Glen Iris Gladiators: 2.4.16
Beverly Hills: 4.3.27
Goalkickers: Henry Brown, Hugo Birks
"A lot of greedy little boys that all wanted the ball and chased it and left people sitting in dangerous places": Brendan McCartney (Western Bulldogs coach) at yesterday's press conference.
There is something in that comment that reminds me of another game of football that was played yesterday.
Having not dropped a game all season, the Vines have now not won a game for 5 weeks. A draw and three straight losses has us clinging on to third spot on the ladder.
Some observations, and these mirror the address I gave to the parents prior to yesterday's game:
Last week we had 14 players as the siren was about to blow at 11.30am.
Last Friday night we had 10 players at training at 5.30pm. That number "ballooned" to 12 by 6.00pm.
When you join a sporting team, you make a commitment to your teammates that you will be there for them.
Yesterday we had 18 players and no bench. That was particularly telling when Noah Taylor went down in the first term, and we also had Oscar Badr and Hugo Birks carried off at varying times. History will tell you that you don't often win a football game when you have fewer players than the opposition.
As far as I can tell, we had two players not show up yesterday with little warning or explanation as to why they were not playing.
The bottom line is this: we are letting ourselves down because too many do not seem to care enough. The laissez faire approach to Friday night training is taking its toll on the team's game day performance. Too many players who do not put the yards in on the training track are starting to taper off and lose their touch. We should train how we would like to play: with maximum physical and mental effort. 3.2 to no score in the last quarter yesterday shows that we are not running out games and are not doing the simple things: manning up, pushing back to cut off the opposition, running hard when we have the ball, not working hard to get to the front in contests. The thrashing at the hands of the Gnatts 3 weeks ago shows we are capable of waving the white flag if things do not go our way. Sadly, the last 15 minutes of yesterday's game was exactly that.
This week we play St Mary's at St Mary's. That will be a tough fixture. They are only 6 points behind us on the ladder, so they have plenty of reasons and motivation to knock us off this week. I would like to see a renewed enthusiasm for the game ahead of this Sunday's clash. I also want to reiterate the team rules that I spelled out yesterday: the boys who turn up to training will be the first ones picked. The boys who do not train on a regular basis will be spending a lot of time on the bench (when we have a bench!). The boys who don't show up to games may struggle to win selection going forward. The bottom line is that the boys who get us to the finals will be the boys we will back to win us those finals.
So let's start the season all over again this Friday night with a big night on the track and a massive effort this Sunday. Let’s start playing again with some enthusiasm and endeavour. Let's play for one another and get the four points.
On a bright note, I would like to single out a few players for their efforts yesterday:
· Noah Taylor, Oscar Badr and Hugo Birks (all got carried off the ground at varying stages with nasty knocks which shows they did not shirk the contest);
· Angus McLennan and Henry Brown: had a real dip in the middle;
· Dan Cohen and Hugo Clements: obeyed team rules all day down back;
· Gabe Villiers de Casanove: won the opposition medal (well done Gabe);
· The Chupa Chup and chicken voucher winners: Oscar, Leo Fetter, Dan, Gabe and Edward O'Brien.
Go the ICON Glen Iris Under 11 Vines Gladiators!!!!
Round
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12
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Home
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Team
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U11
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Hangers
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Opposition
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Balwyn Tigers
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Result
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Won
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Hangers 14.9-93 beat Balwyn 0.0-0
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Goals
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3 - Sam P, 2- JT, Will, 1- Marcus, Rory, Jacko, JP, Gab, Luca, Macca
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Match Report
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What a difference a week makes.
Ideally I’d like to build some suspense here, but since the score is always revealed in the banner it’s a bit pointless heading down that path. So whilst you can see we had our best win of the year, and you can see we kicked 14 goals, and that those goals were kicked by 10 different boys, and that we held the opposition scoreless for the first time ever, what you can’t see is the seismic shifts that occurred in player performance and the reasons for those shifts.
In last week’s report I’d signed off with a challenge, a reference to the fact we’d been winning, but only just. And not with enough force or flair to suggest we would be able to turn the tables on the table topping Whitehorse Colts if we were to meet them in a final match. Heck, we couldn’t be sure we would reverse the loss to the third placed St Mary’s who we are due to meet this week. In a week of reflection and review, the coaching staff came up with a couple of key in-game areas that we though the boys could improve. I could tell you what they are, but with finals fast approaching we have entered a reporting black-out period, and besides, you wouldn’t understand, it’s too complex for civilians to understand. Even James Hird wouldn’t be able to comprehend the coaching strategies applied, he’s been out of the game too long, and they’re legal (Kapow).
Now whilst this all sounds a little cloak & dagger, you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say the signs of improvement were there for all to see at training last Friday. There was a real vigour and confidence shown by all the boys when presented with Matt’s new training regime. And without giving too much away, what I will say is that with Emma away at some sort of Moccasin themed Bogan Festival it was left to me to man the tackling bags, and I can confidently say I have not been given such a brutal work over since Mum took me to the opening day of the Myer Sale. Without sounding over confident, the boys seemed primed and ready for something big.
And so it transpired on Sunday. Co-captains, Sam P and Will P, lead the team onto the field through a bright blue and yellow banner which celebrated their combined 50 game milestones. Always a joyous moment but one twinged with sadness this year as the boys all respected a minutes silence before the game with a solemn tribute to the victims of the Malaysian Airline disaster.
Sam in particular took his captaincy very seriously as he decided the best thing to do would be to kick three goals in the first quarter. Can’t argue with that. Will took a more modest approach and contributed two goals of his own in the third quarter.
Sometimes it can be difficult to find enough good things to say about a match, especially when it’s a dour low scoring affair. But when the score is 52 to nil at half time, the opposite occurs. I ran out of space to take notes, so I simply put the pen away and enjoyed the game. Every boy contributed, and more importantly, every boy improved their personal performance for this match. Some improved a little, some a lot, but the collective impact of the whole team improving was overwhelming, just ask Balwyn. We’d made it a team objective to take 10 overhead marks for the game, we’d blitzed that by ½ time. We set a target of winning the majority of clearances and walling off the halfback line, the opposition never scored. I could go on, but I need to keep the lid on, or at least appear to keep the lid on.
This was a phenomenal team effort. This was a game which set our own new benchmark, a game which shows us what the team is capable of. A game which provides the basis for confidence going in against the best teams in the league. I can’t wait to se what happens this week against the third placed St Mary’s.
I think I just kept the lid on, but it was a close run thing. Is it too soon to mention the F word? Oh hell I’m just going to say it, Ross always does… F, F, F, F, F, FOOTY CAMP! There I said it. Footy Camp will probably need to be rethought this year as we’ll most likely, 99.9% certainly be in the PHinals. Ha.
Go Hangers! More of the same please.
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Last Modified on 24/07/2014 23:23