Recently the Cooma Cats played their first trial game of pre-season 2015 where they were hosted by the Nowra Blues on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The Cats were able to bring 14 players to Nowra with a few more boys on support, with the rest of the side being filled by some of Nowra's talented ranks.
The first quarter went strongly to Nowra, who kicked 4 or 5 goals off the back of their solid stoppage structures. Both sides were hitting the ball with intensity and any pre-season rust was clearly coming off fast through the first quarter.
The second quarter saw Cooma push back slightly, adjusting much better than the first half by both covering and using the space, while Nowra continued to apply pressure. The Nowra boys in Cats guernseys worked hard and showed that we had been lent some very skillful players, which improved the team performance as names and running patterns were learnt. Nowra manged to push their lead out by 2 or 3 goals before the break.
The third and fourth quarters were very competitve with both sides earning any points scored. Coach Taz Webster made some adjustments to cover some of the extra men running of Nowra's wing, and this helped stem their flow into the forward line. The Cats managed to narrowly score marginally higher than Nowra in the second half, but were unable to pull back the margin enough with Nowra earning a victory by around 8 goals.
There were plenty of highlights for the Cats from the hit-out, including:
Ex-Tuggeranong recruits Khai Mcpherson and Steven 'Meats' Bahr picking up plenty of quality possession around and already displaying leadership amongst their new teammates.
New Cat Ruckman James 'Jimmy' Rebis covering the duties for most of the day, learning the new position while picking up plenty of possessions and providing contest around the ground.
First-time Aussie Rules player Brett 'Captain Risky' O'Sullivan menacing the opposition and getting plenty of possession throughout the game.
Once the game was over, the Cats were invited to stick around the rooms for drinks and dinner and were very well looked after by the Nowra Blues, both at the rooms and, for the boys that stayed the night, even extending their hospitality to the local establishment!
The Cooma Cats would like to thank the Nowra Blues for hosting a great day/night and we look forward to extending our relationship to hosting the club for a trial game in the future.
Last Modified on 23/03/2015 21:28