Mora's Horrors

Mora's Horrors is a team in the Pho Bowl Fantasy Footy League coached by Simon Morawetz. The Horrors entered the league in 2012 and have won the premiership on one occasion, in 2020. The Horrors have played in both the Grand Final (2020, 2023) and the Bog Roll Final (2019, 2021).

## History

### 2012

The Horrors' inaugural draft pick was Kade Simpson (pick 7) and despite this, they went on to play finals in their first year. A series of unfortunate events left the Horrors with 17 players in their Elimination Final; not only did they lose, their score of 1112 was the lowest of the entire season, etching their name in the Hall of Fame for the wrong reasons.

### 2013

The Horrors' second season ended in controversy: despite scoring more points than Levy, they missed out on finals because Levy had a better percentage. The rule was changed following this season to make Points For the second determinant on the ladder.

It worked out OK for the Horrors in the end. In 2013, the bottom six teams played off for a minor premiership, which the Horrors won.

### 2014

The Horrors finished in the Top Four in 2014, but lost their opening final against Josh Levy after West Coast's Sam Butler took 14 marks (a career high) en route to score of 140 (also a career high). The loss sent the Horrors to Lakous' side of the finals; despite posting the second-highest score of Preliminary Final week, the Horrors were eliminated by the eventual premier.

### 2015

The Horrors played Eugene Lakous in the Preliminary Final in 2015, entering the final match of the round in a strong position. Additionally, Lakous' Jack Grimes had been named as the sub, making a Grand Final appearance almost a formality. However, Grimes was subbed in just before half time, somehow going on to record 105 points for the match, eliminating the Horrors in the process. It remains, by some distance, the most influential thing Jack Grimes has ever done.

### 2016-18

The Horrors achieved little of note between 2016 and 2018.

### 2019

Despite boasting Patrick Dangerfield, Andrew Gaff, and Lachie Hunter in midfield, the Horrors fell to pieces in 2019. They were defeated in Round 22 by Squengel (who scored their only 1500 of the season) to send them to the Bog Roll Final. The Horrors narrowly avoided the Roll, defeating Ron Glick by just two points in the final round.

### 2020

The Horrors drafted a strong squad in 2020, although there was a stage where it looked like the season might not proceed at all due to the coronavirus pandemic (lending further weight to the theory that the Horrors are cursed). Eventually the season went ahead, and despite Andrew Lifson taking out the minor premiership, it was clear the Horrors were the team to beat in the finals. They had the most Points For, and some of the highest totals of the season (including the only 1400+ score).

The Horrors completed a Lifson double in the finals, defeating Lawrence in the Qualifying Final and then Andrew in the Preliminary Final. The Horrors then swept past Jeremy Wein in the Grand Final to claim their maiden premiership. Their Grand Final score of 1376 was the third highest score posted that season. Taylor Adams won the Norm Smith Medal for his 120 (150 adjusted).

### 2021

Having gone from the Bog Roll Final to the Grand Final, the Horrors swung back the other way in 2021. A brutal run with injury saw the Horrors struggle to field a complete team at times. The Horrors collapsed to finish 14th on the ladder. They defeated Slavik Akkerman two weeks later, but lost to Squengel to return to the Final. They defeated Akkerman again - their third consecutive win on Grand Final week - to avoid the dreaded Roll.

### 2022

The Horrors made a strong start to the season, and with finals all but assured several weeks out, traded aggressively to improve their squad. Some of the players brought in were Lachie Whitfield, Lachie Hunter, Aaron Hall, and Jacob Hopper. Many believe the squad would have finished in the top four had they not suffered 15 red vests over the course of the season.

Despite this, it looked like the Horrors would crash out of finals in the first week against Lawrence Lifson, until a miracle 130-point half from Zach Merrett turned the match upside down. Morawetz has since confirmed the rumour that he did not get to watch the turnaround due to attending a performance of the musical *Hamilton*.

The pendulum of fortune swung back the following week, however, and the Horrors lost to Squengel despite holding a strong position going into Sunday.

### 2023

The Horrors had the first-round double pick for the first time, taking Lachie Neale and Christian Petracca. Also boasting Sam Walsh and Adam Treloar in a strong midfield, the Horrors were in the top four for most of the season. Their double chance was confirmed in the final round.

The Horrors overcame The Ah Chees in the Qualifying Final. Paykel's side had been the highest-scoring team over the Home & Away season but capitulated in the first final, sending the Horrors to the Prelim. The Horrors defeated Dynamo Lakous to reach their second Grand Final, where - as in 2020 - they faced Beano's Brigade.

Wein's team took a strong lead into the final day, and despite having Tom Papley withdrawn, it appeared they had won when Bayley Fritsch hobbled from the ground in the eighth game of the round. Fritsch was returning from a broken foot and appeared to have re-injured it, but was able to return to the ground. He may not have returned had Jake Melksham injured his knee in the few minutes while Fritsch was being assessed. Fritsch scored 55 points in the final quarter.

Fritsch's heroics seemed to have won the premiership for the Horrors, who required Walsh, Blake Acres, and Isaac Cumming to score 238 in the final game to win. The Horrors were cruising to victory, needing less than 100 points in the second half, before Brent Daniels injured Acres' collarbone early in the third. The Blue was subbed from the game, and the Horrors ultimately fell 24 points short of victory.

The season was not without controversy for the Horrors, with the infamous Gaff-Tsatas Trade taking place in 2023.

## Theme Song

The Horrors are the first, and to date only, League team with an official club song:

Lyrics:

> *Look out football, we're gonna win that Pho*
>
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> *This ain't fantasy, it's a real Horror Show*
>
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> *We're always scoring, from backline to the ruck*
>
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> *When you play the Horrors, you're always out of luck*
>
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> *We bite like vampires, we cut like Freddie K*
>
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> *Horrors through and through, we will take the points today*
>
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> *Because the Horrors are in town*
>
>
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> *And we're going to take you down*
>
>

## Honours

* 1x Premier (2020)
* 1x Runner Up (2023)
* 2x Weekly Comp Winner (2020-21)
* 1x Highest Score of the Season (1424 in 2020)
* 1x Lowest Score of the Season (1112 in 2012)

## Rivalries

The Horrors consider Greg Milner's teams to be a rival due to their constant defeats, regardless of how bad Greg's team is that year. They somehow have a winning record against Dynamo Lakous, but an awful record against Saffa Humour. The Horrors have played Wein in two Grand Finals, winning one each. They dislike Tal, but that is hardly unique to them.

## Horror Medal

The Horror Medal was awarded to the team's Best Player over the season from 2012-2020. The Award was discontinued after 2020 season, a fact not unrelated to the birth of Morawetz's second child. To date, Taylor Adams is the only player to have won the Horror Medal in a premiership year.

### Voting

Each week, the Horrors' top thirteen scorers were awarded votes on the following scale:

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8-10
 11-13

In the interests of fairness, straight mids had their votes weighted down to 70%. Early iterations of the award had scores weighted by draft order.

Brent Stanton (2013), Sam Mitchell (2015), and Joel Selwood (2018) polled the most votes in their year but did not win the Medal due to scaling.

### Winners

* 2012: Dane Swan
* 2013: Luke Parker
* 2014: Jordan Lewis
* 2015: Andrew Gaff
* 2016: Lachie Hunter
* 2017: Sam Jacobs
* 2018: Todd Goldstein
* 2019: Andrew Gaff (2nd)
* 2020: Taylor Adams