Rovers True Grit
The Rovers Div 5 team faced a gruelling challenge on a foggy and muddy Sunday game at Kangaroo Road. The hardest part wasn’t the weather, but was the low numbers that we had to compete against a tall and full sided Murrumbeena team, who were looking for their first win of the season.
The theme of the day was either to step up or step down. We could not afford to have any passengers today, we all needed to do a bit extra if we wanted to win this game. The more wins we win whilst on top of the ladder, the more the pressure builds for us. First quarter started and Jake G lead the charge. Took the game on, kicked long and gave us kilometers in territory. Wasn’t long before the rest of the team joined the charge and dominated the possession game. We squeezed them so well with our press, we were perfectly spread and halved almost every contest. We snagged a goal after the siren from the trusty boot of our skipper James Mc, and took the lead.
Second quarter we saw some resilience in the Murrumbeena team, who began to control more of the footy and took away our run and gun. Some unreal efforts by Dylan V and Harrison S kept us alive and kept them goalless. Bailey L was again electric with tackle pressure, and was a sole reason why they seemed scared of us all day. He also found the ball and was able to damage them by kicking a great goal after the siren in the third.
Our last quarter would be the toughest challenge of the day. We were down to 15 players against a full sided, hungry and desperate Murrumbeena side. We stuck to our press, which was a gamble but it paid off. We were able to just lock it in, life and death situation, and keep them pinned for 15 minutes. Ollie C was prolific in the final term, taking 3 crucial marks and hitting targets. It was yet another close encounter for us, and we pulled through to take home the 4 points. We stood up when we had to.
Rovers 2-5-21 Defeated Murrumbeena 2-5-17
Things we did well:
– Press
– Tackled
– Transition running
Things we can improve on:
– Winning or halving contest (doing it earlier in game)
– Slightly more proactive in defense
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EXTRA Photos : (Supplied by Christian and Zach….Thanks for sharing what can be for our young budding Rovers……
Editors Note : Looks like Coach Christian didn’t mind getting in and under. Now we know how his Rovers DNA was created….
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Zach and I last time we won at Murrumbeena. Muddy day that was too! Under 15’s I believe. 7 years later and got another win, what a feeling.
Zach (on Left) Christian (on Right) – 2012 (Just in case you could not pick them…)
Back as Rovers coaches…..and still Mates….. Christain (On left) Zach (On right) – Rd 8 – 2019 Und 14. Div 5
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