Como Park in South Yarra is a beautiful, picturesque setting for a game of football but I can’t imagine throughout the careers of all our boys if they will ever play on a bigger ground than what they experienced on Sunday.
We were expecting a tough game on the weekend against one of the better performed teams over this early part of the season in addition to the challenge of having only 18 players with no one bench. It was going to take a contribution by everyone to get over the line.
Prior to the game I reinforced to our back six how important it was going to be to play really tight football. From the start they did this. Miles, holding down centre half back, controlled the back line from early in the game. Returning to the form he showed throughout much of last year he was winning contests and clearing the ball all day.
The midfield was doing their job in supporting the backs by being prepared to get back to help defend. In particular, it was Hugo and Will on the wings, who worked together throughout the day to make sure there was always one of them who was positioned a kick behind play to halt the rebounding ball.
And the forwards were making the most of the opportunities scoring two goals each quarter. Lincoln worked hard up and down the ground, providing run from the half forward flank and demonstrated his very tidy skills around his feet with some great roving all over the field.
In the last quarter Paddy, who had been doing much of hard work in the midfield, moved to centre half forward where he and Lachie worked well together set up opportunities deeper in the forward line.
Jaxen and Declan were dangerous up forward all day with both of them kicking three goals. Gavin and Jett have started to look like they are more comfortable in our team and they are getting their hands on the ball. And, our most damaging player for the day was Toby who was recognised with the best on ground award from Prahran. This was reward for the toughness Toby showed, not just this game, but every time he runs out.
This win can be put down to our best team performance for the year. Players were prepared to run and tackle, they shared the ball with handball and we even saw some shepherding during the game.
The awards this week went to three players who put in their best performance for the year. Miles worked hard all day at centre half back, and both Dom and Lincoln started forward line in the first half and then continued their good work in the midfield in the second half.
Coach – Marcus Nolan
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