Sunday saw us take on East Malvern for an early game at the Knights home ground. It had been a close tussle in our earlier match at home against them, so we were expecting East Malvern to be very challenging at their ground. I was giving Freddie a lift to the ground, so we had a solid 20mins or so of talking about life and footy – mostly footy probably. It was a great conversation, and reminded me how lucky I am to have 25 fantastic young men to coach. He was particularly excited about getting the inside scoop to know he was starting on the forward line, telling me he loved the role of the small forward.
Kieran and Charlie H were our Captains for today and provided great leadership all day. Kieran is fast and agile and is able to read the play well which enables him to use the ball well whenever he gets it. Charlie H is hard at the ball and loves the contested possessions. His in and under footy allows him to contribute all over the ground, particularly in breaking the lines.
We got off to a flyer in the first quarter with Freddie seemingly everywhere. He put in multiple efforts moving the ball forward against the breeze. He found Elliot positioned perfectly at full forward who marked and kicked a ripper goal. Back into the middle and George won the ruck contest and got the quick clearance. Darcy presented well, running onto the ball at centre half forward. He got it onto Freddie who led out well and kicked a goal of his own. Johnny and Thomas were defending well in the midfield and were able to help us rebound a few times to prevent it from getting into our backline. Cooper and Harrison K linked up from the backline and drove forward, finding Freddie again. He ran strongly and kicked another goal – playing the role of small forward brilliantly in the first quarter. A great quarter from the boys and playing to the game plan.
The Knights regrouped at quarter time and came out strongly. We had the advantage with the breeze, so when Tom intercepted from the backline he was able to rebound quickly and he passed to Liam H who was playing well in the midfield. Liam then got it forward again where Darcy, Charlie Q and Freddie were working hard together. Freddie succeeded in getting a pass to Darcy who kicked a nice goal.
In the third quarter the boys continued to compete well. Jock provide some great run and contest from the backline. Thomas took a fantastic mark and followed it up with a great pass to Liam H. Freddie marked well and then combined to pass to Toby who pushed us forward. George got on the end of it and kicked another major for us. We weren’t having it all our own way and Darcy and Will were contesting and defending well to limit the opportunities for East Malvern.
In the last, the Knights came out all guns blazing and before we knew it they had 3 quick goals on the board and we were being challenged. Kieran and Will got together and formed a strong defence to stem the tide. They rebounded a couple and set us up for some attacking opportunities. Spencer and Darcy were also getting involved in a number of defensive efforts and chasing which helped to settle the game for us. We played out the remainder of the quarter and the game well with solid contributions from all zones on the ground.
It pleasing to see the boys getting used to dropping back to fill the holes, allowing the structure for us to defend and move the ball quickly into attack. Each of the boys I ask to fill the roles in each zone each week end up getting plenty of the ball and influencing the game. Looking forward to the game this week!
Steve
TEAMWORK PASSION FUN RESPECT
#GoRovers
