Comeback Kings and Demolition Teams take Round 9 honours
Round 9 of season 2007 brought along as many surprises as a Jack-in-the-Box with some remarkable results and outstanding clashes... whether it was the Macedon senior team romping to their 2nd win of the season over Melton or the Sunbury Kangaroos failing to kick a goal to halftime against the reigning premiers Riddells Creek and losing their first game of the season... by a triple figure margin... we did see some big surprises at the halfway mark of the season but it appears that the biggest surprises took place on the hallowed Gilbert Gordon Oval turf. After 3 convincing wins in Rockbank the previous week, it was time for the Hawks to flex their muscles and face their biggest challenge this season against the Romsey Redbacks.
The big news this week saw the mighty return of Trevor 'Pup' Bowen to the coaching line up of the Reserves after spending several weeks relaxing in the northern parts of Australia, which were supposed to have been pretty warm compared to Victoria... although it looks like he took the cold Vic weather with him as one town he had stayed at suffered the coldest day it had in many years. Nonetheless, the team was left in good hands with Ross 'Rocky' Barker taking them to a 100% winning record.
After a solid week on the track, Thursday night became one of the biggest SHOWDOWNS of the season with a mountain of star players filtering through the Reserve and Senior teams. With the big return of Danny Sipthorp to the Senior team the previous week, one had thought that we had seen the biggest injury comeback of the season... little did few realise that the most inspirational recruiting coup of the season laid in the position of back pocket of the 2nds line-up, the big return of Under 18's Assistant Coach... Hernia operation survivor laced up in the number 50 guernsey Matty 'Stevo' Stevens!
While the excitement fixed on the line-up, the presence of the 'dreaded' hamstring injury made it's way across the Senior team over the business end of the round with Damien Wood going down on Thursday night along and with Nick Hannett and Matt Stacey in the shadows of fulltime on match day, already to go along with Darko who is sidelined indefinitely to add to the depleting big man stocks in the line up to go with a dashing midfielder. We hope they get back to full fitness soon!
To match day... one could barely argue with the Match of the Day schedule pencilled in for 10am on Saturday morning. The undefeated Hawks and Redbacks in the U18's kick-started the day, although the pies had barely been put in the oven and the lolly bags hadn't reached the bench at the canteen before the game was seemingly put to bed. The Redbacks kicked the first 7 goals of the match in the most extraordinary performance of football, great marks, and the right bounces in the goal square... incredible. Trailing by 41pts 15mins into the game, the Home team was shocked. Quarter time, 6 goals down, heads were still up. The next 20mins of football saw the most amazing turn around since Carlton overturned an Essendon 48pt lead in one quarter this year (Gidds or Pup would have enjoyed coaching this game to help get over that loss) as the young Hawks kicked 6 goals to nil for the quarter to take in a 4 point lead into half time.
The midfield was switched on, Robbie Hughes continued to dominate the ruck, Scotty Graham ran himself into the ground, Ric 'Ricter' Cerminara started 'Laying The Smackdown!' like WWE superstar and actor The Rock on his opponents, Matt 'Littles' Oussoren and Jimmy Hepburn started kicking goals... everyone gelled together. The 2nd half was as an exciting brand of football you could see between two sides with goals traded from both ends. The final quarter saw goals try up with a real slug-fest take place. It wasn't until the last 5mins where the Hawks' one goal lead turned into 3 through some fantastic rebounding from the backline. The siren sounded and an emphatic 15point win by the Hawks stood strong... a 56point turn around!
The Reserves team had a big task ahead of them facing Romsey who sat behind them in 3rd position on percentage. The big task met great hands with up to 12 Senior players filling in 22 positions including the return of big 'Gus' Dale Ciunik and 'Juba' Downing in the midfield. Justin 'Hotrod' Rodda must have thought he was playing senior football with that line up of talent to tap to in the ruck. Stevo started on the bench and to an arousing reception, headed onto the ground late in the 1st quarter and picking up early touches along with Justin 'Juzzy' Bobic off half back. Liam 'Burgundy' O'Meara took on up to 3 defenders at full forward but did something very few in the AFL have done this year, take contested marks using the body and NOT the hands!
The Hawks ploughed through the highly fancied Romsey outfit with stunning performances across the line. Dale Ciunik kicked 5 of the best, Joe Taylor starred, Brendan Fennell (called him Andrew in the last piece, sorry Funnell!) with General Muppett ordering the troops across the backline very well. A convincing 6 goal to 1 3rd quarter saw a great 92 point win against the Redbacks.
The Senior team had a lot of promise to live up to as the supporters farewell the club on a 3 week hiatus interstate(away games) and they didn't disappoint on a ground that held up very well during the day and previous weeks' rain. The Hawks broke the shackles early with the opening 5 goals and the sudden match up of 3rd vs 4th appeared to fall a little one sided but a credit to the Romsey team, they continued to chip away. There was a good feeling amongst the team with a lot of hard work by all players, especially Travis 'Legzy' Leggett making a big impact, Johnno finding lots of the ball, Nick Hannett on fire, Sam Bowen playing one of his finest games of the year, everything clicked beautifully. A 5 goal lead was very fitting for a pumped up team.
The move of Warren 'Plugger' Else to centre half forward proved to be a game breaker as he helped lead the team to a 6 goal to 2 3rd quarter to take in a good 9 goal lead. David 'Tacka' Patterson was the main destroyer on the wing shutting down Romsey's lead onballer and picking up plenty of touches, the Hardwick brothers worked in tandem down the centre, Pistol Pete Manser was running into confidence without fear of injury. A 12 goal win was just the deserved margin for a team improving every week. Injuries may be of a concern but the talent rising through the ranks could see those spots filled well.
Round 10 sets the stage on a ground bringing back unpleasant memories from years gone by as the Hawks head to Macedon. The last time these teams met, the Hawks strolled along well across all teams. The seniors would look to reclaim the (not sure of name) Tunnz Cup on Macedon soil after being pipped at the post last year. Let's go Hawks
Last Modified on 11/02/2008 21:43