Point Post 2015 Round 10 - North Ryde Dockers · 4! POINT&POST(((ROUND&10! There! was! nothing! consistent! between this! performance! and polisheddisplay!last!week,!nor!was! the!

POINT POST-‐-‐-‐ ROUND 10 1

Editorial It’s school holidays and a well-‐earned break for all teams this weekend. Next matches, July 12th. We welcome Newealth Financial Services on board as another new Club Sponsor – find out more about them at www.newealth.com.au . U10 After a break from the long weekend and a washout of round 9, the U10’s were raring to go as we took on Pennant Hills on a perfect Sunday morning at headquarters. Before the game Alistair was given the responsibility of captaining the team as recognition for his outstanding efforts at training over the past couple of weeks – great work Al, very well deserved.

Coach Cronin has been very forthright in encouraging the boys to get a good nights’ rest on Saturdays as there have been a number of times where we appeared to be asleep for much of the first quarter! Clearly the team had listened to the words of our Supercoach and were ultra-‐

competitive in the opening stanza.

It was a real arm-‐wrestle in the centre of the ground as Liam, Matt and Zac worked hard to ensure North Ryde got first use of the ball. The highlight of the quarter was when Liam, after working tirelessly to get the ball, kicked from half forward to find Jacob who was leading from the goal square. Jacob duly went back and slotted a goal from 25 m out! This was just the start of a very good day for Jacob, whose beloved Blues managed to get a win later in the day over the Gold Coast Suns.

The second and third quarters were a see-‐sawing affair, with Pennant Hills putting a lot of pressure on the Dockers, who would then fight back with some brilliant passages of play themselves. It is great to see all of the hard training paying off, each boy has come along in leaps and bounds in the individual skill area and it is also fantastic to see how far we have improved as a team.

This was demonstrated a number of times, where we were able to break free, but then link up through the mid-‐field with some

P Point Post Round 10, 2015

2 POINT POST-‐-‐-‐ ROUND 10

clean possession before delivering to the forward line. Liam continued to go in for the ball again and again, Nick (U9) worked hard with eyes only for the ball and was unlucky not to be rewarded with a couple of marks, Matt was a powerhouse in the middle and at one stage streamed across half-‐forward, took a bounce before kicking to Leandre who went on to get our second goal.

And a special mention to Zac and Alistair in defence. Both boys were fantastic, marking their men and getting back to defend again and again. There were a number of times where Pennant Hills looked to be about to get a certain goal before one or both of the boys would find a way to repel the attack.

The final quarter was all about our defenders as Pennant Hills piled on the pressure. William (U10), Leandre, Ned and Dylan were outstanding. One of the key things we have been working on is ensuring we pick-‐up a man and stay on them at all times!! Even though they were tired, even though many of the opposition were bigger than us, the team fought to the final siren. This hard work and focus of the defenders was rewarded with 4 holding the ball decisions in the

quarter – a clear sign of who wanted it more!!

A big congratulations to the whole team and thanks to Will and Nick from the U9 White team who stepped up and were fantastic contributors. Liam was the standout today and got the footy cards for best on ground. He was relentless throughout the game and seemed to be at the bottom of every pack. Special mentions to Zac and Dylan for their best games of the season and Alistair who did us proud as Captain. So join in the chorus and sing it one and all!

There will be no training or game this week, so see you all at our next training on Tuesday 7th July.

– Byron Muntz U11 Ask any football coach what they are looking for from players and nine times out of ten they will say the most important thing is “Commitment”. All players have different levels of skill, pace, strength, size and fitness but a coaches’ job is made much easier when all the players offer a 100% commitment to their team. Another word that often comes up is “Consistency”. From a coaching


perspective if players are consistent the coach soon learns how best to structure the team. This week the Under 11s were itching to atone for their heartbreaking 1 point loss to Westbrook in the earlier round. Coming off their biggest win for the season, where they had played outstanding footy over 4 quarters, this game should have started with intensity and excitement! Nobody expected the inconsistent performance that the Dockers began with. They were second to the ball and lacked any enthusiasm. Immediately Coach Darren started asking the question: “Why have they started so poorly?” Was it because some players were missing due to school holidays? Was it because another 3 were out due to illness or injury? Was it because they were playing on the full field with more space for a free flowing running game? Was it the fact that there were no players on the bench? Was complacency sneaking its way into the Dockers mindset? So many questions but the main one on the team’s mind was how did the Dockers find themselves 41 points behind after only 25 minutes of footy?

Westbrook had exposed the Dockers’ weaknesses and posed many questions. Coach Darren demanded answers! He pulled the group together and asked one simple question. “Are you committed?” 17 muddy, sweating boys formed a huddle, looked each other in the eye … and said “Yes!” From this point Liam, Harrison, Luke and Huey dug in defensively and stopped the flow of goals. James tagged his man out of the game. Aided by some great shepherding and tackling from Simon and Kyeton, Fuzz, Buster and Tom started breaking through in the middle and propelling the ball forward. Ashton, Henry, and Lachy started to use their pace to explore the open side of the ground and deliver the ball to tall forwards Josh and Ryan. Rhys D and Aiden crumbed the loose ball and helped lock it in to the forward line. For the first time in the game the Westbrook defence was put under pressure as the Dockers started peppering shots at goal. The roar of approval from the home crowd when the Dockers scored their first goal was unmistakeable and silenced any self-‐doubts and questions.


There was nothing consistent between this performance and polished display last week, nor was the game anything like the heart stopping excitement of the previous Westbrook clash. This was a game where the result was already determined at half time the final score was irrelevant. It was a game that would ask many questions of the players but the undermanned and outnumbered Dockers responded as a team to finish the game showing pride, determination and courage. Most importantly however they proved that you should not question their commitment.

– Stephen Grech U12 The U12's travelled south to Tonbridge Park to play Ramsgate for the first time. This week saw the return of Luke, who had been out all season mending a broken leg, and we welcomed a new player Gabe. We were also ably assisted by Tom E and Rhys from the U11's. It was a physical encounter from the get-‐go with some hard tackles including one on Sam that looked like a bell-‐ringer. However, he recovered and played on to take a fantastic mark. Some great lead up

play lead to a long goal from Yianni but this was all we could post in Q1 to be only 1.0.6 to their 5.1.31.

In Q2 our boys looked like they were starting to shrug off Ramsgate tactics and build up some momentum. Lucas, who seemed to be everywhere on the park, got a free for high contact which he kicked deep in to the goal mouth to find the hands of a soaring Matt which he slotted for a goal. Tom E took a fantastic mark about 25m out from our goal to blunt Ramsgates advances and played with courage and commitment in the pressure-‐cooker that was the mid-‐field. A Ramsgate player let fly with some choice language and got 15min on the sideline for his trouble. Shortly after, Fynn took a flying two-‐hander on the edge of the centre square which he delivered to Sam with pin-‐point accuracy for a mark and a goal. Rhys played up front for


us and looked right at home amongst the older boys showing he was every bit as tough as them and booting a goal to add icing on cake.

Adam, Jayden, Aryan and Gabe defended our goal with everything they had with Adam managing somehow to get a hand onto a long Ramsgate kick to turn a goal into a behind. Matt booted 2 hard won goals and our boys really lifted and won Q2 26 to 20 notwithstanding several whistles going against us, getting back in touch to be 5.2.32 to their 8.3.51. Q3 went all Ramsgate’s way. A turnover from one of our free kicks early on, resulted in a Ramsgate goal and a lift in their momentum. Luke in his first game back showed his worth in the mid-‐field tenaciously scooping up the loose ball and shepherding. Gabe kicked his first goal as a Docker in the

quarter having to work hard to win the ball first. Will made a great lead and took a great mark from Fynn to score a major. Conner showed his usual steely determination in the midfield, as did Flynn, Tom (M). However, Ramsgate out-‐played us to and won the quarter to be 15.4.94 to our 7.5.47 going in to the final term.

Q4 looked promising again with Rhys kicking 2 goals to make 3 for the day and Matt kicking 1 goal to give us hope. Blake came off injured which meant we felt the lost his big, accurate boot. Aidan played his heart out up front as he always does. However, with all we threw at them it was not enough and Ramsgate came back to almost level the scores for the quarter and run out overall winners 18.4=112 to our 10.8=68.


Every single one of the boys came off the field looking spent with nothing left in the tank. They can hold their heads high and know that they played with honour in the face of adversity. We are very proud of you all.

– Warren and Sarah Platts

U13 A sunny morning with a hint of breeze provided perfect conditions for our match against the Bangor Tigers, who were sitting just above us on the ladder. The Dockers arrived ready for a competitive game and a chance to win. Our undermanned team was strengthened by support from Harry E and U12s, and all boys showed great determination and teamwork right from the start. It was a closely contested first quarter when the Dockers hit the lead. Harry E was dominant around

the ground, assisted by Brok barging out of packs, and Adam and Haz providing consistent ground level attack. Dan provided pace up forward, Nick and Harry E displayed strong contested skills and consistent forward attacks. Our backline gave the Bangor forwards no freedom, with Riley, Tim, Hugo and Fynn covering repeated attacks. In the second quarter, Harry E, Haz, Matt and Nick were influential winning plenty of ball to maintain our momentum and scoreboard lead. Lachlan provided a competitive target up forward, assisted by Jack and Sam. Dan, Riley and Tim maintained a strong defence, and Connor and Zann consistently chased the ball along the wings. The Dockers held their lead with a great team effort. In the second half, growing confidence saw the boys put together excellent passages of play. It was pleasing to see multiple leads and accurate passing to clear the ball wide from defence, together with several passes along the wing or straight down the corridor from the centre clearance. The boys tackled strongly, and our training drills to contest and win the ball were paying off,


highlighted by well-‐timed effective bumps by Brok and Nick to gain possession, as well as physical efforts by Fynn, Matt, Hugo, Lachlan, Zann and Haz to hold their ground. Adam and Yianni fearlessly attacked the ball as usual. Dan and Haz ran hard all game, Harry E continued to dominate the attack and Nick displayed his strong marking skills. Will and Sam took contested marks and contributed to our forward line effort. We had multiple scorers and with a bit more composure kicking for goal (13 points!) we could have stretched the lead further. The Dockers began to dominate the later stages of the game and finished with a comfortable 55-‐17 win. It was great to see proud faces (parents, coaches and players) and the club song was sung with great gusto!! Terrific teamwork and a well-‐earned win.

– Charles Allan U14 Round 6 Western Suburbs were back at ELS for our 2nd match in 3 rounds, with good players from both side unavailable (we were missing Bull, Liam and Jaydan), although we had Connor F. and Junior lining up for

us. We were fortunate that the Maggies were wasteful early, kicking 1-‐5 in Q1. Sticks was leading strongly out of FF and bagged our 1st, before Super followed suit. Accuracy in front of goals had us in front 2-‐0 to 1-‐5 at quarter time.

The even contest continued in Q2, but this is where I started to get a bit distracted, so the specifics may not be in correct order, even though the overview is accurate.

Connor was having a blinder at FB and was a major reason why we were in front, while Bomber provided some great run when not at the bottom of a pack winning the hard ball. Super posted his second, before Wizard, who was causing plenty of problems for Wests with his run, got his name on the scoresheet. Angry went down with an injured wrist and not long after Merlin hurt his shoulder.

About this time I was told that my daughter may have broken her ankle playing soccer on ELS #2 (thus the distraction). Half time was a reflection of the evenness of the game 4-‐2 to 3-‐8.

Q3 was our turn to be wasteful, as we kicked 2-‐4 for the quarter, a certain Ruckman the main culprit. Good running from the wing


resulted in Justin snapping a nice goal to give the Coach something to smile about. Jarrod was also providing run and having his best game of the year. It was still anyone’s game at the last change with us leading 6-‐6 to 4-‐9.

Dash posted a couple of nice goals, one from a great passage of play featuring Bomber, Sticks and Wizard. In the end, we prevailed in a very tight game, played in the right spirit. We sang the club song before collecting my daughter and meeting Merlin at Ryde Hospital X-‐ray department – no breaks, although not so with Angry’s wrist. Next week against Penno will be a real test.

NRD 8 – 7 = 55 def WS 6 – 12 = 48

Goals: Super (3), Dash (2), Wizard (1), Justin (1), Sticks (1)

– Michael Hudson Acknowledgements Thanks to managers and coaches for their reports, and Craig Parr for photos. Club sponsors are gratefully acknowledged for their support. A special thanks to everyone who helps out each weekend: timekeepers, boundary umpires, goal umpires, coaches, managers, runners, canteen helpers, bbq helpers, groundsman,

setters up, and packers up!

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Point Post 2015 Round 10 - North Ryde Dockers · 4! POINT&POST(((ROUND&10! There! was! nothing! consistent! between this! performance! and polisheddisplay!last!week,!nor!was! the!