BIG THANK YOU to our resident photographer Debbie Stingell for some great photos of ALL 3 Games #strongandbold
Under 19s Coaches Report
Our Round 4 game against Mulgrave presented us with the opportunity to build upon last week’s solid effort. The clear expectation of another 4 quarter performance with the required intensity, ball movement and competitiveness was the focus.Stepping up as a group in the absence of our coach was a challenge we were determined to respond to.
The first quarter saw us kicking into a slight breeze against a determined Mulgrave outfit. The boys did well to produce the pressure required around the contest and slowly gained the ascendency. Some wasteful kicking however meant we had work to do to transfer that to scoreboard pressure.
A strong start to the second quarter from our mids saw regular inside 50 entries, however our kicking was again astray. Mulgrave battled hard and managed to stay in the game but through team pressure and a cohesive back six we managed to nullify the opposition’s forward forays.
Half time brought the chance to reflect and set ourselves for the second half. Our intensity and structures were positives however there was a demand for improvement in our talk, vision, ball movement and finishing. The boys responded, ran harder for each other and started to hit targets which brought reward for effort. The third and fourth quarters were largely played on our terms as we controlled possession, improved accuracy and hit the scoreboard between the two big sticks.
Time together with this group is proving invaluable as teammates galvanise and develop the high expectations required of each other.
The low point for the day was undoubtedly the significant injury to our captain Zac Horsey. Whilst he will be off the ground for a while Zac will continue to lead our group and work his way back for the business end of the season.
It was a very even team contribution with O’Connor, McLean, Kerr, B.Stingell, Holloway, and Valle named in the best. Hopkins and Powson led the way on the scoreboard.
Steve Richardson under 19s Assistant Coach
Reserves Coaches Report
They say a win is a win and we got what we wanted in the 4 points, however in a blustery day out a Mulgrave after kicking 17 behinds we walked away knowing we had let an opportunity go bye to really close out a game with authority. For 3 qtrs we were clearly the better side as we controlled the ball and won the stoppages in a congested game. To their credit they were dogged, persistent and took their chances in front of goal where our we did not, as we squandered opportunity after opportunity. The last quarter they were on top as we struggled with some decision making, however we held on through some true grit to take the points. Danger was super of HB and also kicked a couple of goals, Lee was solid again and Lou Marro competed well all day. On to next game against The Basin at home, great to see awesome support from our supporters, very much appreciated form our boys.
Steve Jordan Reserves Coach
Senior Coaches Report
This week we travelled out to Mulgrave who are always a tough proposition on their home ground. In very blustery conditions we kicked against the breeze in the first quarter and played some good defensive footy limiting Mulgrave to 1.3 to trail by 1 point at ¼ time.
The 2nd quarter continued to be a scrappy affair as both sides struggled to get any fluency in their games in the conditions, we managed to hit the scoreboard enough to take a 3 goal lead into the halftime break.
In the 3rd quarter we again played some good defensive footy and limited Mulgrave’s scoring as they only trimmed the margin to 16 points at 3 quarter time.
In the last quarter we took complete control of the game kicking 6.11 to nothing and ran away victors by 63 points.
Will Gordon was colossal in the ruck all day and Jake Parente kicked 5 goals up forward.
Thanks to everyone who came out to support us in cold windy conditions, we look forward to seeing you at home against the basin this week.
Neil Winterton Senior Coach