Well it’s been 23 years in the making since A Mitcham Football Club First XVIII Has been in a position to play in a grand final and 34 years since we have tasted the ultimate success - The Good news is we have ticked the first box and our destiny is now in our own hands should we wish to tick the second.
Unfortunately the under 19s came up short against Upper Gully out at Glen Waverley on Sunday. The boys put in a spirited effort and led at half time and while the score board blew out a little late, the fact the boys were able to remain competitive for the majority off the game after Upper had blown us away both times during the season shows the develop of the boys though out the year
The reserves haven’t missed a beat in the second half of the season and Saturday was NO different as they crusied into their 3rd consecutive grand final. Parkes up forward booted 5 with Arrowsmith and McKeown doing the damage around the ground. In The seniors the question had been asked by some how the Tigers were travelling and after booting the first 4 goals of the game there was no doubt about the answer. CO Captains Petracca and Witnish stood tall with good support from Glossop, Bell, Higginson and Warne in his 150th.Even though the coach spent the second half on the bench, The Tigers midfield depth was on show for all to see. With both teams now right to now enjoy the weeks break, both the Seniors and Reserves will have full lists to choose from and hopefully end a 34 Senior Premiership year drought
BIG THANK YOU to the Mitcham Faithful, parents, friends, junior parents and players that stayed behind at Walker Park to run the Division 4 finals on a bitterly cold and wet day as our seniors and reserves did battle out at East Burwood. While the crowd wasn’t great The Mitcham Footy Club again show cased that we can host the Big games come rain hail or shine regardless of the obstacles put in front of us.
Keep checking back for further up dates regarding the grand final presentation night and the Major raffle
Under 19's Coaches Report
Another season done and dusted for the Under 19's but not without a fight. Taking on the big, strong and skilful Upper FTG side was always going to be a challenge especially after being beaten convincingly twice in the normal season. We knew that getting off to a decent start would be a crucial part of staying in the game, and after leading at half time we gave ourselves every chance to go on with it. Upper came back hard in the third quarter and narrowly led at the last break. Although we hit the front very early in the last quarter it was Upper who had the their leaders step up to take control, going on to win by 5 goals. Nathan Foster, Mitch Holzheimer, Mick Barro and Tommy Blanche were rocks down back under immense pressure while Luke McKeown, Ryan Sullivan and Mikey Raath led our on ball brigade along with the hard work of our rucks Jack Burden and Blake Dossor. Sam Howell, Nathan George, Tom Lucas and Adam Glanville all did their job up forward but unfortunately we didn't make it count enough when we had our opportunities (across the entire ground). That being said myself, Quilts, Blakey & Bluey are extremely proud of our boys efforts not only on Sunday but the entire season. A tremendous group of blokes who give their all every week and are a pleasure work with and be around both on and off the field. Like previous years we are excited about the future of our club and cannot wait to see these guys running around in the Seniors next year and beyond. A huge thank you to all our match day staff for your help throughout the year and a special thanks to our loyal supporters who turn up in numbers every week to support our boys. A big congratulations to Neil, Jordy and the Senior / Ressies players who have earnt the right to play in a grand final in two weeks time. It is due recognition of the hard work put in by the coaches and players in what has been a great year so far. Our boys will be there in numbers to make sure we get you both across the line for the final time this year.
Matt McCubbin Assistant Coach
Reserves Coaches Report
The group has been looking forward to Saturday since the last round finished, Park Orchards won comfortably the week before against Ringwood so they are in good form. We knew that they are an outside running team with solid skills so our focus was to get in first at the contest and hit them hard, we wanted to apply the heat early and we did with good hard attack on the ball. Our first quarter was super kicking 4 goals to a couple of points, then in the second we continued on to go into the break leading by 5-6 goals. We have made a real point to start the 3rd qtr’s well and we did kicking 2 early goals, to their credit the did come back midway through the term but couldn’t convert as we pushed them wide for their opportunities. In the last our pressure didn’t ease up and we controlled the play to win by 6 goals, Parkesy was outstanding with 5 goals, Beag’s and Bluey once again were terrific all day, whilst Rob Durham kept their FF very quiet with another work man like effort. Our team 1st footy theme has been the reason we are getting even contribution across the 24, playing your role and sacrificing your game for the team result if required. Nothing will change for us heading into the next game, we have plenty to work on at training this week as we continue to improve. Congratulations to the Seniors just an awesome day for the club! Thank you to all our supporters for being there, we as a group very much appreciate it.
Steve Jordan Reserves Coach
Senior Coaches Report
After a long 2 week wait we played our first final against Templestowe, with the winner progressing straight into the grand final there was a huge opportunity staring us straight in the face. We had been focusing over the last couple of weeks on playing a real team brand of footy and sacrificing yourself for the betterment of the team. In the first quarter this came to fore as we worked hard for each other all over the ground. Our tackling intensity was fantastic and we dominated the inside 50 count, unfortunately we didn't quite take full advantage kicking 4.4 while holding them scoreless. The 2nd quarter was a tightly contested quarter with both sides having their periods of dominance, at half time we held a 13 point lead. The 3rd quarter tightened up even more with both sides attacking the man and ball hard making scoring difficult, unfortunately we missed a few kickable goals for the quarter posting 1.4 to 1.1. With Templestowe having the breeze in the last quarter we knew we would have to dig deep. It was a pretty even first 15 minutes of the quarter with them managing to cut the margin to 9 points at that stage, over the next 10 minutes our boys really dug deep and found that extra bit of effort to kick the last 3 goals of the game through a combination of skill and pure effort. To come away with the win in tough conditions and go straight into the grand final is a fitting reward for all the hard work the group has put in all season long. We now have 2 weeks to leave no stone unturned and make sure that on grand final day we are ready to achieve what the club so richly deserves. A huge thanks to all the supporters who came out to cheer us on, you guys have been phenomenal all season long and we really appreciate your efforts, an extra thanks to all the supporters who came back to our social rooms to help congratulate us after the game. We look forward to seeing you all out at East Burwood in 2 weeks time. Finally congrats to the reserves for also going straight into the grand final, you guys have been in unbelievable form for the last 14-15 weeks, Jordy has done a phenomenal job with the group and if you play the way you have been lately there is no team that will get close to you.Bad luck to Q and the under 19s who bowed out this week you to have had a great season and we look forward to seeing some of those boys playing open age footy in 2016
Neil Winterton Senior Coach
* Under 19 game day Photos https://www.facebook.com/gbradtke/media_set?set=a.10153555368560699.1073742011.825950698&type=3&pnref=story
**Reserves Game Day photos https://www.facebook.com/gbradtke/media_set?set=a.10153552617955699.1073742008.825950698&type=3&pnref=story
Last Modified on 31/08/2015 14:56