UQ

As usual both teams took a few possessions to get going and the first point was a bit of a long one. I decided to put Jangles on a run to the endzone with a flick huck that decided to drifted right, into the creek beating up the lovely new UQ game disc (sorry about that Nat). So that wasn't a good start. Luckily for me, we were able to get the D and score the first point of the game. Lovers replied and the score was 1-1.
After that both teams played very evenly trading the next few points and playing a fair bit of manD. We responded and played offense as a horo, which resulted in many hucks being sent out from Jangles and myself, with the Strelans throwing some in as well! UQ then applied a cup zone which worked pretty well and closing our  hucks down. But in the still conditions our handlers applied the theories that we practiced before the game and managed to get ourselves out, albeit at times a little messy. But to their credit UQ trapped the lines very well making it hard for us to swing the disc at times. At half all that separated the teams were 2(or 3?) cross field hammer assists from aL and a floaty hammer from Nat to score. We knew that hammers were not part of their game plan (their half time huddle break was no hammers!). I think we defended very well and the game came down to the long throws from both teams. There were very few passing up field to score plays actually, kinda odd, perhaps the two teams were enjoying the still conditions. Luckily we were able to match it with lovers in this department. Bevan and Jamie pulled down everything we threw at them, they played superbly. In particular both of them grab sweet layouts in the endzone which was great to watch.
UQ got away from us just after half but to our credit we scored 3 straight on them to pull the score back to 11-14.
Lovers scored the last point and that was that. 15-11 final score. Better than last time we played 15-6.

UQ roll up their roster & swing it around as a club

The first game of the new season starting with Heroes up against one of the popular favourites of the league - UQ lovers. With the collapse of passion and the rolled down into one team, UQ were keen to get out and put in a good first effort to justify this. They succeeded. UQ started in infactic fashion with 3/4 field huck to score the first point & quickly took the second also. They seemed open for busy straight away and probably wanted to shut us down asap. This was quickly answered by Carl with a first touch of the game backhand-huck to Chris Fox. This was the spark! and heroes lifted. We traded points for the then period of the game until 5-3. We played a manD most of the night and made UQ throw some 50-50 throws. We did get some D's on the back of this which was great to see. However as much work as you do on Defence is nothing if you cannot convert on Offense. Proably a moment to tump the first heroes score was on the back of a jangls huck to MattB which just cleared 2 lovers early jumps and saw a great saw run in. Also shouts out for Bevan and Mikey who took great scoring grabs with tough immediate contact to follow.
Post game review saw the Heroes reflect on poor option choices and critical understanding issues with knowing each other’s games (i.e. trusting each other). To our credit UQ took all three of their time outs. I read this as Heroes not letting UQ do exactly as they wanted. I guess we restricted their flow somewhat. But no one can be sure why they took all three T/O's but it was strange when you're comfortably up on the scoreboard.
The heroes faded at the end and allowed too many turn over’s in our half of the field. This allowed lovers their chance to capitalize on our errors and they did so almost every time. The score blew out to 15-6. But the signs were there for the men in green. Lovers said it well in the circle and described us at the bottom of the learning curve. But that learning curve is an exponential one & Heroes will see a lot of talent developing throughout the season.

BPL - A view from beneath

Well the first half of the season is down, and the Heroes have had a taste of each team. As this team is unknown to the BPL community, we see things a little differently. The following rankings are based on our experiences and other reports and results will be considered sparingly.

1. (2) Dojo - The rupturing of our metaphorical hymen was always going to be a messy, unforgettable and potentially traumatic experience. The Dojo were relentless, but had a "business-as-usual" approach. No hype was necessary. They executed their game-plan with indifference. While we will have a truck-load more confidence next time around, this welcome is hard to forget.

2. (5) SFC - Slamtown flattened our balls with a steam-roller. In contrast to the Dojo, they were all hype and high spirits. Their speed and athleticism was most impressive - the whirlwind oftentimes leaving us bewildered. To see them slip down so far on the ladder is surprising. Perhaps it shows that enthusiasm only gets you so far.

3. (6) Lovers - This is where things get ambiguous and confusing. The Lovers had no passion at all in the first half of our match. They had the countenance of a cancer patient begging to be put out of his misery. Out of nowhere, fearless leader Al Don created an ambush, and we were left helpless. They take #3 purely by the potential that was displayed.

4. (3) MBB - In reality, these guys will finish higher than SFC and Lovers. They play predictable, text-book ultimate, and they challenge you to beat them at it. Very patient and machine-like, with the ability to win most contested disc.

5. (1) Passion - This is most controversial. I was absent from our brawl, and it has been reported that Passion started poorly and then switched on the fist of fury to take the victory. This is not how we see it. Heroes claim that they stuck it to Passion before letting them back into the game. It was probably a mixture of both.

6. (4) Cobras - Early in the season, the Cobra's seemed like a group of athletic young men with bad attitudes. Their strats did not come off and they lacked discipline. They licked more than their wounds for over a week after losing to the Smackable Heroes.

7. (7) Heroes - Our performance? We are really pleased with how we are coming together as a team. Predicted as 15-3 easy-beats week in week out, we forced our critics to take us seriously with a win in game 2. We showed the UQ boys that they couldn't adopt their usual attitude toward us if they wanted to win and we fought hard against the Buggers. Low-lights include the SlamTown loss and the loss to Lovers after being up 8-2.

There you have it. Heroes - feel free to make corrections. Others - enjoy, comment, fight!