By Josh Caldo
After a nail-biting win over the Sandringham Dragons last weekend to make the finals, the entire group was desperate to beat the fifth placed Western Jets in the first elimination final. Processes were put in place to ensure that the team selected was in peak fitness, which included a recovery session at Lake Esmond last Monday night.
Tuesday nights training session was relatively light, but it was emphasized that the Jets were defiantly beatable, if the Rebels had 22 contributors on the day. Tuesday’s session involved work focusing on making tackles stick and a providing a physical presence to the opposition.
Wednesday night involved an intense weight session, run by fitness gurus’ Ryan and Calvin. This is an optional extra session that provides every player with the opportunity to develop the strength and power aspect of their football.
Thursday’s night training session was impressive, with all players doing their best to push for selection for the weekend’s game, as we particularly focused on combating the defensive flood set up by the Jets. Running in numbers and owning the corridor were the specifics of how we were going to beat them. The training session was followed by the team dinner in which the side was announced. Emergencies were notified that there were possible changes and that they should come prepared ready to play.
The game started at 11:10 on Saturday morning, at Optus Oval, meaning many of the regional boys stayed in Melbourne. For those traveling from Ballarat meant leaving at about 7:30, to arrive at the ground two hours before the scheduled start of the game.
The team believed that going into the game as the underdog was an advantage, as we had nothing to lose. The final team was decided about an hour before the game, with Matthew Austin withdrawing with a slight leg injury. This opened the door for U/16, Ben Peters who has showed potential in his first few games.
The intensity was hot early as each team tried to get the upper hand. The Rebels did not capitalize on a number of shots on goal as the Jets took a small lead into the first break.
The second quarter saw the Rebels draw back the margin and take a lead into the long break.
The Rebels returned and slammed on 7 third quarter goals to take a healthy lead in the final changed. The last quarter became a shoot out, with the Rebels and the Jets going goal for goal, as the Rebels held on to win by five goals.
This week we take on the Gippsland Power in the 1st Semi Final. On both occasions we have played them this year they have defeated us but as we now know finals football is a different ball game and we look forward to giving them our best this Saturday.
Last Modified on 08/02/2009 16:30