U14 2011 Premiers

North Sydney Swans vs Riverview Grand Final Match Report - 2011

7.20 am. Incoming text to Huzz from Rob: “Are you sure Nic can’t play today?”

A good coach leaves no stone unturned. And Rob is better than good – he’s a great coach, so the question had to be asked.

But when a surgeon tells you that ‘due to the external wire protrusion there is high risk of bone infection, for which the cure is amputation’, even a football tragic as unhinged as myself can only answer “Yes, sure”.

9.25 am Henry Elridge arrives on time for warm up. All 23 players accounted for.

9.40 am Team enters change rooms for pre-match briefing. Rob goes through the team, the tactics and each player’s role. Riverview’s key strengths have all been analysed and we hope nullified with effective match ups, namely:

Darcy at centre half back on Treacy, who so very nearly won the first final for Riverview with his towering mark in the final seconds of that match.

Our tackling machine Leo to run with Tommy Lewis, their gun half back who sets up their drive.  

Aaron to sit on their key midfielder Ethan, use his bulk to block his run and minimise his influence.

Luke at centre half forward will likely draw Cubis – there choice, but one we back Luke in on.

Max Zekulich to their speedy winger Tim Curtis, whose been in terrific form throughout the finals.

Some final words. Creativity is great, but plagiarism is faster, so I quote Gary’s quote of Barrassi’s quote, “If it is to be, it is up to me”.

Rob takes them out for the warm up.

10.20 am The banner reads:

North Sydney Swans

Willoughby Wildcats Mosman Swans

~ In Unity Strength ~

In the first final Riverview fell 36 points behind before coming back to lose by 2 points. The following week against Maroubra they again fell six goals behind, before staging a match winning comeback. It is clear to us their preparation will be focussed on getting a strong start. If they can match us early they will be very confident of running over the top of us with their fast finishing. We know it, but can we stop it?

10:25 am Players are in position – its game on!

As expected, Riverview are hard at it and tackling with ferocity. We have less time then we are used to. Riverview are also drawing our defence up field and then running forward into space when they win the clearance. Several times we get caught out, with Riverview players streaming forward and outnumbering us deep in their forward line. Fortunately they butcher a couple of shots, handballing when they should kick, kicking when they should handball. With most of the play they have only two points to show for it.

When we do move the ball forward it is with our trademark speed into an open forward line. Eddie, Nick Milton-Hine, Luke and Henry are all involved and twice look like scoring, but both times Riverview repel us. The forward line looks potent though.

Nic Hurrell, running water, reports to the bench that Eddie is feeling sick. He’s had the flu’ for a week. Given the coaches had planned to use Eddie for half a game at full forward, half a game in ruck, half a game as a midfielder and at least one quarter as loose player in defence, this was slightly disappointing news. Best to ignore it. Eddie is thrown into ruck, Laurence to full forward, where the big fella’ promptly makes sure our third goal scoring opportunity is not wasted - he goals and Swans have the first goal of the match. Phew...

Riverview are still getting plenty of ball though, but poor finishing again lets them down. Jake Veale, his thumb just six days out of plaster, has the critical job of taking the kick outs. A great kick out can set up a goal - a poor kick out will cost you one. For the third time Jake kicks out with precision. With a minute to go we transition the ball from defence to Eddie in midfield, who launches a long pass deep into attack, where Bish takes the mark 20 metres from goal. The siren blows as Michael lines up, ramping the mental pressure up a notch, but Bish calmly slots it through for our second goal. A great boost at the end of the quarter.

Quarter time: Swans 2 – 1 (13) to Riverview 0 – 3 (3)

During the break Rob is positive as ever. Andrew Grant, our rock at full back, points out the problem of our backline getting drawn up field. The tactical issues are addressed. The team huddle is calm and focussed.

Players return to their positions. We start well, win the first clearance and Eddie, clearly distressed physically at the break, is soon lining up for goal. He misses the first but converts another soon after. Riverview then lift and answer the goal. It is an arm wrestle.

Aaron, doing the job on Ethan, is cleaned up in a pack and has to come off. It upsets the rotations. Baker was due for a rest but has to slog it out for the whole quarter instead. We have five on the bench and interchanges are difficult on such a huge ground. We learnt against St Ives that too many changes can destabilise the team structure as well as drag players out of position. Certain players have specific match ups and cannot be rotated. The key is to ensure when players do get on, they have an impact, which is what we see throughout the game. Bish with a goal, Ben and Lukka both taking important marks in the back line. Luke, Sean and Jim playing their roles exactly as asked. And Leo has not given Tom Lewis a sniff. Better still, he gets the ball himself and has a shot, which just bounces across goal for a point.

Up forward Big Luke is a having a titanic battle with James Cubis and eventually breaks clear to score a goal. Riverview answer. Very late in the term we score our third for the term and Eddie has two for the quarter.

Half time: Swans 5 – 3 (33) to Riverview 2 – 4 (16).

It is a handy but far from decisive 17 point lead at the main break. Riverview are renown fast finishers. In the rooms Rob reinforces the key messages, we are happy with the match ups, need to ensure we match their intensity and hold our own at stoppages. Max, Andrew, Laurence, Aaron and Baker are commended. Positive reinforcement.

The third term starts and we know the first goal is going to be critical. We’ve beaten Riverview three times this year and if we can get the lead out to four goals it would be a big ask for them to come back against the momentum, with less than a half to go. But we don’t. Riverview score and it is just an eleven point ball game. They score another goal. Five points. Nathan has been doing a great job on a bigger opponent at half back, but he is hurt and hobbles off. Darcy and Jock have also been winning their positions at half back, but the backline is under siege as Riverview assert themselves in the midfield. They score a third goal for the term, its now three goals in five minutes, they have the lead by a point and we are being swamped. They are very pumped up and on a roll – momentum is like that. Our midfield suddenly looks tired, as they have every right to be. It is reminiscent of the first final, when Riverview scored five unanswered goals. We know the game could be lost before three quarter time if we don't stem the bleeding. Midfield options are limited, so Big Luke is swung to the backline, giving us an extra player to fight the onslaught. We are robbing our forward line of potency, but we have to stop their momentum – the game is at a tipping point and their run on has to be stopped. Riverview are still dominant, but Luke clears the ball on a couple of occasions, they go five minutes without a goal, until on the siren they get a fourth for the term. It stings and their tails are up, but the game is still in the balance and there to be won by either team.

Three quarter time Swans 5 – 5 (35) to Riverview 6 – 5 (41)

On the sideline we know we have to find a change up without weakening the team structure. The game is finely balanced - we can't go for all out attack or all out defense. Nor can we go with the status quo. It's tough to strengthen the midfield, forward line and backline simultaneously, but hey, its a grand final, why not give it a go? The magnets are thrown around. Harry Carr goes from half forward to half back, Nick Milton-Hine from wing to half forward, Henry to the wing, Darcy from centre half back to full forward, Jock from back flank to centre half back, Eddie goes from full forward to ruck rover, Jarrod from rover to half forward. Laurence is our sole ruckman, but Jock is on call if needed. Lots of changes, but the team structure is still balanced up the spine, the midfield strong and the key match ups in place. And if we needed a change up, Eddie on ball, sick or not, was always the plan.

Rob remained calm and positive, but there was also an intensity and steel to his words. Speaking with resolve, “this is exactly what we expected. Stick to the plan, win the centre clearances and stoppages...control the play when in possession, force turnovers when they have it...leave nothing in the tank!”

And, “If it’s is to be, it is up to me.” Thats me, quoting myself quoting Gary quoting Barassi. Ok, it was getting tired, but so was I and it worked for Gaz...and it mattered not. The boys were roaring and heard nothing – they were focussed and ready. I am struck by their intensity. They'd come to win.

Nic on the sideline asks if he is allowed to go on “just for five minutes”. He’s not on the team sheet, so the answer is no. Plus there is the amputation risk…but - who am I kidding, no, it’s just the technical problem, as a finger seems a small price to pay for a win over Riverview at this point. But Nic is not alone in his desire to take the field - there are five players on the bench also raring to go. My heads spinning, with 23 names on the magnet board - how to get five of them into the game? I've realised that with all the positional changes at 3/4 time I've neglected to rotate Luke and Lukka back in for Ben and Bish - we have to wait for the next goal now to make that change. Jim has played in burst. Sean - his season cruelled by injury, has only had a quarter and Linus is yet to have run. Without Linus we'd not even be in the grand final - he'd saved us from forfeit in week one, coming up from Div 3 to play four quarters when we'd desperately needed him. Much as he deserved it, he's not getting game time, but he's a hero too, telling me pre-match "I'm happy just to be here". Linus is not our best player, but no one has a better attitude.

The siren sounds and the ball is bounced. Fifteen minutes left to win a Grand Final. Riveriview had all the momentum going into the break, but it is immediately clear our boys have found another gear. We win the centre clearance and move the ball forward. We don't score, but we do lock the ball up in our forward half. It is crowded though and under pressure the ball is being delivered wide, into those deep, dead pockets at Macquarie University. We squander a number of opportunities, but at least we accumulate some points. The main thing is Riverview cannot get the ball past centre. Every time they look like clearing it our back-line mops up. Andrew has been a brick wall all day. Harry takes a strong overhead mark on the wing and drives the ball forward. We are dominating the clearances. Aaron has Ethan covered. Baker has been amazing all day – never once got that rest we promised him, but you’d never know it. Laurence not only contesting strongly and tirelessly in ruck, he is also winning hard ball at ground level. And sick Eddie is having the influence we hoped for, running hard and clearing the ball at stoppages. He’s blowing hard but we receive an emphatic message via a water boy “don’t worry about Eddie – he’s running out the quarter.” Jarrod is a live wire at half forward, Nicky Milton-Hine is coming into the play, getting some important touches, Henry has been solid all finals and is covering a quality player in Sierekowski with aplomb.

So we are dominating, but only scoring points. Until, on the far side of the ground, Max Zekulich emerges from a contest with ball in hand, surrounded by larger opponents. Despite scant time and space, he somehow manages to get ball to boot from the boundary line 45 metres out. It sails high towards the goal – it is a huge kick from a tight angle, but it has a long way to travel and there are Riverview players camped in the goalsquare ready to mark or punch it through the goals. The ball is dropping, its not going to make the distance…until suddenly, near the end of its flight the ball miraculously, in defiance of gravity, changes trajectory and rather than fall into the waiting enemy hands, drifts upward and then floats on by, over their heads, as though carried by a greater force - hardly possibly, I'm thinking, given our opposition - but then recall Max is one of theirs - so we watch the ball glide past outstretched arms, time has slowed down - or has it sped up? Whichever, I'm sure for a millisecond I detect angel wings on the ball, carrying it over the safety of the goal line, whereupon, as though relieved to be in neutral territory, the ball drops like a stone. A truly magical goal and the Swans are back in front!

And if anyone has a video camera trained on the coaching bench, they've just captured a toyota "Oh, What a feeling!" shot.

The goal signals Lukka and Luke's chance to run on.  We are counting down the clock.  Seven minutes to go - too soon to go defensive and besides, we are dominating.  Big Luke takes a good mark on a lead, but the angle is tight.  A goal will just about seal it.  You have the feeling he will play on to improve the angle and Luke being Luke, he does.  But unlike Luke, he misses.  The lead is out to three points now.  We have the momentum but the Riverview forward line is wide open and it only takes thirty seconds of good footy to set up a shot on goal.  Every contest is critical.  Rob is very vocal, urging players on at every contest.  The second and third efforts by every player are amazing.  No possession is uncontested.  Both teams are under immense pressure, but our boys are the ones winning the stoppages, often through sheer will power.   Linus is on for Luke.  The next move is to put Darcy behind the ball, an extra player loose in defence to cut off any Riverview attack.    Runner Kim is loaded with the message, but the ball is still in our forward line and Darcy has looked close to scoring a goal on several occasions, without the bounce ever falling his way.  The crowded forward line is working for us anyway.  A couple of minutes out and we pull that trigger.  Next is Jarrod as an extra midfielder to crowd the packs.  Not sure if that message got through.  But the players have heeded the lessons from week 1 of finals and are slowing play down.  We are holding the ball up where possible, kicking down lines, eliminating risks, everything Riverview would not want.   When it matters most, our team is playing an almost perfect quarter of footy - not always perfect in execution, but absolutely perfect in application.   A final shot at goal, offline, but it doesn't matter - only thirty seconds left.  Countdown, siren, jubilation, relief!  I watch our five interchange players leap into the air then race onto the field - Leo's favourite moment of the match he later tells people.  

Rob and I, opponents on this same stage three times previously, shake hands and then embrace.  Whatever he tells you, it was his idea…lots of history.  Magic.

Full time:             Swans 6 - 9 (45) to Riverview 6 - 5 (41).

Goal kickers:

                               Eddie            2

                               Laurence      1

                               Michael         1

                               Big Luke       1

Match Ball:          Aaron Parker

A magnificent come from behind win by our men.  As they proved in week one of the finals, they are resilient under pressure - never make excuses and when the game is on the line they all take responsibility for the team by lifting their own performance.  No club or group of parents could ever want for more.  To all of our players, from those who played the entire grand final, to those limited to cameo's and those sidelined by injury, your attitude has served you brilliantly this season and earnt you and your team the ultimate reward you can get in footy - a premiership.  And the same attitude will earn you even greater prizes in the years to come, in all aspects of your life.

Thank you to Lachy, Ollie, George and Nic for supporting the team on the day and running messages and water - in a four point game on a very hot day, whose to say that was not the difference?  

Thank you to Kim for running throughout the season and also attending and helping out at every training session.  

To our fantastic team managers, Viv and Scott - thank you for all your support throughout the year - and thank you for not putting Nic on the team sheet on Grand Final day.  He might only have lost a finger, but I would have been killed…

To all parents, as Leo so wonderfully put it at our nosh up, for driving the kids to the game - and for all your support at many levels, thank you.

To Rob, our players are very fortunate to have you as their coach.  Your footy nous is brilliant, but ultimately it is putting plans into action that count.  Our players are very responsive - a credit to them - but also to you, for the positive reinforcement you provided, the trust you established and the consistency of standards you maintained.

I've loved my involvement with this team in 2011.  There will be some changes as we move into Under 16's in 2012, but for the North Sydney Swans this is only the beginning.  I hope to see all of you back in 2012, to write another chapter in this wonderful story book.   

Huzz