The boys had progressed direct to the Grand Final after a good win in the semi against the swans. The Coaches knew the Swans would regroup and come out with new tactics to try to stem the teams atacking flair. They Swans did this well and with a wet surface thanks to the sprinklers being on an hour before the game the Crows struggled to win clean possession. The boys had the better of the field position but the swans flooded back with numbers and being hard at the ball kept us out. The first quarter ended at Swans 0 to crows 2.
The crows tinkered a bit with positional play and with the team running to the drier end of the field we started to see some good marking in the forwards. The centres worked extra hard and combined well and despite the swans tagging Tarryn he was able to provide a good link to the forwards. The Crows kicked the first 2 goals of the game before the Swans replied with one. The boys managed to kick another and at half time the boys went in leading 3.4.22 to 1.3.9.
At half time the coaches spoke to the boys about getting hungrier for the ball. The Swans were getting first use of it and in particular when we went forward the Swans backs were outplaying us. The third quarter is called the premiership quarter and proved to be a very tight affair. Both teams went hard at the ball, showed fanastic skills and the defense was superb. If you won the ball and didn't get rid of it immediately you were tackled, a great exhibition of pressure football by both teams.
The Crows managed to kick a goal and a behind in this quarter and kept the Swans scoreless. Heading into the last quarter the Crows were up 4.5.29 to 1.3.9.
The game was still up for grabs as 20 ponts can be pulled back in a short time but the coaches had confidence in the defensive set up. A few chanegs were made so some of the backs could get involved and we hoped this would keep our defense in tact. The boys ran back on for the 4th quarter determiend to play the game out and extend the lead. The centres again continued their great work and continued the run they had shown all day. The Swans lost a player to injury early in the quarter and we had to take a player off the field leaving 4 on the bench. This probably helped us unclog the forward zone with one less player and when the ball went in to our forwards they had a better structure. The boys managed to kick 2 quick goals, the 2nd a brilliant individual effort by Corey as he brushed off 3 tacklers to kick a great running goal. The Swans replied with their 2nd of the game but any comeback was short lived when we kicked our 3rd for the quarter. With only a few minutes to go we made some final rotations and the boys played out the game keeping their goals in tact.
The final score Crows 7.6.48 to Swans 2.4.16
The boys had a wonderful season after coming together at the start of the year with only a couple having played together before. The squad of 16 initially and then 17 when Tarryn joined contained only 7 boys who were with the Crows in 2010. The team had 10 new players to the game and for Geoff and Phil to bring the skills up to speed in the first half of the season was a great effort. Tracking their progress you can see the improvement in the results. Others to assist the coaches were Graham Stack, Jason Trindall and John Dimond. Team Manager Margaret also did a fanastic job with the paperwork after volunteering to jump into the deep end. Must also thank the U16 players who came to training and assisted with one to one training and group training, Thanks Shannon Dimond, Jordan McPherson, Jayden Stevens and Cory Savage. This shows what a great Club the Crows have.
Last Modified on 04/09/2012 22:40
