their first game ever. Being rugby players they didn't have much idea
what they were doing on the AFL field, but they were full of running.
They turned up late as they took a wrong turn but that as alright as I
slept in and was running late as well. Once the game got going, for a
change I wasn't in the ruck. Instead I was up at full forward, which
isn't my favourite position in the world. I'm put their to use my
speed when leading, but that doesn't mean I like it. It was only 12 a
side as well, as they didn't have enough players for more then that.
15 is probably ideal for our size field, but 12 was still good.
Anyway, I couldn't really see much of what was happening because I was
at the other end of the field, but as I was saying the opposition was
full of running, and were actually beating us at one point. We weren't
marking up and they managed to get the drop on us. Thanks to some poor
kicking as well, myself included. I took a mark early but as it was on
the edge of my range I decided to just put it in the square. I
probably should have gone back and taken more time and tried to kick
the goal...live and learn. Anyway, we eventually got on top of them. I
got one goal for the quarter, the ball came in to the half pocket and
Jordie marked it. I'd run over to provide support in case he dropped
it, which left the square open. So I sprinted back towards the square
and Jordie put it back into the square. It was going to run just wide,
so instead of shepherding it over I picked it up about 2 metres from
the line and popped it through.
At that point it was pretty much quarter time. Wayne had missed a few
set shots he'd normally get, which was unlike him so we weren't ahead
by much, it was about 22 to 14. One of our halfbacks had done a hammy
during the first quarter, so I volunteered to go down back. I hadn't
played that position before so I was looking forward to finding out
how it went. What I found out straight away was why we'd struggled
against the side early. Being rugby players (and some hadn't even had
a training session) they basically attacked in waves. So not having a
target up front to kick to they just knocked it over the top and ran
on to it. I'm pretty confident I'm the fastest guy in our team and I
struggled to keep up (I was just slightly faster), so the tactic
wasn't without merit and was surprisingly effective. They also exposed
us on the counter attack, as everyone ran forward so they always
outnumbered us. The only thing that worked in our favour was their
terrible skills. I cleaned up quite a few times as their kick missed
the target and I ran on to it and cleared it. I had a good shepherd as
well, Richo called early and I shepherded his player out of the way.
So by the end of the quarter, with me cleaning up at the back they'd
scored no points and we'd put on quite a few. The new guy Ed was
carving them up at half forward, apart from a lack of speed he was
doing some great things and took some good marks.
3rd quarter was much the same as the 2nd. Once again they got no
points (almost a rushed behind but they pushed Shelto just before he
rushed it) but it was still a good contest. At one point it was 3 on 1
(me being the 1), and luckily they missed the kick. I marked it,
played on and had my first bounce in a football game. Sure, the ball
bounced 4 times before I picked it up, but you've got to start
somewhere. I got a point during this quarter as well, my opponent ran
all the way back to try and get the ball so I followed him. The ball
came to me so I had a shot, which unfortunately drifted to the right.
The final quarter was where things got interesting. My opponent was a
rugby player, and gave me the don't argue on one occasion, from which
I got up and chased him and he did it again! I must learn to
tackle..... My highlight though was definitely when he drifted back
down to get a kickout. I followed, and as the ball came in I jumped up
and nearly marked it from behind. As it dropped in front of us I've
paddled it up the line a bit to get round the defender coming at us,
got round the slight tackle, picked the ball up and kicked the goal
from 35 metres on the boundary line. Goal of the game, even if I do
have to say so myself...
So although it was an easy win, it was soured by a broken collar bone
to Wade in the last 2 minutes of the game. He was going on holiday in
Europe on Wednesday, but that's not going to happen now...and it's
even worse for him as he's a surfer and apparently it'll be at least 3
months before he can do that again. Highlights of the game were (for
me) the goal I kicked in the final quarter and the fact I played
better then the last game which means I'm still improving. A few areas
I need to work on, I sometimes pick the wrong option with the ball in
hand and want to cut that out, but that's about it. And when playing
full forward I need to lead into space more. I'll probably be there
again this weekend for the game against Nottingham so it's something
I'll need to work on. For the game as a whole, Richo running straight
through a player and Ed kicking his first goal in his first game ever.
Contentious goal, but it was awarded and that's all that matters. It
was good to have the hit out and hopefully it'll help us out next week
against a much more competitive side.
Also, I've started listening to my German CD....and one of the things
it says not to do is practise outside of the lessons. My kind of
learning! After the second listen it is starting to make more sense,
so now once I get my money situation sorted (I don't want to discuss
that on here) I'll need to book a trip to Deutschland to practice.
Have a good week everybody!
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