The Dallas Magpies capped of an undefeated season by beating last years premiers, the St. Louis Blues, by 26 points to win their first Mid American Australian Football League Championship.
The history that these two clubs share dates back to 2003 when the teams
tied for first place. St. Louis ran out eventual winners with a higher
percentage and claimed the MAAFL championship.
Season 2004 saw Dallas defeat the Blues during the regular season by a
few points but not being able to stop them from winning back-to-back
titles. This year’s game was shaping up
to be equally as critical, with Dallas needing the win to take the
championship.
Both teams knew the importance of
this game and from the first siren you could see that the final game of the
year was going to be a real ripsnorter.
St. Louis was first to put points on the scoreboard kicking truly from
close range after some skillful mid-field play. Not to be out done Dallas forwards combined to keep the contest
to a few points. Both teams fought out
an even quarter and the Magpies went in to the change up by 4 points.
The second period began in much
the same fashion with both teams running well and tackling hard but it was
Dallas who started to dominate the possessions around the ground. Leading from the back-line, captain coach
Stuart Rackham repelled the Blues’ forward advances time and time again. He was well supported by rookie Steve Raggio
and veterans Sean Neary and Justin Chance.
The Magpies demonstrated their skillful ability combined with speed and
agility to move the ball to their forward line. To St. Louis’ credit, their strong mid-field players caused
Dallas some headaches. This combined
with inaccurate kicking from the Magpie forwards who had kicked 4 goals 9
points, saw the game remain in the balance at half time.
As it is known in Australian
Football, the third quarter is the “premiership quarter” and games can be won
or lost. Dallas had no intention of
letting this one slip away and re-energized to come out with all cylinders
firing. The driving force came from
Dallas giant Jon Samuelson in the ruck and super speedsters Seth Haesecke,
Charlie Richardson and Seb Aguiari. The
on-ballers ran tirelessly all day and provided Dallas with numerous forward
advances. A key match up in the middle
featured another Dallas rookie, Robbie Rothlein, who shut down St. Louis Blues center-man
Darrell Butler. Butler had been
damaging in the first half around the ground touching plenty of the footy but
was very well held for the remainder of the game.
The Dallas forward line flipped
the switch in the third quarter and set the visiting side up for the final
term. The Pies’ tall timber was
over-whelming as Glen “Nunnas” Paton, Ross McLaren and Drew Schenck taunted the
Blues’ backline, flying high and taking some spectacular grabs and kicking some
great goals. When the ball did hit the
ground it was super boot Grant Campbell, who played with 27 stitches in his
leg, crumbing the packs and kicking truly.
His bag of 6 goals was as inspirational as his ability to play with the
injury and included a scissor kick over his head for 6-points. In the final 5 minutes of the third quarter
Dallas had taken over the game and ran the ball in numbers to set up 3-goals in
quick succession. Heading into the
final break Dallas had a 6-goal lead and looked be setting up for a fourth
quarter blitz.
St. Louis fought out to the very
end and their mid-fielders continued to show signs of strength and passages of
play that had won them previous championships.
Chris Carroll teamed up with his smaller brigade to move the ball
forward and kick a few goals half way through the last 20 minutes but it was
too late. Dallas continued to steady
the game and kick truly to hold on to a 4-goal lead.
As the final siren sounded Dallas
had a comfortable lead to win the game.
Players huddled and rejoiced having claimed the ultimate prize in what
is undoubtedly the toughest competition in the USA. Coach Rackham praised the teams’ efforts saying “that in my 20
years of playing football that was the best team effort, with all 22 players
contributing throughout the four quarters.”
He went on to say “It’s very rewarding when you see how hard the blokes
have worked on and off the track to get the team to this point. To be a part of history playing Australian
Football in the USA is something that is very special and the Magpies winning
the MAAFL Cup makes it all the more memorable.”
Dallas finished their third year in the MAAFL at 6-0 with their overall
season record standing at 8-0.
Remaining this season is the USAFL National tournament in Milwaukee,
which will be played October 1 and 2.
Played under a round-robin format Dallas will be up against other league
leaders across the country.
Final score:
Dallas
Magpies 11.9.75
St. Louis
Blues 7.7.49
Dallas
Best Players:
Seth
Haesecke, Seb Aguiari, Steve Raggio, Charlie Richardson, Grant Campbell, Sean
Neary