Division 1
Mac Uni Warriors 12.8.80 beat North Shore 12.7.79
The Warriors travelled down south to take on the Wollongong Lions who were keen to make it two wins in a row after defeating UNSW-ES the week before, whilst the Warriors wanted to cement their place in the top 4 with a 4th straight win and also put a two game break on the 5th placed side.
Despite missing a few key players the team were determined to take home 4 points and it showed in the first quarter with a lightning start effectively killing off the game by quarter time. 6 goals to nil ensured a 40 point lead at the first break with the Gong breeze only 2-3 goals.
Brett Harland (4 Goals), Dean Connors (2 Goals) and Andrew Polkinghorne (3 Goals) starred early and provided our forward line with quality early ball and subsequent scoreboard pressure. Leighton Corr (3 Goals), playing on the wing, was in great touch early along with on-baller Brad Moore.
Once again our ruckmen of Patrick Sobb and Kev Jones were not only great in the middle but deep in defence and up forward.
The Lions hit back in the 2nd quarter to reduce the margin to just over 5 goals and the Warriors were asked for a big third quarter to push the margin out before the traditional Gong breeze picked up in the last quarter as the Lions had last use of it in the 4th.
One of the best for the 2nd half was James Brackin who has settled in nicely up forward. If Bracks isn’t finding the ball his defensive work rate is extremely high and when he finds it like he did in the 2nd half he provides us with a mobile & tall marking option up forward.
James Coburn had another solid game up forward whilst Dyl Brogan and Brodie Cooper provided run from behind. Credit also for Tim Scoular for doing a solid job on a dangerous opponent down back.
With a strong last quarter from the Warriors in which they kicked 5 goals to 3 against the wind our aim of taking 4 premiership points back home came to fruition. The win ensures we stay close to the leaders and if not for our Round 1 upset loss we could even be close to leading the competition after 5 rounds.
But you don’t win premierships in May and we have some extremely tough opposition coming up over the next few weeks which will show this young side exactly where we are at & what we need to improve on.
The Warriors now face one of last year’s finalists, UNSW-ES, at home on Saturday night at 6.40pm. Busta’s boys in Div 3 face UTS with the highlight of the day going to be the clash between our two Div 4 sides the Kookas and the Warriors on at 2.30pm. You can bet the respective coaches Luke Gemmill and Matt Scoular will have the boys fired up for this one.
Go Warriors and Kookas!
Best on Ground: Leighton Corr, Brett Harland, Andrew Polkinghorne, Patrick Sobb, James Brackin & Dean Connors
Division 3
Mac Uni Warriors 14.19.103 beat Holroyd-Parramatta 4.7.31
Saturday showcased the new impressive surface on HBPGUFC’s home ground, and impressed we were. Although all the 2’s were present in body, the Warriors decided to mentally switch on 5 min into the first quarter. It was a tightly contested first period with the Warriors coming out slightly on top, notable in the first was the smooth sounds of Slime in full flight and Pooley and Jism coughing and spluttering.
The second quarter saw the Warriors begin their dominance on the game with an increased tackle count and hardness at the ball that would make any 70’s footballer proud with Jockey leading the way in the yellow card stakes. The fitness of the boys started to show through as the day was turning into more of a Northern beaches sunbakeathon as opposed to a day for footy at the tip.
The half time break showed on the scoreboard what everyone suspected, we were winning (about 4 goals). With the talk all about discipline for the 3rd (Jockey) and making sure there was no first 5 minute nap, the boys set to work dismantling HBPGUFC’s centre line, humiliating their back line and starving the forward line.
Stumpy at this stage was still leading hard and strong, the backs were solid and Buster led the centre line as the leader he is. Slime read the play like a newly bought FHM mag while Pooley dragged himself for a toilet break and a read of the aforementioned FHM mag.
Halfway through the 3rd, banjo’s were heard playing down in the forward line and 3 min later Stumpy was diagnosed with the maiden hamstring tear for the day. Jockey and Rooster stamped their mark in the 2s and Buster being moved in to the spear head role, had missed the first for his day to finish off the 3rd.
We came off at the break with a handy lead and geared up for a fun filled last with 3 on the bench.
It didn’t take long for Slime, Pooley, Skinny and the other 18 to once again shine early in the last. Buster 5 min in had missed his 2nd, our 2nd hamstring for the day was duelling on the sideline with Stumpy’s and the HBPGUFC boys although beaten were putting up a valiant effort (apologies to the SLR 5000 owners out there).
Stix and Pharlap were getting confused as Griz seemed to be able to play all 18 positions which came in handy after Wazza did his hammy and Pottsy hobbled off with a rolled ankle. Stix finally was able to put down the board and relax as he and Troy had surpassed Collingwood”s interchange record by making a total of 230 changes during the game (with no dummy spitting).
At the final siren there was a ear shattering applause by the ones players that made the effort to get out and support the other three grades, the scoreboard looked more like a cricket score with the Warriors running out convincing winners.
Many thanks to the boys that helped out with water, goals, bench and support.
Best on Ground: C. Lobascher, P. Grzic, C. Poole, R. McGinn, P. Hyndman, B. Chapman
Division 4
Mac Uni Warriors 30.29.209 beat Holroyd-Parramatta 1.3.9
Round five saw the Warriors out at a refurbished Gipps Road to take on the Holroyd-Parramatta Goannas, and after a close loss the previous week the Warriors were keen to atone.
The first quarter was more of what occurred in the first three weeks of the season as the Warriors came out firing. Bourkey was winning all the taps, putting the ball down the throat of our on-ballers who found themselves in a heap of space. This allowed some pinpoint passing into the forward line where we put an imposing quarter together. Once again inaccurate kicking proved to be an Achilles heel and we went into the sheds up 7.10.52 to 0.0.0
The second quarter was played much the same as the first with our forwards enjoying a mountain of possession and putting some goals on the board. Dave was having a cracker through the middle finding a heap of it and Shippy and Jockey were also putting their stamp on the game. Party kicked his first goal as the 6 pointers continued to rain down, and once the half time siren sounded we had registered our 8th for the quarter to go to the long break with a 108 point lead.
With the game well and truly in our control the second half allowed the boys to work on a few specific things that had been lacking in our game over the last few weeks and they did that particularly well. Geoff Clarke continued to provide blistering pace off the half back line in his first game back, while Robbo was starting to find his feet, putting few a through goals to extend the margin further. Addo took his tally to seven and Dunc four before the three quarter time siren rung out with us leading by over 150 points. Once again the backline performed creditably despite not seeing much of it, keeping the Goannas scoreless once more.
The last quarter saw a goal of 200 points and to keep the opposition scoreless for the game and we were able to achieve one of those but did let Parra in for some consolation points and a soft goal right at the end. Mick went to full forward and kicked his first major in Warriors colours and Robbo took his tally to seven in a solid performance. Bourkey continued to toil manfully in the ruck and Gareth Smith was back to his old tricks breaking tackles and running riot with pace through the middle, at one stage beating four Goannas for a ground ball.
Much improved performance from last week from the boys, good to be back on the winners list and now looking forward to next week’s derby against the Kookas.
Best on Ground: D. Munday, M. Bourke, A. Robertson, G. Smith, J. Hobby, C. Addison
Division 4
Mac Uni Kookas 8.1.49 lost to Penrith 15.11.101
After missing out on playing in Round four due to a field double booking, 22 Kookas made the long drive to Greygums Oval, Penrith, hungry to play football. The weather was hot and dry, however the field was soft under toe, after the local council failed to turn off the sprinklers over night.
In the sheds pre-match, the Kookas team assessment form that was completed with honesty at Thursday night’s team meeting was revisited. With unanimous decision the Kookas agreed that in the game ahead, they needed; a more physical attack on the football, to run in numbers, increase second and third attempts and most importantly to be accountable.
After an energetic warm up and in the five minutes preceding kick-off the Kookas in an open forum, one by one each voiced the single thing that they would do on the field to contribute to the game. Then everyone shook hands and ran out onto the field as one unit ready for a huge match.
From the first bounce, through the dominance of ruckman Tomi Kallio the Kookas moved the ball quickly into their forward fifty. Then, first-gamer and pocket rocket Chris Day used the ball with class resulting in the Kookas first major within two minutes. After scoring, the Kookas rallied together and this fuelled the next 15 minutes of football that kept Penrith scoreless, and placed the Kookas ahead by five goals. By quarter time the Kookas had made it clear to the Rams that they had come to play. The first break score – Kookas 5.1.31 to Rams 0.0.0.
After a suck on the water bottles and a quick word from Coach Lukey about ‘how each player had done what they had promised’, the Kookas returned to the field. Kallio was once again winning all the taps although the Rams were now reading this, and playing accordingly. The Rams soon had a couple of goals on the board which helped them to find their feet. As the Rams started to play their ‘run with numbers’ style of football the Kookas backline found it hard to shut them down and by midway though the quarter the score was levelled. At half time the score was Kookas 6.1.37 to Rams 6.3.39
At half time, by looking at the players faces, it was evident, that once again the heat and the fast paced match had started taking its total on players. This was reflected in the player’s body language, as they had stopped looking and behaving like a football team. The boys where asked to ‘lift their heads’ and ‘remind themselves of what they had promised the team they were going to do on the field’, because it was still anybody’s match.
The third quarter saw the teams balance out and play become more fiercely contested. The backline really stepped up, with Chris Lewis, Matt Chaplin, Grant Stodulka, Chris Day and Menaka De Alwis all putting in big efforts to clear the ball out of the danger zone. Midway through the third play was stopped as De Alwis was stretchered from the ground after taking a heavy knock to the knee. This provided the Kookas with some time to regroup, steady the heart rate and strategize. When play recommenced the Kookas started playing team football once again by placing Sheppard’s and running in numbers. Andrew Kent moved into the ruck and proved once again that he’s a versatile utility. There where also moments of class as several players placed dummies, drew their man and moved the ball backwards with a handball to create space for a forward kick. The third quarter time score – Kookas 8.1.49 to Rams 10.6.66
In the last, Adam Morris was asked to shut down Rams number 24 “Salty” who had started to increase his possession count late in the third and who was also a key player a week earlier against the Warriors. Morris did a fantastic job and recorded double the possessions of his opponent. As the Rams goals kept coming the Kookas played an extra man in defence, however it wasn’t enough to stop the onslaught of last quarter goals from a team that still looked like they had fresh legs.
While you can’t knock the effort of the Kookas, who with question played their best game of football to date, if you were to make one observation it would be that the player’s stamina let them down in the second half.
Best on Ground: Chris Day, Tomi Kallio, Andrew Kent, Grant James, Richard Brasier, Luke Cosica
U18 Challenge Cup
Mac Uni Warriors 9.11.65 beat Holroyd-Parramatta 5.10.40
Round 5 saw a crisp start to the day for a 7.30am trip out to Gipps Road Wetherill Park. Eventually when everybody was there it was 15 enthusiastic Under 18’s against 22 Parramatta players and we were ready to go irrespective of the numbers.
1st qtr was all Uni kicking 3 goals to zip and some better kicking would have converted the 4 behinds to an even bigger lead if we had been more accurate. Qtr time Uni leading 3.4.22 to Parra’s 0.2.2
2nd qtr Parramatta came out stronger and the play seemed to be stuck in our backline and half backline. Brucey rolled an ankle mid way through the qtr and for the rest of the 2nd qtr and the whole of the 3rd qtr it was 14 on 16 + 6 on the bench. Eventually Parramatta found the goals 2.2 for the qtr to the Uni’s 1 goal. Half time Uni 4.4.28 Parramatta 2.4.16.
3rd qtr Uni increased its lead slightly kicking 2 behinds more than the opposition and by the end of the 3rd qtr was leading 6.7.43 to Parramatta’s 4.5.29.
4th qtr saw Brucey come back and stand (on 1 leg) at the top of the square. At least this caused Parramatta to mark him and took one of their free players out of the play. Uni kicked 3.4 for the qtr to Parra’s 1.5 and deservedly won the game. Uni 9.12.65 Parramatta 5.10.40.
Highlights of the game would be the intensity that the Uni players played at for the whole duration of the game especially when you consider we were out numbered and had no bench. I think it was great for confidence and enthusiasm and it certainly showed in the after match team song.
Other highlights would be Brucey’s commitment to want to help his team mates although most would not wish to go through the pain that he endured.
Napoleons performance was fearless throwing his body all over the place and should be commended. Crispin’s one handed mark in the 1st qtr saw his Mum give a goal for his efforts. Diesel’s was solid as a rock in defence giving the opposition a rugby push off in the face as to say “get out of the way sonny”.
These are some of the highlights; everybody contributed and should be pleased with their performances.
Goals from: Adam Brockway, Matt Digges Dave Skin 2 each and Elliot Stillman Crispin Demetriou Lyndon Wordsworth 1 each
Robbo, Fabio & Sully
Best on Ground: T. Morris, A. Brockway, A. Stewart, E. Stillman, D. Martin, A. Murphy
Sydney Women’s
Mac Uni Warriors
No report
Best on Ground:
Last Modified on 14/05/2010 08:34