AFLDD Media review the season of each of the regions clubs, reviewing the season that was including the club highlights and key moments throughout 2013.
University Cougars AFC is sixth on the review system and with a great number of registered players, the club looked to hit the ground running in 2013. The annual highlight for the club, the Cancer Charity Match, turned 5 in 2013, and a great day was had by all while University senior member Scott Sowerby made history for himself, the club and the AFLDD competition in 2013, playing his 400th senior game.
Contributing a large number of U8s and U10s in the AFLDD Junior competition, the University Cougars certainly have some rising stars to fill in the ranks in the coming years, though if 2013 is anything to go by, there’s no doubting the club is filled with rookie talent.
The competitive junior sides within the club had a relatively strong season, with 2 out of the 3 teams qualifying for finals.
The gutsy U12 side had a season to be proud of, with only a handful of losses to their name. These young gungs finish the best of the junior cougar sides, finishing 4th on the table with a gallant 54 points. Unfortunately, the team went down to a strong Dalby suit 7.6.48 to 3.0.18.
The U14 Cougars were the other junior team to fly the university flag in the final series, sneaking into the top five. With 2 losses and 2 consecutive byes to begin the season, the team struggled to find its feet, before notching its first win of the season against Toowoomba East Stingers in Round 5. The cougars then found their groove, stringing together 3 wins and began sneaking up the ladder finishing in 5th place. However, the Cougar cubs couldn’t tackle the challenge South Toowoomba provided in the first elimination final.
The 16s side was unfortunate not to make the finals series in 2013, but certainly proved their worth throughout the season. The side boasts their triumph over eventual competition champions Coolaroo and with some huge wins in the early half of the season, the boys were on track to contest the silverware.
The second half of the season did not turn out as planned however, with the team not winning a game after Round 11. The boys no doubt learnt a lot from this, and the older members can now enter the senior grades knowing that it takes 4 quarters of footy for 18 rounds to win a premiership.
Cougar’s Reserve grade side had a solid 2013 campaign, losing just one match to Coolaroo, and finished the home and away season as clear champions on 28 points, 12 points ahead of the competition. Despite this clear dominance, the boys couldn’t win the one that mattered, going down in the Grand Final to the Roos 7.9.51 to 6.8.44.
The senior A grade side started their strong 2013 campaign with a win, and didn’t look back from there. Suffering just one loss to Coolaroo in Round 4 of the regular season, Cougars were certainly the team to beat heading into the end of the first half of the season. This loss certainly didn’t deter the Uni team, who proved their worth in Round 15, returning to defeat the Roos side 18.13.121 to 12.6.78.
Their outstanding performances throughout the home and away season booked the senior side a Grand Final position, readily awaiting to discover their opponent for the Major Semi-final. Coolaroo were not match in this game however, and the Cougars prepared their march for the Grand final Match. Little did they know that the Major Semi-final would be replayed just two weeks later.
Unfortunately for the uni boys, they were undone in the last quarter by the classy Coolaroo side to go down 14.8.92 to 13.11.89.
Despite the losses, the Cougars are looking for a bigger and brighter 2014. The club is also currently recruiting females members and are hopeful for an Inaugural 2014 Women’s Team. So ladies, pull on your boots and show the boys a thing or two!
Last Modified on 09/12/2013 21:32
