The Half Back

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The Half Back
Personal information
Nickname(s)THB
Draft3rd overall, season 14 (Southern Dragons)
Height/Weight181cm 75kg
Position(s)Wing, Half Back, Full Forward
Club information
Current clubFighting Furies
Number15
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
S14-S17
S18-S19
S20-S25
S26-27
S28-
Total
Dragons FFC
Las Vegas Bears
Dragons FFC
East Side Hawks
Fighting Furies
65 (32)
33 (24)
81 (24)
36 (6)
37 (131)
252(217)
Representative team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
S14-Vic Country24 (13)
1 Playing statistics to end of S29 .
2 State and International statistics correct as of S29.
Career highlights

The Half Back is a classy, skilful right footed swingman who ironically does sometimes plays on the half back line, along with playing a plethora of other positions such as full back, wing, full forward and more in the fantasy football league the Sweet FA.

CAREER

Early days with the Dragons: S14-S17

THB started his career at the Dragons FFC and played under Ljp86 for his first four seasons. THB won the EKA Medallist for being the best first year player as voted by the captains in his debut season at the Dragons. During this season, Halfie mainly played across the Half Back line before some strong form earned him a spot on the wing to close out the season. THB only missed two games for the season, once for a suspension where he was found guilty of tripping and once where he pulled up sore and sat out due to a hand injruy. Unfortunately the Dragons came just short of premiership glory, going out in straight sets in the S14 finals. The Half Back played three seasons for the Dragons FFC in a wide range of positions ranging from wing, half forward, half back, interchange and more. Through these three seasons, the Dragons were regular participants in the finals, yet could not quite win it all. Season 16 saw Halfie play 18 games between the midfield and defence, but the Dragons were eliminated in the first week of finals. For the second straight season, Halfie did not miss a single game, yet was limited in his role as Dragons coaching staff could not quite find the right spot for the young star. He mainly came off the bench and filled holes that needed to be fixed. This was the first season THB did not play a single finals game. His fourth season with the Dragons was marred by injury as THB was forced to sit out 8 games due to a nagging calf injury. He recovered just in time for the Dragons finals tilt, where they made it to the Season 17 Grand Final against the West Coast Wonders but came up just short of their maiden premiership.

Moving to Las Vegas: S18-S19

During the off season, THB clashed with the club after not being given a large roll in their side and demanded a trade. A potential suitor became apparent when the reformed Las Vegas Bears rejoined the competition under the captaincy of pantskyle. Halfie jumped at the opportunity to move north to pursue a permanent leadership role at the Bears. Back played just two seasons at the Bears where he was voted by his peers as the best teammate to room with. The Bears did not have much success in these two seasons, only playing in, and losing, the one final. Unfortunately for the Bears, Halfie began to become homesick and was lured back to Dragon Island by newly appointed captain The Filth Wizard for a second stint in the Green and Black.

Returning home and missing major time: S20-S25

After winning the Season 19 premiership, the Dragons were boosted by the return of a favourite son as THB left the Bears in free agency. In his first season back with the team, THB enjoyed his best statistical season of his career up until that point, managing to play in all 18 games. He put up career highs in disposals (339) and Dream Team Points (1143) playing predominantly on the wing and in the midfield. Straight away the Dragons were back in finals contention as Halfie powered them to a first round win in the finals before the quest for back-to-back premierships were dashed at the hands of the Fighting Furies. THB again came one game away from making a second Grand Final appearance in Season 21 as the Dragons lost another Prelim, again to the Wonders. Season 22 was not a great one for Halfie as he suffered an ACL injury in Round 8 which saw him miss a season and a half's worth of football. In a miraculous fourth return to the SFA, THB came back to the Dragons after popping up during the Hall of Fame games after missing the entire 23rd season. Back is the only player in SFA history to play on both teams during the one game when the Bears all time XX played against the Dragons all time XX at the start of the 25th season. Season 25 seemed to be THB's best season yet as he shifted to Full Back and was one of the premier defenders in the competition. He finished the season second in the Derf Medal (reverse coleman) behind I Dont Care but was grossly left out of, not just the S25 All-SFA team, but out of the squad entirely. Snubbed by the league, Halfie was at least comfortable with the club and put his hand up for the captaincy moving forward. The team thought differently though as they did not even consider Back for a leadership role, let alone the captain of the club. After 146 games in 10 seasons across two stints, the bridges were burnt between player and club and Halfie has since been quoted on the record saying "I will never play for the Dragons ever again in my entire career."

A fresh start with the Hawks: S26-S27

After Season 25 had concluded and the dust settled between Halfie and the Dragons, the hottest free agent of the off season had to find a new home. Many offers came in for the versatile swingman, including the Wonders, Demons, Bears, Swamprats and Bombers. However, the experienced Halfie rejoined with former captain The Filth Wizard to play at the East Side Hawks. Season 26, Halfie's eighth in the league, was his most rewarding one yet. Moving back to is eponymous position on a half back flank, Halfie was not only names to the All-SFA side at RHB, but was also awarded the TFLUA-Tiger Medal for the most overwhelming performer on-field for the season. Awarder by league admin Cloud_ at the Mobbenfhurer Medal night, Halfie stated that he "once again enjoyed playing the game of qootball." The Hawks snuck into the finals in eighth spot on percentage only and looked to make a miracle run to the Grand Final. They knocked off the fifth placed Coney Island Warriors in their elimination final by 51 points. They took care of the fourth placed West Coast Wonders in the Semi Final by just 10 points. Their run came to an end when they faced the third placed Fighting Furies in the Prelim final, going down by a mere goal to bow out. This successful run looked to be a sign of things to come for Halfie and the Hawks, however Season 27 proved to be a down year for both parties. Starting the season off in the ruck, Halfie was shuffled around after 7 games due to balance and lack of wins by the side. The team ended up missing the finals all together after losing a fair portion of their core, including big names like The Filth Wizard, Noobz0r, boncer34, Papa Juggs and spookism.

The main target at club number four: S28-present

Without his close friends at the club, Halfie once again tested the free agency waters and unexpectedly moved down to Punt Road to join the Fighting Furies for Season 28. The move paid off almost immediately and the versatile veteran slotted into Full Forward and slotted through 69 majors in his first season in the pink and black. he narrowly missed out on winning the Fred Medal by just 4 goals, but still won the Tarkyn_24 Medal for Furies leading goal kicker. Halfie was the answer the Furies were looking for who bounced back from a disappointing Season 27 where they went 6-10 and missed the finals, to a much improved 11-5 to claim second spot on the ladder. The Furies narrowly went down to eventual Grand Finalists, the Mount Buller Demons by 5 points in the first week of the finals. The double chance however meant that the Furies play against THB's old side, the Dragons FFC' in what showed to be a spiteful affair. Former captain Hatchy1992 went straight to THB before the bounce and a melee erupted in the goal square before a second of qootball had been played. Unfortunately for Halfie and the Furies, the Dragons got the better of them and for the tenth time in career, THB bowed out of the finals without winning a Grand Final. Season 29 was another good one for the Furies as they made it back to the finals, again winning 11 games and finishing second. The S29 finals played out very similar to the S28 ones did for the Furies, coming up against the Demons in their QF and going down by 3 goals giving them a juicy rematch against the Dragons in the SF. This time it was the Furies that came out on top, thanks mainly to Rioli8217 booting 6 goals in just his 4th game for the club. Halfie's redemption against the club that he once called home was complete, tearing up after the game in which they prevailed by just 3 points. The road to full redemption was again cut short by the Sin City Swamprats in the prelim final, as the Furies went down by 13 points in what turned out to be THB's sixth losing Prelim Final. The Half Back has since re-signed with the Furies for another season but has hinted at moving away from the goal square to mix things up.

OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

THB is known in the SFA for his mass posting and hate for The Jet formally known as Jobe3votes. After his first season of spamming the shit out of the league, THB mellowed out and became a regular name around the league. After just 63 games spread across 4 seasons, Back decided that he had had enough of the Dragons FFC and made the move to the re-formed Las Vegas Bears. His reason for the change of scenery is "I'm a new THB and I need a new start, pantskyle has offered me that and I have gladly accepted."

The Half Back is a born leader, as his resume clearly states. He was part of the Dragons leadership group from season 15 up until his move at the end of season 17. The Half Back had a minor leadership role at the Bears in his two season stint and has been a clubhouse leader at. both the Hawks and now Furies. THB has also been a part of the leadership group for Vic Country in the State of Origin over his 16 seasons in the league, even captaining the side in Season 26.

Back was apart of the Dragons FFC first ever winning final and losing Grand Final side. Playing in the back pocket and collecting 15 disposals in his last game in the Red, Black and White. After the match, Back stated that he wished to be a part of another franchise and thus, the move to the Bears was completed. Signing as a free agent after the Grand Final loss, Back knew his opportunities at the Dragons would be limited. Stating that he would never close the door on his beloved Dragon Island return but after a strong first season with the Bears, Dragon fans did not think they would see one of their beloved sons return anytime soon.

All of this changed after just two seasons at the Bears. Back became disgruntled with the lack of talent the Bears had on offer and, just like his childhood hero Trent Croad, back the move back home to Dragon Island. The rejuvenated Back became one of the Dragons elder statesman, having played 146 games for the Dragons. Entering his 17th season in the league, THB is widely regarded as one of the best players to ever play the game without winning a Grand Final. He has played in a total of 24 finals (Dragons FFC-15, Las Vegas Bears-1, East Side Hawks-3, Fighting Furies-5), including 1 Grand Final yet has never tasted success on the last day of the season.

Early in his career there was an incident involving The Half Back and Beez which really set the kids world on fire. It is believed that The Half Back credited his EKA Medal win to Beez for tearing him a new one. PS, pantskyle is the worst captain in the SFA.