U12-3 Black 2019

GRAND FINAL V BRUNSWICK September 1 2019

THE CLIMAX to the Under 12 Black season more than lived up to the hype and billing of “The Hipster Cup” at Ford Park on Fathers Day.
The match was played before an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 mums, dads, grandparents, uncles and aunties, siblings and even Richo! Oh and a Brunswick mascot which didn’t really seem to know if it was a dragon a chimera or a chicken?
The team was lead through the banner by 50 game stalwarts, Lachie, Oskar B, Henry and Tully, along with one of our two third place getters at the YJFL B&F in Rocket. Rocket shared third place with Duncan in a fantastic result for our team.
Much like the semi-final, the roys’ lost the toss and kicked into a five goal wind and took a one goal lead into quarter time with Seans’ free-kick banana squeezing over the line being the sole score for the term.
But it was a classic grand final footy – hard and tough with little scoring and full of memorable moments such as Iggy’s gutsy defensive mark, Chirons repeated ferocious attacks on the ball and his opponents, Chris’ almost spiritual knowledge of where to put himself and Noah giving constant first use to the maniacal Fred, irrepressible Felix, dashing Oscar and debonair Edward.
The second began with their full back kicking out to our attacking flank following an Oskar point. It was marked 40 metres out by Rocket who played on and booted the ball forward to Henry who, though he spilt the mark, recovered beautifully to snaffle the crumbs and put our second on the board. 2-1 – 13 – 0.0
But a bigger roar from the crowd came a couple of minutes later when Noah, who was playing as well in the ruck as he has all season, laid a desperate chase-down tackle in front of the adoring crowd. It was typical of the Roy’s mind-set and their seemingly tireless defensive attack.
But the defensive efforts of Brunswick’s began to mirror ours and they got on the board after Iggy’s wayward kick out of defence went to a dragon who kicked truly from 20 out.
To your correspondent, the massive first quarter effort appeared to be taking its toll with the mid-fielders seemingly trapped on the attacking side and suddenly looking a tad vulnerable, struggling to fulfil their defensive duties.
But then from defence, Tully let rip with a booming 40m torp which travelled beyond the forming pack and into the path of Sean. Your correspondents’ brother yelled “put it on the carpet”. As we all know, Sean doesn’t require an invite to do that and he split the middle after a couple of trademark bounces to steady the relatively wobbly ship.
Then with just seconds remaining Brunswick got their well-earned second goal to slash the half time lead to just seven points 3.2 20 – 2.1 13.
Game well and truly on!
A fantastic half of footy put on by both teams with the defensive side of things to the fore, just like a grand final should be. And coach Paul was full of praise at half time though he spoke of his concern at the mid-field getting a tad lost on such a huge ground and in such difficult conditions. He also spoke of one of football’s great cliches: the third quarter is the premiership quarter.
And so it proved to be.
Once again into the wind, but Huey had decided to blow even harder during the third and it wasn’t long before the dragons had squared the ledger.
For then next 14 minutes Brunswick pushed hard to their forwards, but the Roys’ stood firm, repelling attack after attack, showing their disciplined footy smarts heading back to the defensive flank time and again.
Though we only added a single point in the quarter, we had kept our opponents to that single goal and it was all square at 3/4 time 3.3 -21 each of two.
The third had indeed proven to be the premiership quarter.
The last opened prosaically enough with a couple of points to a suddenly dangerous looking Tully. But one of a few peculiarly benign looking free kicks was paid to Tully for a rucking infringement who’s resultant goal gave the lads an eight point buffer.
The Duke was now full of his trademark True Grit and a nudge forward from Chiron (or Felix) towards the boundary saw Tully move the fastest he has ever moved before and kicked truly to give us a handy 14 point lead. The lead was stretched to a seemingly insurmountable 21 points when Henry marked and put it between the big sticks not long after.
The floodgates looked to be opening. 6.6 – 42 3.3 – 21.
But Brunswick wasn’t going down without a fight no-siree. Two quick goals saw them fight back to trail by just nine points and the Brunswick crowd was suddenly pumping. 6.6 42 – 5.3 – 33.
A spectacular tackle by Henry resulted in a point to Oskar B, but the spearhead got his first major after a bullet like pass from a now rampaging Fred hit its target. Back out to a 15 point lead.
That was soon out 21 when Oskar got his second within a minute and the boys were home! Some icing was put on the cake when Tully snagged his third sausage for the quarter and the final score of 9.7 – 61 to 5.3 – 33 was realised.
So a fitting finale to 2019 with what did indeed become the best team in the comp become premiers. They finished on top, lost just the single game after grading, and were desperately unlucky in a couple of grading games.
The team played utterly fairly all season. They were respectful of their opponents and respectful to their coaches, teammates and their teammates’ parents and guardians. Well possibly up until they took off for a lap of honour with the premiership flag before shaking the hands of the valiant Dragons!
What better Father’s Day could we possibly get?

Goal scorers Tully 3, Oskar B 2, Sean 2, Henry, Rocket.
Best – Fred, Chris, Tully, Noah, Rocket, Oscar S, Felix, Eddie, Sean and a special note to Angus for his gutsy mark running with the flight mark and to Chiron for setting the tone in the first quarter. But a team effort absolutely!

A few things to note on season 2019.

The magnificent efforts made by Paul and Angelo were justly rewarded with a flag, Damian as runner and Will on the boundary were both tireless every week, Cam worked ludicrously hard in a season where a lot of 11/12 year-olds seemed to get hurt more than they should and Emily took the photos to prove it, Shane and Trevor didn’t drop a drop carrying the water, the time was always right when Una and Don were on the clocks, Bridget and Gary kept the parents as happy as the players with their supply of oranges and snakes, Peter and young Dean looked suitably stylish in the goal umpires white coats, Georgia’s mastery of her six times tables was invaluable on the scoreboard, Pep (Ground manager) and Donalee picked up the dog poo with aplomb, and last but certainly not least, Kim’s always smiling visage probably belied the strain one is put under in that position. Kim we cant thank you enough.
And of course to our boys who made us all so proud every week in victory or defeat with their skills bravery and sportsmanship.
Bring on 2020!

Goal scorers Tully 3, Oskar B 2, Sean 2, Henry, Rocket.
Best – Fred, Chris, Tully, Noah, Rocket, Oscar S, Felix, Eddie, Sean and a special note to Angus for his gutsy mark running with the flight mark and to Chiron for setting the tone in the first quarter. But a team effort absolutely!

Match Report - Round 4

Under 12 Blue Round 4 V Warrandyte

IN WHAT was I believe the best game of footy our boys have been involved in since they all began together waaaaay back in 2017, the Roy Boys displayed all of John Wayne’s “True Grit “despite going down on the last kick of the day.

On a day when many of the boys played their finest games in a Lions’ guernsey, inspired not just by the emotion of Mother’s Day but by no lesser than ‘The Duke’ himself, footy was the true winner with both teams displaying a fantastic flair for fast, fair footy.

Henry led the boys out into the blazing glare of the Bloods’ electronic scoreboard neager to change recent tradition and get off to a flyer after some inspiring words about the mums from coach Paul along with some instructions from Duncan and Henry.

But the Bloods’ flew out of the blocks and had two majors up before we knew what hit us. But half way through the quarter the Roys’ suddenly switched on. Obviously inspired by the magnificent work of our full back in Chris, we dominated the second half of the quarter, capped off by a lovely bit of play where Fred delivered a handpass to Alex on the run to bring up our first on the siren.

So the first ended with us just four points down away, against the team second on the ladder 1.2 – 8 to 2.0 – 12.
The “big-bodied” on ball division of Rocket, Duncan, Henry and Noah got us going in the second with Noah tapping to Fred who again gave off to Alex then on to Henry who goaled and put us in front for the first time.
The Bloods’ answered back soon after to regain the lead and the game settled into an end-to-end contest with very little splitting the sides. But there was some outstanding work from the on-ballers, Chris (as usual) and some deft touches by the new boys in Milo and Oskar.
So half time saw us by the solitary goal 2.3 – 15 to 3.3 – 21.
Not surprisingly Duncan was a tad fatigued after a dominant second quarter and was rested out of the guts. This appeared to a have a bit of a negative effect on the boys during the third. Whilst our third quarters are traditionally our best quarters, Sunday saw us go into our shells somewhat with the only two highlights of the quarter being a typical “crazy-brave” charge by Iggy into the middle of a four-man wave of Bloods’ to stop a certain goal, equalled by Duncan who talk an equally brave high mark against the flow. Oh and Chris took a mark or two, as usual.

The lack of highlights may also have something to do with the inordinate amount of time it took to cook two potato cakes for your correspondent, but that’s a story for another time.

So a disappointing third saw us head for the oranges down 2.3 – 15 to the home side’s 5.4 – 34, and staring down an ignominious defeat.

But nobody expected the outstanding, inspirational oratory and positional changes wrought by The Coach who managed to simultaneously inspire and confuse the 11-year-old boys with an impassioned speech invoking the spectre of Rooster Cogburn, (True Grit) Sheriff John D Chance, (Rio Bravo), The Ringo Kid, (Stagecoach) and, of course, Ethan Edwards (The Searchers).
Long bombs to Tully was the call as the Coach moved Tully to full forward, calling on him to take some marks and kick two or three and bring us on home.

Right from the word go, the words of the Duke: “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway” and “When you stop fighting, that’s death” obviously rang in the ears of the Roys.

After a good first three quarters Freddy went berserk in the last, tackling everything in sight and getting us first use,with the ball ending up with Duncan to get us off to a flyer. Fred was followed into battle by Oscar, who busted his guts to get the ball out of the middle and delivered a beautiful pass to Duncan who duly kicked long to “The Duke” (Tully) who’s long shot at goal was marked on the line by an industrious Jack who kicked truly putting us just five points behind.

Your correspondents notes are a tad indecipherable here from all the excitement, but he can remember the ball being kicked long by ??? (apologies to the lad who kicked it to him) and “The Duke” (Tully) again plucking the ball out of the air and kicking truly from the goal square. One point in front!!

With just three minutes to go on the clock, we had the equal top team on the ropes on their own dung-hill and the away crowd was going nuts!
But the Bloods’ weren’t going to give up without a fight – they’re not called the Bloods for nothing ya know.

With less than a minute to go after a real ring-a-ding-ding tussle, the ball ended up in the hands of a young Blood, trapped on the boundary line and about 25 metres out. According to Angelo,who was directly behind the Blood, his kick was never going to miss!

With the luminescent scoreboard showing less than 30 seconds to go, the ball disappeared into the scrub at the Warrandyte Rd end and with it any chance of a Melbourne v Gold Coast-type ending for our brave lads.

Final score 6.4 – 40 to 5.5 – 35.

The emotion your correspondent saw in the eyes of Duncan, Henry and his own son was testament to the effort made by our boys. But they could more than hold their heads high, having participated in THE BEST game of footy in the three seasons the lads have played together.

It is not a platitude to say this was truly a team effort, but the games of Duncan, Henry, Noah, and Alex were their best ever, and along with the efforts of the grunts Fred, Iggy, and Oscar, Tully’s towering last quarter, and Chris’ incredibly consistent defensive marking were something to behold.
It has just come through that we are in the “black” grade after grading. We showed we can match it with the very best on away grounds. Keep this sort of form up and the season proper looms as a most successful one for our Roy-boys!

Match Report - Round 3

Under 12 Blue V Hawthorn Citizens at Ramsden St Reserve

THERE is one thing for certain in season 2019, the standard of play has jumped up immeasurably and though our lads are having a tough time of it, the fighting Fitzroy spirit is shining through.

Like round 2, another sluggish start saw the boys trailing at quarter time, but the last three quarters showed Roy-boy footy at its best, slowing down the opposition’s scoring and the boys held their heads high.
While we got beaten in the air in round two, round three’s opponents had a wonderful “mosquito fleet” at the foot of their dominant ruckmen.

The first quarter was unfortunately all one way traffic,with their ruckman marking everything that came near him and then giving off to a terrifically drilled squad of highly skilled smalls.

But like the last few seasons, it could have been worse were it not for the wonderful defensive marking skills of Chris.The Tigers seem to be missing the aerial skills of Rance at the moment. They could do worse than snap Chris up in the mid-season draft!

Chris’ performance was one the highlight of the quarter, along with Duncan’s last gasp pack mark on the goal line.

So we ended up 21 points down at quarter time and things looked bleak, but the second quarter showed what we are capable of when we get our act together – either that or we just woke up. Perhaps the 8.30 start wasn’t just a difficulty for the mums and dads?

A lift in all areas saw the boys hold the opposition to a single goal for the quarter. While we might not have bothered the scorers either, the Roys managed to shut down the early avenues to goal. A fantastically brave mark by Angus and a gutsy triple effort by Fred (apologies from your oh-so-biased correspondent/dad) when surrounded by “Citizens” summed up the improved intensity in quarter number 2.

Half-time: 4.5 – 29 to 0.0.0

So as Coach Paul said at the break – “We’ve stemmed the bleeding, so now its time to score’. Well he was half-right.

The third was a repeat of the second. Again we kept them to a solitary goal with another lift in the “G&D” department.

The little fellas – Oscar, Alex, Iggy and again the new boy in Sean, battled bravely against their gun mids and half forwards, Noah, Josef and Rocket in the ruck, a couple of frenetic acts by Spike on the big fella at CHB, Duncan and Henry repeatedly put their bodies on the line, and Lachie, Charlie, Jack, James, Eddie and William all got involved.

It was a terrific quarter by a team who just wont be kept down despite top opposition and a difficult scoreboard.

So still yet to score and a deficit of 36 points was what awaited going into the last.

The first five minutes saw the Citizens pull out of their comparative lull with a quick goal, despite again, Chris’ brave efforts. It was hard from here. The oddly named Hawthorn Citizens Abbot (There are at least two things very wrong in that title) peppered the goals to score 2.5 early and put the game out of reach. James had a chance to score late but the distance was just too much, Sean again sped down the outer flank on his lovely foot but no no avail. So with just 2 minutes left the footy found its way to Tully on a tight angle in the pocket. Being a modern day player he went for the oh-so moderne dribble kick but it just went to the wrong side of the post. But hey – we were on the board!

So all in all we managed to keep a very, very good outfit with top talent spread all over the ground to just four goals in three quarters of footy. It goes to show if we can just lose our traditional slow starts, and hopefully get some injured troops back soon, we can mix it with any team in the comp.
Remember, we are just a game out of the top four!

Round 7 Match Report: V Hawthorn Citizens Buick

IGGY’S screamer and goal.
Eddie’s two-minute brace.
Freddy’s desperate flying tackle (one of about seven) on their big-bodied aggressive number 2.
Rocket’s fantastic effort to beat three and get the ball forward to Iggy.
Yesterday produced some of the best footy we’ve seen from the Roy-boys in their three years together.
But it wasn’t just individual brilliance, but a whole team ethos that produced one of the games of the season. A game we went down in, but one that displayed the relentless improvement wrought in season 2019.
Our opposition had two outstanding players, the aforementioned number 2 and the Brownlow-styled blond number 12 who’s efforts got them over the line despite our best efforts.
As every footy supporter says; “we don’t mind losing so long as we give it our best shot”.
And boy did we fire some shots!
Well at least after our traditional first quarter where the sandman’s sleep still nestles in our little angels’ eyes.
But not too much damage done at quarter time, thanks largely to old-reliable Chris at CHB, and ably assisted by Angus who had his best quarter roaming the defensive lines.
Trailing 1.3 to 0.3. Coach Paul gently chided the lads out of their pajamas and handed over to Angelo and his magic board, moving Eddie and Oskar to the full forward line.
The masterstroke struck gold after a high ball from (I think) Rocket reached the half-forward line where Eddie oh-so-smartly nudged his opponent under the ball. The ball came to ground where Eddie, tresses flowing in the breeze, pounced on it, spun on to his right and let fly from 30 out and bounced it through for our first, and his first as a Roy-boy!
But Eddie wanted more.
At the bounce Rocket knocked it forward to a pride of lions at half forward where a quick kick forward found Eddie on his own. Duly converted, Eddie had suddenly put us in front by four points in less than a minute.
Rocket was again involved in the next after a fantastic tackle tuned into anther foray forward where the clever Oskar got his first in the Fitzroy guernsey, spinning on to his left and bouncing it through from 20.
So we went in at half-time with a well deserved lead, albeit just 2 points – 3.5. 23 to 3.3. 21.
History shows our lads come out firing after the oranges, but unfortunately not today. The third was tough going. Their stars shone brightly (2 and 12) despite the efforts (WARNING: proud father moment coming) of Fred who as we know prides himself on his tackling, producing his best ever with a flying tackle on the rampaging number 2. The effect seemed to inspire his comrades with the lads putting an end to what had been a quick fire brace by our opponents. So a 15-point deficit could have been much worse, but there was a lot to do in the last.
After a fantastic match in the guts last week, a much quieter Alex was moved onto the ball in the last. After a brilliant tap from Rocket the little number 4 got it to his mate Fred who kicked long and high to where Iggy, in a mark which brought back memories of Carlton great Peter Bosustow’s 1981 mark of the year got so high he had to mark the ball on his chest. (Do yourself a favour lads and check this mark out on you-tube. It will also prove to you that Carlton was once a hideously arrogant super-power. I know it’s hard to believe but trust an old man.)
Anywho, I digress.
So Iggy finally lands and goes back for his shot. Unknowing adults on the boundary are calling for him to centre the ball at the top of the square. The uber-confident dasher calmly ignores said profferings and from the moment it leaves his boot it wasn’t going anywhere but through the high-diddle-diddle. Eight points in arrears.
The combination of Rocket and Alex, aided again by the dashing Sean saw Alex’s snap marked in the pocket by Henry who again, oh-so-calmly converted from 15 to get the oldies off their boundary seats as the lead was cut to 2 points.
The mid-field dynamos again won the clearance from the next bounce with the resulting high kick from Fred saw last weeks oh-so-deserving Joe Johnson medalist Chris get a nice ol’ shove in the back. Quickly realising nobody was on the mark Chris played on and from 30 put the Roys in front for the first time by four points!
Five minutes to go and the Roys looked unstoppable. But as we know, most footy teams get a shot at the momentum; the trick is to stop the opposition when it’s their turn. The problem was number 2 and number 12 were just too good in the last five and you can only doff your cap (if you’ve got one). Those two players just dominated the closing stages and were responsible for the two quick goals (ok and a pretty dodgy free-kick) despite the desperation ofendse our back line.
So a final score of 6.4 40 to 7.7 49 in what was a terrific game of footy, full of highlights and as usual played in a wonderful spirit.
In conclusion I want to highlight the effort of Rocket who absolutely got us back into the match. I know he was disappointed at the end, but if it wasn’t for you mate we wouldn’t have been close. You can hold your head high – as usual!
So we still sit a game clear in fourth spot and we are constantly improving. After the rest this week the second half of the season will be upon us. Its a season chock-a-bloc full of promise and excitement.

Round 8 v Brunswick Dragons at Ramsden St Oval

A BIG part of AFL footy these days is the notion of “team culture”. Honesty and integrity are integral to the “brand” of clubs in 2019 and the “Duke” (aka Tully) was certainly honest when coach Paul asked him if he had anything to say to the boys prior to the match.
“Nup” came Tully’s stirring reply. Looking for anything more “honest” would have been a futile quest.
With Tully’s unfeigned summation ringing in their ears, The Roy Boys hit their dung-hill with a skip in their step rarely displayed in their first quarter.
The challenge of playing the ladder-leading Dragons also appeared to be in the boys’ thoughts.
But though the lads produced their finest first quarter ever, their efforts failed to ignite the scoreboard, and when Brunswick managed their first score, they drew level with our lads – because having peppered (there you go Pep) the goals, we had managed just six straight behinds.
But the signs were ominous. Skipper Rocket was dominating around the ground, ably assisted by Oskar who had a break-out quarter marking everything in sight and Honest John Tully who loomed large though unluckily kicked two behinds rather than sausages.
So we took a one-point lead into the huddle, or should that be huddles, with our opponents, who obviously have a higher “soft salary cap” than us, breaking off into three huddles, a line coach each delivering the news that they were in for a tough morning against the Roys.
But the second quarter meant they could have had masseurs, stationary bikes, hell, even Tommy Hafey in their midst, and it wouldn’t have made a difference.
The scene was set at the first bounce when Rocket palmed down to Freddy who kicked long to CHF where “old reliable” Chris coolly marked. He went back – more coolly – for his shot at goal, but – even more coolly – passed to Duncan whose resultant mark and shot saw us on the board in a blink.
Back to the middle again and the “old firm” of Rocket and Fred again saw the ball heading forward. The kick went to a pack and in a classic piece of “front and centre” by Oscar, he roved the pack and passed beautifully to Henry who got it to “The Duke” in the pocket for his first of the morning. 2.7 – 19 to 1.0 – 6.
But the ladder leaders (with an incredible percentage of 325.85 going into the match) managed to stem the flow with the next major making it a seven-point ball game.
But again Fred cleanly got it it out of the guts via Rocket. The Roys were running forward in waves and the ball again got to Tully on the flank and despite being swung in a tackle brought up his second for the quarter. Back out to a 13-point lead.
The quarter was finished off in style with the classically fleet-footed flanker in Sean dashing towards the big sticks and bringing up our fourth for the quarter with just seconds left on the clock.
Possibly our best quarter for the season to date with truly the entire team delivering something in fifteen minutes of champagne football. Half time 4.7 – 31 to 2.0 – 12.
The second-quarter effort may have taken a little toll in the third though. Combined with a lift in intensity from the Dragons, the third became a battle of attrition. Not too many flashy highlights, but the tackling by both teams was something to behold. It was exemplified at one point with a massive pride of Lions gang-tackling one poor Dragon who was finally brought down by Spike who rose to the occasion twice in the quarter with big aggressive tackles. And I have to mention Milo who made one, then two, three, and then four (!) follow-up efforts to stop a forward foray by the Dragons.
Our only goal came from a wonderful piece of play where Tully got the ball to another top contributor in Henry who kicked to Sean in space who pounced, took a bounce and kicked truly to cap off a quarter which saw our lead increase, having kept the top team to no additional score whatsoever.
So in three quarters our lads had managed to keep a previously rampaging Brunswick team to just two shots at goal while we had piled on 5.7.
So was this quarter our chance to make inroads into the percentage deficit? While it might have been the desire of the coaching staff and parents, the lads had different ideas in the last with “the structure” falling apart completely to the point where “Pauls Paddock” saw Tully one out in the forward line for virtually the entire quarter and the match resembling a Swans v Freo match circa 2011.
However there was room for one more in the last, though your correspondent’s 21-year lack of shorthand practice means the final-quarter goal kicker’s identity, and means to the goal, remains elusive. I do apologise.
But never mind. A final score of 6.7 – 43 to 2.0 – 12 clearly illustrates the potential of the rampaging Roys.
While the usual suspects in a BOG, Rocket along with Duncan, Fred, Chris and Henry did their usual damage, the team was as well oiled as it has been with Tully playing a blinder, the off-season recruits in Milo, Sean, James and Oskar all showing what they’re capable of and the rest all playing their roles. I also want to mention the insouciant “Steady Eddie” who oh-so-stylishly took two wonderful marks, one high and one low. It’s not just his hair that will bring him B&F votes.
So this week presents another challenge to the lads with us now third on the ladder travelling to play the newly minted ladder leaders in Banyule.
So do we have a legitimate premiership chance?
I’m sure after this week’s efforts the answer would be a resounding yes!
Just don’t ask Tully!

Rd 11 V Camberwell or Tully's 10!

WHILE driving to Sunday’s game Pep innocently asked Tully what was the most goals he had kicked in a game.
Tully informed Pep that had kicked three once.
“Well why don’t you aim to better that and aim for 5,” Pep said.
“How about if I kick 12 you give me $10,” a prescient Tully asked.
“If you kick 12 I’ll give you $20” came the incredulous scoff from Donna-Lee.
The gauntlet had been well and truly thrown, the scene had been set and the kiosk ladies were calling for back up!
In what coach Paul described as a danger game, the lads were kicking the dew off the ground opposed to a struggling Camberwell outfit that were well and truly in the hunt for the dreaded spoon.
And while Wednesday training had witnessed another tragic injury to Felix, the end of the holidays saw virtually all players return from far-flung destinations for the run into the finals.
And it wasn’t long before “The Duke” had kicked the first and second of the day after accepting passes first from the spirit animal (Iggy) and the second from Duncan.
Camberwell answered with one of their own, before Tully kicked his third, this time roving a ball delivered by Sean.
So 3.0 18 to 1.1 7 at ¼ time with Donna-Lee guffawing with those of us parents who had been told of the drive-in chat.
The second opened with Spike having a set-shot from about 8m out. But he selflessly “passed” to a surprised James who marked it on the line and before had realised what had happened had put through the Roys fourth.
Normal goal kicking duties were resumed with Tully bringing up his fourth courtesy of an on-fire Eddie, who’s terrific intercept mark was capped off by the spearhead.
Then some more good mid-field work from Eddie saw the ball get to Duncan who passed to Tully who, this time, blind-turned on a dime passed to a rampant Fred who passed to Henry in the pocket and the Roys sixth.
So a five-goal lead had been established and the siren was seconds away from half time when a quick kick out of a pack got the ball to…Tully (!) who banged it through for his fifth in a half.
7.4 46 to 1.1 7
A murmur went round the ground with the news of the wager being openly discussed amongst the parents on the boundary. Your correspondent jokingly proffered whether the magnet mover (Angelo) would put Tully to full back in the third.
No he wouldn’t put him to full back, of course not! He put him to centre half back!!!
But far from being discouraged Tully saw this as an opportunity and asked mum if she would give him the $20 if he kicked 10 rather than 12 after Angelo’s deft maneuver. Donna-Lee was sold.
The third began with a noticeably more athletic looking Spike almost fatally tackling a Camberwell kid who bravely managed to get up and tell the tale.
Angelo’s magnetic moves also saw Chris being played out of position at CHF, but he managed to kick the ball to Jack who wrestled a line ball mark from his opponent and kick truly from 20 out.
Then things quietened down a lot for the rest of the quarter and it wasn’t until a Sean kick off the ground (still with his left) into space for Duncan to run onto for a last gasp goal saw us take a 9.5 to 2.2 lead into the last.
Surely the Tully show was destined to fizzle out with him failing to bother the scorers in the third.
But the Tully show was about to be joined by the Rocket and Fred on-ball extravaganza, with the ruck/rover combination reviving memories of Nicholls and Skilton during the halcyon days of the Big V (Google em kids).
After a trademark Fred tackle the number 2’s free headed forward to….Tully who took a high mark and converted for his sixth.
Then Duncan got the ball to him for his 7th!!
Tully’s goal kicking dominance was then interrupted by Fred who apparently fired one through from the boundary on his trusty left. But for some reason the next Fitzroy’s teams’ dads chose that exact moment to had erect their milestone game banner right in front of us so I missed it, and am yet to see my boy kick a goal!
A magic tap from Rocket down to Fred and they were away again with
Duncan again getting the ball forward to it to him for this 8th Then, just for a change Rocket tapped it to Fred who gave it to Oscar who kicked to Duncan and on to Guess who?
Then somehow Tully kicked another 1. How many is that Donna-Lee? Oh yeah 10!!
Top of the ladder for the Royboys.
$20 in Tully’s hot little hand.
A smile on Angelo’s previously anxiety- ridden visage.
Quite a morning’s footy.
Final score 17. 9 – 111 to 2.2 – 14

Round 14 V Banyule Rovers@ Ramsden St Oval Sunday August 11.

YOUR correspondent sensed an air of cockiness amongst the boys in the rooms before yesterdays proceedings.
Being an ever-humble and ever pessimistic Swan supporter, your correspondent shies from cockiness like dracula from a wooden stake. And when half way through the second quarter after a couple of quick goals to Banyule with their numbers 2 and 9 running amok, the correspondent was nodding sagely to himself.
The Rovers had kicked a couple of quick ones to take the lead and it appeared our lads were just waiting for next weeks’ finals to come around.
But like good teams do, the Roys were good enough to steady, bounce back hard and finish with a comfortable victory. Though the scoreboard did not reflect the effort required.
To the match.
Nothing much happened in the first 5 minutes of the first before a loose ball was pounced on by Alex who snapped truly from about 20 out. We’e off!
The next 5 minutes saw the Rovers swing into gear. Their on-ballers in numbers 2 and 9 (again with the number 9s!?) were involved in everything and were it not for some desperate defence led wonderfully by Joseph at full-back, we could have trailed at quarter time.
Nevertheless, they managed just the one snag despite a smorgasbord of forward 50 entries.
Things looked a tad more comfy after a quick kick forward from Sean on his trusty left found Jack all alone in the square who kicked truly with about one second left on the clock.
So 2.0 12 to 1.2 – 8 at 1/4 time
The second quarter started with a couple of quick goals to Banyule. A torpor seemed to have settled on the Roy Boys who suddenly appeared uncharacteristically slow and somewhat disinterested. Learned parents (at least this one) nodded sagely and proffered a most negative prognosis on todays result, albeit 10 minutes into the second quarter.
That prognosis was backed up by the fact that behinds to Fred and Rocket were all we managed for the quarter and we headed to the sheds trailing 2.2 – 14 to 3.2 -20.
The third opened with a couple of points to Oskar before Chris, playing a rare mid-field role, received from an ever industrious Sean and from the boundary line drilled one from 25 to retake the lead. It was our first goal in about 20 minutes.
OsKar got his first after some more good work from Charlie who was having a blinder of a match. Then a throw in was sharked by Sean for number 5 – after a run of 4 behinds – and the cobwebs seemed well and truly shaken off. My notes say “Were Back!”
OsKar then went bang from about 30 out for number 6 and then finished wiht another for his third and our 7th. In the end 7.10 – 52 to 3.2 – 20.
Since the grading matches we managed to go thru the season with just the one loss to finish two games clear on top with a sensational percentage of 213.65!
A truly fantastic effort by the lads and a great reflection of the efforts of Paul and Angelo.
But back to the Swan-like pessimism. We will take on Banyule again this Sunday at 11.30. I know we just won by 32 points. But!
I’m old enough (and ugly enough) to have seen dozens of inexperienced, cocky footy teams get their comeuppance when either a) over-estimating their own abilities or b) underestimating their opponents’. It is a dangerous attitude to have and maybe something that under 12 kids have to learn. But if our lads take a cocky attitude out onto the ground against a really good team in Banyule on Sunday….
But I’m sure they wont!
Go Roys!!!