U15 Boys Match Report

Our first game of the season was against Boronia Hawks, whom we haven't played against for some time. We knew it would be a test for our boys but the team went in with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. 

 

The conditions were quite warm and due to school holidays we had a couple of players away (thankfully those families that were affected by COVID came out of isolation just in time for their boys to play!).

 

Although the day did not go our way, both Troy and we were really happy with many aspects of the game today including some quality link ups that saw us move the ball from the backline to the forward line on several occasions and the tough running and efforts of many of the boys. We welcomed new players to our ranks officially today including Cooper, Connor, Harry, Jack, Nathan and Oli, who proved today just how valuable they'll be to the team. Kai was absent today but we're certainly stoked to have him on the team as well.

 

There were some fantastic individual performances today from Tom and Samuel who ran their guts out all day, Cooper's ruck work, Tyler's work on the wing and the midfield and Jack's stablising work in the defense. Special mentions to Oli who for a guy that never has played football before, proved to be an asset wherever we put him, Xavier who worked hard all day and was a great influence in the half forward line and Alex for stepping in to help Cooper with the ruck duties. Harry was great in the forward line snagging a couple of goals as well.

 

Accuracy and lack of communication at times cost us but the boys will only get better as they get to know each other better. Remember, we have 7 new boys to the team who have never played together before, but it will only be a short time until they really gel together. As with anything new, there's always a learning curve and this includes getting to learn each other and the way we play.

 

We got better as the game went on. We had 16 scoring shots and outscored the opposition in the last quarter which shows two things. When challenged, the boys can certainly lift and they don't quit as well as the ball spending a lot of time in our forward line, which once accuracy improves, there's the potential to put up some very solid scores.

 

Congratulations to Kobe on your 50th game. Well done mate!

 

Steve & Troy

The game started off well with our backup ruckman Rohan and Alex leading the way with Alex playing most of the day in the ruck, which was not his normal position and he acquitted himself really well.  Both Samuel and Tom dominated the midfield early and were supported by Nathan and Tyler on the wings.

 

The forwardline saw a couple of players playing out of position including Mason, who is normally a backman, finding some great space after a marking contest to snag his first goal ever and also Oli, who took a great mark and bagged his first goal ever as well.

 

Chad lead the way down forward kicking three goals and gave us a solid presence up forward with Kobe, forming a nice duo. Xavier was everywhere on the half forward line again and Blake showed us again just how good he is overhead snagging a few solid marks, as well as reading the play really well. 

 

It really was a tale of two halves as the boys came out firing in the first and second quarter but the effort at times in the 3rd and 4th quarter allowed Fairpark back into the game, eventually over running us.

 

Our backline really stood up today and at times were under siege but the calming influence and communication of Kai, the leadership of Jack and the tenacity of Rhys certainly kept us in the game when things were looking like they were going to go south. Special mentions to both Aaron and Noah who repelled the ball out of the backline on numerous occasions, setting up some great linkages moving forward.

 

Alas it was not our day and we went down by 9 points. The boys need to focus on staying focussed and supporting each other more, and this was evident in today's result.  We have a tough opponent in Rowville next week at home, so the boys will need to be up to the task.

 

Steve & Troy

Our 3rd game of the season saw us come up against the top of the ladder Rowville Hawks. After losing a close game against Fairpark the week before, the boys were out to prove themselves and rebound from the disappointing loss.

 

The team came out from the gates at full steam, taking it to Rowville from the first bounce which we believe took Rowville completely by surprise as we moved the ball at will and were very physical at the contest. We scored the first goal of the game and set the tempo early.

 

We experimented with moving a few players around including moving Kai into the forward line from the backline and moving Rohan to full forward which saw Ro kick two goals for the game as well as moving Jack to Centre Half Back which helped to compliment the run of both Aaron and Noah off the half back line. Rhys showed again how much of an asset he is to the team as a Full Back who repeatedly made the opposition work hard at every contest.

 

Mason snuck in another goal to make two goals in two weeks and Tom and Xavier both chimed in a goal each as well.

 

It was the most complete game by the team this season and even though we lost, we kicked our highest score for the season and kept the opposition to 66 points, which was their lowest score of the season. The boys have set themselves up for a great hit out next week against Montrose and were up and about at the end of the game. Bring on Montrose!

 

Special mention to Alex who stepped in to help with rucking duties after Cooper went down with a knee injury. Speedy recovery Coops!

Round 4 and the last round of the grading games saw us playing against Montrose.

 

It was a tale of two teams as the team that played so well against Rowville looked completely different to the team that played against Montrose. We were hoping for another fantastic effort but we were completely outclassed today. 

 

Montrose's run and carry, ability to hit targets, running to support each other and their attack on the ball saw them beat us convincingly by over 100 points. The boys were second to the ball for most of the day, and didn't play the brand of football we know they can play, thus the final score.

 

The backline were under siege all day and never gave up. Aaron played a brilliant game and gave some nice run and carry out of the backline, Noah didn't quit all day and Oli was tough at the contest. Rhys and Jack were in every contest and made the opposition work hard all day.

 

Alex continued to work really hard in the ruck and has shown some great improvement in just a couple of weeks and is to be commended for his efforts. Tom was his usual self and ran tirelessly all day and showed great leadership by leading by example

 

It's back to the drawing board for us this week and the boys will be challenged during training but judging by their demeanour after the game, they want to work to get better.

The boys started the game well but by the end of the second quarter we saw some signs that were worrying as the team wasn't functioning as we expected them to be. The team effort wasn't where it was last week and the game quickly got away from us. We saw some great individual efforts but as a team, we were not able to keep up with Donvale. 

Aaron provided some great run and carry out of the backline from kick outs, pretty much reaching the 50m arc because the opposition couldn't keep up with his speed. Rhys' body work was fantastic today had he pretty much took out the opposition forward, who he didn't get a look in all day.

We gave Connor the task of sticking with his opponent all day and he shut down the guy he was on. He was hard at the contests and laid some great tackles as well. His chase on the ball was excellent too.

Tom and Nathan worked very hard across the middle all day and Blake and Xavier, who had been ill all week, gave it their all and both Troy and I appreciate that they came into the game not 100% and never gave up. We welcomed back Noah this week who took a little time to get back in the groove but showed why he's an important part of the team, making his presence known later in the game.

Oli was very strong in the contests and ran hard (and through the opposition) on several occasions, again providing some strong work in the backline. Kai again rewarded us by showing that moving him into the forward line was well worth the experiment that Troy and I had pegged for him. Ro also created some opportunities in the half forward line with some strong overhead marking and some nice kicking to follow it up.

Communication again will be a strong focus for training this week as it's an element of our game that seems to be letting us down each week at the moment as well as adhering to the team structure we rely on in the forward line for it to function correctly.

We wish Tyler a speedy recovery from his ankle injury and hope to see him out on the field soon. Get well soon mate!

Round 8 was an interesting round as we'd been asked to play at a later timeslot that we've never played before (2:45pm). 

 

It was a pretty wet, windy and miserable day but it didn't dampen the boys spirits as we came away with our first win of the season and our first win in a year, soundly beating Boronia by 56 points. It was the consummate team effort with all areas of the team working beautifully together and supporting each other brilliantly. The backline stood tall again as they had all year, keeping Boronia goal less and conceding only 6 points for the entire game. 

 

We had 6 different goal scorers for the game with Xavier and Chad leading the way with two goals each. Single goals were kicked by Harry, Noah and Samuel and James, who kicked his very first goal in footy ever! Congrats James!

 

Our mids completely outclassed the opposition all day and there was some great link ups coming via Samuel, Tom and Nathan that lead to some amazing passages of play, resulting in our forwards being given great opportunities to add to the scoreboard. We welcomed Cooper back, who along with Chad in the forward line, gave us some great options up forward.

 

It was the most complete game we have played for some time and it showed that things are really starting to click. The atmosphere in the rooms after the game was amazing and it was wonderful to see so much excitement from the players, parents and supporters of our great team.

 

It was a well deserved and long time coming win and these boys just never quit. We couldn't be prouder of them.

Round 9 was a home game against Montrose who had won their last 5 games and were sitting second on the ladder behind Donvale. After last week's win against Boronia, the boys needed to still come prepared to play and not treat last week like our Grand Final. 

 

Montrose came out hard early and shell shocked us with a couple of quick goals early in the first quarter, which put us on the back foot straight away. We were concerned prior to the game that our preparation wasn't up to last week's standard and it showed early in the game that unfortunately we weren't as ready as we should have been.

To the credit of the boys, they came out in the second half and really lifted. The pressure was greatly improved and the attack on the ball was also a lot better than in the second half. We welcomed Kobe back to the team and his couple of goals showed why we missed him last week.

 

We had to shuffle a few of the boys around due to some key injuries with both Tyler and Sam out with similar ankle injuries. Oli played really hard even though his ankle wasn't the greatest and he pushed through, creating some great opportunities for us down forward. We played Harry up the ground and making the change we saw the immediate impact that his mobility gave us in the forward line. 

 

Tom was great again and Xavier stepped up into the role that is normally played by Sam and he played a blinder of a game. Nathan again showed why he is our designated centreman and having Cooper back in to help Alex with the ruck duties freed Alex up to run, which created some great mismatches for us. 

 

Again the backline showed why they are a real strength of  the team lead by Jack repelling numerous forward pushes, Rhys shutting down the opposition forward and Rohan doing some great bodywork during the game, showing us that he's a valuable asset for us at either end of the ground. 

 

Blake's strong marking and attack on the ball was great again today and we're lucky to have the luxury of a player like Blake who can play anywhere we need him to.

 

Alas, the game got away from us early and we couldn't quite catch up. The second half was the Bayswater style of football we all know - pressure, tackling, hard at it and supporting eachother.  The boys did a fantastic job keeping the opposition to just four goals in the second half while adding two of our own. It's also important to remember why this is so important is because Montrose have only lost one game for the whole season and they are the form team of the competition. 

 

A well timed bye next week will give us time to rest and heal those injuries we have and get us ready for Fairpark, which will be an important game for the boys as it's a double milestone game with Rohan playing his 100th game and Xavier playing his 50th game.

 

Keep fighting boys! Result aside, we're getting better every week and really impressed at the never-say-die attitude the boys have.