We ventured out to Soldiers Reserve, confident that we could put in a very competitive performance against a side that had lost less than half a dozen games over 3 years. Whilst satisfied with the effort and endeavour on the day, we were simply outplayed by a team that is not spectacular or flashy in play, but were a very well drilled side that played very good team footy.
We will not use the excuse of having a limited bench because what we still need to work on are the very areas that Werribee's example provided. We also must learn to be more disciplined to instruction. We need to learn that all 18 positions on the ground have a defensive aspect and that 2nd efforts often require a 3rd and 4th effort.
The Werribee team we played today encouraged many 4 on 2 and 3 on 1 contests in their favour. They were willing to run for each other and as a result of having numbers around the ball carrier were able to shrug off any pressure we tried to apply. This also allowed them to be patient with the footy and ensure their disposal of the footy was first rate. However, the most telling facet of footy from the weekend came from their pressure on us when we had the footy. Each time we grabbed a loose or hard ball there 3 or 4 of them harrassing us out of the contest. Too often we rely on the guy with the ball to do it all under the pack and that he would push it out to the guys that have run forward rather than getting support around and out the back of such packs. We need to play smarter, team oriented footy going forward.
The scoreline read 21.13.139 to 1.5.11.
What we do take away from the game today is an example of what successful reserve grade sides do and what we need to improve as a team.
Reserves grade footy is there to provide depth to the senior squad and to provide the seniors a motivation that they can use not only on game day but also during the week in order to keep that intensity up at training. Our role always must be playing a brand of footy that puts positive pressure on the seniors to perform. Such performances naturally lead to team success.
The most important aspect of footy this group must improve on to become a better team and individually came through the Werribee example on Saturday. It showed that we must simply work harder as a team, we must now learn very quickly to run for each other and make those 3rd and 4th efforts and realise that your best football actually comes from when you don't have the football. We will be working on these facets down at training this week.
We take on the Two Blues down at Toorak Park this Saturday. At 1 and 3 this presents as a great opportunity for us to chalk up our first win on the board for the year. We are now at a stage where we must be absolutely desperate and do whatever it takes to help out your mates on the field. We must start hunting in packs. We must not lapse in concentration and committment. A strong committment that must come from all 22 players next weekend. If we take what we learned from the Werribee game and train hard this week, there is no reason why a win cannot be achieved.
Best players: Raggaz moved onto the ball in the 2nd half and provided good link up run. It was great to see him back with a solid hit out behind him and hopefully a sign of things to come. Other solid contributors on the day also included Leigh Brown, Gazz Davies, Weed, Stevie Mc and PJ.
Last Modified on 27/10/2009 21:23