The New England Nomads travelled to Tamworth to take on the Tamworth Swans and were expecting a tough game, and that is what they got. Both teams were inaccurate in the first quarter, but it was the Nomads who were able to convert more of their shots to lead by 19 points at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw a fight back by the Swans but the Nomads were able to answer them each time in what was a goalathon for the quarter. Had the Nomads been as accurate, 6 goals 5 behinds, as the Swans, 5 goals 1 behind, they could have put the game to bed at half time. Still they led by a very handy 29 point lead at half time. Swans Coach Gary Harriett's half time address was very inspiring and his men came out in the third quarter and really pushed the Nomads. They had the Nomads on the back foot restricting them to just 2 goals for the quarter and kicking 5 goals themselves to reduce the margin to just 17 points at the final break. The Swans again outscored the Nomads in the last quarter, but wayward kicking cost them the chance to snatch the game. The sign of a good team though is being able to protect a good early lead in a game and do whatever it needs to do in the last quarter to win and that's just what the Nomads did. Nomads Coach, Brendan Meehan, would have been happy to get the win, but knows they will still have to improve, especially away from home, if they are going to stay as one of the top two on the Essential Energy TAFL Ladder. For the Nomads their major goal kickers was again Weston Whitby with 7 and their best player was Jonathon Frost. For the Swans their major goal kicker was Chris Walker with 4 and their best player was Grant Scheffers.
In Inverell the Saints hosted the Tamworth Kangaroos and were quietly confident of upsetting the EETAFL Ladder leaders in the replay of last year's Grand Final. The first quarter saw the Saints score the first 2 goals of the game before the Kangaroos could hit back with a couple of their own. The Saints scored again and so did the Kangaroos to grab the lead. With 5 minutes to go in the quarter the Kangaroos hit a purple patch and drove through 4 unanswered goals in a very impressive display of dominance to lead by 26 points. The second quarter was pretty much the same as the first quarter with the Kangaroos again finding that purple patch in the last 5 minutes and kicking another 4 goals. The Saints also lost 2 player to injury in this quarter, Coach Nick Baird tore his left hamstring and tough backman Corey Borthwick was carried off with concussion. Neither player would return to the game. The Kangaroos veteran backman and premiership coach come goal sneak Tony Bishop kicked a miraculous goal in this quarter. Lying on the ground he managed to get boot to ball and dibble a goal through from 15 metres out on a tight angle. When ask where he learnt this trick he replied "Playing on Mick Viney" the Saints injured spearhead. The Kangaroos lead at half time was 45 points and they showed in the third quarter that they most definitely are a force to be reckoned with this year and are outright favourites to win this year's Essential Energy Cup. The third quarter saw the Saints play most of the quarter with 17 men as Jono Elphick was yellow carded and sent off for 15 minutes. The Kangaroos again outscored the Saints to leas by 59 points at the last break. Kangaroos Coach, Tim Cotter, would have been happy with his team's performance up until last break, but disappointed with their last quarter effort. The Saints, now with a full 18 players back on the ground, fought out the last quarter outscoring the Kangaroos by 15 points. Unfortunately for the Saints they lost another player to injury in this quarter as Charlie McShane went down with a torn Achilles tendon. The Saints are rebuilding this year as they have lost 10 premiership players from last year and they have some kids playing their first year of senior footy. The Kangaroos have seasoned harden men playing and will take a lot of stopping this year. The Kangaroos main goal kicker was Coach Tim Cotter with 7 and their best player was Daniel, DJ, Johnson. For the Saints their major goal scores were Charlie McShane and Gary Hadland with 3 each and their best player was Justin Pay.
The final game was at held at the Kennel in Gunnedah, where the Bulldogs took on the Muswellbrook Cats. The Bulldogs were coming off the bye and played the first quarter as a refreshed unit. They showed the Cats that the Kennel is no place for Cats by doubling the Cats goal tally in the first quarter, 6 goals to 3 goals. The Cats were buoyed by their first win in years last week and this would have been a letdown for their coach Bryce O'Connor. However 19 points is not the end of the world and he got his men up and running in the second quarter. Both teams were having trouble finding the middle of the big sticks in this quarter with Bulldogs kicking 3 goals 5 behinds to the Cats 4 goals 6 behinds. Either team could have gone into the main break with a big lead however it was the Bullies that had a slender 2 goal lead at half time. The Cats kept coming at the Bulldogs in the third quarter again outscoring them, this time by 10 points, but they should have gone into the last break in the lead. Kicking 3 goals 6 behinds for the quarter hurt them badly and left the Bulldogs hanging onto a 2 point lead. During the last break Bulldogs Coach, Pete Chapman, got his men back on track and they were able to hold the Cats off in the end winning by 11 points. Chapman knew what was at stake for his men in the last quarter and they reaped the reward in gutsing out their win and find themselves in 4th place on the EETAFL Ladder with a 4 point buffer over the 5th place Saints. The Bulldogs major goal kickers Farran Lamb and Chris Gee with 4 goals each and their best player was Stewart Hinze. For the Cats their major goal kickers were James McRae, Stuart McAdam and Jackson Bower all with 3 goals each and Bower was also their best player.
Last Modified on 12/06/2011 11:55