Match Report

Round 10

Fitzroy U-14 Blue 8.15 (63) d Ashburton 0.6 (6) at Brunswick St, Sunday, June 20, 2010. How do you find a handle on a football? Is it a big handle, or a small one? What part of the pigskin is it attached to? The handle is one of football's mysteries. Some players know where it is all the time. They never lose sight of it. In fact, they can grab it in the dark of packs or in the midst of a slurpy, sticky, muddy oval. Some of them can launch themselves in the air, stick out a hand and haul in the footy, like catching a bird in flight. Yep, that's knowing where the handle is. And yes, Roy Boys, it has to be said, no one in the team for about 17 minutes on Sunday could find the handle on that footy. A few of the Ashburton lads had an idea and they moved the ball with impressive confidence at times in the first quarter, but were unable to cap it off on the scoreboard. The Roys though, well the ball burbled around at the boys' feet, no one could really bend down and pick it up, and the result was a series of packs moving across the mud, like crabs scuttling for cover. In one of the few moments when there were clean possessions, Kent managed to get a kick forward where Mo with the slickness of someone who know a handle when he sees it, got it out to Connor who kicked the only goal of the quarter. It was one of the few early highlights: some good Digby tackling, but not much else. Well, the truth is that you know the boys needed to lift, could lift and should lift for the second quarter. And so they did. Some boys realised that there is in fact no great mystery to finding the handle on the footy after all: it just means putting your nose close to the footy and sure enough, you'll start to get the ball. If you can smell the pigskin, you can find the handle. Slowly, the game started to look a bit simpler and possession became a bit cleaner. Sam started to lift and there was a bit more urgency around the ground. Kent was jammed in to a pocket but somehow found a way to conjure a goal with an clever snap. Digby charged through the centre to find Connor, who got it off to Hammo who kicked his first of the day, and then Hammo added another moments later. Suddenly there was a bit of breathing space. Ashburton threatened but couldn't convert and at half-time the Roys had a good lead of 27 points. Of course, it could have been the sun's appearance that helped wake the Roys slumbering giant of the first quarter. Certainly, the mud in the centre and goal squares seemed less intimidating as the clouds parted. And after half-time, the Roys continued to improve, setting up several key moves that showed that they were thinking about what they were doing. Andre had his whip-fast handball going, and Jesse was taking off, curving and dashing through the middle, defying anyone to stick with him. Yet there were times when the game still seemed to be played in slow motion. That's what makes wet weather football hard for the bigger guys: the soft ground clamps their legs and slows them down. They look like they are moving at glacial pace. But Charlie kept at in the ruck, and the rewards slowly came. When Ahmed goaled from a free kick paid downfield, the Roys a commanding six goal lead going in to the final quarter. The game opened up after that and the Roys started to get some real system happening. Digby took three marks across half-back in as many minutes, and Patrick switched traffic artfully in defence to set up a chain of possessions down the grandstand wing. Moments later Will was awarded a free that he converted with confidence for his first goal of the season. If that wasn't enough to get the boys going, Al found Kieran in the goal square with a perfect pass and Kieran kicked truly for his first too. Lochie, who had been in and under all day, was at his most penetrating in the last quarter and he kept driving the Roys forward. In the dying moments, Kai, his number smeared with mud and his hair flopping, ducked out of a tackle, swung one on the boot and scored the sealer. In the rooms, Rick reminded the boys that the team who wins wet weather footy is the team who wants the footy more. What he didn't say was that's also the team who knows how to find the handle.

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