Round 12 - Seniors Match Report

Hinterland 15.6-96 def by Wynnum 26.8-164

Three weeks in a row now we have suffered heavy losses in the Seniors, however this was probably the most positive in terms of what we can take away from the game. Getting the negatives out of the way, we defended poorly. Again it was key forwards that really dominated us with 2 of their players combining for 18 goals. That’s bad. We have really felt the absence of Fairy the last few weeks but were also without Simmo and Razor which robbed us of a great deal of experience down there. Having said that the midfield again probably owe the backs an apology for a number of goals with their mids delivering a number of inside 50’s under little to no pressure.

That said though, there was a lot to like. As with the reserves we were down on numbers to begin with. 3 withdrawals between Thursday and game day meant that we were pillaging a number of the best reserves as well as asking a couple of guys to back up. Big thanks to Psycho and Banga for playing the 2 games, would have been very difficult without you. Our first quarter started alright with Johno getting on the board early and  Dan then bagging 2 before Wynnum finished strongly to go in 3 goals up. We were competitive all over the ground, it was just skill errors that was the difference for much of the game. The pre-game focus of looking for runners and getting the ball into space for Kratzy were there in parts and it was nice to see guys doing their best to follow the gameplan. Our use of the backdoor handball out of congestion was particularly pleasing.

The second was an unmitigated disaster. We allowed Wynnum to pile on 9 goals to 3 in a very average defensive display. It wasn’t even the number of goals that was frustrating, it was the ease in which they kicked them. It must have been 3 or 4 they kicked from the goalsquare unmanned as they flooded numbers forward and outnumbered us in their forward line. It was fortunate for us that Dan had caught fire up forward kicking all 3 of our goals to maintain a smidge of respectability. A fine bit of work in congestion from Keenan really stood out where he nearly kicked a goal from 45m off a step out of a pack, Dan got on the end of it with a great mark but it was hard to gain traction when the ball went straight up the other end for a goal.

After a half time spray/rev-up our guys responded well and even won the third quarter in a great display of resilience. Connor showed great composure in his first senior game of the year and had some really nice possessions in congestion. Lachie Smith disappointed me by kicking a nice goal and then not celebrating it whatsoever. He usually gets around himself but just sort of jogged back to the middle. Definitely room for improvement. Sammy Noble had what could be considered his breakout game after spending time on the wing and half forward. He kicked his first goal after what Steve described as a lucky bounce, probably true, but he was good enough to turn it into points. Kept working all day though and created a number of opportunities, particularly in the second half. Banga also put his hand up for an Oscar nomination after a Rance-like dive after a move to full forward. That’s okay though as he kicked a ripping goal from a set shot a few minutes later on a tough angle.

We kept throwing everything at Wynnum in the last but they threw plenty back in an 8 goal to 5 quarter. It was brilliant to see the guys who haven’t played regular Senior football come into the team and perform brilliantly. Jarrod played a number of roles all over the place and was really solid, typically tackling everyone and hitting contests hard. Dropbear was another utility who spent time at full forward, the ruck and even found himself down back. Tells me he nearly pulled in a legit hanger, must have missed that though. Didn’t miss his gut busting run out of defence through a number of opposition players that resulted in a massive airswing on an attempted kick off the ground. Was really good up until that point though. Liam was similarly disappointed with himself moments later after leading half the field just to drop the mark and fall over. The bloke was cooked but it was still funny. Lachie kept making an impact up forward with a nice intercept mark and goal. Sammy also got in on the action kicking another 2 whilst Dan kicked his 7th if you don’t mind.

It's always disappointing to lose but in those games you have to look for little wins and we had them all over the ground. Bryce was exceptional in a move to half back. One play that stood out was an intercept mark followed by a run and kick up the line in the 4th. He followed up the kick to help out with a shepherd that led to one of our goals. Alec continued his run of bad luck on the other back flank though suffering a concussion in the first which ruled him out for the remainder of the game. Psycho likewise succumbed to injury with chronic cramps keeping him out after half time. Kratzy was influential all day, he didn’t kick any goals but his link up play and bodywork on a strong defender was fantastic. Mal also had what I would consider his best game. He tackled all day and did some great work on the inside of contests as well as spreading well to create play. He is one of the young guys at the club we hope to keep around as he has a huge amount of upside.

Similar story to the reserves in so far as it was a winnable game if we could get more guys on the park and more guys at training. We aren’t as far behind these other teams as the scorelines would suggest. Our polish and lack of fitness at times are our biggest killers, as well as the fact we don’t train as full team very often. All the parts of the recipe are there though and if we can band together in the last 5 games of the season we will surprise a few teams and maybe even ourselves.

Go Blues