Under 14's - The Young Bloods fought a tough game out against a quick Mulwala side last week. Young Toby Saunders played a great game with some great marks. The coach keeps on saying it but we need to get to training and work hard boys to put a score on the board.
Under 17's - We started well having Sam and Damo back in the side. Corey was great in the middle with Ed, Hamish and Orien battling down back. The third and last quarters were the best we have played so far with only four goals kicked in the last half of the game. Thanks to Mulwala for giving us a few players, it evened the game up. Keep your heads up boys you're doing a great job. Congratulations to Ed Thomson who plays his 50th U/17's game today for the club. Well done Ed!!
Reserves - Coaches Bob Bourke and Ken Chellew were under the pump early with a number of players becoming unavailable early Saturday morning. The inclusion of some talented 3rds players boosted the numbers and Toc ran onto the field with some confidence. Mitch Paterson dominated the ruck contests and gave the Bloods first use of the footy. Mulwala's back line was under constant pressure but when all things considered they were doing an outstanding job. At the first change Bob was pleased with what he saw, mostly from under the packs, and encouraged more of the same. Bourke was playing like a 20 year old and his work in and under was outstanding. Toc decided to take play down the grandstand side and their effort was rewarded by an enthusiastic and encouraging home support. Young Hatty who stepped into the 2nds after playing a full game in the thirds was moving and using the ball nicely and will be one to watch in the future. Peter Absolom started to exert some influence on the game, in particular down the grandstand side where some contested possessions and strong marks got the home supporters on their feet. The signs were encouraging and although the score board wasn't lighting up the effort and determination was evident for all to see.
Seniors - A perfect day for football greeted the Bloods for the game against title contenders Mulwala and the message from the coach before the game was "Keep it simple", do the basics and do what we do best. The Bloods went into the game undermanned with the coach, Farrell, Shiels and Crawford all missing from the line up. Cheech was recalled, as too was Ash Pollard and young Corey Poynton getting another chance to impress.
Toc were up and about early with long kicking into the forward line paying dividends. Clucky who is arguably the inform player at the club got a tough job picking up James at full forward. It was a good match up and the jury is still out on who has the best biceps, although no contest when it came to hair. Logie was a driving force and his effort was an inspiration to his teammates. Both sides traded goals and in a very entertaining first quarter only a couple of points separated the teams.
The coach was pleased with what he saw and encouraged the players to do more of the same, across at the other huddle Parker was given a talking to after Balraj touched him up in the first quarter. It was a tough second quarter and although the Bloods enjoyed the majority of the possessions it was not reflected on the scoreboard. Some simple skill errors and mis-communication proved costly with turnovers being turned into goals by the visitors.
The players were greeted with a drop in temperature when they returned to the field and as a result found it hard to get going. Logie, Patten and Clucky were warming to the task and were our best players during a quarter where just like the second quarter possessions could not be converted into points.
At the break a good local crowd huddled around the players both encouraging them and attempting to generate some body heat on what was turning into a cold day. The Bloods continued to stand strong at the back with Patten taking some great contested marks to halt the Lions charge into their forward 50. Chappy kept leading and kept trying and that's all you ask from your players, some wore themselves out completely and were unable to muster boot to ball on occasions. The Bloods dominance of possession finally paid off with a couple of late goals, and although we did not get the chocolates the lads showed that last week was just that - last week. The coach will be looking for a couple on inclusions this week and the same intensity and effort.
All the best for our footballers and netballers this week.
