B Grade:
After matching it with the top team for 3 quarter’s last time we met and even with the big gap in ladder positions we went into this game thinking we were a chance for an upset victory. We have proved all season that we have been able to match it with the best teams for quarters, half’s and in a lot of games even 3 quarters, so today’s game was going to be a good challenge once again especially since for the first time in a while we only had 1 A grade player in the squad.
We started slowly even before the game, we didn’t run out as a team, nobody could agree where to warm up and just before the game we weren’t in close for the coach’s final address and this showed with Athelstone getting two quick goals. However to the teams credit we rallied to probably have the best quarter of the year, managing to only be down by 4 points after both teams kicked 4 majors. This quarter was good to watch as we managed to keep the ball in our forward 50 a lot due to pressure placed on their defenders.
However in the second quarter, Athelstone showed why they are the top team, they used the wide open spaces better, they ran off as a team better and they had one forward who was on fire, even with our best defender (Matt M) on him. The player (fish) who hurt us most last time we met was also starting to find the ball and being influential being the third man up in the ruck. Unfortunately for the B grade we found our-self down by several (7 - 8) goals at the major break.
After half time we returned to the team that played that first quarter. Great pressure and run from the back lines creating opportunities for our forwards and holding back attack after attack from Athelstone, with only those two players proving to be damaging. It was the same for the last quarter as well, while we were able to score regularly, they were able to go goal for goal with us which meant we weren’t able to claw the deficit back, in the end we went down by just under 10 goals
After some discussions with some of the other players, we came to the conclusion we are really only missing 3 key things which would be the difference between winning 2 games and winning 7 - 8, however even without these 3 things, it seems to be popular belief that next season is going to be a very good year for the B grade, which is good as it would seem most of the boys are keen to hand around next season as well as being good for the club.
The three things are -
A key forward - The boys know I mean no offense to our current forwards, but looking at the scores all seasons, while we are normally an accurate goal kicking team, we just don’t get enough scoring shots, using this game as an example, we had 12 scoring shots to Athelstone’s 31. So missing 1 or even 2 key forwards
A big classy midfielder - As we have constantly won the ruck this year, all we need is someone to compliment Wingers & Stoj in the midfield. These boys have the speed, the hardness for the ball and the ability to get a lot of possessions, the only thing missing from the middle is a bigger bodied, slower, someone that can finesse the ball, someone that can hit the key forwards on the lead from 40 - 50 out, but no so good that the A grade borrow him :p A
Tagger - We have tried several people in this position this year, Jordan, Matt M, Young Macca and Stoj for the running players and Levi, Dylan, Boonie and Tux for the bigger guys. Probably about time to pick one (if they are willing) and use him in that role as every team has a stand out player that could be shut down by one of these boys.
A Grade:
For the first time in several weeks I was able to watch some of the A grade game (granted only half) and with the boys sitting a game clear on top it was up to them to continue the good form as nobody could take top spot from them if they did, but they could lose it if they didn’t keep up the same intensity and effort. Glenunga got off to a great start with Robbo looking in fine form with several goals in the first quarter thanks to some great delivery from the midfield. However the other forwards also looked dangerous with Getgood & Cooper getting the ball across centre half forward and small forwards Keggs & Harvey looking dangerous.
The second quarter was a lot closer and not as free flowing as the first, with Athelstone out of the finals race due to being on the wrong side of some close games (losing 5 games by under 2 goals), they showed why they have been able to take it to the top teams this season. They fought back with some good goals as their reward. At half time they were only down by 5 -6 goals. Unfortunately this is where I had to leave the boys, however was good to hear they were able to walk away with the win.
However after reading the boys coping some flack about not being able to play on the bigger ovals, I would have to disagree. I believe the bigger ovals makes the A grade a more dangerous side compared to playing on the smaller ovals. On the smaller ovals, with super boots Chad, Apos & Getgood, they can almost kick a goal from the centre (such as Webb oval), on the bigger ovals it really brings the centre half forwards like Coops, Getgood & Mitchells into the games giving the midfield & forwards more options, making Glenunga A grade a hell of a lot more dangerous.
Glenunga vs Mawson Lakes @ Theberton Oval
This was a big game for us, coming off our second win for the season and with the summer break quickly approaching we wanted to try and knock off a team that is higher than us on the ladder.
With a few late changes we started well on the big oval, unlike the previous weeks we had a few of our runners back which really came in handy on such a big oval, it also helped that the oval was in tip top shape compared to the mud pit we call a home ground.
Before the game, I spoke to the boys and set us the goal to be at least two goals up at quarter time, while this never eventuated we were extremely competitive and probably could have been in front had a few things gone our way (the bounce of the ball, we used our voice etc). However compared to some of our slow starts this season, we were at least still in with a good chance as we were only 2 or so goals down.
The second quarter was much like our first, we were competitive and had plenty of the ball however we just weren’t able to convert that to scoring pressure, we were also lucky that Mawsons had missed a few shots in front of goal. At half time we were only down by approximately 20 points.
After a rest at the main break, we came out and the third quarter was our best quarter for the day, not only did we continue with our tackling and overall pressure but our defence held up against the never ending attack by the ML boys. We managed to drag their lead back to about 2 goals going into the last quarter with no wind to speak of.
While we got off to a good start clawing the lead back to 7 or 8 points which forced Mawsons to go defensive, such as kicking backwards and even having spare guys in their defense, the 8 point deficit was as close as we were going to get for the rest of the game. The first 10 minutes of this quarter was exactly the same as the first three quarters, however in the last 10 minutes ML punished us for some small mistakes in judgment and skill,. In the end we went down by 36 points which wasn’t a true reflection of the game.
In my opinion Matty C & Lachlan played their best game for the season, picking up a lot of possession and Lachie keeping his opponent quiet for most of the day, Sammy A was everywhere with some very important pack marks as well as kicking our first goal of the game & as usual M. Stoj, Wingers & Matt M were as good as always.
Once again I believe we took steps towards being a better team next year, not only are we miles in front of where we were this time last season, we have been improving all year as a team. I believe with another decent pre-season under out belt we will be a better and more successful team next season.
