“An epic match, worthy of a Brawl Final. Well, the first 16 turns anyway...

0-0 draw would have been a nice result, but Nuffle had his say in the OT result. Orcs were lucky to win toss to receive, then take some removals.

The Chaos skulls early in the drive gave us the traction we needed to get the ball over the line.

Still, as always with the great coach Solaris, there was much to learn, and we had front row seats for some impressive play.

We ca also be kind to ourselves, and say that we also made some nice play, alongside some errors to learn from.

Learnngs:

1. GUARD

Keeping Guard together, a very nice move from Solaris which made it tough for us to battle the line. Excellent block denial.

Additionally, the use of S4 to mark downed players... this really denies our mobility. Hints and tips for big un Orc usage.

Stopping the score was lucky- needed two dodges from orcs, and had to find the right dice to pow ball carrier, and bounce lands in 2 tackle zones.

52% play with RR came off, allowing us to keep wizard in back pocket.


2. WIZARD

It is the first time I have induced a wizard. I understand part of its strength lies in the threat of having it.

We were prepared to use it on defence if we felt ourselves overwhelmed with fire power, or to to stop a score which could be salvaged / denied in finality.

In the end, we use it on offence, to break through a very tricky defensive puzzle.

Coach Solaris recognised a mistake, of bringing his safety in from backfield towards scrum, thereby allowing a clearer path for the breakthrough. A learning for me- when wizard is in play, keep the safety.


3. CHECK

After wizard, we break through, but leave a gap on northern sideline fro strip ball goat to hit ball carrier.

Easy to prevent, just a poor placement of our screen.

We also had a 33% chance to score, but did not select 'hand off'. Must check these things. It made it all the way to the final +2 (animosity) and +4 catch. Fun to see, frustrating to feel.

But.. it came down to the poor protection earlier which allowed us to be sacked. That is where the blame is, not in above percentages. But, a lesson to always check and check again, can be learned.


4. CHAIN PUSH

We do a nice one to solidify position after defensive sack, and another on our offence after ball was sacked to clear a double basing of loose ball.

Pat on the back for us. Yay. It was fun.


5. OT

Quick recap. It is all in Orc favour. No re rolls for Chaos, due to recovering from wizard blow.

First defensive block is double skull, star goat badly hurt. Sours the experience. Not the way to start a potentially epic finish.

With upper hand, we are emboldened to make the fouls, which further snowball our advantage.


Summary:

Solaris is one of my favoured opponents. Good cheer, and always much to learn from observation, and through experience.

We are under no illusions- it was a victory touched by Nuffle.

”