The Gargoyles lost their round 10 match up to the Central Blues in Toronto.  Round 11 sees the team facing the 4th placed Etobicoke Kangaroos at Humber Sth for an early morning game.

Round 10 of the OAFL Competition sees the Guelph Gargoyles facing off against the Central Blues of Toronto for the second time this season. The Blues currently hold down 2^nd place on the ladder with their only loss to date to the undefeated Toronto Eagles who have a firm grip on 1^st place right now. Guelph resides in 3^rd place with a 7-2 record vs. the Blues 8-1 record.

The Guelph Gargoyles brain fart in round 4 which saw them beaten convincingly by the Central Blues is sure to rev up the team as they head into this weekends competition. What can we expect form the game?

Guelph Gargoyles:

Will be fielding a near full strength squad for this weekend’s game. Center Half Back Matt Bannon is still out with the knee injury sustained in round 3. He will be looking to get back onto the field in the next few weeks as the injury heals and his conditioning comes back online. The Gargoyles will have to do a better job of matching up on the Central Blues who were all over the Gargoyles in the first quarter of the last game and got out to a lead that the Gargoyles were unable to overcome. There are some patterns of play that the Blues utilize well; the Gargoyles coaching staff have been keeping a close eye on these to combat them. Match-ups will be critical to the Gargoyles success so we expect that Benjamin Roberts will likely be given the job on the Blues key forward. The team will also be making some lineup adjustments this week to deal with the Blues stacked Australian contingent.

Scott Rowe when he finally arrived at the last game vs. the Blues late due to work commitments did some damage through the midfield, as did Jeff Borysiewicz. With both Travis Doyle and Matt Newark playing this week the team has additional options for the ruck position and full forward rotation that has been working well for the Gargoyles. The team has been working as hard if not harder than any other OAFL outfit on fitness this year and it has been showing as the Gargoyles have just run teams into the ground in the last half of many games. That fitness will be called upon this weekend as the Blues have a similar work ethic.

The predominantly Canadian midfield will be working hard all game as will the half forward through half back lines where so much of the game takes place. Goal kicking accuracy will be absolutely critical in this game and the team can’t afford to squander any opportunities created. The basic principles of getting to the ball first, accountability and fearless attack off the ground will also be what the coaching staff asks of the team on game day.

Central Blues:

Having recruited a virtual bucket of Australian talent for 2010 the Blues have been accused of relying upon it too heavily. Sure there may be an element of truth to the fact that the majority of goals the team has scored to date have been by their Australian contingent. This however is nothing new in the OAFL competition and teams have been and will be again, accused of following this mantra. The Blues will be back at full strength this week after missing some of their key players for the last few rounds so will be looking to get another win on the board and cement their second position.

The Blues Canadian talent has been coming along the last few years and although lacking the experience of some of the Gargoyles players still needs to be accounted for. Other OAFL teams have been gradually figuring out the Blues game plan although the Eagles seemed to have it nailed down earlier than the rest of us. The Blues have a fit and fast team that is sure to push the Gargoyles all the way on Saturday. There are rumors surrounding the Blues in that they have more import players on the way but seriously how many can you really use on game day anyway with only 6 Australians on the field at any one time.

In summary the Gargoyles will be focusing on their game plan and intend to come away with the 4 points on Saturday afternoon.