Schauble likely to miss grand final re-match

by Rod Gillett

Former Sydney Swans best & fairest Andrew Schauble is likely to miss the Middle East AFL grand final re-match when the Dubai Heat travel to the Sultanate of Oman to play the Muscat Magpies in their round 3 at the Muscat Rugby Club on Friday.

Schauble is suffering from a flu virus that has cast major doubt on his availability for the re-match.

Speaking from his hotel room in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia where he is on a business trip, Schauble told me, “I am hopeful of playing, but it will depend on how I feel once I get back to Dubai. We are not due to fly to Muscat until the morning of the match. Hopefully, I’ll recover, but at the moment I’m pretty doubtful”.

The former Swans defender has been very prominent up forward for the Heat in the first two rounds and is the focal point of the attack.

The Muscat Magpies will be missing the Koroit duo, Simon O’Keefe and Ben Goodall, from their grand final line-up, but the club is confident of significant improvement this season from its remaining squad.

The Heat is expected to maintain its unbeaten run over the Muscat Magpies.

Meanwhile in the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Falcons will host newcomers, the Bahrain Blues at the American International School in the nation’s capital. The Falcons have almost a  full list to choose from except for key defender Cameron Granger.

The Bahrain Blues scored a surprise home win over Muscat at home last round but are unlikely to match it with the classy Falcons.

Meanwhile in Qatar, the Doha Kangaroos will host the Dubai Dingoes at the Doha Rugby Club on Friday at 3.00 pm as well. Both sides will be seeking their first win of the season with the Kangaroos favoured to score their first victory for the season at home.

The Dubai Dragons have the bye.

Comments

  1. Richard E. Jones says

    DON’T know what it’s like in mid-November in the UAE and environs, but here in London it’s not only very chilly but extremely windy as well.
    Rocket — the Sat. B4 last we ventured down to the aptly named Cat and Canary boozer in London’s Docklands’ Canary Wharf to watch the big heavyweight fight.
    The gigantic 7 ft. 2 in, 23 stone (don’t know metric for either of those) Russian Nikolay Valuev plodded forward in vain agst. Brit David Haye. The cement-headed Russki landed a few left leads on bouncing, bobbing Haye yet the athletic Brit. got the judges’ nod: one judge went 114-114, the remaining pair went 116–112 each for Haye.
    Lads in the packed boozer erupted in cheering and singing the national anthem, but in reality the fight was pretty dull.

  2. Sheik Mohammed bin Rocket says

    Hi Richard,

    Pleased to hear that you are taking in the sports action while on vacation.
    Shame about those damned Yankees winning again…

    How do the these two boxers rate compared to Smokin’ Joe Frazier who you saw at close range in PNG?

    Its down to the low 30s in the Arabian Gulf – most pleasant for football.
    Speaking of soccer, the UAE beat man City 1-0 in a friendly here last week; of course, the local sheikh could not lose as he owns the Man City club – it was billed as “Our City v Our Country”, but like that heavy weight title match you watched at the Cat and Canary, it was pretty underwhelming.

    Enjoy your travels.

  3. Sheik Mohammed bin Rocket says

    ROUND 3 RESULTS
    Dubai Heat 28.13.181 d Muscat Magpies 3.11.29
    Doha Kangaroos 13.9.87 d Dubai Dingoes 12.6.78
    Abu Dhabi Falcons 21.10.131 d Bahrain Blues 14.3.97

  4. Richard E. Jones says

    NOT a shame about the mighty NY Yankees.
    A most appropriate result. Pity it didn’t go to the 7th game and the Yanks won 4-3.
    I’d left my own NY Yankees cap at hom,e but there were plenty being worn in the Big Apple whilst we were there.

    For a Man Yoo supporter the poncy sky blue Man City boys are a club you just have to beat. Ditto, Liverpool.
    Throw in the London double of Chelsea and Arsenal and there’s the quaddie,

  5. Richard E. Jones says

    POST SCRIPT to comment #4
    30-plus degrees here in Singapore, too, Sir Rod.
    Prefer the clearer heat of the Gulf and the bUAE and similar.
    It’s the humidity of SE Asia that’s the killer, allied to the above thirty degree mark.

  6. Sheik Mohammed bin Rocket says

    You’re incorrigible Mr Jones!

    Pleased to see you making time to check into the Almanac website.

    Last time I checked EPL results both Chelsea and Liverpool had beaten Man U this season, & the Mighty Gunners are to come…

    Managed to get my son off Man U and back on the Arsenal bandwagon, but so far unable to shake off his new found support for Collingwood – is there a cure?

    Enjoy the rest of your travels Richard – soon you’ll be back to good old Bendigo where it’ll be just hot.

    According to the radio it was a “chilly 22 degrees” in Abu Dhabi this morning…

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