A few of us were up a little earlier than the rest as we had a few of the boys play in the early game at McKinnon. It was great to see Daryl’s side and see some of the development of his team that we train side by side with. Ollie Elliott and Nate W joined us as well as Hudson’s younger brother Nate from the Under 8s to get our numbers up.
Charlie and Isaac were our captains for the day and the boys ran out pumped for a big game. This team have knocked off a couple of the better sides this year and weren’t to be treated lightly. We had Shazza in the fluoro this week taking the warm up (definitely more glam than Trav).
The conditions were great and little did we know of the marking display the boys would put on for Scotty’s camera lens. Suffice to say Mitch got the memo from Dad and I reckon pulled down no less than 15 overhead marks for the day. Ollie, Ryan and Ben W also took some memorable grabs. Ryan took the chocolates for mark of the day.
Charlie was great in locking the contest down and Jack was a general in combining with Ben H out of defence. Nate J doesn’t waste a possession and does not look out of place 2 yrs above his age. Caulfield got the jump on us in the first and had some great ball carriers.
The second term saw us look to wrestle back control. Huddy went onto the ruck with immediate impact. Getting it to Giddy at CHF was the aim as he was looking very dangerous. Mikey was holding up the backline and Jimi was showing all his tricks getting around a few on the way to booting it forward. Nate W was clearing the ball back to the middle at will. Wes got our first major and it was the spark we needed to switch into another gear. Harry began to rack up his possessions. Wes decided one wasn’t enough and booted his 2nd for the term. At half time we had our noses in front.
The 3rd term saw the boys solidify their advantage. Jake was continuing his outstanding affinity with the fwd sweeper role. He is also one of the big voices that his teammates and coaches hear. Isaac was killing it in the ruck. Mitch showed some of his quick skill with a right foot goal to add to his marking stats. Kian was relieved to get his name onto the goal kicking list and Ben H was electric in the middle fighting back after a knock on the head in the early game. Ollie was great down back with his trademark left handed handball. We were comfortable heading into “snake” quarter time. Vic was only handing out 2 at a time which seemed to be the go. Even the coaches got one!
Chris and I were rapt with the performance so far, however could not have imagined what was ahead of us in the last quarter. Fair to say the boys went the proverbial slam dunk looking to put the contest beyond doubt. Matty was amazing with his attack on the ball and hitting Ben W on the lead. The goals numbered 6. Harry goal (and the opposing side’s best player), Wes goal, Harry goal and Ben W put on a clinic with 3 last term goals.
We go to the school holiday break in great form. We get some good players back after the break so we see further upside into the last few weeks of the year.
We face a tough Beauy Sharks after the break. Enjoy the week off and stay healthy and safe.
Go Hampton Rovers, best mates.
Cheers
Wayno
