Kingscliff - 1 . 4 . 10
Burleigh - 12 . 10 . 82
Round 11 saw us at home (Murbah) taking on the Burleigh Bombers who are equal top on the Division 3 ladder, so we knew it was going to be another tough opponent (again with a lot of our players missing).
Training during the week was focused on defending and covering the opposition, and then we also had a pizza and games night where we had a bit of fun and a team meeting. We had a chat with the boys about the awards we will present at the end of season and how to get the most from their footy, and to let them know that we are proud of what they are achieving as a team in a division where they are often up against much stronger opponents.
Straight from the first bounce we could see that the boys had been listening to us during the week, and the intensity and effort had definitely stepped up a notch. The only main difference on the field was that the Bombers had a very fast and skilful forward line that would strike quickly and accurately. But apart from that, the Dolphins put in a strong and gutsy effort for all four quarters, applying pressure and winning the ball and making the Bombers work very hard across the ground. During the second quarter in particular we held the Bombers to 10 points in what was a very even contest. The scoreboard didn’t show it but we had a lot of entries into our forward line and it was great to see the boys put up a good fight against one of the top teams.
Tommy B was our player of the week. Not sure what he had for breakfast but he came out hungry for the ball and was applying huge amounts of pressure on the Bombers. There was a passage of play (right in front of the coaches box) where Tommy tackled a player, then dived to smother a kick, got straight up off the ground, layed another tackle, and then another tackle, and then got up from the ground again and desperately smothered another kick to put the ball out of bounds. This was all in the space of about 10 seconds and it was an amazing piece of football to watch up close.
Bohdi also played a great game with some solid marks, constant tackling and pressure, lots of touches, and some great long runs to get the ball moving.
Captain Milan was also impressive (even after 2 weeks of being very sick), and Andre again used his speed to great effect. Zac did well in defence rebounding a lot of the Bombers attacks. Mason also had a good second half where he got stuck right into the contests.
Tommy H impressed the coaches by sticking to his man all day, and jumping up and contesting every ball that came his way. These are the small things that we are trying to get every player to do, and just the simple act of preventing the opposition from taking an uncontested mark can make a huge difference to how the game plays out. Max D also got a few touches and did well when the ball was near.
Also a big thanks to Orlando (OJ) who filled in from the U11s. He’s got a great attitude and never gives up even against players twice his size.
So even though it was a loss, we were very happy with how the boys played. This far into the season it’s also great to see how the boys have bonded as a team and how comfortable they are with each other, with some good greetings, banter, and joking around before the game and during warmups. This Sunday we face the Ormeau Bulldogs (3rd on the ladder) which will be another tough assignment. However, after that we have a few games against the teams in the lower part of the ladder, and it will be great to see how we go after the past few weeks of getting battle-hardened.
