Editing 1996 Victorian Three-Man Series

The '''1996 Victorian Three-Man Series''' was a paintball competition organised by the [[Victorian Paintball Players Association]] across venues in Victoria, Australia. Three rounds were completed, while a planned fourth round was cancelled. [[Apparition]] won the overall series, followed by the [[Red Lizards]] and Combat Wombats.[1]

== Organisation and scoring ==

The series used three-player teams, with each tournament limited to 20 entries.[1]

Series standings combined preliminary-round scores with bonus points awarded for finals performances. Consequently, winning an individual tournament did not necessarily produce the highest series points for that round.[1][2]

The season report credited Anthony Surie, Steve Bradshaw, Jodie Hollingsworth and Vlad Markov with organising the competition.[1]

== Rounds ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Round !! Venue !! Teams !! Winner !! Runner-up
|-
| 1 || Splatball Village, Carrum Downs || 14 || [[Challenge Raiders]] || [[Apparition]]
|-
| 2 || Paintball Frankston || 19 || [[Apparition]] || The Scuds
|-
| 3 || Paintball Action Games, Ballan || 20 || Rat Pak Bad || [[Red Lizards]]
|}

Source: contemporary season report.[1]

=== First round ===

The VPPA president's newsletter column dates the opening tournament to '''3 February 1996'''. The later season review instead describes it as taking place in March.[1][3]

Most teams played eight preliminary games, followed by a finals round and a championship game between the two leading teams. Challenge Raiders defeated Apparition in the deciding game.[1]

==== Series points after the first round ====

{| class="wikitable"
! Team !! Preliminary score !! Bonus !! Total
|-
| [[Apparition]] || 465 || 50 || 515
|-
| [[Red Lizards]] || 415 || 40 || 455
|-
| Combat Wombats || 444 || 10 || 454
|-
| Pesticide || 365 || 25 || 390
|-
| Rat Pak A || 294 || 25 || 319
|-
| [[Challenge Raiders]] || 221 || 60 || 281
|-
| The Scuds || 250 || — || 250
|-
| Cockatoo Creed – Itchy || 220 || — || 220
|-
| Cockatoo Creed – Scratchy || 214 || — || 214
|-
| Loony Tunes || 200 || — || 200
|-
| Rat Pak B || 145 || — || 145
|-
| Nemesis || 134 || — || 134
|-
| [[KMA]] || 81 || — || 81
|-
| Lady Tunes || 25 || — || 25
|}

Source: the VPPA newsletter's published first-round table. Dashes indicate blank bonus entries in the source.[2]

Although Challenge Raiders won the tournament, Apparition led the series standings after preliminary scores and finals bonuses were combined.[2]

=== Second round ===

The second tournament took place at Paintball Frankston, with 19 teams entering, including visitors from South Australia. The preliminary programme was reduced to four games per team because of shorter daylight hours. Apparition defeated The Scuds in the final.[1]

The VPPA newsletter advertised this round for 11 May 1996.[3]

=== Third round ===

Paintball Action Games at Ballan hosted the third round in cold, wet conditions. The tournament reached its 20-team capacity before the entry deadline. Rat Pak Bad defeated the Red Lizards in the final.[1]

=== Cancelled fourth round ===

The fourth tournament was cancelled. The series concluded with a presentation evening at which the overall standings and individual awards were announced.[1]

== Overall standings ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Team !! Series points
|-
| [[Apparition]] || 1095
|-
| [[Red Lizards]] || 960
|-
| Combat Wombats || 764
|-
| Rat Pak Bad || 560
|-
| Rat Pak Good || 519
|-
| The Scuds || 505
|-
| [[Challenge Raiders]] || 481
|-
| Loony Tunes || 435
|-
| Pesticide || 390
|-
| Cockatoo Creed – Itchy || 345
|-
| Psychosis || 345
|-
| Dead Serious 1 || 295
|-
| [[KMA]] || 236
|-
| Cockatoo Creed – Scratchy || 219
|-
| [[Top Hat Jokers]] || 210
|-
| Magnum – Good || 195
|-
| Thunder Pigs || 190
|-
| Nemesis || 178
|-
| Team Extreme || 175
|-
| Apparition 2 || 160
|-
| Under Pressure || 100
|-
| Magnum || 100
|-
| Dead Serious 2 || 75
|-
| Lady Tunes || 40
|-
| Rat Pak Ugly || 25
|}

Source: contemporary season report.[1]

== Individual awards ==

Peter Richards won the '''Glenn Palmer Medal''' for the series' overall best and fairest player, finishing one point ahead of John Lennard. Mic Bradshaw and Danny Cummings finished a further point behind.[1]

Troy Dix received the '''Bruce Roberts Award''' for refereeing across the series.[1]

== References ==

# [https://web.archive.org/web/19990220102941/http://www.xsystems.com.au/wpaint/wpaint5/vic.html Three's a Crowd]. Mic Bradshaw, ''Paint'', issue 5, March 1997.
# [https://web.archive.org/web/19990128092448/http://www.xsystems.com.au/balls/jodie.html Tournament Point Scoring]. ''‘Balls An’ All'', VPPA newsletter, archived 28 January 1999.
# [https://web.archive.org/web/19981203145838/http://www.xsystems.com.au/balls/pres.html President's column]. ''‘Balls An’ All'', VPPA newsletter, archived 3 December 1998.

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in Australia]]
[[Category:Paintball tournament series]]
[[Category:Paintball in Victoria]]
[[Category:1990s in Australian paintball]]
[[Category:1996 in paintball]]