Banksia Reserve…..No wait, Donald McDonald Reserve.
Not even a last minute realisation that there had been a last minute change to the location of our game could upset the boys today. Bec did another great job making sure that everyone got to the ground on time, the whole time ensuring me she wasn’t going to get stressed by this despite the look in her eyes…
Last week we learned some lessons on how we could play better as a team. My challenge to the boys for this week’s game was to be first to the ball when it was in dispute and tackle and pressure the other team when they had it. The difference this brought to the way we played was evident from the first bounce and as a result we were rarely challenged all day.
We were captained by Will Boyd-Turner today with the Vice-Captain Hugo Tuffley. Both have been good players for us this year but both of them lifted with this extra responsibility. Will got the first clearance of the game and kept on picking up possessions and kicking it forward while Hugo was creating havoc getting in dangerous positions in the forward line and kicking a goal. Lachie also snagged two first quarter goals.
In the second quarter we continued on our merry way and continued to score. The highlight for me was Joseph passing a ball to Paddy when within scoring distance. This is the type of team work we are looking for. Jaxen Gordon has continued to improve with each game this year continuing his attack on the ball and picking up a number of possessions during quarter.
The third quarter was a much tighter affair with Beauie holding us to just the one goal. The pressure was on the backline and midfield for much of the quarter. This is where the boys demonstrated the defensive pressure we are aiming to create. Sebastian Caceras and Sonny Gittus were throwing themselves into every contest they were near. Josh Miekle and Campbell Holtham – who have both been super consistent throughout the season – were both getting a lot of possessions through the midfield and back half holding up our defence. Harvey Atchison kept on attacking the ball demonstrating exactly what I have asked of him.
In the last quarter we kicked into gear again with another 4 goals. Eddie, who had come up from the U9s, snagged 2 goals for us. Our other U9, Finn, was getting in an under in the midfield getting plenty of the ball. Our ruckmen throughout the day had been providing us with first use of the ball all day at the throw ups. Finn White, Sunny King, Dom Todarello and Jack Carson did most of the rucking duty and were central to our clearance dominance today.
In a demonstration of what a team performance it was today we had nine different goal scorers:
Goals: Lachie Nolan 3, Will Boyd Turner 2, Eddie(U9s) 2, Alex Condon, Paddy Wilson, Hugo Tuffley, Jack Carson, Finn White, Sunny King.
The award winners this week were Sonny Gittus for all his tackling and getting in at the bottom of the packs, Lachie Nolan for his three goals and constant attack on the contests and Paddy Wilson who rarely plays a bad game and always stands up when we need him.
It was great work today by the boys but we have now set a standard for what we want to do for the rest of the year.
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