Round 10 action for the Rebels involved a Friday flight to Coolangatta in preparation for Saturday afternoon’s clash with the Gold Coast team.
Rebels players welcomed Nathan Kelly into the side for his first game and all were keen to atone for the loss to Geelong a fortnight earlier, where a number of easy goals to the opposition were conceded.
In warm and sunny conditions, on a large and even playing surface, early possessions went the way of Gold Coast and several instances of poor disposal by Rebels players handed the ball to the opposition in mid-field. The Rebels persisted in the contests however, and a snap goal to Josh Free after 7 minutes, with another to Kevin Bourke midway through the quarter, following some clever roving, kept the Rebels in touch. Gold Coast dropped large numbers of players into the Rebels forward line, but they could not counter the highlight of the first quarter, which saw the ball relayed quickly from defence by Liam Hoy to Oliver Tate, in turn to Richie Bamblett, whose handball was clean to Callum Currie and Lucas Cook presented well to accept the foot pass, and goal just before the siren.
Trailing by 9 points at the first change, the Rebels were again challenged to move the ball quickly into the forward line to counter the flooding tactics and height advantage of the opposition. The Rebels mid-field players continued to work hard and Bamblett’s long, running goal gave the Rebels some impetus. Oliver Tate was a prominent ball winner and received a quick pass from Bourke, whose vision to spot Tate from a free kick was precise. However, overuse of the ball by the Rebels when in possession, was allowing the opposition to win back the ball and Gold Coast goaled, to make the difference six points in their favour at the main change.
Errors from the Rebels at the start of the third quarter again gave Gold Coast an easy goal, but Simon Close took a strong overhead mark to goal from 35 metres to keep the Rebels in contact. Free, Gavin and Curran were winning their share of the contests, Liam Hoy was hard at the ball, and Marcus Darmody continued his solid defensive form, but more poor decision making by the Rebels somewhat marred their efforts. Nevertheless, goals to Liam Hoy at the 21 minute mark and Dean Gavin 4 minutes later, coupled with Gold Coast’s continuing inaccuracy in front of goals kept the deficit to nine points and set the stage for a thrilling last quarter.
Gold Coast’s tactic of flooding the Rebels’ forward line continued and at one stage there were only three Gold Coast players outside of the Rebels’ 50 metre arc. Gold Coast continued to miss scoring opportunities though and the Rebels persisted to claw their way back into contention. Dylan Parish took a strong overhead mark, followed by a steady kick from 35 metres to reduce the Gold Coast’s lead to six points late in the quarter. It was a case of “time and tide” for the Rebels however, as the flooding continued and the time ran out, falling short of a win by seven points. It will be important in the coming weeks for the Rebels to improve their decision making and disposal skills, but the emerging, never-say-die attitude shown in this week’s contest, where a number of challenges were presented, will be a valuable asset for future matches.
Last Modified on 15/06/2009 15:03