Similar to an earlier encounter staged at the ACG on July 5, the teams facing off were The Phuket Power and The Southern Soi Dogs. Once again, both teams were bustling with new players, mostly rugby converts together with some locals aspiring to play in Thailand’s men’s and women’s AFL teams at the upcoming AFL Asia Championship at the Thai Polo and Equestrian Club in Chonburi next Saturday (Aug 30).
Teams were selected from the players that turned up on the day but they remained closely associated with the line-ups from the close encounter on July 5 as 30 players took to the field to run, tackle, pass, block and kick goals.
The Phuket Power side featured the tallest player on the ground, Alex Stones, with strong running coming from Thai representative Billy Costaglou as well as Matt Stenning, Craig Morgan, Alex Sears and Craig Wright.
The team also boasted some elite female talent with three of Thailand’s current Asia Cup champions, Bee, Natt and Nan in addition to Thailand football squad member Kob.
The Southern Soi Dogs had Thai representatives in Josh Linthorne, Tantai Theampipop and Jacob King, together with Asian Cup Champion Nitt Wetherell and members of Thailand’s current AFL squad, Luke Slobin, Chris Smith, Joy Leaper and Emma Farmer-Wright.
Inaccuracy
Aided by a stiff breeze and taller ruckmen, the Phuket Power jumped out of the blocks kicking 5 goals to 1 goal in the first quarter. Tan had his hands full laying tackles as Power players seamlessly extracted the ball from every stoppage. Billy, Alex Sears, Matt and James all hit the scoreboard.
The tables turned in the second quarter with the Soi Dogs giving Linthorne and King a run in the middle. The Power struggled to get the ball out of defence while the Soi Dogs peppered the goals. Inaccuracy was the only reason the Soi Dogs trailed by a goal at half-time.
Both teams found a rhythm in the third quarter as less free kicks were paid for throwing the ball and sloppy tackles. Slobin and Joy Leaper found plenty of space in the forward areas so Morgan moved into defense to minimise the damage of the Doggies repeat forward entries.
The Soi Dogs Trailed by a goal coming into the last quarter with the wind favouring their end. Unable to stop King from getting his hands on the ball, the Soi Dogs overran the Power, meaning the final score read Soi Dogs 9 goals, 7 behinds (61) versus the Phuket Power’s 9 goals, 1 behind (55).
For the Soi Dogs Jacob King, Josh Linthorne, Tantai Teampipop, Emma Farmer-Wright and Joy Leaper all shone, while Alex Stones, Billy Costoglou, Matt Stenning, Craig Morgan, Alex Sears and Sojirat Pradisorn were the standouts for the Power.
With the game taking place only a fortnight before the AFL Asian Championship, this was the last chance for local players to secure match practice and stake their claim for a spot in Thailand’s strong teams. A total of 16 nations in Asia will be represented at the tournament with Thailand fielding a men’s and women’s division 1 team alongside a division 2 women’s and division 3 men’s team. Making the cut for the Thai sides from Phuket so far are eight men and eight women.
Diverse
Last month’s match on July 5 saw the first full AFL line-up to grace the ACG this year. Several Phuket Vagabonds rugby players enjoyed their first game of AFL, with their size, speed and competitiveness mixed with the occasional throw making for great entertainment. Proving how diverse the sport is in Phuket, the game attracted three female players of Russian descent playing their first match of AFL.
During the match, Alex Stone gave the Power first access to the ball with his height in the ruck, while Tan’s defensive efforts were outstanding. Jacob King dominated in the middle of the ground, running around the Soi Dogs and kicking 4 of their 9 goals. Nat McMillan kicked her first goal and Ben Williams, Cillian O’Neill and Lee Stone were solid in defence for the Power.
The Soi Dogs slipped behind each quarter despite some tidy defense from Luke Slobin and hard running from Emma Williams. At the start of the last quarter the Doggies were down by 4 goals.The big guns were switched into the middle and Josh Linthorne showed his class. Andrew McMillan was the beneficiary of the midfielders hard work kicking 3 goals but the Power hung on for a 3 point win.
The Phuket Power play a few local matches each year and new players, sponsors and spectators are always welcome. The team feeds players into the Thailand Tigers men’s and women’s teams as well as the indigenous Thailand Serpents sides, of which the ladies are the current Asia Cup Champions.
Each year the Thailand Tigers host the Phuket Masters (over 35s) at the ACG. This year the tournament will be held on Oct 25 with teams from Indonesia, Singapore, Australia and Bangkok taking on the Phuket Power.
If you would like to learn more about AFL in Phuket, you can visit the Phuket Power Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PhuketPowerAFL.