Round 7 Newsletter

Senior
The young Wellers had their sights set on a spot in the competition's top 4 after a month of winning games. Ajax, already entrenched in the 4, had other ideas though and they absolutely blitzed the boys from Balwyn in the first quarter by kicking 9 goals to 1. Pace & skill were on show for all to see, it is a pity that only one side was putting on the display! Nothing seemed to be going right for the home side, and it appeared to all present they were struggling with the pace and intensity of the contest. A number of strategic changes were made by the Wellers' coaching panel, with backs going forward, mid fielders into defence, and additional numbers were placed around the ball, with the aim of kerbing the Jackas clever on ball brigade. To the Wellers credit, some pride, passion and intent came back into their game and they were able to win the remaining quarters to finally reduce the margin to 21 points. Better Players were Rohan Kapoor, Pete Jenkin, Mitch Hough, Cam Wilson, Ben Hart & Steve Romanin

Reserve 
In a very disappointing start to the game the Reserves found themselves almost 5 goals behind at the end of the first quarter. A friendly reminder from the coaching staff at quarter time, saw a much better second quarter and we went into the main break with a slight lead. During that quarter Sam Lowerson in his return to football began to find the ball and he was ably supported across the centre by Storey and Romanin. Once again in defense Collins and Goldblatt were ever reliable and up forward it was left to Matt Cottrell to put on some scoreboard pressure. The third quarter the game see sawed for some time and once again big Jon Derry worked tirelessly in the ruck with Andrew Hudson & his reliable sidekick James Robinson covering an enormous amount of ground. Our second half was marred by some very silly free kicks being awarded to AJAX because of a lack of discipline towards the umpires.  Hopefully we can all learn from this, questioning an umpire after he makes a bad decision will only result in one thing – more easy free kicks will go against us. Sadly during the last quarter when the game was up for grabs we just did not capitalize on our forward thrusts and once again we let a winnable game slip from our hands. During the last quarter, unfortunately Stan Hansen fractured his thumb and will be out of the side for 4-6 weeks. We wish him a speedy recovery. We look forward to a number of players returning this week in what should be a tough encounter against Fitzroy on their home ground.

Under 19
On Saturday we faced the hardest task in Under 19 football, De la Salle away- the reigning premiers, undefeated atop the Premier division Ladder. A tough task ahead our motto for the day was ‘nothing to lose’ and with that in mind we started with unorthodox setup to try to gain an advantage by surprise. The first quarter started with an unsavoury moment that sometimes happens in football. An innocuous contact between several players from both teams left one of the De la Salle players’ unconscious in a bad way on the ground who was taken from the ground in an ambulance. Carole, our training staff and the rest of the support crew should be commended for the prompt care shown. I think we did our club proud in the way this unfortunate issue was handled. The Game restarted, our element of surprise had passed, however we persisted with the unorthodox approach. Some really good signs however we did go into the first break trailing by 22 points. The second quarter was poor! Lost concentration and missed tackles along with average field kicking allowed the opposition to pile on 6 goals 4 to just 3 behinds to trail by 57 points at the half. Reverting to a more conventional structure our third quarter was much better however we struggled to convert a lot of good work once we got the ball in our front third of the ground kicking only 1 goal 4 behinds. It must be noted that the defensive efforts of the opposition where exceptional. Down by 67 points at three quarter time the team were urged to win the last quarter as the effort shown on the ground was not backed up by the scoreboard. This was our best quarter. We outplayed our opposition in most aspects of the game however yet again our missed opportunities in front of goal including some absolute sitters let us down, in the end losing by 72 points. A disappointing result but some very positive signs. If we are to play finals this season this week is must win against Uni Blacks who will be on a high after their first victory of the year last week. I would like to pass on the thanks given by the De La Salle player mentioned above, he is making a speedy recovery and should be back on the field soon.

Under 18
The eagerly anticipated battle for ladder supremacy between St Bedes/Mentone Tigers and Old Camberwell was to take place at SBMT’s home ground – the infamous and very tight Brindisi Street Oval. With only two games to go before the divisional changes in the U18 competition, this game would determine who would have the bragging rights as leader of U18 South – the undefeated SBMT or the improving Old Camberwell who had lost only one game - to SBMT by 6 goals in Round 1. We had 19 available players (a bench!) with Mark Brazzale able to play and Sam Tarbet playing his first game. This game was our opportunity to really measure our development as a team against the only undefeated side in U18 South and the only team who has defeated us – albeit in Round One when we were still getting our players and team together. There was a sense of purpose and high expectation in the rooms before the game. It was going to be important for us to put in a four quarter team effort against a top opponent. I could not fault the resolve and purpose of this ever-improving group of young men. They played the game plan to perfection on a difficult oval and relished the contest against a worthy opposition. On a windless, mild day we began the game with an intensity that resulted in 7 shots at goal for 5 goals whilst keeping our opponents scoreless. This intensity was maintained for the entire day with a superb display of team football. Every Old Camberwell player did their job and the commitment to team play and team strategies was excellent. Our level of improvement as a team is progressing each week but we still have yet to reach our full potential. Well done to all members of the U18 group – players, game day helpers and supporters. It was great to see our injured players helping out with game day tasks and fully supporting their team-mates. Old Camberwell is now officially ladder leader for U18 South – a reward for improvement and a collective willingness to all work as a team. There are 11 rounds to go and they are going to be far more competitive than our first 7 rounds. We have to keep improving and developing our team skills to meet the challenges ahead.

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