With an imminent blizzard forecast, it was no surprise to see most us decked out in our Mt. Buller ski attire while the boys were proudly sporting their Rovers attire (shorts & footy jumper).
Pre game consisted of the constant theme of teamwork, togetherness, fun and enjoyment. The first quarter started as expected, with a step up in class comes tougher competition and Ajax were up and ready. The first goal came through a combination of a Will handball to Zane, a long kick forward to a running Ziggy who finished off their good work by nailing the goal half way through the quarter. The second goal came from the boot of Toby, who snapped truly. Nate was unlucky not to register a major only to have it touched on the line. The pressure was fierce from the start with Max.S, and Ethan landing solid tackles.
The second quarter saw us kicking with a slight breeze, but the second was an arm wrestle mainly being played between the arcs in the midfield. All the boys cracked in and gave a good account of themselves throughout the second. The half back defensive line of the two Angus’ (Aujard & Hare) and Reid were like a wall down back and if a ball did penetrate then the likes of Taj, Deakin and Baxter swooped on the loose ball and helped drive it long up onto the wings. Will took a good mark in space and went back and just pushed it to the right minutes before the end of the quarter.
At the half I praised the boys on their attack at the football and their teamwork. I informed them that the second half was going to be very similar to the first and that all their good work was only half done. The rotations came into play at half time so the backs went forward, mids went back and forwards went to the midfield. With the rotations complete it was extremely pleasing to me to see that the game continued as it did in the first half, it shows me that we have the right mix in the zones and that all the boys can adapt easily to different positions, and play those positions well. Jacob took a strong contested mark early in the third with Mitchell, Kai, and Monty all showing pace and running well with the ball in hand. Charlie saved a goal after marking a long kick on the goal line, then playing on and kicking it out of harms way deep into the pocket. Harry down back attacked the moving ground ball and scooped it up and charged out of the back line and roosted the ball long through the centre. We continued to push the ball into the forward line and after multiple attempts it was great to see the boys get a return for all their had work with a goal coming from Max R after receiving a handball from Deakin.
At the last change I told the boys they had 12 more minutes to play and to continue with the same intensity and pressure they had shown for the first three quarters. The last quarter saw the boys leave the huddle all pumped up and ready to run the game out. It wasn’t long before Taj showed his ability to move under pressure with a duck and a weave then slotted home a major from in the goal square. Angus.H put one through the big sticks to finish off some good work from up the ground.
The most pleasing thing I took from our game today was their ability to put into practice what we had been doing in training on Thursday night. Last week we were penalised on three or four occasions for kicking the ball off the ground but today I can not recall one instance of this as we had trained to pick up the ball off the ground in training, and it payed off today. Also the use of handball was a focus in training and today we seemed to hit more targets than previously. I am so proud of all the boys from today’s game, the step up in class today was a good test and I am proud to say that they ALL passed with flying colours through the pressure, tackling and teamwork shown in the game today.
Today’s awards in no particular order:
Nate Jongen, Harry Roberts, Toby Green, Taj Kuzman
A massive thanks to all the parents who helped out today.
Well done and congratulations to the TEAM!
Goals: 1 T.Green , 1 A.Hare , 1 M.Reeve , 1 T.Kuzman , 1 Z.Okalyi
Best Players: T.Kuzman, T.Green, N.Jongen, H.Roberts
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