controlled the early moments, with Brandon Heldt then Daniel Lowe scoring. Lowe added a second after six minutes and it was 30-10 to Wollongong and a momentous upset (in a historical context at least) was brewing.

Hannah Davidson and Aman Nalli were immense, controlling the Newcastle beaters and providing the backbone to allow their chasers early supremacy. But the chaser firepower of the Fireballs was superior and they slowly took control. The Fireballs had quaffle control and looked the clearly better team, but their finishing was poor, with the Warriors consistently better at the goal mouth. In fact, everything felt distinctly similar to the Macquarie vs Wollongong morning match. It should perhaps instead be noted how Wollongong so unravelled the finishing ability of both teams more than focusing negatively on the Marauder and Fireball efforts.

Just like this morning against Macquarie, Wollongong found themselves somehow leading the majority of a match they looked a little outclassed in.

Newcastle slowly overran the Warriors though, with Dameon Osborn injected to work alongside the indefatigable Putin. This lopsided the chaser contest even further, but it was Owen Sherwood who arguably made the bigger difference, with his bustling forward-barging momentum deep in the keeper zone serving very much as a lesson in how to finish for his struggling team-mates.

A pair of goals each to Osborn and Sherwood gave Newcastle a 50-30 lead, with the seekers now released and engaged in an epic struggle. Both Daniel Lowe and first Dameon Osborn then Joshua Naismith came within inches of their own grabs. The Warrior defence held firmer than ever, holding Newcastle’s lead at 20. A runaway solo goal from Ezekiel Azib then narrowed it to a one goal game, with Azib, as always, more amped than anyone on his team or in the entire world to have scored his well-timed goal.

The hero of the day was Daniel Lowe, who pounced on the other side of the field as a panicked Newcastle tried once again in vain to assault the Wollongong goal. Lowe’s catch handed Wollongong a history-making victory, the first over Newcastle in nine attempts, by 70 points to 50.

With ranked play finished and the noble hosts delirious with their momentous and well earned victory, the cool afternoon concluded with a final match between the Marauders and the Unspeakables. For such a relaxed feeling wind-down to the day it was an awfully high quality match between two teams in reasonable form. Both were short of personnel and are still far from the peak of their potential, but for the sake of this particular match-up it was perfect.

In a low-scoring scrappy struggle, neither team ever looked like taking total control. The Marauder chasers generally had the better of their consistent but less powerful Sydney counterparts, but like against Newcastle, Paul Harrison and Cameron Brown negated the advantage.

A late surge from Sydney levelled the match at 30-30 and the score stayed that way indefinitely, up to and beyond the seeker floor. So with a game up for grabs, Daniel Claxton once again stepped up, beating Isabella Moore to his second match-winning catch of the day.

The Marauders’ tight win over the Unspeakables was the final piece in the puzzle of trying to work out a hierarchy within the pack this year. But it certainly didn’t make things any clearer. The promise of March was confirmed for UNSW, who are on another level. But as things stand, there is little to differentiate between the whole set of UWS, Macquarie, Wollongong, Sydney and Newcastle. UWS at their best are still a step beyond, but they are struggling to find their best this year and it won’t get better easily with further disruptions afoot for upcoming tournaments. Newcastle in turn are a step below, having lost three straight games and overcoming only the shorthanded rookie Weasleys. But as their clash showed, the gap between the Thestrals and the Fireballs is a small one, a gap which somehow three whole other teams appear to lie within.

The supremacy of UNSW, but the brilliant quality at the head of so many teams, was emphasized at the end of the day when the NSW contingent of the recently selected Australian Global Games squad took on a large team of random all-sorts. It was the UNSW contributors to the mercenary opposition who made the most impact, with Phil Vankerkoerle, Holly Shuttleworth and Nick Allan all impression. But encouragingly, it was the elite squad who won, as one would hope they always will, 140-40.

Results 

March Triwizard was every bit the equal (or beyond) of many major annual tournaments historically, as a record nine teams came along for a packed schedule, containing upwards of a dozen matches in a single day. In an interesting new arrangement, two sets of equally competitive matches between two distinct groups of teams would take place.

With new higher level contact rules to contend with and squads to build so early in a year’s recruitment drive, four teams quietly but strongly started their 2014s with a round of unranked non-tackle matches. The big story here was the competitive debut of the Macarthur Weasleys, resplendent in attire which Wally, of literary hide and seek fame, would be mightily proud. The Weasleys were joined by the impressively reinforced UTS Opaleyes and new fresh squads from the noble old Nargle and Newcastle production lines.

These few clashes were interspersed throughout the feature matches of the day, as UNSW, UWS, Macquarie, Wollongong and Sydney each brought seriously formidable squads along for what would be the first AQA ranked matches of 2014.

TWIN OVERTIMES AND DOUBLE WARRIOR HEARTBREAK

The first story of the day was that consecutive ties opened proceedings, against serious odds. In 2013, ninety-eight AQA ranked Quidditch matches took place. There were all sorts of memorable contests and form peaks and troughs, all culminating in the iconic madness that was QUAFL. But only a single one of those ninety-eight matches went to overtime. For all the tension of 2013, it was only when the Wollongong Warriors upset the Marauders at the Midwinter Cup that extra innings’ were required. In 2014, it took a grand total of one match to equal it, and two to beat it.

First up in this stunning twin story, 2014 kicked off with a rivalry that had spiced nicely up late in 2013. UWS spent most of 2013 forcefully dominating Macquarie, but the Marauders raised their game by the end of the season. UWS just escaped with victory in an immense thriller at October Triwizard, then Macquarie got over the line in a controversial but tight QUAFL showdown.

Despite being the home team, UWS were short much of their firepower. Captain Hannah Monty, Daniel Ormshaw and Dom Bell were all absent, a nasty triple-blow which would be difficult to cover even with the influx of younger talent in the rising Juan Denim and rookies Evan Wright and Mitchell Tudor.

Macquarie were missing some of their best too, most notably Harry Mahoney, the UNSW re-united Nick Allan and usual beater leader Kieran Tolley. But the Marauders are never lacking in ultimate numbers, so still presented a high quality front of fourteen.

Stand-in captain Corey Ingold-Dawes led from the front, making immediately sure that UWS’ depleted ranks would not rock them back on their heels in this season-opener. After five minutes, the Thestrals were 30-10 up, but led by Daniel Claxton and the returning Alex Hood, the Marauders were competitive.

Hood in particular was a stellar in for the Marauders, back after missing much of the second half of 2013 and not playing a part in their late-season resurgence. Hood’s first goal, after a long and scrappy centre-field stalemate, brought the score back to 30-20. From there the pace increased, as the undermanned UWS chaser unit began to gel, anchored muscularly by Arfy Papadam in goal.

Ingold-Dawes led the way with four goals, while Chrystal Player stood up right as her experience was needed, netting a pair of her own. Mitchell Tudor’s first goal took UWS beyond snitch range. But still, at this stage the chaser units were evenly matched, with Macquarie’s greater depth keeping them in the contest. As is so often the case it was Stephen Butler and Christian Barquin, as well as Demin ably covering the absence of Bell, who wrestled control of the game for UWS, exploiting the lack of up to four or five of the Marauders’ top tier beaters.

Much of the responsibility for directing beater traffic fell to Matt Freier. After a short early burst, his re-injection into the game shored up the Marauder defences and after a captivatingly tense five minute goal-less stretch, Dan Phipps brought the score back to 70-40, just as the grand seeker contest of Christian Barquin vs Daniel Commander took to the field.

First blood went to Commander, reinforcing his reputation as the best specialist seeker in the country at present. With Overtime therefore required, on we went again, but Round 2 turned the tables and went to Barquin.

2014 went straight to the thrilling extreme of overtime right from the starting gun, but it was the fading short-handed UWS who just about got out of jail, 100-70.

But there was more to come.

The University of Sydney’s Unspeakables, firmly deep into their World Cup preparations, started their season with a first ever official meeting against the Wollongong Warriors. It was impossible to know what to expect between the always improving but still slightly lagging Warriors, but who brought their most compact quality-filled squad to a tournament yet, and the still rather unknown quantity that is the surprise QUAFL semi-finalists.

Clearly, neither team knew what to expect of each other either, for the early stages were tentative and mired towards centre-field. From start to finish, the match was defined by Wollongong’s greater chaser experience and depth being just about cancelled out by the aggressively dominating Sydney beater game.

It took five minutes for Cameron Brown, inevitably, to finally open the scoring for the Unspeakables. It was Wollongong who had the initial vague ascendency in this slow-burner though, with new captain Jacob Fleming equalising then Daniel Lowe scoring a pair to eke out a 30-20 lead after fifteen minutes.

But no matter the circumstances, Brown can take a game away from any opposition. The difference between what would have been a clear Wollongong victory and overtime heartbreak was a sensational two minute burst, in which Brown swept through to one of the quickest consecutive hat-tricks in history, suddenly firing Sydney 60-30 clear just in time for Ezekiel Azib’s tying snitch catch.

The subsequent overtime was then the longest in history, lasting a full three minutes, with Fleming quickly restoring the Warriors’ lead. As so often is the case lately though, Wollongong somehow fell at the final hurdle and couldn’t come away with victory in a game they had in many ways been the better team throughout. Like Daniel Commander did to Christian Barquin, Liam O’Callaghan turned the tables and managed to beat Azib to the second snitch, taking the Unspeakables home 90-70.

Wollongong’s second chance to test themselves against quality opposition came against UWS who, though still missing their valiant captain and having lost Christian Barquin, were reinforced by Daniel Ormshaw and national representative Dom Bell. With Monty missing, the chaser reshuffle saw Bell starting alongside Chrystal Player and Bianca Connell and duly scoring with the first play.

The animated Ezekiel Azib maniacally charged his way to an almost immediate equaliser, only for Bell to add a second in equally quick time. The frenzy never abated, with nine goals in the first seven minutes of the match. UWS had the early advantage, with Ormshaw and Connell scoring their first goals of the new season. But the Warriors’ core chasers are now a match for anybody and they bounded back into the match, briefly reducing the UWS to lead to a nervous 40-30. Bell continued to lead from the front, needing only another minute taking his match tally to four and to take UWS thirty clear.

Wollongong’s chaser threat never ceased though and it took every bit of UWS’ beater supremacy to stay on top. Stephen Butler, new starter Evan Wright and Bell, after a late match shift, preserved the thirty point lead and looked to regroup. But suddenly, after a scant dozen minutes, the snitch was back around and the potential for a hat-trick of overtimes was very real, with Azib coming close on multiple occasions. At 60-30 and with no Barquin to calm fluttering UWS hearts, the Warriors once again could clearly see glory looming heavy on the horizon. But Stephen Butler is always an able occasional but experienced substitute, yet again efficiently snapping himself up a conveniently timed snitch catch and sealing a second deserved but tenuously anxious win for the hosts.

Thanks to weather delays shaving off some of the scheduled back end matches, Wollongong’s day would end here, meaning they went home with nothing to show for their highly polished  efforts, not for the first or even second time in recent months, but perhaps crueller than ever.

UNSW PASS THREE-STEP CHALLENGE WITH EASE

As far as ranked play was concerned, scheduling quirks and the loss of later matches meant that the whole second half of proceedings featured a trio of UNSW matches, starting 2013’s No.1 ranked team off for 2014.

First up they faced Sydney, who seem to be able to make a competitive game of things against everyone except UNSW for some reason. Little was different here. Rob Wells and his partner Luke Derrick, soon to be World Cup winning captain and Global Games champion Australian beater, can always keep a game somewhat competitive and entirely entertaining, but bludgers aren’t everything, sacrilegious as that may be to say. Beating is theoretically a comparative ‘weakness’ of UNSW’s compared to their chaser game, featured here as it was by the small matter of national team utilities Emmanuel Berkowicz and Rhiannon Gordon and a handicapped Holly Shuttleworth who by some means was still impenetrably effective at the back.

The chaser contest was barely a contest though, primarily because Sydney are any team in the country that isn’t UNSW. The Snapes have always been a step above to some extent and with all their quality resources available the gap is wider still.

The cream of the crop started, with Minh Diep and Beth Crane chasing alongside Andrew Culf ,who opened the scoring no time. Diep’s radical new supersonic rotations saw Phil Vankerkoerle hot on the tails of his starting trio within a minute and scoring himself quickly after Culf. He added a second shortly afterwards but not before captain and keeper Raj Kapoor kick-started his season as-well.

Three minutes down, 40-0. They were off. Ajantha Abey, the most impressive of Sydney’s rookies, then managed to quickly peg one back. But by the five minute mark Vankerkoerle had completed his hat-track and UNSW’s lead was up to 60-10.

With the game looking won and early-season experiments to be had within their bulky squad, UNSW’s march towards a huge lead slowed. But it was still always meandering inexorably on, despite the ever-increasing defensive solidity of Sydney’s back-line.  By the time of Emmanuel Berkowicz’s relatively fast and early snitch catch, UNSW were eight goals up, getting themselves going with a relatively sweat-free 120-10 demolition of a top quality team.

So the Snapes went up a level to the next challenge, the QUAFL finalist Marauders, so erratic but seemingly having brought most of their A-game on this occasion.

Nothing about the entire match’s narrative suggested anything other than the Marauders being an entirely solid team across the board in all areas. So naturally the score was 160-10.

It is a constant motif that quidditch is a game of small margins. It’s about completing a clean sweep of superiority across all areas rather than about the margins of dominance in any one area. A tiny supremacy in every single facet of the game more often than not finds a way to translate into massive victories.

This was precisely the case here, with Macquarie never particularly poor but just unable to get on terms with UNSW’s total completeness. Greater fitness, greater squad depth, a game on the longer side and a quality final catch completed the perfect storm. But the ultra-professional Snape regime is never satisfied and still felt there was room for improvement. The Marauders in turn could feel rightfully shellshocked at somehow having taken such a monster thrashing on the scoreboard, despite not appearing to have done anything particularly wrong.

All that was left for UNSW to do was take on the biggest challenge of all, facing their great rivals UWS.

Vankerkoerle was put forward to take the start this time, while UWS put away their early experiments and went for tried and tested formulas. Barquin was back on site and ready to seek and Butler and Bell were there to hastily construct their brick wall, though Connell and Player were again starting together instead of alternating, sans captain Monty.

 The majority of the match was curiously lethargic, or maybe nuanced is the more appropriate term, though perhaps not. Low-scoring stalemate clashes of these titans often eventuate, but such recent occasions have been characterised by the powerful clashing of UNSW’s irresistible force with UWS’ immovable object, and vice versa at times. Matters are always explosive. But this time, perhaps given the back to school nature of a new season, both teams seemed scratchy and hesitant.

As ever, affairs were tense and tight, but the match was slow-moving rather than simply low-scoring.

Phil Vankerkoerle scored first in the third minute, with Corey Ingold-Dawes quickly equalising. But control of the game was by and large UNSW’s, unsurprisingly given the relative form of both teams from their first two matches. With UWS outgunned in the quaffle attack department and entirely neutralised in all others, they couldn’t score a second goal until Bianca Connell got into space and finished a play more than fifteen minutes later.

But it was still anyone’s game at this stage, because a pair of Kapoor goals in the seventh and thirteenth minutes were all UNSW managed, so their lead was only 30-20. However this was largely due to the Butler and Bell fortress and some uncharacteristically poor UNSW finishing, both of which compressed the margin closer than the balance of play showed it should realistically be.

A final Andrew Culf burst took UNSW out to a slightly more representative 50-20 lead, but for the fourth time in six matches, overtime was there to be had if the trailing seeker could do the job. Unfortunately Barquin was just topped by the immense Berkowicz, whose stylish grab reinforced the seeking credentials which he’s being taken to Canada to show off to the world.

NEW GENERATION SHINES

So after six games, four of which went down to the wire between five teams ranging from roughly ‘good’ to ‘very good’, season 2014 is looking exciting. But even outside this ranked play, there was more highly polished refinement to be found. Rewinding back to the early morning, we find an intriguing clash between UTS and the Nargles’ side they largely assimilated into their fold for much of the 2013 Triwizard season.

The 2014 edition of the Nargles looks fresh-faced and well-resourced. But they had the misfortune of encountering a seriously stacked UTS unit first up in their season of restoration.

The Opaleyes bought a bigger squad than ever seen from them, impressively reinforced with a strong roster of athletes old and new. UTS showed quickly that if they can keep a consistent roster going throughout the year, they will finally be a genuine force to be reckoned with after a slow building first year in 2013. New captain Sabeth Kastanias marshalled her troops ultra-efficiently, with Arthus Triantos in particular leading a multi-faceted chaser assault which spread the Nargle defences thin, finally relieving John Ilacqua of crucial centre-field pressure.

After a frenetic start which largely put the result to bed, the Opaleyes’ offensive fangs were blunted somewhat, but they had sufficient control to never let the Nargles back into it, eventually winning by an emphatic 130 to 10.

With a firm foothold now established, UTS went into their second match of the morning against Newcastle full of confidence.

In contrast to the rapidly growing Opaleyes, the Fireballs were distinctly threadbare, with most regulars missing and Tom Russell leading a relatively inexperienced squad of just eight.

Newcastle brought great firepower through physical strength, but little structure compared to their disciplined opponents, who held firm to a narrow early lead.

With the higher class of national representative Dameon Osborn at their disposal to fire through any defence, the Fireballs managed enough quick counter-attacking goals to sneak themselves to a 40-30 lead. But thought forced into playing defensively, UTS did it with great aplomb and ultimately had the better of much of the contest, a supremacy only amplified as time passed thanks to their depth in numbers. It was a tight encounter, but UTS did enough to deserve victory and justly got it thanks to the snitch catch, scraping home 60-40.

Following on from UTS, the second great new story of the day was the Macarthur Weasleys. While the Opaleyes spent 2013 establishing themselves and turned heads with their clear and drastic improvement, the Weasleys were starting completely from scratch.

NSW’s first new team in a year played their first ever competitive quidditch match against the Nargles. Generally, one can expect a set of total rookies to just enjoy competing and largely make up the numbers for a period of time. But the Weasleys were immediately impressive, firing to a big early lead. The red and white striped boys and girls from down towards the Southern Highlands were all genuine rookies, but sensible intelligent rookies who knew their roles and performed them to a tee, expertly drilled by and in solid support of their founder and captain Arfy Papadam.

So usually adept at his very precisely defined role within the UWS setup, Papadam now had the freedom to lead from the front and his example was devastating. The match started with a ridiculous goal in which the Weasley captain deftly ended a powerful surge down the left by flicking over the hoops, regathering his own pass behind, and opening the scoring.

Though both teams, the Weasleys in particular, put on a good show, Papadam was the real difference as the Weasleys went eighty clear, safely countering Nathan Askey-Doran’s snitch catch and winning 120-70.

UTS and the Weasleys ended what was a fairly momentous day for both by facing off in a game which for much of its length, every bit matched the quality of some of the day’s ranked play. Once again, the Weasleys started like a house on fire, but inspired by Arthur Triantos’ hat-trick and constant smart rotation, UTS slowly overran MacArthur.

In the longest game of the day, the Opaleyes’ twelve goals were more than enough to get them home 120-100. So alongside UNSW in their section of the draw, UTS completed a perfect day of three wins from three.

Right through the nine-team pack, the quality looks well and truly there. UTS were most impressive and the Weasleys were so very eye-catching. As for two of Australian quidditch’s originals, there’s work to be done but the capacity to achieve it if the shared burden of travel can be overcome.  Newcastle’s March team was a small sliver of the depth on offer within what remains an always strong internal infrastructure. The Nargles had a dire 2013, going winless throughout, but with so many new young recruits, should hopefully be on the right path. It’s a very long way back to the top of the game, but they are facing the right direction.

As for the business end, it is of course too early to confidently say too much about the balance of power. UWS in particular were a bit haphazard all day and always undermanned, while UNSW were the only team to truly have nearly every weapon in their arsenal available. The nature of Triwizard is that the personnel involved always shifts from month to month and on another day the balance may be different. With everyone at their best the gap to UNSW may be smaller. But on this day it was a cavernous divide without UNSW even quite hitting their very best form, which is extremely foreboding.

RESULTS

Written by James Hosford
Photography by Matt Hudson

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