Under 15 - 1 2009

Coach  Sean McMahon

0430504757

Strength and Conditioning Coach-

Jeremy Oliver

Assistant Coaches-

Craig Horne

     0439554999

     9482 3924

Wayne Rickard

     0447890434

Team Manager-Anne Thorogood

9481 7928

    0422024831 

rickardthorogood@gmail.com

  Training Sessions-

   Next Match:

2010

Players Rostered Off this round:

Parent Roster

    Upcoming Matches:

Parent Roster Upcoming rounds

Parent Roster Rounds 9-15

Coach's Report

Round 15-St Marys W 5-9-39 defeated Fitzroy 5-6-36

As Nathan Ligris lined up for goal, attempting to give the Roys a remarkable after the siren victory, we had fresh in our minds how the ball had ended up in his hands in the first place.

Moments earlier he'd sensationally attacked the footy off half back. Knowing there were only seconds remaining in the game, he cleverly out positioned his opponent at the front of a pack. As the ball hit the ground his athleticism allowed him to keep his feet and collect the ball. He raced forward with trademark poise, bounced and drove the footy deep into the Roys forward line. Sensing the heavy weight of the clock, he dashed forward in desperation. The ball rebounded to the junction of the fifty metre arc and boundary line. Here, he threw himself into the contest to win a free kick. Then, incredibly, the umpire awarded a 15 metre penalty against the opposition coach. Thirty five metres out. Siren! Four points down. Impossible angle. Tricky breeze at his back. No better player to have the footy in their hands in this situation.

As Ligga sent the ball on its way, the following fractions of seconds appear now as if in slow motion. Mouths agape and ears attuned to any revealing roar of spectators, heads tilted with the trajectory of the ball, eyes darted from goal umpire to player to goal umpire to player…. Alas, Ligga hurled his mouth guard into the turf. Point!

Naturally Nathan felt terrible but…wow! This was a superb effort from him and one that will live long in the memory for all its drama. The wise football follower understands that one missed kick does not lose a match.

We'd begun the day in fine form. Dom provided the laughs the previous night but set about some serious footy on this day. His and Laurie's ruck work gave us plenty of clearances. Nick Gibbons' footy has progressed wonderfully throughout the year and he proceeded to show us all his value, winning the footy at will. David Herbert gave a powerful presence as Zac and Boris dished out creative handballs to the running half backs. Reviving memories of the 1980's Krakouer brothers, Tom and Nick were uncanny in their ability to find each other and set up many constructive forward forays.

Rodger was happy to play out of centre half back without fear and crashed through on many occasions. With our back three in career best form we held a willing opponent to a miserly total. Jake was probably the best player on the ground along with the aforementioned Nathan Ligris. Their risk taking was thrilling and paid off tellingly. Dieter tackled brilliantly and Patrick used his pace to outgun his opponent in another very impressive performance at full back.

Our forward pressure was outstanding. Sam Gritzalis set us alight on numerous occasions and must have sent fear through the opposition defence. Dean's game was a pleasure to watch. He has a touch of the Peter Hudson about him as he uses his body to cleverly outpoint excellent opponents. His goal scoring ability has been founded upon genuine class throughout the year.

Nathan Filieri and Dylan were as hard working as they needed to be. They gave us structure and played their hearts out in impressive performances. Ben Rickard was crunched off the ball as he paved the way for Tom with a terrific shephard. The resultant down field free kick gave us a crucial goal. His father said he didn't mind so long as we scored! Ben may store that for future reference.

Calum and John were creative and set up goal scoring opportunities while Liam was clever, elusive and dynamic in his best game for the year. Abraham and Ben McGregor threatened to win the game for us and Trevor's incredible fitness levels provided the hard running required to lift team mates.

As Ligga so brilliantly showed, this game of ours offers so much. The Roys were outstanding today. They could easily have defeated opponents who rate themselves a chance to progress deep into the finals series. This is difficult to contemplate because we have beaten three of the four teams in the four. Nevertheless, considering where we were at the end of the grading games, we should be proud of what we have achieved in 2009.