Our 1st match of the season saw us playing at Home against the Tweed Coast Tigers. A few nervous faces arrived at the ground because for so many of them, it was their 1st game of AFL. That was all put to bed from the 1st bounce as the team really hit their straps as soon as the game started.
Lily Young, James Bele and Alfie Cameron gave us some real drive out of defence and midfield and constantly got in 1st to give our forwards a great opportunity to kick some goals. Mason Sinclair capped off their good work to take some nice marks and kick a few snags in the 1st half.
Oxford Davies was in the thick of it and constantly got in amongst it to be a dominant player all day. Play of the day came from Tully Aalders in the last quarter. He picked the ball up in the FWD line then ran the whole way turning and dodging around anyone who got in his way. Running into an open goal, 1 defender stood in his way, he then stopped and waved his hand furiously for them “to get out of the way” so he could kick his 1st goal haha...Well done Tully!
But the player of the game was Georgia Van Velzen. Constantly put her body on the line and got after the ball as determined as anyone I’ve seen and gave her team mates 1st use by always linking up. Congrats Georgia!
All in all everyone really contributed and had a crack which was very pleasing. I have no doubt all them will improve out of sight as the season progresses!
Go Dolphins! Jess.
The Dolphins Under 11 side’s game against Lismore ended in the third quarter sadly with a serious injury to Arlo who got his arm bent back under his body in a strong tackle by the opposition player.
We all hope he mends as soon as possible, and our thoughts go out to him.
The game starting evenly poised in the first five minutes and Lismore showed us it wasn’t going to be the one-sided affair we thought it might have been. We lent the opposition Levi F and Milan to even up the numbers in the first half and both boys can be commended for their great attitude in accepting this decision by the coach. Milan starred for them in the first half. Despite Lismore being our equal all over the ground in the first half we were dominant on the score board with first gamer Max having a blinder and scoring at will, kicking three early goals, and taking the pressure off. Jesse took over from him to score another quick three goals mid match and Joe B chimed in with a lovely goal to put the match out of their reach.
The team played well with everyone performing their roles perfectly and our leaders all did their jobs as asked. Great to see Sunny & Ole both kick points and get amongst it up forward with Levi, Jesse, Zac and Taj in the engine room feeding the forwards. With our general Riley rallying the troops down back we held them to only one point – well done backline. When the game was called it was 48 to 1 point. Keep up the good work boys !
Cheers, Simon
Welcome Under 8 Kingy Dolphins Reds, How exciting to have our very first game of the season at home in front of a strong supportive Kingy crowd on Mother's Day.
The Kingy team took to the field running through the Mother's Day tunnel which was exciting for the boys and mums. For some of our players, it was their very first time playing AFL and they did not disappoint. They were led by the more experienced boys of the team who had played before and dominated the contested footy.
As expected the game started slowly as both teams found their groove. However, as the game continued, all players settled, providing a wonderful spectacle for all onlookers. Our first goal came through a clever off the ground kick by Joey. Archie and Oxford took some great contested and non-contested marks. While Sullivan, provided lots of speed and agility to break defensive lines. Congratulations to Harley, awarded the coaches' votes as best on ground (BOG).
Thank you to the Lismore Swans who travelled up to play us. We know a lot of the families were affected by the floods and it was great to play against such a competitive team. Although we don't keep scores, I can tell you it was a very close game.
Thank you to the Kingy Dolphin players Zac, Xavier, Jobe and Max who played and helped the Swans team. When opposition sides a short of players and our team has subs, we will do our best to have players on the field at all times. Kingy Dolphin players throughout the season will take turns to play for the opposition if needed.
As always, Coach James, Coach Fletch and Manager Josh were extremely proud of all the boys and the spirit they played in.
After what has seemed a life time, Round 1 had finally arrived and the excitement was splashed all over our players faces.
The U/10 whites jumped out of the blocks doing a lot of the scoring in the first half. The attitude of the Kingy whites was outstanding throughout the whole game. Their focus being towards being the BEST TEAMMATE possible really did shine through.
The Ballina Bombers 3rd Qtr was exceptional and we did what we could to hang in there and stay in front on the scoreboard. With a great team performance in the last Qtr & the team having a huge amount of fun the U/10’s Whites were able to keep the Ballina Bombers at arms length and secure a very narrow Victory.
Special mention to JACK who was nominated “player of the week” by Assistant Coach Trevor.
We all look forward to Round 2.
Solly & Trevor
First game of the season is now in the bag and the mighty U10 Reds put in a very strong performance at home. We played against a majority girls team from Ballina and the opposition toiled away all game and it was pleasing to watch both sides crack in.
The introduction of a new zone rule is taking some getting used to and we did seem to overcrowd certain parts of the ground. As the year progresses we will be looking to make sure that our team maintains some structure and uses the whole field and displays a really good brand of footy.
We had many new faces in the team this year and a good collection of returning players from U10 Red last year. The experienced players helped bring the new players into game and as time wore on we saw some really impressive passages of play.
Our Player of the Week this week went to Joel. This was Joel's first game of footy and in the early parts of the game showed great poise with some slick handballs to spot open teammates. He then moved forward and slotted three goals and set up a few more in a very special performance. The coaches have been stressing to the players how important it is to run into space and keep some width and Joel applied this to his game and was duly rewarded.
Next week we are at home again and face Byron Magpies at 10am. Byron is always a tough game and we are looking forward to showing them what the Dolphins are made of.
Go Dolphins!
Ben, Jono and Mick
