6 games all hard fought, included one difficult comeback, three games where we started strong and took control early, one devastating loss and one difficult loss. A 4-2 record for the weekend and a 4th place finish aren't bad but everyone on Herd felt it could have been better.
First day highlight: 3 point blocks, 2 on the endzone line we were defending. More than I've ever got in one tournament, let alone one day.
Second day highlight: Huge layout D in our 3 v 4 game against Rebel followed by getting the score and getting the team pumped up. Unfortunately, Rebel ground out a hard fought win against us, but I still felt good about the game in general.
Felt really good after the weekend, no aches or pains except for my right calf which got kneed in our semi final game. Fitness seems to be paying off.
I think, as a team, we were a little disappointed with 4th place, but mostly we were disappointed with our performance in our semi-final against Peeps.
I don't know what it is, but psychologically Peeps seem to always get in our heads. Ability wise, they are a very strong team, but we always seem to not play our game against them, which is slightly strange considering they seem to do that whenever they play Bear Cavalry in a Mixed Tour final (15-4, seriously, what's that all about). It seems strange that we don't have the same stigma with Bear Cavalry, despite them arguably being the strongest team in UK mixed ultimate at the moment. It leads me more to believe that we have a stigma more with the way Peeps act, rather than how they play.
This is not to say they are in any way bad spirited, just that they have a strange way of acting on pitch. Before the game there were comments from them about them being in the mindset of the game coming off their tough win over Golden Ants in the Quarter Final, whilst we were switched off coming from our comfortable win over Black Eagles. I don't think it was the case but the way they shouted it over to us as we were getting to the pitch contributed to the overall picture of how their team acts. Many of their players banter a lot with us as opposition, but then in a split second they go super focused. Another example being, in our first offense point, we were dumping and swinging and making gains through our male players when one of their players on the sideline commented on whether we knew how to play mixed. The next pass to a girl was incomplete, not by much, but the comment had been made right next to the thrower and the receiver and that can definitely affect someones mindset during a game. Peeps celebrate scores very well and that seemed to put a downer on us, and they have a lot of older very experienced players, both men and women, that can be kind of intimidating in their presence. Not that they go out of their way to make themselves intimidating, but their experience along with their team dynamic really contributes to this feeling.
The other aspect that makes them a dangerous team is their height, and their fearlessness with throws. Their quarter final win was on a stall 8/9 bailout huck to the endzone and they continuously came down with big discs in traffic against us and things like this, which they almost make look like luck, can be demoralising as well.
However, Herd as a team possesses the tools that could have earned a victory had our heads been in the right place and I am definitely looking forward to the next time we play them. There will definitely have to be some adjustments, but it is in no way a stretch of the imagination for Herd to come away from a game against Peeps with a win.
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