Youth-1 Boys Division 1 2025

Round 1 - Balwyn Tigers at Gordon Barnard Reserve, Sunday 6 April 3pm

Balwyn: 4.4-28
Fitzroy: 5.5-35

Weather: Sunny warm-up, 22 degrees half-time, last-quarter sun shower to make things slippery

Canteen: Slim pickin’s this late in the day but the canteen blokes rustled up 2 warm snags in fluffy white

Quote of the day: ‘We don’t want to play too well in these grading games – do we?’

IT WAS in 1996 that one bore witness to one of the great milestone matches when the then 32-year-old Paul Roos, in his 300^th match, put in a rampaging performance for the Swans against the eventual premiers North Melbourne at Princes Park.

The former Fitzroy legend had 30 touches and pulled down 11 marks in the 79-point thrashing. But before the tears well up, and I start to remember that year’s grand final result, I need to get to a modern Roy Boys’ milestone match in the first round of this year’s Colts.

Noah Atkinson ran with his comrades through the impressive homemade banner marking his 100^th game in a Lions guernsey and the influence he had in the victory was Roos-like in a tough, defensive away game against Balwyn.

In a match ultimately decided by a couple of pieces of random brilliance, the Roy Boys put the clamps on a Balwyn midfield which at first glimpse appeared to be populated by a mob of fleet-footed classy lads with Hawthorn-style hubris.

Our lads hit the lead deep into the first when Finbar gathered the footy in the centre square, took a few strides and booted truly from about 50 out. The boys had a bit of momentum and took a two-goal lead into quarter time after Lachie similarly dobbed one from 50 in a second scintillating game breaker. A two-goal lead at quarter time reflected a high-pressure hit-out with just the couple of pieces of brilliance separating the teams.

The lead got out to three goals in the second when the hard-working midfielders Samuel and Fred combined with Toby and Alessio to get an adventurous ball forward to where Finbar was once again in the right place at the right time, marking right on the goal line and kicking his second. All was rosy when Toby channelled Tom Hawkins and wrestled the ball from a boundary throw-in and kicked an underground sausage for our fourth. It was just reward for Toby who had been working his butt off all around the ground.

So the first half of the year couldn’t have really gone any better with Balwyn failing to bring up the twin calicos score in a half of footy while the mighty Gorillas had four on the board. A major reason for this was the defensive marking of our milestone man Noah. Not just his marking, but his ability to be where the ball was (in a mangled tribute to Jack Dyer) and the resultant pressure he applied to his opponents was just inspiring to his mates.

But at half time when the hunt for a decent feed from the most disappointing kiosk of the season so far yielded modest reward, the skies darkened and an ominous atmosphere hung over the ground.  And as we all know, four goals in modern footy ain’t what it used to be and just a few minutes into the third Balwyn had put two through the big sticks and the game was on. The rest of the quarter was just rough and tough footy and a winner hard to pick.

So into the last and just two straight kicks was the difference. Balwyn capitalised on an errant kick in from the first behind of the quarter to make it a five-point game. We breathed a sigh of relief when an always threatening Alessio finally got on the board with a great snap from the pocket but when Balwyn answered almost immediately our hearts were back on our mouths.

The quarter was highlighted again by the pressure of both teams and a mid-quarter sun shower beckoned as a good luck omen. A bit of individual defensive hard brilliance and run from James Edgar personified the effort required. Noah went to town again in the last and his untiring work across half back was ultimately the difference when the siren mercifully went with us seven points in front 5.5-35 to 4.4-28.

Watching the match, one was reminded of just how much faster and more physical our little ones had become since the days of the under-12s or under-16s or whatever. Our lads have arrived as young men in 2025 and they looked well and truly at home. They revelled in their first game of what for many will be their last year of junior footy.

A great season beckons! And congratulations to you Noah!

– Steve Marmo

Round 3 - Kew Rovers at Victoria Park, Sunday 4 May 3pm

Fitzroy: 10.5-65
Kew: 7.10-52

Weather: Sunny and warm with a swirling northerly

Canteen: Kransky in a roll and sausage in bread with slurpy-soft onion

Quote of the day: Can you believe the democracy sausages were $5 in Kew yesterday? Five dollars!!

SOMETIMES A late 3pm bounce is a welcome thing. Like when a collective election-party hangover afflicts two-thirds of the parents hazily present at this game. Our boys at least were bright-eyed and bristling for action after an Anzac weekend bye that stretched the school-holiday break to a seemingly endless 3 weeks.

And much like in round 1, a 100-game milestone lad played a match-winning role in an evenly matched, pressure-filled game that was a pleasure to watch.

So after Declan burst through his 100-game banner it was down to plenty of early work with terrific tackling and tons of pressure. It paid off for the lads with a goal at the railway end from William H to get us on the board. Two minutes later Alessio took a fine juggling mark 30 out and kicked truly. After a 5-minute arm wrestle Kew finally got on the board, then were quickly matched by Josef marking at centre half forward and kicking our third. The first quarter was marked by terrific pressure from both teams, but Fitzroy’s contested-possession game gave us a well-earned 2-goal lead.

The Roys were out of the blocks quickly after Declan spoiled a pack at half forward, followed up and kicked towards goal with the ball taking a right-angle bounce through the big sticks. Kew was building some momentum now, racking up their second goal, until 2 great tackles by Max and Freddy dampened their drive. Kew was just unable to capitalise on their ascendancy, peppering the goals but not putting the ball through the middle. Then a beautiful Roys pass was dished off to Finbar who evaded 2 and snapped truly on his left to halt what had been a fairly dominant quarter by Kew.

Our boys reclaimed the upper hand 30 seconds into the third quarter when the ever-industrious  Samuel got ball to Toby who shot a pass to Oscar who duly brought up the twin calicos. The highlight of the match came 5 minutes later when the boys using a glorious chain of handpasses took the Sherrin from one end of the ground to the other, culminating in Samuel passing to Noah B who kicked truly from 40. Kew then finally found their range, kicking 4 unanswered goals in a 10-minute spree to bring them back into the game. Losing the ball in a tree at the Trenerry Crescent end bought us a much-needed breather with the Rovers on our tails at quarter’s end – just 3 points the difference.

Quarter 4 found spectators chasing a waning sun to the eastern end of the ground. A carbon copy of the opening to the second quarter ensued when Samuel (again) got the ball out of the guts, passing to Alessio in the pocket who kicked truly to carve out a more comfortable gap on the scoreboard. Toby then drove the ball to Thomas who marked 30 metres out, snagged it, and we had 2 in a row. Then Kew broke through to bring the difference back to just one straight kick. Cue the goal of the day from Max who snapped on a tough angle to get us out of trouble. Our boys really lifted in the last – the Rovers just couldn’t get the ball past Jack A and Freddy joined in with 3 lads who had been outstanding all day in Declan himself, James E and Darcy D in a barnstorming quarter of defensive effort to cement a hard-fought 13-point win in our second victory in a so-far undefeated season.

Round 4 - Parkside at Victoria Park, Sunday 11 May 3pm

Fitzroy: 14.12-96
Parkside: 3.10-28

Weather: A balmy 23 degrees at first bounce with north-easterly breeze.

Canteen: Cheese kransky with appreciably imperceptible cheese.

Quotes of the day: Parent 1: Mushrooms for Mother’s Day brekky? Not sure I want someone to cook me mushrooms any more. Parent 2: Yeh, apparently Erin Patterson’s the new Lindy Chamberlain.

FAR BE it from me to eulogise about any victory by Richmond, but on Mother’s Day 1991 the Tiggas, then 13^th of 15 AFL teams, took on the reigning premiers Collingwood at The G and in what became known as the Mother’s Day Massacre, put the Pies to the sword by a whopping 67 points!

Fast-forward 34 years and the Fitzroy Youth Boys 1 managed an eerily similar winning margin by fixing up Parkside, this time by 58 points at the Pies’ old home ground at Vic Park. And although not matching then Tiger full forward Jeff Hogg’s bag of 10, Alessio Colosimo’s return of 6 majors may well be talked about for the next 34 years. Well, at least by the Colosimo brood anyway!

Under gloriously blue autumnal Abbotsford skies, Aless got going early in the first after marking the ball after some good combinations from the mid-field mates Fred and Samuel and his first snag went up as your scribe’s first kransky went down!

Aless had a brace after 2 Parkside lads spoiled each other and the resultant crumbs were distributed by Fred to Daniel H whose quick kick forward was marked by our number 11 two metres out. Two goals to zip!

To the naked eyes of the gaggle of dads in our vicinity, Parkside’s team comprised more than a few handy footballers. They appeared both tough and skilful and had an air of quiet confidence. But as the quarter went on things like the continued great defensive form of Noah, the insistence of Evan C’s tackling, and the spectacular spoiling efforts of Zac H were coalescing into a whole that made the visitors look as ordinary as those of another red-and-white team I can think of!

By the time Aless had kicked his third out of a pack and Dylan C snapped a left-foot blinder from the boundary, our quarter-time score of 4.2- 26 would end up only being bettered by a couple of points by Parkside’s final score of 28 when the final siren went. Did someone mention the Mother’s Day Massacre?

No they didn’t.

Things looked even better for the Gorillas in the second after an ever-industrious Finbar got the pill to Oscar who squared it to a most welcome back Jericho who put through our fifth. A ripper tackle by Olly made everyone recognise it wasn’t just the forwards having a say in proceedings. But a pack-mark screamer by (guess who) Alessio who got it to Jericho and on to Finbar in the goal square reminded us of the truly dominant performance of the forwards.

Towards the end of the quarter, one could sense the frustration of the Parkside lads, but their increased, and sometimes misplaced, physicality was met with glee by the Roy Boys who took on this facet of the game as they had the rest. And when the curtain had come down on the first half, the Roys led 7.5-47 to 1.3-9.

Parkside would lift appreciably in the third, but with red-hot goers Max Sekhon, Dylan, Will Cashen and more adding the tough stuff to the by-now purring midfielders in Zac, Finbar, Samuel, Fred and Noah they could only manage 3 behinds while Alessio added another 2 majors to bring his total to 6 in 3 quarters! A terrific consolidating quarter that saw the boys extend the lead despite the obvious improvement from Parkside. But it was the defence who stole the show and led us into the last leading 10.11-71 to 1.6-12.

But to their credit, and remember they had no bench for the second half, the visitors came out all guns blazing to dominate the early stages of the last. But they just couldn’t get the ball between the big sticks. And when one of footy’s great truisms saw us get the ball up our end just once for a goal to Oscar after Parkside had dominated the play without scoring and then Oscar quickly got his second, you could forgive Parkside throwing in the towel. But they’re better than that. They snagged a couple back before Samuel grabbed a throw-in no one else seemed to want and cruised past beautifully onto his right for his well-deserved first. But then one of the year’s highlights happened when crowd favourite and perennial rugged niggling defender Olly took a ripper mark at half forward, played on and kicked it straight over his goal-umpiring Dad’s hat who duly brought up the twin calicos!

So while a truly gutsy Parkside played some of their best footy in the last, Fitzroy extended its lead to run out 68-point winners 14.12-96 to 3.10-28.

So the lads are undefeated after 3 matches this season and are looking like the proverbial well-oiled machine. Coaches would be rapt?! All areas of the ground appear to be in good working order and lots of lads in good nick. But as I keep saying to my Collingwood-supporting mates, it’s very, very early in a long, long season. It’s still 4 long cold months till September, finals and Father’s Day!