Kingscliff - 1 . 0 . 6
Coomera - 16 . 11 . 107
With a large amount of outs (7 players and 4 coaches) the Dolphins hit the M1 to Coomera to play beneath the screams of Dreamworld’s Giant Drop, and it was a tough day out for our undermanned team as they faced the top-of-the-table Magpies.
The Coomera Magpies are a very strong team and played some fast, tough and skilful football. This was also combined with some loose defending by the Dolphins which allowed the Magpies to roam free and move the ball easily, and resulted in Coomera scoring shots coming thick and fast.
The message to the boys before the game was that the Coomera team were going to come out strong, and defence was going to be paramount, so every player in the midfield and backline were instructed to man up and stick to their opponent everywhere they went, all the time. The mantra was repeated at each quarter break.
Unfortunately the boys struggled to stick to the plan, and we know it can be tough defending against a strong team, but so many times the Magpies found space with our boys standing 10-20 metres away. I’m not sure how many times I said (and shouted) the phrase “man up” during the day, but it must have been in the thousands.
We also had trouble hitting our targets when we had possession of the ball, and these turnovers compounded our problems. But the boys kept up the fight and kept trying all day, which was great to see, with a breakthrough goal in the final quarter being the reward for some hard work by the Dolphins.
The coaches were proud of the way the boys kept trying for all four quarters, which we know can be tough when the opposition are kicking so many goals. Heads were down a bit, as can be expected, but they should be proud of their efforts against a strong and well drilled team.
Billy was our player of the week and he did some great work in defence and single-handedly stopped about 5 or 6 goals I reckon. He took some impressive strong marks and read the play well, and did some great long kicks out of defence too.
Zac also worked hard in defence and played a good game under heavy fire. Bohdi was strong playing in half back and the midfield, continually fighting hard to get the ball and move it forward.
Mason was also in the thick of it, and Andre used his pace well to get the ball moving. Archie kicked the lone goal for us and it was great to see him get on the scoreboard.
We had a good training session on Tuesday night working on some defensive drills, and we have some healthy and nutritious pizza being delivered to training tonight, so we’ll see if we can improve our defence against the Burleigh Bombers on Sunday, who are another strong team equal with Coomera at the top of the table.
