Welcome to the half way mark of the season Bloods Supporters as we take on the Numurkah Blues at the magnificent Tocumwal Recreation Reserve.
The committee, players and supporters send our condolences to the Peter Lawlor Family on the passing of one of our own. Peter played 281 seniors games with the Bloods, was a life member, senior best and fairest and a senior premiership player.
Under 14's - It was a cold foggy slippery start to the game on the beautiful new Nathalia ground. The boys were keen to do well, as they are each week, but the size and skill level of the opposition proved a barrier.
The Mercy Rule came in around the half way mark of the match, which saw Nathalia remove some on their more experienced players, and then it was "game on"!
The boys did a great job, with Kaleb Alaimo-Anstee scoring 3 goals by the final siren.
It was really back to what kids footy should be about this week - kids playing and having fun.
Under 17's - First off - Congratulations to the whole of the Nathalia FNC, it was great to listen to their challenges on and off the field. They came out the better - as we are sure we will - should we all stick fat!
Our "Fifteen Players" that took to the ground this week should be commended for their efforts over the course of four quarters. With "Braddles" McCallum starting at CHF allowing young "Hughie" to step up to the plate - after his early game in the Under 14's, he did a great job getting his hand to the ball to feed it out.
Josh Allan at FB had his hands full and didn't disappoint. Top effort Joshy!! With "The Morham Family" being in everything and very solid footy from "Harro", we didn't wave the flag. The "Bunnie" popped out of his hole for a solid contribution. Not a bad bloke playing on one leg. "Go Tha Bunnie!" Question: Can Kaleb play in one position all match? We may see this achieved today.
Our weekly helper this time out is Mark Pettit - Goal Umpire - Raconteur - All round top bloke! Clubs thrive with these characters.
Looking forward to today against Numurkah, always a tough test. As we say - Enjoy Your Game!
Reserves - The Toc Magoos had the Garnaut Factor in play and while well beaten on the score board the game was certainly enjoyable to watch with some excellent individual efforts and passages of team play. Harry H with class oozing demonstrated he would be more comfortable in the 2 o'clock game while Harry B and Josh Ando with their terrific leg speed enjoyed the space of the larger ground. Rockin' Reece Hardwidge presented well all day and Sam Hatty would have racked up 30 plus and took several strong grabs.
The only unfortunate thing to come out of the game was after being his usual dependable self and in the best, Robby "Cannons" Bray went down in a tackly and dislocated the same shoulder he did last year. Whilst clearly shattered, typical Cannons had a smile on his face (particularly after he had a go on the green whistle) when departing for hospital. We wish Cannons all the best in his recovery.
Seniors - Dependable Dinky Di Denis Hickey was back to his unassuming best, regularly repelling the Purps forward thrusts and organising his fellow back men to be a lot tighter than previous weeks.
Jack Podesta made his senior debut and after some time to settle into the tempo he demonstrated he will be a player to watch in the future with the ability to get himself into space and use the ball well with silky skills on both hand and foot - well done Pod, hopefully the first of many. Jack is the fifth Under 17's boy to play senior footy this year and all have acquitted themselves admirably under the circumstances which is a credit to not only themselves but Nathan and his coaching staff.
The two big men were fantastic with Coach Nathan reading the play beautifully across half back, taking many strong grabs and setting up play with his long precision kicking whilst K Train Chellew in his first senior game for the year gave us a great contest in the ball ups and provided a genuine marking option around the ground.
Frank Perkins continued his improvement winning some great one on ones and being a target up forward as did Skinny before having to retire with a suspected broken foot while Choco, Sniffa, Simo, Horey and Big A Hick were the better performers in what was a very even team effort, which is what we are after.
The Toc Netball Committee would like to say a big thank you to those dedicated volunteers and players who turn up each week willing to help make each game of netball run smoothly. Thank you, your efforts are appreciated. In particular we would like to thank our committed band of junior umpires who take the court each week. Ally, Meg, Bianca, Jess and Ash. Each week these girls are umpiring, scoring, timing, setting up and packing up courts, not to mention playing a hard game of netball themselves. Keep up the great work girls you're a credit to the club.
