U15-2 Division 4 2018

Round 1 Match Report – Warrandyte v Fitzroy

Our boys kicked off the season against Warrandyte and although the scoreboard did not go our way there was much to be excited about at the days end.

In keeping with the Fitzroy values we asked the boys to focus on teamwork and to take the game on when we had possession, and at the end of the day they did us proud.

After a slow start we found ourselves on the back foot early and by quarter time we trailed by 5 goals and at half time Warrandyte had extended their lead to 9 goals. The scoreboard (at half time) didn’t totally reflect some really positive performances individually and also as a team.

The third quarter was outstanding and we won that comprehensively by four goals and this was off the back of us starting to be more defensively minded and apply some more tackling pressure to win and ultimately drive the ball forward. The last quarter was an arm wrestle early and whilst we lost that quarter we still managed to win the second half, which was impressive and a real sign that these boys care for each other and have an attitude that they will never give in; we will take this into our preparation for this week’s game.

Some of the things that impressed me and that we learnt and will work on included:

• We managed to contest and get our hands on the ball all the way through the game which was positive although we often found ourselves just kicking it blindly back to the opposition as a result of Warrandyte’s pressure.  We will continue to ask the boys to take the time and back themselves and most importantly to use their voice to let each other know what is happening around them and this will help them understand how to absorb that pressure in a game.
• When we attack we attack in numbers which is exactly what we coach (to outnumber our opponents), the flip side of this is we need to hold a structure and be aware enough to be able to run back the other way and defend when they have the ball.  We’ll work on this defensive pressure at training and I’m sure it will get better as the season unfolds and the boys get fitter.
• We handed Warrandyte 6 goals off the goal line from a combination of 25 metres penalties against us and/or lack of awareness to be goal side of the contest and the opponent just got a simple shot at goal, hence we’ll work on teaching this through the way we structure and are aware of where our opponents are throughout the game
• We tried lots of boys in lots of positions and to be honest good teams always have players who can play multiple roles.  This is difficult to learn however the benefit of this will come as the season unfolds as we will be able to really exploit our versatility and depth as a result.
• We had nine new boys in the team and every single one of them made a significant contribution and in fact I would suggest most of our new boys were in our best players so this is really positive for our team and a credit to the boys

Whilst the scoreboard isn’t what we’d hoped for I was so proud that the boys made sure the entire game was a real fight and they had commitment and courage to battle the game out.  With this attitude the boys will improve and we will only grow as a team and a club. We were really proud of the efforts of the boys as a team and it was a positive start the season, we will focus on defensive pressure and ball movement this week at training in preparation for next week.

We also welcomed nine new families to our football team and I want to thank you all for entrusting us with your boys, we are rap to have them and we are committed to ensuring the enjoy their football and helping them on their journeys as young men.

On another positive note, I would like to congratulate Louis Murdoch and Hugo O’Callaghan who were selected by their peers as the joint captains of our team this season. Similarly, Max Daphne and Quinn Doherty were selected as the joint vice captains. These boys are all brilliant examples of the FJFC values around fairness and sportsmanship above on field success and on Sunday they led with courage and determination and demonstrated this value brilliant despite the result. Congratulations to our new captains and here’s to much success for you all.

MEDICAL ROOM:

Hemi hurt his arm/shoulder however battled on and was brilliant

Luca hurt his nose (wasn’t that flash in the first place) however he’ll be fine

SPECIAL MENTION:

Thanks to all Marnie, Chris, Ben, Michael and all the parents who helped out on the weekend to fill in the various roles that are required to run the team, thank you

TRAINING:

Training is at Victoria park every week on Thursday evening.  Training times are 4:45pm – 6:15pm every week at Victoria Park for the remainder of the season. Note: If you can’t be there right on time that’s fine we are happy to welcome you whenever you can arrive 9we know that many boys have multiple commitments)

We now look to next week’s clash, have a great week

Round 2 Match Report – Ashburton v Fitzroy

Whilst the scoreboard didn’t tell us the story we had hoped for on Sunday there is so much to like about the way our boys went about the game both from the style of football we played and the attitude to the game and each other.

It’s not a difficult formula for our boys, with the right focus and application the results will come. We turned up the defensive focus at training and took that pressure into the game on the weekend, and we proved that we will be a formidable side this year and be very hard to beat when we play accountable football.  Sadly, on Sunday we just fell short on some small skill executions at critical times, but from the coaches perspective there was so much to like.

The game was a tight contest from the opening bounce and to be honest I felt as though we won so many battles around the ground and week on week our progress as a team was enormous. The last quarter saw our opponents break away to a 3 goal lead and to the credit of our boys we fought our way back to get within two points at the final siren.

Some of the things that impressed me and that we learnt and will work on this week included:

• We continue to win our share of the contested ball around the ground which is perhaps the hardest part of the game, this is a real positive. Our skills were better this week although at times we turned it over to the opposition through simple skill errors (i.e. missed a target, just kicked it without taking time, handballed backwards etc.) We will continue to ask the boys to take the time and back themselves and at training we will hone in on our skills to ensure our skills continue to improve.

• Our structure was better and this week we asked the boys to be really accountable for their/an opponent and to apply pressure when we didn’t have the ball. We did this much better and the pressure we applied all over the ground was evident. We’ll continue to work on this defensive pressure at training and to help the boys understand where they should stand and position themselves relative to their position etc.

• Unfortunately, again we handed Ashburton 5 cheap/easy goals off the goal line (last week we handed Warrandyte 6 goals on a platter, so it’s a defensive pattern we want to improve on) from a combination of 25 metres penalties against us and/or lack of awareness to be goal side of the contest and the opponent just got a simple shot at goal, hence we’ll continue to work on teaching this through the way we structure and are aware of where our opponents are throughout the game.

• We had a bench of 7 players which isn’t ideal and I’m sure in the process of Chris and I being engrossed in the game we didn’t give every boy their fair share of opportunity on the field and I’ll take accountability for this, it wasn’t deliberate, sorry! What Chris and I will reinforce at training this week is that we want the boys to manage the rotations on/off the bench (AFL teams use around 90 rotations a game and they are driven by the players.  We will do this by ensuring they understand the roles/positions we will be asking them to play and that way they can run hard in their position for 5 minutes and use either the bench/or their second position as a recovery point.  This will help the bench situation I’m sure.

• We had two new boys in the team this week and they both made a significant contribution. I love the way the boys respect one another and play for each other, we will continue to drive this. Culture around the way we treat each other and especially the way the boys operate as a team is really important and I love the way these boys respect each other and welcome the different attributes that go into making a team.

We lost the game but continues to improve as a team and a group. I continue to be very proud of the way the boys continue to show real courage and fight games out, this is a quality you can’t teach. We will continue to improve as a coaching group and I will get better at ensuring I am doing all I can to make these young better in football and in life.

Again, I would like to congratulate Louis Murdoch and Hugo O’Callaghan who showed leadership on Sunday as the Captains in the way they pulled their teammates together at the huddles, took the time to communicate on the ground and to encourage right until the end of the game, real leadership.

MEDICAL ROOM:

Quinn was concussed in the last quarter, battled on bravely and had treatment at the games end (possibly one week on the sidelines)

Luca has a bruised buttocks (possibly one week on the sidelines…he won’t be happy I shared the type of the injury)

SPECIAL MENTION:

Thanks to all Marnie, Chris, Ben, Michael and all the parents who helped out on the weekend to fill in the various roles that are required to run the team, thank you.

TRAINING:

Training is at Victoria park every week on Thursday evening.  Training times are 4:45pm – 6:15pm every week at Victoria Park for the remainder of the season. Note: If you can’t be there right on time that’s fine we are happy to welcome you whenever you can arrive 9we know that many boys have multiple commitments)

Marnie and I will be away for next Sunday’s game and we are so appreciative of the support that Chris (coach) and Greg (Team manager) will provide the team over this period.

Looking forward to next week’s clash, have a great Anzac Day

Round 5 Match Report – Warringal v Fitzroy

Our boys notched their first win of the season with a comprehensive victory over Warringal on Sunday.

In keeping with our pre-game message all year we asked the boys to focus on teamwork and to take the game on when we had possession, and when we didn’t to be relentless with their defensive efforts and from Chris, Ben and my perspective they did all three with excellence.

What impresses me about this group is their desire to play for each other and we saw this time and time again on the weekend where the boys would look for a team mate or square up to someone in a better position, a sign that they are coming together as a team.

We celebrated the milestone of one of our co captains, Louis Murdoch’s 100th game and the team were obviously keen to show their support of him through their endeavours, well done to Louis and congratulations to the entire team.

Some of the things that impressed me and that we learnt and will work on included:

• We managed to win more contests this week and our pressure at the contest was excellent. We have been working on instilling confidence within the group so that when we do win the ball we don’t just kick it blindly forward, this was evident this week and the boys really used handball to get it out, used their voice to guide one another and had the confidence to run and carry in numbers.  We will continue to ask the boys to take the time and back themselves and most importantly to use their voice to let each other know what is happening around them and this will help them understand how to absorb that pressure in a game.

• We held a much better structure throughout the game and this helped the backline immensely as the opposition never got any real free run as a consequence of us playing to deep, this pleased us greatly. We’ll work on this defensive pressure at training and I’m sure it will continue to get even better as the season unfolds as this will be critical for games against stronger sides.

• The defensive efforts of the team all over the ground was a highlight and in particular our defence who were disciplined and actually formulated many attacks from the defensive line. We had a few very simple game plans around the way we wanted to move the ball from defence to attack and I counted at least 9 goals come from this type of movement, well done.

• We continue to try to move the boys around various positions and to be honest good teams always have players who can play multiple roles.  We will continue to do all that we can to facilitate the ambitions of the boys and will also be honest with the needs of the team and what we (the coaches) believe are the attributes we need in the various roles across the field. I congratulate the way the boys manage the rotations (the majority of them they control) and would also encourage you as parents to remind them that great teams require great role players across every position on the field and we sincerely appreciate them playing whatever role is required of them on Sunday.

• Finally, I love seeing these boys have fun and enjoy their football and their mates and it was pleasing to see the banter amongst this group play out on the football field. From the boundary I heard constant encouragement from the boys on the bench for their mates, like wise on the field I loved seeing the boys help each other up, pate each other on the back and be genuinely excited for each other when things went well. These area all subtle displays of teamwork and we love it.

This week the scoreboard finally told a story we had been hoping for and I was so proud that the boys made sure they played out the entire game.

With this attitude the boys will improve and we will only grow as a team and a club, please pass on my congratulations to your fine young men.

Finally, I would like to again congratulate Louis Murdoch on 100 games and wish every mother and grandmother on the team a belated Happy Mothers day.

MEDICAL ROOM:

nil

SPECIAL MENTION:

Thanks to Greg, Chris, Ben and all the parents who helped out on the weekend to fill in the various roles that are required to run the team, thank you

TRAINING:

Training is at Victoria park every week on Thursday evening.  Training times are 4:45pm – 6:15pm every week at Victoria Park for the remainder of the season. Note: If you can’t be there right on time that’s fine we are happy to welcome you whenever you can arrive 9we know that many boys have multiple commitments)

We now look to next week’s clash, have a great week

Round 7 Match Report - Glen Iris

The boys had their third win of the season with a come from behind win over Glen Iris on Sunday.

We were excited to be celebrating Hugo, Jack and Louis’s 100^th games and used that as the basis for the pre-game address.

Teamwork and contested football continue to be primary areas of focus and we always encourage the boys to back their decision making and to take the game on whenever they believe they can, and they served us well on two fronts and probably learnt a few vital lessons on ball use at the days end

I continue to be impressed by this groups willingness to play for each other and at the last quarter domination yesterday was a reflection of their never give in attitude and commitment to each other.

Some of the things that impressed me and that we learnt and will work on included:

• We won the contested ball all day and our pressure and desire to want to win the ball was great all day. We have been working on decision making and ball movement at training and unfortunately on Sunday for the first three quarters we won the ball all day however on too many occasions (we counted over 30) we simply won it and kicked it forward to a Glen Iris player who marked it. We will continue to ask the boys to take the time and back themselves and to lower their eyes if they don’t have options in the right areas, rather than just bombing the ball into the opposition.

• Our backline were again, dominant and actually started most of our attacking moves. We are enjoying the way these boys work together and use the game plans we train each week, especially from kick ins and set plays and this drove many attacks for us and equally repelled their attacking moves forward. Chris Pekin works with the boys on structures and ball movement and the credit goes to him and the boys for the way they embrace the style.

• The midfield has been our strength over the last three weeks and we have 16 boys that we rotate through 6 roles there each week.  We ask them to run hard for 6 minutes then manage their own rotations and they do that every game. We consistently win the contested ball and have dominated this over the last month. A call out to Ben Murdoch who coaches the midfield and has been educating them on their roles all season.  The only real constructive learning for our midfield group this week was their ball use, I thought we over used it at times in the first three quarters and this made our skills look ordinary as we missed targets.  We will work on this at training and this elite group will only get better.

• Our forward line got the job done for us in the last quarter which was pleasing however the learning for this group was simply body positioning and willingness to play in front and lead/move repeatedly for the midfield.  We were consistently out-marked by their backs which was disappointing given the amount of ball entry we had.

• The final learning for Sunday was attitudinal. I’m sure the boys came to the game thinking it would just happen and they learnt a valuable lesson that if you are not switched on it won’t just happen. To their credit they pulled it together in the last quarter and did what good sides do and got the job done. We will work on a slight variation to the pre-game routine this week and ensure the boys come out ready to roar.

As you all know I am a real advocate for ensuring these young men learn, enjoy their football and have fun being with their mates hence it continues to please us to observe the respect, care and compassion these boys show to each other.

So, all in all another great week, there are another two teams in our division meaning that the YJFL have basically combined 3 and 4, We are equal second and playing the top side St Marys this week, what a great challenge.

Finally, I would like to again congratulate Hugo, Jack and Louis as well as all the boys on their win.

MEDICAL ROOM:

nil

SPECIAL MENTION:

Thanks to Marnie, Chris, Ben and all the parents who helped out on the weekend to fill in the various roles that are required to run the team, thank you

Also thanks to the families of the boys who produced the magnificent banner for our milestone players

TRAINING:

Training is at Victoria park every week on Thursday evening.  Training times are 4:45pm – 6:15pm every week at Victoria Park for the remainder of the season. Note: If you can’t be there right on time that’s fine we are happy to welcome you whenever you can arrive (we know that many boys have multiple commitments)

Round 8 Match Report - St Marys

A great win for the boys on Sunday against cross town rivals St. Marys at Olney reserve.

Another milestone celebration this week with Kit playing his 100^th game for the Fitzroy junior football club, well done on this magnificent achievement to Kit and his family.

The theme for our football is to play a team orientated, contested style and the boys again followed this instruction really well on Sunday.

Chris, Ben and I were also focused on our start to the game (first quarter) \ this week after having been a little sluggish the week prior, to address this we modified the pre-game debrief in the club rooms and spend more time warming up prior to the game and this seemed to help the boys in the first quarter.

The group continue to impress me with their ability to bring effort, teamwork and their own special element of fun and comradeship to the game each week (albeit this week minus Billy’s speaker with rap music J pre game).

As we do each week from the coaches point of view the things we learnt and will continue to work on this week included:

• The midfield was again dominant and are proving to be one of the most capable groups in the competition. Our pressure and desire to win every contest was impressive. We were up against a very tall ruckman this week who was always going to give the opposition the first advantage.  That said our midfield adapted and our ability to win the ball and drive the ball forward was a credit to the desire of the team to want to win the ball. My favourite play of the day was in the third quarter where, from a centre bounce we moved the ball to the forward pocket without a kick or a handball, it was simply pressure and a willingness of the team to drive the ball to our advantage in the contest that got the ball there. From here we manage to get a goal as a result but the effort to get it there was outstanding.

• Our backline was again amazing, to concede one goal for the day was a credit to the back six who are playing with a confidence and cohesion that is great to watch.  We scored five goals for the day from set play kick ins where the boys were able to take the ball from one end (defence) to the other as a result of run, dare, following a pattern which we train and by execution of skill, well done.

• Our entry into the forward line was better this week and the ball movement to the forward hotspot was much improved.  The forwards started to work harder on their movement and as we continue to train this movement we will get better and it should reflect even more positively on the scoreboard as we will be taking shots from a much better scoring area. I love the way the boys look for a mate rather than blaze away at goal, this is

A really positive outcome and after eight rounds we sit second on the table.

We have a week off this Sunday however we will train as usual this Thursday night.

Finally, I would like to again congratulate Kit on his 100^th and the boys on the way they went about their football on Sunday.

MEDICAL ROOM:

Max broke his finger at training last week and will be sadly out for 6 weeks.   He has assumed the role of forward line coach and has some work to do to straighten up them team in front of goals

SPECIAL MENTION:

Thanks to Marnie, Chris, Ben (the midfield genius) and all the parents who helped out on the weekend to fill in the various roles that are required to run the team, thank you

Also thanks to Kate and Paul who produced the magnificent banner for Kit.

TRAINING:

Training is at Victoria park on Thursday evening.  Training times are 4:45pm – 6:15pm every week at Victoria Park for the remainder of the season. Note: If you can’t be there right on time that’s fine we are happy to welcome you whenever you can arrive (we know that many boys have multiple commitments)