Comments: Peter Cross - Coach U14
Warners Bay 24 vs Nelson Bay 58 ( Seaman Oval, Warners Bay)
U14 Junior Bullies started the opening two quarters of the new season in red hot form. The last time these two teams met was in last years preliminary final (when we were thrashed by 85 points) so there were promising signs going into half time break with a 6 point lead.
A great tackling display and fierceness at the ball resulted in Micky Vo (No 18) receiving Players/Player as voted by his team mates. Forward Hayden Farrell (No 17) who kicked a miracle banana goal won our inaugural "Doggies award" for the games greatest moment. Daniel King (No 21) created space all night and was rewarded with plenty of possession from his second efforts in stopping the ball from leaving our forward line.
A five person interchange certainly proved challenging for the coaching group and with key experienced players taking their turn on the bench in the Ãf,Ã,þ quarter, the game quickly slipped from our control and was basically over within a matter of 15 mins. Our past approach in regards to interchanging players will need to change if we are to be competitive this year, particularly considering that a majority of our children are in the younger 13 year age group, compared with all other clubs fielding a considerably larger number of 14 year olds. Players to be consulted in regards to preferred approach.
Our 5 first time AFL gamers did extremely well, all getting plenty of touches, with Troy Gordon (No 20) outstanding at Centre Half Forward showing he has what it takes to hold down a key position all season. Mitch Sutton (No 32) showed he has something special and adapted well in his conversion from soccer.
All centre players had strong games, with players playing at their best including Paul Hunter (No 2), Jack Dawson (No 14), Ryan Cross (No 6), Andrew Dunn (No 16) and Ethan Cumpson (No 7).
A coaches special mention to Angus Norton (No 9) and Tyler Clarke (No 10) who were everywhere in defence and pivotal in keeping us in the game right up to the final siren.
In summary, a great team effort from a very young side and 5 new players - very exciting to know that we have loads of improvement to go. Well done team!!!!!
Finally, a big thanks from coaching group to all parents who helped out including Bevo Snr (goal ump/votes), Brett Dawson (oranges), Lee Cross (timekeeper), Ron Oeser (votes). We still have a couple more jobs on game day/night, so if you are able to help out please let us know. Thanks to Luke Roach U12's who also helped out running the boundary. Apologies if we missed recognizing someone.
Last Modified on 20/05/2007 20:48