Fitzroy Junior Football Club Under 10 Team 1 Gold 2015: Round 7

Having recovered from the disappointment of the previous week, the boys arrived for their game against Camberwell 2 to find that they were to be playing on an uneven ground, with an alarming slope down towards the north-west (from whence they’d come). Not dwelling on metaphoric possibilities of the location, the coaching team of John, Paul and Lance began the warm-up drills, reminding the team they were to keep the forward line open during the game. In his pre-game address, John emphasized the importance of positive, constructive communication, encouraging the boys to let their team mates know who was going for the ball, who was backing up, who was available for a handball outside the pack etc. John suggested that the team that when the team concentrated for four quarters and engaged in positive talk, they were more likely to win. Co-Captains Leo and Tom Ward led the team out, and won the toss to kick up the slope. The game started with key playmakers, Sam Ward, Alex and Darcy teaming well, getting early possessions and trying to break the congestion. Noah Cameroux and Stanley were defending strongly on the half backline, both getting early kicks. Yianni applied one of his trademark tackles at centre half forward, helping Alex get the ball (who then narrowly missed kicking a goal). Darcy took a terrific contested mark and Yianni used his strength to try and break open a pack and win possession. Kyle, Joel and Lachie were doing an outstanding job of creating a defensive wall across the half forward line, showing great discipline in resisting the temptation to be drawn further forward. This was allowing forward play makers like Noah Dekker and Tom Ward to create scoring opportunities. Using his pace, Darcy led from the front to get the ball and passed to Kyle, who kicked into the forward pocket. With lightening reflexes, Will won possession, steadied, and kicked the team’s first goal. Back in play, Noah Cameroux won the ball in a pack and handballed out, before getting the ball again and kicking forward (to the delight of the coaching panel). At quarter time, Paul addressed the team noting that the team’s intensity at the ball had increased as the quarter progressed. He encouraged the boys to play in front. Team Statistician, Gerry, was happy with the team’s clearances for the quarter but stressed that if the boys won a contested ball (which they were doing), they needed to dispose of the ball effectively and hit their target. The team had moved the ball into their forward 50 eight times, against Camberwell’s three times, however the boys still needed to continue working on converting these forward incursions into goals. John praised the efforts of Noah Dekker in applying pressure up forward and commended the half back line of Stanley, Dom and Darcy. Lucas was thanked for holding the fort at Full Back. The second quarter was to be one of Fitzroy’s best for the season. It started with Alex winning the centre clearance and Noah Dekker and Lachie teaming to get the ball forward. Then, playing with the intensity requested of the team, Kyle and Laird worked together to assist Will in kicking his (and the team’s) second goal. With Leo, Laird and Max working hard to get the ball out of the centre and back into the forward line, Alex, receiving the ball from Noah Dekker and Kyle, suddenly kicked another goal. Joe ran up to Noah to congratulate him on his role. Shortly after, Kyle, having assisted in setting up two goals, took the opportunity to kick one of his own. It was raining goals for the team. After a period of congested play, Max, who was having an outstanding game, took a strong overhead mark directly in front of goal and kicked yet another for the team – four Fitzroy goals for the quarter. At half time, Gerry went through the statistics – eleven inside 50s for Fitzroy for the quarter with the half back line (Darcy, Dom and Jack) conceding none for Camberwell. The midfield had achieved nine clearances (a “fantastic job”). In his address, John pointed out the boys had concentrated for the whole quarter and played with great intensity and when they did so, they were “unstoppable”. Sam Ward’s outstanding quarter was noted, as was Yianni’s and Max was commended for playing well and “making the right decisions” which resulted in him kicking a goal. The third quarter saw Camberwell regroup and increase the intensity of their game, with a focus on strong tackling. Joe, leading hard to get the ball, made first, second third attempts, before handballing out to Laird. Tom Ward was teaming well with Sam Ward. Yianni and Max were doing a good job at playing in front. Sam Ward was having a cracking game. Tom Markham, channeling his inner Chris Judd, began playing the best football of his career with a number of impressive marks and kicks. The Fitzroy backline was under pressure. Darcy was tackling hard and Lachie took an excellent contested overhead mark. Yianni won a tap-out and kicked forward, with Leo running up to praise him for his efforts. Later, Yianni, rising high above the pack, narrowly missed taking the mark of the seaon. Jack and Mason were doing an excellent job of manning up in the backline, following their players from one side of the ground to the other, before teaming well with Dom to move the ball forward. At three quarter time break, Gerry outlined that despite six entries into the Fitzroy 50 meter zone, conversion to goal was down compared to the first and second quarters. Paul urged the backline to keep manning up and John told the boys that they needed to ‘want the ball’ more than the opposition if they were to regain the momentum they had earlier in the game. The final quarter started with Jack leading from the front, outpacing two opposition players to get the ball and kick forward (one of a number kicks and tackles for the quarter). Joel, Joe and Josh were in amongst the action in the packs and Tom Ward was persisting with second and third attempts to get possession of the ball. Dom was applying some ferocious tackles at Centre Half Back and Josh was leading out to stop the ball entering the Camberwell forward line. Darcy, Kyle and Max were continuing with their excellent form for the game. Sam Clarke, Lucas and Noah Cameroux were getting lots of action in the backline as Camberwell pushed forward. Despite the opposition playing with greater intensity in the second half of the game than they had in the first (and scoring more goals), Fitzroy managed to hold on for a comfortable win. After the teams had lined up to shake hands, the opposition team award was awarded to Max for his outstanding game. The Camberwell coach noted that when the ball was in the open, it was a much better game for both teams. Back in the rooms, Gerry outlined that while the team had performed well statistically (with 26 forward entries into the 50 meter zone), conversion to goal continued to be a challenge. John noted Max’s strong performance but suggested that overall, the team had struggled to adapt to Camberwell’s increased intensity in the second half of the game, with overall concentration dropping off at a time when the team needed to lift. He stressed that is was not about winning, more the importance of having a score line that reflected the way that the game was played. He asked that the boys continue to try and approve on this area. Josh and Alex were awarded the footy cards – Josh for his work in the packs and Alex for his creativity and ability to bring others into the game. With that, the boys sang the team song and enjoyed their win.

Scores were:

Q1: Fitzroy 1.2.8 - Camberwell 0.1.1
Q2: F 4.4.36 - C 0.0.1
Q3: F 0.2.38 - C 1.1.8
Q4: F 0.0.38 - C 2.2.22