The BC Footy Cup 2003 Report

It was in perfect footy weather that one of the most highly anticipated events in the Canadian Australian Rules Football calendar was held this past weekend - The BC Footy Cup. After the huge success of the first tournament in 2002, the question was always going to be – could it be topped?! The answer was a resounding – Yes!!

Once again, months of careful planning delivered a magnificent weekend of football.
Whilst the main focus of the tournament was always going to be the footy, it was the pre-match hype and the off field goings on that made the tournament what it was. The local media had been in a frenzy clamoring to get a piece of Vancouver’s new darling sports team. The tone being set in the week prior to the BC Cup with Cougars' Captain, Chris Freeman waxing eloquently on CKNW Sportstalk radio about the fortunes of the club. Thursday's final training session saw representatives from the Province newspaper and Citypulse Primetime TV both in attendance.

As the Cougars brain trust readied the field before the first match, Cougar’s handyman Colin Hilton finally unveiled his much hyped and eagerly anticipated scoreboard. Devastated by the fancy new scoreboard Seattle had revealed in game one, Col spent many a sleepless night over the last 2 months concocting his reply. In the end, it proved to be UNBELIEVABLE. As the spectators strolled down to the ground they could not help but be mesmerized by Col’s towering 10 feet by 10 feet structure. It was HUGE, and came complete with a massive Cougars banner, a sponsorship board, a clock and new scoring cards. It was never really doubted, but once again, Col had come through with the goods.

"Chops" McGrath gives Col's scoreboard the Presidential "Seal of approval".

The ground proved to be in magnificent knick with the rain doing the right thing by keeping away in the days leading up to the Cup. Thankfully the local migrating geese had also left their run a bit late this year, so the ground was almost completely goose-poo free (unlike the hundreds of bombs they’d left for us last year).

The opposition teams (Seattle and Calgary) brought good sized squads with them for the 2-day footy extravaganza, whilst the Cougar squad consisted of 30 very keen and fired up players. The tournament was almost thrown into chaos when the visiting coaches complained about the secret fourth team that seemed to be busily preparing themselves under a huge tent at the far end of the field. However, it was quickly pointed out that they were in fact an overly keen St. John’s ambulance crew that seemed to have brought every volunteer in the city to attend the game.


"Two Flags" and "Two Fingers" show concern for their fallen comrade.

As things calmed down, everything was in readiness for the tournament to begin...

Game 1 – Seattle Grizzlies v Calgary Kangaroos
As is now the tradition, the first game kicked off with the two visiting sides showing their wares. Players from both teams were initially bamboozled with the number of white jersey’s as the 3 field umpires – Alan, Geoffrey and Annalise took to the field accompanied by the renowned goal umpiring duo of Jason "Two Fingers" Stratford and Doug "Two flags" Vargo, looking splendid in their white coats and hats. They were also joined by four boundary umpires, thrown in for good measure. The shock wore off though as the ball was bounced and the game was on…

Right from the start it was a cracker. Within the first few minutes of play, a crunching collision saw a man go down. However it wasn’t a player, but none other than Umpire Alan. Within seconds of him going down, the St. John’s "army" swarmed onto the ground and quickly staked their ground around the suffering Alan. The remaining Umpires were quick to charge into the centre to ensure nothing was majorly wrong with their fallen comrade. An ambulance was quickly summonsed. Thankfully Alan was not in a life threatening situation as it was a full 30 minutes later that the ambulance finally arrived. As the ambulance rolled in, the first thing out of the "sympathetic" driver’s mouth was not to inquire about his soon to be passenger’s health, but rather how he could get involved in playing for the Cougars !! Classic stuff. As he was taken away, Alan was , indicating that "he’d be right" and was heard to ask for a jolt of happy juice.

With both goal umpires agreeing to wave their flags at half-mast for the rest of the game, it was back to the footy. Upon resumption, the Roos came out as the physically tough side they are known as, and began to dominate the play through the centre, leading to many a forward thrust. Each of the Seattle backline players seemed to be having a blinder and gave as little away, repelling attack after attack. Still it was the Roos who went into the halftime break with a handy lead of 4.2.26 to the Grizzlies 2.1.13.

In the second half the Roos exploded and dominated all over the ground, finally cracking the Grizzlies defense and began to pile of the goals. Whilst the Roos were providing a spectacle on the ground, the crowd’s attention quickly turned to the antics of the two goal umpires who teased the crowd with extra-ordinary delays between goal/point scoring and the actual signally of said goals/points, together with accentuated hand signals and flag waving.

In the end, Calgary was too strong and came out victors - 10.2.62 to Seattle 3.2.20.

Cougar Kids (as reported by Jase Stratford).
No big tournament would be complete without the Champions of Tomorrow hitting the field between senior games. Thanks to the enormous efforts of Mike McFarlane and his trusty assistants Jase Stratford and Geoffrey Cunnold, the Auskick Kids played between the senior games and provided much excitement. For the kids, it was Round 7 of their inaugural season, and they were just as keen as their older counterparts to put on their finest display at the BC Footy Cup. Thrillers they were, as despite the positional matchups on the League Table, the games were extremely close and exciting.

In the first match, the bottom side Wombats surprised the more fancied Bombers and raced ahead with a 4 goal lead. The Bombers however clawed their way back into the match and in a frantic last minute of play they scored a great goal to grab the lead by 2 points. The Wombats had a chance to win it with the last kick of the game but narrowly missed the goal and the ball sailed through for just the 1 point. In the end it was a narrow 1 point victory to the Wombats.

Bombers 7.1.43 to the Wombats 6.6.42.

In the second game, top side and undefeated in 5 games, the Swans came out firing and grabbed a 3 goal early lead against the Tassie Devils. Once again there was another great comeback as the Devils were able to respond and take the lead with less than a minute remaining on the clock. In another exciting last few seconds of play the Swans looked destined to score an easy goal but a great defensive play by the Devils caused the Swans kick at goal to go wide for a point. The Tassie Devils caused a huge upset by defeating the Swans by just 2 points.

Final score – the Devils 6.2.38 to the Swans 5.6.36.

Both of these games showcased the kids improvement in their skills and enthusiasm with a number of great marks, goals and fantastic team play. It was a great effort by all the teams and provided the big crowd with plenty of highlights and memories. Thanks to coaches Mike "King of the Kids" McFarlane, Geoffrey Cunnold and Jase Stratford for both coaching and umpiring the juniors throughout their season and to all those that helped out on the day. Check out regular updates on the Cougars website of the kids progress during their season.

Game 2 – Cougars v the Roos
With the kids putting on a great display to keep the crowd fired up, the audience nearly exploded when the home team (and crowd favorites) the Cougars, came out for their first tussle. The boys had been told in no uncertain terms by SuperCoach Stu to keep off the tantalizing tasty pies from sponsor Safari Pies, in preparation for their first big hitout to ensure they were 100% game ready. Before the game, the SuperCoach was in the welcome position of having some 30 players put their hand up for a run. Unfortunately with the rules only allowing for 22 players per team, the list had to be cut down. As always the unselfishness of the the team shone through with several players volunteering for boundary and goal umpiring duties.

Once again, Calgary came out blazing through the centre and tested the Cougars backline early. As has been the case early this year already, the pre-season brooding of the Canadian Cougars was once again showing tremendous fruition. 2nd year players Brendan "Bonecrusher" Bannan and Morgan "The Kid" deChalin were all over their Calgary opponents, refusing to let their opponent away without first tasting some dirt through a tremendous tackle. Craig "Locks" Paquin again let it be known that he would be hard to dislodge from Centre Half Back this season with another fine display of man on man marking. Coupled with Cougars regulars Coops, Jennings and "The Block" the backline kept the Cougars in the game as they went into half time down despite a magnificent "Goalsneak" Stratford snap - 1.1.7 to Calgary’s 2.4.16.

It looked like the Roos were going to skip away to a big win as they quickly added the first two goals of the 2nd half to get to a 21-point lead. However, the Cougars centerline of Edgar, "Chops" McGrath and "Skip" Freeman would not give up and got the ball forward to set up 2 quick goals for "Glamour Boy" Vargo. First gamer Andrew "Fists" Thornton halted play for a while after he took exception to the antics of former Cougar Jeff Allen and the two were sent off after a brief scuffle. The bout was declared a draw, but "Fists" questioned the result after Jeff was left nursing a shiner thanks to a rapid fire left-right combo.

When play resumed, the Cougars were resurgent and dominated the last 10 minutes of the game as the Roos began to look tired. However, it was too little to late and the Roos were just too strong, holding on for victory in a low scoring affair - 4.5.29 to 3.4.22.

Goal scorers – "Glamour Boy" Vargo (2), "Goalsneak" Jase (1).
Best (from) - Coops, Brendan "Bonecrusher" Bannan, "Locks" Paquin, "Chops" McGrath, Shine Edgar, "Handyman" Hilton.

Game 3 – Cougars v Grizzlies
Going into the game against Seattle, the Cougars knew they had to pull out something impressive to ensure they weren’t bundled out of their own tournament in straight sets.The boys were also keen to seek some revenge after a crushing home defeat to the Grizzlies only a few weeks earlier. Still, Seattle were not going to go out without a fight and were equally keen to put in a good display to avoid an early exit for the second year in a row.

Once again, it was the efforts of the Cougars northern stars that burned brightly. Brad Gill and The Wiz were constantly getting into great position in the forward line and making their presence felt, whilst Jason Horychun and Nelson Ferrett were getting a large piece of it across the wings. The McLean brothers and "The Big Leprechaun" Tom O’Sullivan were getting into the game, whilst Andrew "Fists" Thornton returned to the action and put in a dominant performance rotating through the Ruck. "Goalsneak Jase" pulled off yet another miraculous "Rover’s" goal whilst "Skip" Freeman, " Handyman" Hilton, Shiner and "Glamour Boy" Vargo slotted truly to give the Cougars a handy half time lead.

Cougars 5.2.32 to Seattle 1.1.7.

After half time, the Cougars were full of confidence, expecting to skip away to a large victory, but Seattle wanted nothing to do with it and proved they weren’t there to play second fiddle. After the Cougars grabbed the opening goal, the Grizzlies slammed on the next 4 to get within 8 points. (Special mention should go to Cougar newcomers Scotty and Bryce who were kind enough to play for Seattle due to the excessive number of Cougar players and were almost unstoppable through the centre). The Cougars would not be denied though, and Coops, Jennings and Blocky lead the charge to turn the game around. The backline got back on top and thrust the ball long into the forward line. Some magnificent passing by Nathan and Shiner set Vargo up for a couple of steadying goals and the game was won - The Cougars were through to the Grand Final!

Final score –Cougars 9.6.60 to Seattle 6.2.38.

Goal scorers – "Glamour Boy" Vargo (3), Shiner (2), "Skip" Freeman (2), "Goalsneak" Jase (1), "Handyman" Hilton (1)
Best (from) – Shine Edgar, Paul Jennings, The McLean Brothers, Jason Horychun, Nathan Tobin, Coops.

So at the end of day one, it was to be the undefeated Roos and the mighty Cougars who would go through to the Grand Final.

The Grand Final - Cougars v Calgary
Despite some aching muscles and a few hangovers from the previous night’s "do" at the Cougar's sponsor Hop & Vine Pub, it was time for the Grand Final. Once again all the facilities were in place to ensure a great spectacle for the fans and players alike.
The day couldn’t have turned out better as glorious sunshine bathed the Burnaby Lakes Complex. The Cougars were hungry for victory, and were quietly confident after their fine display in the last 10 minutes of the previous Calgary game. The Grand Final reverted from the smaller 25 minute half games of day to a full 20 minute quarter spectacular, and it was thought that the Cougars would have the edge in fitness.

The crowd didn't mind the long lineups at the Pie stand for the delicious Safari Pies!

The Roos showed up to the ground looking worse for wear from their previous encounter against the highly conditioned Vancouver side and several key players could not come up for the final. Their pre-game injury report consisted of 3 hammy’s, one set of broken ribs and a nasty cut chin to Calgary stalwart Rosie, care of a magnificent SuperCoach Grills hip and shoulder in the previous game. Once again, faced with excessive numbers, the Cougars had to donate players to the injury ravaged Roos.

Despite their injury worry’s Calgary came out very much where they had left off and raced to an early lead. At the end of the first quarter, they lead 2.3.15 to the Cougars 1.2.8. The lead however did not reveal the dominance of the Cougars play and it wasn’t long before that dominance hit the scoreboard.

Tense moments on the Cougars bench in the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Cougars cranked it up a notch and exploded! "Goalsneak" Jase almost required an ice bath because he was absolutely on fiiirrrrrrreee booting 3 magnificent goals from the forward flank and almost single handedly turned the game around. The rest of the team took his lead and lifted their game to a new level. The Wiz applied one of the best hip and shoulders of the game and chased down the footy to set up another scoring opportunity for the Cougars. Colin Kelleher, Jason Holychun and Nelson Ferret continued their great tournament play by picking up stats across the centerline, whilst "Fists" Thornton was putting in a BOG performance in the ruck. "Glamour Boy" Vargo and "SuperCoach" Grills joined the party with 2 goals each, whilst Jim Utting kicked a magnificent goal from the boundary to allow the Cougars to race to a massive 8.4.52 to 3.3.21 half time lead.

"Super Coach" Grills gets some ancient balm from the "Guru".

The "Premiership" quarter was certainly that as the Cougars set about sinking the nail in the Roos coffin. The backline constantly rejected any forward advances as Morgs and "Bonecrusher" Bannan held firm, whilst Coops, "Locks" Paquin, "The Phantom" Campion, Adam McLean and Blocky were brilliant, as were Jeff McLean and Paul Jennings, before both limped off with injury’s.

"Fists" Thornton continued to tap the ball down the throats of the Cougars centerline of Edgar, "Chops", "Skip", "The Terrier" Horychun and "Handyman" as they delivered the ball magnificently into the forwardline. The "Glamour Boy" was lapping up the picture perfect passes delivered to him and snagged another 2 goals, whilst "SuperCoach" was proving a Super Forward helping himself to another goal.

"The Wiz" drives the ball deep into attack.

Three quarter time - Cougars 11.6.72 to the Roos 4.4.28.

By the final quarter, the tired Roos backline faced an onslaught of Red and Blue as the Cougars constantly pumped the ball into the forward line. "Skip" Freeman, "Handyman" Hilton, "Chops" McGrath, Edgar and Utting were all carving up the centre, and the Wiz, Gill and Vargo were lapping it up. In one of the great passages of play for the day, Coops managed to stream all the way down to the forward pocket to snag what would have been a miraculous goal, only to have it shave the back of the goalpost. Post-game discussion would question whether it was in fact the wooden blocks on the back of the posts that denied Coops his first ever goal. "Handyman" Hilton later adamantly denied any suggestion of a possible design flaw in his posts.

In the end, "Glamour Boy’ Vargo spanked the nail in with 3 telling marks and subsequent goals - one set up by a massive Stratford torpedo bomb, another from a dagger-like pass from Nelson, to complete a tremendous Cougar victory and back-to-back BC Footy Cup triumph.

Final score – Cougars 15.8.98 to Roos 4.5.29.

Goal scorers – "Glamour Boy" Vargo (7), "Goalsneak" Jase (3), "SuperCoach" Grills (3), "Skip" Freeman (1), "Jimbo" Utting (1), Coops (almost 1-damn that wood).

Watch "Glamour Boy" Vargo bag one of his seven for the day!
Quicktime required.

Best (from) – "Fists" Thornton, "Skip" Freeman, "Glamour Boy" Vargo, "Goalsneak" Jase, "Jimbo" Utting, Coops, "Chops" McGrath, "SuperCoach" Grills, Shine Edgar and "The Wiz".

President "Chops" McGrath and Captain Chris Freeman show off the spoils of victory.

With the magnificent Cup in hand, the serious football for the weekend was over with the Cougars triumphant yet again and looking forward to the tournament in Calgary in a month and a half’s time.

Thanks to everyone!

As always, it takes a lot of people to put together such a magnificent tournament,

Special thanks to –
• SuperCoach Grills, Chops McGrath, Coops and Slim for carting almost everything to the ground;
• Col "Handyman" Hilton for his magnificent scoreboard and unbeatable goalposts;
• Blocky for his ground organization;
• Geoffrey, Annalise and Alan for their Umpiring;
• Slim for his tireless running (not sure how it’s going to help the knee recover);
• Mike and Jase for their work with the kids;
• Fi, Mel,Tuli, Babs, Kit, Natalie, Kate and Gemma for their Pie/T-Shirt/Shine CD selling;
• St.John’s for their "army" of volunteers;
• Rob "the Guru" Edmonds for his boundary-riding assistance to the SuperCoach and website updating;
• Dave Taylor for the Ump uniforms; and
• All Cougars players who volunteered to umpire and help Seattle and Calgary out with additional players.
• All the spectators who came to cheer the teams on.
• Calgary Kangaroos & Seattle Grizzlies