The
off field team this week had been busy with ground and change room preparation,
catering, ground facilities, team and game management etc. etc., all week and from
sparrow’s fart on game day. Committee persons, wives, mums and dads, CDM Bob
Walters, Chef Johnson and numerous others, including juniors in club colours,
made significant contributions to a successful day. Footy Club Treasurer, Brendon Howard spent all day showing
the crowd his version of a marinated barra, and we think his profit was the
equivalent of a sponsor season commitment. Who won the Barra we are yet to find
out. Mick Williams had also thought the day through and had an all female staff
uglified only by his good self. Mick also arranged the generous contribution of a cricket club
supporter, Jason Kann, whose company Polar Direct supplied all the equipment
necessary to keep the libations etc at correct temperatures. Those in the know estimated the crowd
at tad more than 2,500 and Merrimac looked a treat with a packed stand area and
not a car spot around the outer wing from behind post to behind post. The VFL umpires nearly ruined it with
their luminous orange road safety coloured gear.
Good feeling belonging to a responsible and active community organisation. If
youse love yer footy honk yer horn.
Seniors v Southport
A
couple of significant losses at the selection table hit hard. Tinka and Rusty
are key components to our engine room and first touch football is what it is
all about these days. Fair to say we copped a second half hiding from a side
loaded with talent but there is upside everywhere one looks at our team and the
sharks haven’t much else to add. The score board provides one indicator of the
game but not all, not by a long shot. Plenty to look forward to for us – more
of the same for them. Take your pick.
Selected
game reading below. Persevere, there's plenty.
Pre-game From the Bully
Cats look a bit scratchy without their stars
Nick Smart
April 17th, 2010
Broadbeach
midfielder Dayne Zorko will miss today's grudge match against Southport after
accepting a one-week ban for striking during the week.
The loss of
guns Dayne Zorko and on-baller Simon Russell could not have come at a worse
time for Broadbeach before today's huge grudge match against Southport.
The Cats, who
were so impressive in last week's Round 1 win over Aspley, face up to bitter
rivals Southport at 11am at Merrimac Oval today.
But they will
go in without the dynamic midfield pair after Zorko accepted a one-week ban for
striking during the week.
To make matters
worse, Russell -- who was second in last year's club best and fairest -- was
last night ruled out with a virus.
"That's
two out of the engine room," said Cats coach Adrian Smith.
"If you
are going to test yourself, you test yourself against Southport so we are
looking forward to it.
"Last week
gives us a little bit of momentum and we will go in with a bit of
confidence."
The good news
is they get Gold Coast Football Club-listed ruckman Tim Nicholls in for his
first game.
Fellow GCFC
listed players Lewis Moss and Roland Ah Chee are also in the Cats team.
There is a bit
of optimism at Broadbeach this season with a lot of their young kids looking
more than handy. They are also boosted by the return of former GCFC on-baller,
Tayler Rolfe, and Jackson Emblem, back from the NT Thunder.
"The good
thing is as bad as last year was with the injuries and all that, the positive
was we got a chance to play a lot of young blokes," said Smith.
"But the ones
we are expecting to be better footballers this year are the likes of Darin
Stewart, Jesse Derrick, Simon Russell because they have played 40-plus games
and you expect them to start to have a bit more of a presence in the
competition."
Post-game from QAFL website
SLICK SHARKS SLICE THROUGH GUTSY CATS
Saturday 17 April 2010
Southport beat Broadbeach by 10 goals at Merrimac Oval today, but the margin
reflected the quality of the Sharks’ football rather than any but one
shortcoming of the Cats.
The home side made a fierce contest of every disputed possession and
were much better than the 18.9 (117) to 8.9 (57) scoreline would suggest.
It was testament to Southport’s own determination and superior ability
to convert their chances that they won so handsomely.
Southport wingman David James was at the top of his game, collecting
possessions at will from the outset.
His first quarter was outstanding, where he played a pivotal role in
setting up a 19-point quarter-time lead, and was almost as good in the second
term.
His Broadbeach opponents paid an even bigger price for allowing him space in
third term, constantly winning the ball at half-back, sending the ball forward,
and following up again to deliver it to a leading forward.
James must have had 15 to 20 touches in a dazzling 30 minutes where
Southport added 6.1 to 0.3 to break the game apart.
The Sharks’ ability to kick goals in braces hurt the Cats. Four times
they kicked two or three goals in the space of two minutes during the opening
three quarters.
The double-whammy’s that hurt most were in the second quarter when
Broadbeach had pulled to within seven points midway through the term.
Cameron McLaren, a silky-skilled left-footer who was high in the Sharks’
best player list, kicked two goals in a minute to give his side breathing
space, and then the visitors grabbed two in the last 30 seconds of the half,
Cleve Hughes kicking the second from the boundary after the siren.
The Sharks’ five-goal halftime lead took some of the sting out of the
Cats, who had battled manfully without two of their best midfielders Dayne
Zorko and Simon Russell.
In their place, young Roland Ah Chee, Nathan Lyons and Taylor Rolfe
covered manfully, while Adam McKenzie provided great drive from half-back.
Full-back Mitch Brewer did an outstanding job on Hughes, winning the
majority of one-on-one battles, with two of his opponent’s three goals coming
from outstanding set shots from a distance on the boundary.
Gold Coast FC list member Tom Nicholls, 18, dominated the ruck in the
opening half and worked hard around the ground.
Broadbeach went forward as often as Southport during the first hour, but
did not have a consistent focal point.
Port Douglas teenager Lewis Moss kicked all three Cats goals in the
second term with some good leading and strong marking, and got another in the
final term to cap a promising day.
But too often the delivery forward was shoddy with the last kick by the
Cats, although the blustery wind made conditions difficult.
Southport defender Mark Lynch was outstanding with his coolness under
pressure and saved a number of goals, as well as setting up plenty of rebound.
Mobile forward Ben Merrett continued his excellent start to the season
with another strong performance, despite the best efforts of Darin Stewart who
worked overtime in the Cats defence.
Merrett and James played key roles when Southport settled the game in
the opening half of the third term, along with the athletic McLaren, who
finished with four goals.
Post
the post-game review
Mick Malthouse
I’m not ##@$!% interested in what ^&&%$(**## happened on the %$%#@^&&% ground. What ^^@##!&^% happens on the &*((**&@! ground stays on the &&^%$# ground. Winston &&^%$!@# Churchill &^*((%%$@ says
$##!^% so.
Bulletin post game
Sharks maul Cats in big win
Nick Smart
| April 19th, 2010
It is a
completely new-look Southport Sharks team in this year's QAFL Division 1
competition.
But while the
personnel is different, some things never change at Musgrave Hill.
Saturday's 18-9
(117) to 8-9 (57) scoreline would suggest a comfortable day for the Sharks in
their Gold Coast derby win over Broadbeach at Merrimac Oval but the lopsided
scoreboard was more a reflection of the quality of Southport.
The Cats, who
were without midfielders Dayne Zorko and Simon Russell, battled hard but the
Sharks got stronger as the match went on.
And the scary
thing is they are just warming up.
"The new
recruits have been awesome and they are gelling in to the group really
well," said Sharks skipper Daniel Wise.
"Each week
we are getting better and executing the game the way we should."
Sharks gun
David James was best on ground and completely dominated on the wing.
"He's
getting back to his best and almost like a new recruit," said Wise.
Cameron
MacLaren (four goals) and Cleve Hughes (three goals) starred in attack for
Southport while Gold Coast Football Club listed ruckman Tim Nicholls and Lewis
Moss (four goals) were impressive for Broadbeach.
Post game
disinterested game observer
Typical of the Bully and QAFL missing Stan Rose’s birthday.
Seventy eight strong and just as frugal when at the bar as he has always been. Two
female goal umpires in our game had lifted his spirits and Stan was looking
forward to Johno pulling on the boots for Willy (Footescray’s twos) but was most
indignant when they appeared without the object of his bromance. And don’t even
think of going near him given the Brisvegas win.
Southport won the toss and kicked with the breeze to
the Pac Fair end.
Too many free kicks awarded these days.
On the day our foot skills let us down, some of our key
players had off days – don’t we all - and turnovers killed us. Some occurred at
critical times, especially in the opening minutes of the second and third
terms. Arguably we may have been in a different place above the neck had we
converted rather then watch meekly as the ball was cleared back over the zone
press where Hughes or Pheiffer and others took advantage. Good lesson there in terms of
maintaining a forward structure even with a pressing zone.
As Smithy says we need to have pride in possession
of the footy, display more patience in maintaining the structure and zones, cut
out the staggers, and clean up our skills.
But it was explosive stuff from the start with Nicholls supplying the nut to Angel
Rolfe, who got it off in a slick drill handpass to Roland Ah Chee who promptly racked up the first of
too many poor shots at the goal line post set. His dad promised to take the
matter up with him. Takes a fantastic grab Roland, gets plenty of sherrin and
will be a damaging small forward when he refines the line of sight. He confided
that he is happiest when upwind of Ryan Clough – a lesson learned the hard way
against Aspley.
Angel and all those about the stoppages were on the
end of some great work by Tom Nicholls (GCFC). Tom, who is finishing off year
12 after spells at St Bedes and St Kevins in Melbourne, unleashed his lurch
frame of 2002mm (6’ 8” for Stan Rose’s benefit) at ruck contests and was not
beyond getting down and dirty. He looked to give the ball off on numerous
occasions but our player passion to be in the contest left him without outside
options on many occasions and we did not capitalize on his dominance. He
certainly accounted for ex AFL player Putt.
We were fast to tackle, perhaps not mindful of the
need to have a ‘half back’ or designated kicker waiting for the second touch
post contest. Forefront in the tackling contests is the courage of our medium
size blokes. The Rolfe boys were obviously challenged on a daily basis by
Andrea’s mum and have learned to be dismissive of reputations. The ranga Smithy
has certainly fitted in well in that regard. Typical of the team, and we are
the better for it.
First stanza was OK with Hales snapping one around
the corner that bounced and grubbed through. Cookie was savaged at Fulton
Corner but failed to disturb the scoreboard attendant, while Searly, Nathan
Lyons and Stewie (who is still looking for a sparks apprenticeship – would be
outstanding, ring Bob Walters) kept us from entering a football porn scenario.
We felt there was some harsh treatment dished out by
the adjudicators particularly to quick and smart work by the likes of Hales, Ah
Chee and Sqizz.
Game was still on at the main break.
Adam McKenzie improved his spelling with a number of
great runs off his wing and will be missed when on Scorpion duties. His foot
skills were in contrast to others delivering the sherrin in board or into the
50 and should have had more score assists to his name.
The second and final stanzas were our best on the
score board with us winning the latter. The second quarter saw Mossy (GCFC)
prove what a great goal sneak he is. We watched him at Carrara last year and he
knows where they are, keeps his balance in the fray and is deadly off his left
foot from both set and in-play kicks. Can also play the game as a pinball
wizard – on a number of occasions fed the ball in only to gather the rebound
and put the conveyance back toward our goals. He put through 3 in the second
and picked up another in the last when Hales added one and Cookie, normally
long and accurate, finally found his distance and accuracy, and Ash Palmer
popped up when he found space to receive the nut from Macca.
Whilst the game was played hard there were few
incidents although we think Nathan Lyons is on report (again) and maybe, just
maybe, the video may cause some rumblings with reference to the ancient art of kick-boxing skills.
Onward to Anzac Day. Persevere, persevere,
persevere!
Assistant
Coach (possibly from WA, near Framantle?) post game
Comparisons have been made already this season with the Cats in the QAFL to the
Big improvers in the AFL – The Dockers! A list full of youthful enthusiasm, an
appetite for contests and a “seat of your pants” desire made for high hopes on
the weekend to cause an upset against perennial finalists Southport. The final
score line of 18.9 .117 (Southport) to 8.9.57 (Broadbeach) did not tell an
accurate tale of the performance of the game.
The match started with new GC ruckman – Tom Nicholls
palming the ball down to Roland Achee who put on the ‘Pavlich’ like
afterburners and kicked the ball long into the fwd line towards Taylor
‘Headland’ Haley and whilst only a point was registered – confidence was
“Sandilands high”.
The fist qtr saw terrific pressure from both sides
until a couple of consecutive late goals to the Sharks eventuated in a 19 point
lead at the first break. The
second qtr witnessed more competitive football with Lewis Moss in his debut
kicking 3 goals and giving the Sharks some real concerns. Solid efforts from
Ryan ‘Ballantyne’ Pantic in the
middle ensured plenty of contests around the stoppages and young Adam ‘Hill’
Mackenzie was using his scintillating pace to advantage on the wing.
Unfortunately, 3 late goals to McLaren and Hughes from the sharks had the
deficit to 5 goals at the major intermission. The flow of the game did not
reflect the scoreline; however the class and experience of the opposition made
the Cats pay for some rudimentary skill errors.
An investigation is under way to discover who
substituted the half time highlight video of Fremantle’s’ first 3 weeks this
year with that of their highlight reel from 1999 as the players did not have
the desired uplifting spirit in the premiership qtr. Southport’s midfield got
on top and supplied the ball quickly and efficiently into their forward half to
pile on 6 goals in the 3rd qtr. Stewart was at his Macpharlin like
best at CHB repelling many attacks, Brewer stood firm not unlike a ‘Chris
Tarrant’ and Searl provided the hard running Roger Hayden highlights but the
supply was too great for demand. It was the only time in the game that the
Southport midfield had consistent ascendancy. The last qtr provided some
encouraging form for the Cats to take forward for their round 3 clash with the
Lions and managed to kick three more goals. Again however, more unforced
turnovers and some unfortunate free kicks prohibited the Cats to make any major
inroads. At no time did the young players throw in the towel and credit must go
to new captain Matt ‘Bell’ Fife for his leadership of this young entertaining
group.
The Cats have experienced the yardstick of the
competition and must rally to restore their confidence against the Lions at
Merrimac oval this Sunday.
Best Players: Nicholls, Mackenzie, Stewart, Searl,
Moss, Pantic, Brewer, Achee
|
Broadbeach:
|
1 2
|
4 4
|
4 8
|
8 9 57
|
|
Southport:
|
4 3
|
9 5
|
15 6
|
18 9 117
|
Goals:
Moss 4, Haley 2, Palmer and Cook 1 each.
Best:
Nicholls, McKenzie, Stewart, Moss, Searl, Lyons
Magoos
Ash Palmer was elevated to the ones to replace Simon
Russell and James Christie stepped up to the ressies for the day. Amazingly,
Bulldog, and indeed the team, were on time for the day’s events.
The score board indicates how the game unfolded. We
were upbeat at quarter time in part due to the efforts of a rampaging Dick,
even a clever Dick, a just as clever Ryan Bower who enjoys a twist or two
having found the cherry in traffic, and Matty Boston across the half back line,
in making a few great runs but disposal let him down on a number of occasions.
While there was a glimmer of hope at quarter time,
after a lack lustre performance in the second period coach Chants let fly
during the rest before the third stanza.
An even third quarter ensued when Mitch Scale, with
a new lawyer look haircut, provided plenty of drive from the middle and even popped up down forward
for a goal,Tom Balcombe chipped in with his silky disposal skills, young Robbo
showed something of his future, and Dick continued to flog who was assigned to
stop him. Jacko Rolfe, who has good balance, bobbed up now and then, and there
was one ‘coast-to-coast’ transition involving TA, Styles, Jubb, Christie, Dick,
Clough and Balcombe which
unfortunately came to nothing.
Regrettably the last was a repeat of the second. We
looked like we were playing in gum boots: as the guru observed when facing a
death sentence “I think I’m going to be sad, I think it’s today – yeah.”
Was Webby the difference between the sides?
|
Broadbeach:
|
0 1
|
0 3
|
2 5
|
3 5 25
|
|
Southport:
|
1 5
|
8 9
|
11 12
|
17 14 116
|
Goals:
Green, Scale and Campbell
Best:
Dick, Robertson, Scale, Balcombe, Bower
Last Modified on 19/11/2010 14:55
