From the President
With rain threatening the closure of grounds it was good to get all games undertaken for round 3, especially as Round 1 was already transferred to the wet weather catch up weekend.
After the loses last week I know our teams are keen to get their campaigns back on track and gel together. The South West Sydney Blues (based out of Monarch Oval) travelled to Mike Kenny to face off against us in the Premier Division Men’s and Under 19.5’s Division 1round.
Division 1 Men were impressive in a very tightly fought game against last years premiers, North Shore and dealt then a defeat they haven’t had for some time. This team showed again how tight nit they are in fighting all the way with no quarter given. This round they have a bye to recover.
Our women Division 2 and Under 19.5 Division 2 are showing great football and will work hard to give this for all four quarters. The depth for our top teams from these teams is definitely improving rapidly and is a credit to our coaching staff.
Having our first round at home we will have our bar and canteen running. We love to put on a great day for our and the visiting teams. This takes a lot of dedicated volunteers. If you would love to be involved please reach out. We can never have enough hands.
Hope to see you around the grounds.
Todd Williams
President
Match Reports:
Premier Division Men's Match Report with thanks to ARA Group
Premier Division Men Vs South West Sydney Blues (PH 15.10.100 Defeated SWS 2.2.14)
Round 3 saw us up against the newcomers, South West Sydney Blues for our first home game. We would have 2 debuts, Jack Roberts from Terrigal/Avoca who is a swans academy kid and Joel Rush, who recently moved over from WA and is VFL listed for the Giants. We would unfortunately lose players to injury which rewarded good form from our div 1 team, Oliver Williams, Jonno Moran & Lukas De Vries would also come in. Plus, key big man, Connor Matthews who missed R2.
The game would be played in tricky conditions with a very strong breeze favouring one end. We would win the toss and kick with the wind; the boys were hunger to atone our loss to North Shore and would start red hot kicking 6.5 to 0 in the 1st. We knew it would be difficult to move the ball against the breeze in the 2nd but were able to kick a goal and limit SWS to only 1 goal.
Our backline was super all game with Moran & Williams having good first games back in 1st grade. Usual suspects Mikey Carroll & Connor Matthews making life hard. The 3rd quarter we would have the wind, we dominated play but were wasteful in front of goals kicking 4.5, we would go into the last quarter up 76 to 7. We would play our best footy in the last quarter kicking 4 goals straight to win by 86 points.
I thought our midfield dominated all day against a tough SWS midfield, who had some big in’s. Our forward line contested hard; Theo Moraitis pressure set the tone with Mitchell Blow (4 goals) & Stephen Wray (3 goals) dominating both in the midfield & while forward. Josh Boag was hard at the contest, Jack Potter, Jonno Moran & Cameron Mitchell all competed hard.
We now gear up for a huge battle vs Inner west magpie for our annual Anzac day game.
Ben Roberts (Head Coach)
Best: Mitchell Blow, Stephen Wray, Joshua Boag, Jonathan Moran, Jackson Potter, Cameron Mitchell
Goal Kickers: M.Blow 4, S.Wray 3, O. Nockles 2, W. Mudge 1, T. Moraitis 1, J. Boag 1, L. Skrivanic 1, J. Boby 1, J. Roberts 1,
Premier Division Women's Match Report with thanks to Ritera Electrical Wholesale
Premier Division Women - BYE
Under 19.5 Division 1 Men's Match Report with thanks to Tyrepower Dural
Under 19’s Division 1 v South West Sydney Blues (PH 132.9.87 Defeated SWS 4.10.34)
“If its meant to be its up to me”
Today was an exciting day. Our first home game for the season and the boys were pumped and ready. Conditions were tough. Strong winds and early in the game the rain started to fall making the ground and ball slippery as well.
We had a two-pronged strategy, one with the wind and one against. The challenge would be to not fumble the ball in the difficult conditions and execute our strategies as a team.
We ran with the wind, and I estimated a 3-4 goal breeze advantage, so we had to capitalise. We started really well with clean hands out of the centre and stacked on 6 great goals for the first term. Our aim was to deliver better kicks to our forwards and lower our eyes. We had a smaller forward line so needed to create room to run and move and allow our fast forwards to do their thing. We stuck to the game plan well.
Oscar, Riley, Nathan, Liam, Dylan and Ryan were motoring in the first quarter.
2nd quarter was more of a defensive strategy against the wind and our defenders held them well not allowing them easy forward entries. Jack was clean with his hands and elite foot skills off half back. Ryan Lauff was solid as our full back and last line of defence stopping their forward moves. Pat took a great mark up forward and kicked a goal. For the first 7-10 minutes we were playing too high when we should have had more players behind the ball. This gave the opposition opportunities to get goal side of us with the wind and put unnecessary pressure on our defenders. For the second half of the term, we started to slow and take better control.
Our third quarter was again solid with the wind, and we played some great footy. Our balance around stoppages was much better and our exit handballs to a free player were clean and crisp giving us vision up forward. Some awesome passages of team play coming from Liam, Lachy, Oscar, Dylan, and Ryan moving the ball from our back half to our front half with precision. Great long goal from Riley from 55m out sailed through with the wind – must have been a 60M plus kick and a great running goal from Jack off halfback was a highlight too. Josh Chapple was giving us a target with his marking and ground ball gets and down back Luka at CHB was motoring and stopping forward moves. We were well in control. Our smalls were having a big impact up forward with Ben and, James, Oscar, and Ryan B all winning contests and working well together with unselfish play delivering the ball to the top of the square for some easy goals. It was great to watch. South West Sydney had only managed one goal to our 10 by this stage.
Henry hit the opposition with a bone crunching tackle off half back in the third, and our rucks in Roman and Bill were equally impactful today stopping their forward moves with tackle pressure and marking and winning multiple stoppage hit outs.
The final quarter against the wind we were well in control but lost a bit of our momentum as South West got a couple of quick clearances and easy goals. It was tough against the breeze and whilst we were not under great threat, our discipline of holding shape, structures and strategy against the wind needs some more work. We allowed them to run free at times and left holes in the corridors for them to run into. Better teams will make us pay if we do this. We need to play the same relentless brand of running footy regardless of the opposition and be able to do this consistently for four quarters. We don’t take our foot off the pedal.
The overwhelming difference is we were more often first to the ball today and clean with our first disposal to a team mate. This stood out. Our forward craft was much better, and our small forwards created free space and out ran our opposition. We are not at our best yet but premierships aren’t won in April either. We are getting better and stronger week to week as we gel as a team.
Best players –
Oscar – brilliant at winning ground balls and first ball use both off half forward and half back.
Dylan – many hard ball gets from stoppages and centre clearances and cleaner with ball use.
Riley – hard running work up forward was rewarded with multiple goals as well as defensive pressure when needed.
Nathan – terrific off the wing with two way running and efforts.
Lachy – in control as sweeper and had a couple of purple patches in the second and third quarters giving us drive out of the middle.
Josh Chapple – CHF took some good marks, unselfish centreing ball to players in better positions, and rewarded with a goal.
Jack – consistent again off half back, in control, great kicks to free players and a great running goal.
Ben – awesome forward craft creating opportunities for others with his unselfish play and defensive pressure.
Ryan Bonham – read the forward craft well today and kicked multiple goals and helped to set up others.
We hope Ben recovers well from his unfortunate tackle in the third quarter where he was driven into the ground and took no further part in the game. We also acknowledge and thank Pat, Jake C and Liam Hardman for their efforts to play two games to support both teams.
Justin Kerley (Coach)
Best: Oscar Irwin, Dylan Bonham, Riley Hawes, Joshua Chapple, Jack Kinnane, Lachlan Pauly
Goal Kickers: O. Irwin 3, R. Hawes 3, R. Bonham 3, L. Everett 1, J. Kinnane 1, J. Chapple 1, P. McMurrich 1,
Division 1 Men's Match Report with thanks to Pennant Hills Toyota
Division 1 Men - BYE
Division 2 Women’s Match Report
Women’s Division 2 v UNSW-ES Bulldogs (PH 2.4.16 Loss to UNSW-ES 4.2.26)
First game at home for the season against UNSW, with another 3 debutants. Big welcome to Penno for Brownie, Christina and Haylee.
Unfortunately, a clear morning went south as rain came down at the start of the game. Lots for us to learn about how to play in the wet. There was also a strong breeze which UNSW took advantage of in the 1st and 3rd quarters.
Similar to last week our Midfield and Backs started well, but we did not match up well on a loose back that NSW had created and they easily repelled out moves forward. This resulted in a goal for them in the 1st Qtr.
In slippery conditions Haylee, Lucy and Zoe were getting their hands on the ball and having an impact. Lauren was everywhere and trying to use her pace to break clear and move the ball forward.
Kellie was presenting well in the forwards and took some good marks in the wet conditions. Good territory football saw an opportunity for Halee in the goal square where she snapped truly and put us in front at half time.
The third qtr started as an arm wrestle, with good impacts from Georgia, Jazz and Charlotte.. However we seemed to stop running for about 5 minutes and NSW quickly kicked 3 goals with the wind.
The last qtr saw the Wiz have a big impact with some good interceptions and with the support of Ali C and Soph , we kept the ball in our half for most of the qtr. We were unlucky to not kick a long goal that just touched the post, but good work from Sarah allowed Joey to kick a late goal.
Good effort from all in the wet. Unfortunately went down by 10 points.
Mark Carroll (Coach)
Best: Lauren Jacobs, Haylee Cole, Lucy Boyd, Rebecca Apap, Zoe Samios, Kellie Cauwood
Goal Kickers: J. Smith 1, H.Cole 1.
Division 3 Men's Match Report with thanks to Eylex Pty Ltd
Men’s Division 3 v Southern Power (PH 11.15.81 Defeated SP 4.2.26)
Round 3 saw Division 3 at the 11am time slot in an away fixture against Southern Power in windy and rainy conditions.
In his captaincy debut, Nick Glancy won the toss and elected to kick with the wind. After an even 1st 10 minutes we were able to kick 3 late goals whilst holding the opposition goalless. The 2nd quarter started with a goal within the 1st 45 seconds to Fraser Nixon thanks to some nifty centre square work between Le Lay and Carnahan. The remainder of the quarter was even. We were able to dominate the 2nd half and ended up winning 11.15 to 4.2, would be nice to kick straighter. Ironically our 2 best quarters were those into the wind when we had to work a little harder and smarter.
Better players were the Jy Durkin with strong attack on the footy and work rate across half forward, Jordy Le Lay in his first game for the year who rucked all day, the ever-reliable Zac Lorschy at full back, Xander Vink on a wing who won plenty of the footy and BFF’s Rowan Love and Jarrod French who have been a welcome addition back to the team and continue to get better by the week.
Once again, a good team performance across the board that now sees us 2 & 0. Next weekend sees our first home game for the season with a match up against Mac Uni in what marks another milestone game with Fraser Nixon playing his 200th game for the club.
Sebastian Parker (Coach)
Best: Jye Durkin, Jordan Le Lay, Zachiary Lorschy, Alexander Vink, Jarrod French, Rowan Love
Goal Kickers: F. Nixon 4, T. Manfre 2, A. Brawn, J. Ortiz, J Durkin, J. Douglass, T. Pellizon.
Under 19.5’s Division 2 vs Manly Warringah Wolves (PH 5.5.35 Loss to MW 7.9.51)
Another tough matchup this week against last seasons premiers Manly Wolves. We knew we were in for a tough matchup in less than ideal conditions. Manly made the most of having the win behind them in the 1st Q, kicking three quick goals. We seemed to be a bit stunned, but quickly worked our way back into the contest – fantastic forward pressure resulted in only five behinds and one major score for us leaving work to do at 6 – 23 at the break.
We really grew into the game and dominated the second and third quarters. The boys showed some really slick ball movement in tough conditions, playing a brand of footy we’ll only grow into as the day goes. Fantastic pressure and effort from Cohen and Noah helped us win some turnovers in dangerous positions. Jake was class coming off half back and kicked a nice goal too.
Heading into the fourth we’d fought back immensely to have the game finely balanced. One of our 17’s Lucas, kicked a fantastic clutch goal to put us back in it at the start of the fourth before Patty put us ahead with nerves of steel to hold a one point advantage early in the last quarter. Unfortunately, the bounce of the ball deserted us late on and Manly kicked three late goals to pull away and take the win. The scoreline doesn’t reflect the match – a true one kick game decided by two 5 minute spurts of points from the Wolves. Despite being 0-2 this team is going to be a real force to be reckoned with and if we keep playing our exciting brand of footy good results are just around the corner.
Big shoutout to the best 6 from the weekend with Jake P, Cohen, Noah, Patty, Jack and George all playing out of their skin. Keen to get a big win next weekend.
Harry McDiarmid (Coach)
Best: Jake Protogeros, Cohen Denne, Noah Dunn, Patrick McMurrich, Jack Dwyer, George Ussher.
Goal Kickers: J. Protogeros, P. McMurrich, L. Hopkins, H. Meadows, L. Kellett
Division 1 Men's Match Report with thanks to Conveyancing at Pittwater
Men’s Division 5 vs South West Sydney Blues (PH 4.3.27 Loss to SWS 10.4.64)
(Match report not received.)
Nigel Blow (Coach)
Best: Brayden Rohr, Luke Bray, Tadhg Richards, Oskar Raue, Callum Toohey, Michael Elsley
Goal Kickers: J. Lee 1, O. Rohr 1, L. Bray 1, T. Richards 1
What’s on This week
Season Launch:ANZAC Day Round, Thursday 25th April Women’s Div 2 at 10:00am Premier Division Men at 1:10pm, Croydon Park V’s Inner West Magpies
Club Thursday: This week we head back to WPHSC for a Demons meal deal.
