Fitzroy Junior Football Club Under 10 Team 1 Gold 2015: Round 3

It was a cold, wet, muddy Anzac Day game for Fitzroy at Greensborough Park against the St Mary’s team. In his pre-game address to the players John told the boys to have a ‘dead set crack’ at getting the ball (given the wet conditions), to play in front and ‘man up’. John went on to outline the concept of the ‘1%’ers’ and of ‘pairing’ and the importance of the boys concentrating for the whole game. With that, team captains Jack and Noah led the team onto the ground, won the toss and elected to kick to the muddy north end of the ground. Both teams lined up and a minutes silence was observed in honor of Anzac Day. An opening period of hard, scrappy play saw the ball moving down into Fitzroy’s forward line where suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye, Sam Clarke had the ball and kicked a goal. Shortly after, Kyle cleared the ball from the center, continuing his outstanding form from the previous week. Jack marked the ball and kicked to Sam Clarke, who kicked to Lucas in the forward pocket. Lucas steadied and kicked a goal, his first for the Roys. Following the center bounce, St Mary’s were suddenly on the attack. The ever-composed Sam Ward however was all class as he won back possession and kicked the ball forward. After a period of hard, muddy play, Lucas showed his dominance again to kick another goal (his second for the quarter, in trying conditions). At the quarter time break, John and Paul praised the boys for playing in front and drew attention to Lucas’s two superb goals and Noah Cameroux’s determination to play in front. Paul stressed the importance of the boys getting the ball onto their boot quickly in the wet conditions. Team Statistician, Gerry, updated the boys on their stats for ‘1%’ers’ and of ‘pairing’ and commended the boys for their efforts. The second quarter started with some fearless play by Noah Dekker to try and win possession of the ball. Wet weather specialists, Alex, Tom Ward and Will were starting to assert an influence around the packs and Lucas took one of the few overhead marks of the day. It started to rain heavily. Sam Ward was again outstanding in defense, winning possession after possession to move the ball forward (including some lovely pairing with Dom). Tom Markham laid a text-book tackle. Leo was working hard to get the ball out of the packs in the wet and Max was holding down the fort at Centre Half Back. At half time, John praised the boys for playing as a team and suggested that they were all working as vital links in the team ‘chain’. He urged them not to let their lead slip away however (like the hapless Port Adelaide the previous evening). Jack and Noah Dekker where thanked for leading from the front as team captains. Team Statistician, Gerry, went through the second quarter’s statistics and noted that while the ‘1%’ers’ and ‘pairing’ were slightly down , the team was still performing at a consistent level. The third quarter started with Mason picking up the ball at half forward and (using the pace that saw him come 4^th in the inter-school cross country race during the week) moved the ball deep into the Fitzroy forward line. Will and Alex were back in the action and Dom narrowly missed kicking a goal. The two Sam’s continued to display their ‘cracking’ form (to the delight of the coaching panel). A free kick was awarded to Leo in front of goal and he made no mistake in adding six points to the Fitzroy score line (his first goal for the season). At the third quarter break, Gerry outlined that the statistics were slightly up for the quarter and praised the boys for their consistency. John challenged the boys to maintain concentration and focus in the final quarter. The final quarter started with Darcy and Lachie working hard to clear the ball from the packs and Mason continuing to get possession of the ball (executing a skillful blind turn). The next passage of play was possibly the best for the team this season. Tom Ward, running hard after the ball to win possession, handballed to Jack who kicked to Mason. Mason then handballed to Darcy who handballed to Dom, who handballed back to Mason, then back to Dom who then kicked the ball deep into the forward line to be marked by Stanley. Stanley made no mistake in kicking another goal for Fitzroy – an outstanding team effort. As the quarter progressed, Will and Joel were drawing praise from the coaches’ box for their efforts and Max was deemed to have executed the ‘perfect’ tackle. Laird was in amongst the action. Just when it couldn't get better, Stanley weaved his way through 5 (or was it 6 or 7?) players to kick his second goal for the quarter (just like Maradona’s goal of the century – see You Tube). It was another quiet quarter for the Fitzroy backline, with Yianni, Josh (injured early on) and Joe getting little opportunity to demonstrate the fine form they’d shown the previous week. The game ended with an emphatic victory to Fitzroy, a true team effort. Kyle received the St Mary’s team award and in his post- match address, John praised the efforts of the rucks and thanked the boys for forming the ‘defensive wall’ without being asked. He thanked Jack and Noah Dekker again for leading by example as co-captains. Gerry told the boys that 70 ‘1%’ers’ had been demonstrated during the game and 39 ‘pairings’ – an outstanding effort. Sam Ward and Sam Clarke were awarded the footy cards and the team then then broke into a loud rendition of the club song. A great first win for the Roys!

Quarter-by-quarter scores were:

3.1.19 - 0.0.0;

3.2.20 - 0.0.0;

4.5.29 - 0.0.0;

6.5.41 - 0.1.1

Goalkickers:

Lucas 2

Stanley 2

Sam Clarke 1

Leo 1