Rockbank's trip to the Hawk Circus
Step right up, step right up and come along to the Woodend Hesket Football and Netball Club circus as the team marches down Forest St one by one from Gilbert Gordon Oval to Buffalo Sports Stadium Woodend with a variety of acts including Pistol Pete and shooting Football's out of a cannon, the juggling acts of Daniel Salpietro, race car tips from Justin `Hot-rod' Rodda, a special guest appearance from the Mac `n' Yeendy show, the Whitton Brother acrobats and if you're very lucky, you may just get a chance to see the Woodend Football Club train for 120minutes as the Grand Finale kicking off at 2pm. The action kicks off at 10am August 18th at the Woodend Racecourse Oval Forest St Woodend.
Rumour has it that this email was fired out to the Rockbank Football Club last week as a reminder of the ground changes from Gilbert Gordon to the Racecourse because it felt as though they were really at a circus with the activities that took place on the day. The atmosphere on the day was like being at the Circus De Soleil with Neil `Brooksy' jumping on the bandwagon and getting the ground in tip top shape, the Braddy Paddy wagon acting as the Hawk-Mobile as it sat in prime position behind the goals feeding thirsty Hawk fans with cold beverages, meanwhile the Hawkettes were tucked around the corner in the canteen unable to see a slice of footballing action on a day that produced lots of it. Welcome to the Hawk Circus.
What a week it was leading up to game day as the Prez Stuart Braddy and Accomplice Dale Stacey rushed around organizing for the change of venue in hope of keeping the mighty sacred turf of Gilbert Gordon in prime condition for finals and training action, a bold decision that proved to have the football god's smiling on one of the finest Saturdays of the year. Gum and `Mr. Mum' Paul Dillon were locked in a head on battle off the field to satisfy the players while team lists across the board were finalized at the death with the immovable force of Sir Robert Hughes insisting he take the field for the U18's despite being on one leg and having a partially movable shoulder. If injuries still persist, he may just be a mechanical bull come finals time with everything else that just keeps falling apart.
The reserves pulled some interesting team matchups with the addition of Lee Hay in for his first game since releasing his new blockbuster movie `Hayzie Down Under', the big induction of the Big Mac, fresh off duties in the fire fighting department, Trainer Yeendy who left `Mr.' Mum to become a man on the football field, Super Ted after his guest appearance on the Simpsons (Liver problems turning parts of his skin yellow) and the messiah of Hawk land, the Great E.J Whitton who was determined to show his inaccurate U18 faithful just how to kick a goal.
The Senior team were in full flight. The big return of the galloping Nick Hannett who made the belated return to the team after making the big trip back from L.A where he reportedly had a one night stand with glamour girl Paris Hilton (we saw the photos Nick)to land his place back on the wing. The girls netball were fighting for a finals berth as the B Grade left their chances a little uneasy after narrowly losing and the A Grade persisted to march straight on into September action with a commanding win and a confidence boost for this weeks clash against Romsey.
The circus action was a plenty on the day fans given a prime chance to see the Senior team train for 2.5hours. We take nothing away from the Rockbank team and credit them for sticking in the game but the smaller conditions of the ground were perfect for running goals from beyond the 50 arc and with R.D and Salpie working in tandem for prime position in the goal square ... which is as bigger as winning top pole position in Bathurst, the Bankers were hapless. A cool and calm margin of 192 points was the damage bill and Rockbank felt that they were overcharged for admission, pop corn and a small coke to see such a big performance at the Circus.
Hawk Highlights Round 17
- The `Dipper' Clinton Sammut who dished off a quick handball to the mind shaking, Mongrel howling, ground breaking, scruffy looking, Terminator like machine of Ric Cerminara who burst through a pack and kicked truly from 25 metres out.
- Robbie Hughes ... standing on one leg and still taking hangers in the pack. Hasn't he heard of playing a quiet game?
- Matt Reeves ... there isn't much of the great man in the number 2 but the shepherds he laid to set up goals would've left Byron Pickett from Melbourne shaking in his boots
- E.J Whitton ... his missed shot from the edge of the square that hit the post to show his charges how to kick a goal, or his attempt to take a specky in the square didn't quite come off, but his punching of the ball to Liam `Burgs' O'Meara in the square set up a perfect cross for a goal.
- Teddy ... while he nearly pulled off a miracle with a snap in the square, he roved the pack brilliantly with goaled with his first touch since Round 2
- Macca hitting the post in the final stanza... that post shook for 10 minutes
- Brent and J-Rod... add Muppett and you have the best ruck/centre combination in the competition
- Fitzvola and Scott Millard played their best games for quite some time.
- Yeendy... he pulled on the boots and reportedly said that all his Christmas' would have come at once if he played... not a bad effort.
- The Senior team... 14 goals to none at half time, 28.13 during the final quarter, 11 final quarter goals, more than a dozen individual goal kickers, 192 point win and a healthy score line of 34.19.221
- Warren Else... holding his opponent goalless at full back
- Pete Manser firing a barrel from 50 in the final quarter that was shot like a gun and went straight through the goals, to be seen is to be believed.
- Tacka is back and firing. His run and dash off halfback after many weeks with a hamstring injury shows his ability to reach peak form quickly.
Hawk Lowlights
- As a permanent reminder of his actions, for the first and last time that Lowlights feature in VFG, Kyle Fitzpatrick... for not passing off the ball to Yeendy in the goal square in the Reserves game and proceeding to kick the goal. Fitzvola was booed for his efforts and he deserved to be. What ever happened to doing the team thing?
Thanks for coming to the show. Everyone had fun and make sure you head over to Romsey this weekend to see another gallant performance from all 5 teams. The Reserves and U18's have top spot, Seniors 2nd spot and girls fighting for finals. Go Hawks!
Last Modified on 14/02/2008 20:56