Coaches Report - R1
A's; B's C's vs Athelstone; D's vs TTG; E's vs Pembrok & Losa vs Uni
A Grade Match Report: Round 1 v Athelstone
After a solid preseason, 30 sessions, in fact, we look to the season ahead with a great deal of optimism.
Round 1 was finally upon us with a clash at home against our local rival in Athelstone Footy Club.
Quarter 1 was a tad messy. Both sides seemed to be sizing up each other’s game styles which caused many stoppages throughout the quarter.
Our delivery into the forward 50 was really letting us down, making it difficult for our forwards to make the most of our entries and despite leading in most of the stats, the ‘Raggies’ took a slender lead into the first break by 2 points.
At the break, there was a change of focus for the group. The main theme of our chat was to have more poise whilst disposing of the footy.
It was pleasing to see the lads completely shift their mindset as they began to play the brand of footy, we’ve all been accustomed to over the past two seasons.
We out muscled the opposition, outscoring 6 goals to 2 and headed into the Half time break with a 29-point lead.
The back 6 were outstanding in the first half, led by Josh Shute and Hayden Swanbury repelling Athelstone’s every move.
A reset again at halftime, as we knew that Athelstone would come back out to the field and try to wrestle back some momentum.
It became a bit of an arm wrestle in the third, but we were able to capitalise on our limited opportunities to win the quarter and extend our lead to 38 points.
In the last quarter, we showed great maturity and belief in our fitness program (thanks to John Turner), outscoring our opponents once again and achieve our goal of hitting100 points (set at the three-quarter time break), and to run out eventual winners by 47 points.
One of the highlights was the impressive spread of contributors, with 11 individual goal scorers showcasing our depth and versatility up forward.
After quarter time, our quick and clean ball movement allowed for better efficiency up forward, keeping the pressure on our opponents and creating plenty of scoring opportunities.
There were many standout performances on the day with our midfield in Beau Baldwin, Charlie Kemp and Xavier Tranfa working particularly hard at stoppage, giving us countless opportunities to move the footy and young ruck man, Patrick Baldwin gave us excellent first use, with his craft for 4 quarters.
We had one debutant in the A grade on the weekend, and that honor went to Dylan Huppatz, who had a fantastic preseason and thoroughly deserved his place in the side.
So, we now move onto Payneham next week, another great clash we all look forward to.
Overall, a really mature win by the group!
Final Score: ROCFC 15.12.102 defeated Athelstone 8.7.55
Goal kickers: T. McCormack 2, F. Wakelin 2, X. Tranfa 2, B. Baldwin 2, S. Lanzoni 2, J. Bradford 1, T. Bradford 1, C. Butcher 1, J. Shute, 1, J. Boxer 1.
Best Players: B. Baldwin, C. Kemp, H. Swanbury, J. Shute, X. Tranfa, P. Baldwin.
Congratulations to the leaders who were appointed for the 2026 season:
Stefan Lanzoni – Captain
Josh Shute – Vice Captain
Xavier Tranfa – Vice Captain
Hayden Swanbury – Dept. Vice Captain
Beau Baldwin, Will Mead and Tom McCormack round out the leadership group for the A grade.
Hope to see you all at Payneham this weekend.
Adam West
Assistant A Grade Coach
B Grade Match Report: Round 1 v Athelstone
Our focus for Round 1 was simple: Dynasty. We have been working hard on building strong connections as a young group so we can grow and create something special together. After a tough preseason, it was time to put into action what we had been working on.
In the first quarter, we looked a little nervous and took some time to settle. But once we found our rhythm, we were able to take a two-goal lead into quarter time.
The second quarter was a real arm wrestle, with both sides going hard at the contest. We broke even for the term, allowing us to maintain our two-goal buffer heading into the main break.
The third quarter was played on our opponent’s terms for about 10 minutes, but to the group’s credit, they held strong and didn’t concede any extra goals — something we may not have managed in the past. This was a real highlight and showed great maturity from our young side, going into three-quarter time with a 24-point lead.
Heading into the final quarter, we knew we had done the hard work, and we challenged the group to reward themselves for the position they had earnt. They responded brilliantly, kicking three goals to none in the last quarter to run out comfortable winners and start the season in style.
This result was thoroughly deserved and reflects the hard work the group has put in throughout preseason. Well done Lads — a great way to start the season.
Final Scores: ROCs 13:9 (87) defeated Athelstone 6:7 (43)
Best Players: H. Wilson, N. Reid, B, Lymn, A, Ismail , T. Griffiths
Goal Kickers: M. Aufderheide 3, A. Ismail 3, B. Spehr 2, N. Reid 1, H. Maxwell 1, J. Haddad 1, T. Griffiths 1 S. Carey 1
Jamie Thomas
B Grade Coach
C Grade Match Report: Round 1 v Athelstone
After a long and gruelling pre-season the club was ready for round 1. Especially the primetime ballers in the C grade. The players were eager to start the year and what better way to start our 2026 campaign than against the little brothers from across the road, The Athelstone Football Club. Or better yet known as ‘The Raggies’.
All the talking was finished and now it was time for action and boy, did the team show up in a big way. In what was a very one sided game the players showed a great deal of maturity and respect. The way the team moved the ball around the ground with speed and precision was second to none and our defence all around the ground was ROCKSOLID!
Was incredibly hard to pick five best players because everyone played there role and more. Anton Slivak and Eddie Elton took control of the half back line. They broke the lines and moved the ball with speed and purpose which gave our forwards first use. Skills were clean and made really good decisions with ball in hand. Harrison Twiggs and Aspen Davis battled hard all day in the ruck and up forward. There second and third efforts were fantastic and became scoring options up forward kicking six between them. Tommy Matsis was elite as per usual. Really got the midfield going from the start of the game.
Final Score: ROCS – 25.13.163 defeated Athelstone – 0.2.2
Goal Scorers: Karagich 5, Twiggs 4, Arslan 2, Matthews 2, Davis 2, L. Matsis 2, C. Thomas 2, Bischoff 1, Huppatz 1, T.Matsis 1, McGuinness 1, McNamara 1, Warren 1
Nick Karagich
C Grade Coach
D Grade Match Report: Round 1 v Tea Tree Gully
Rocs on the road to start season 2026, with the ultimate challenge of
taking on the benchmark team over the last few years & reigning premier TTGully.
As usual the match was a fiercely contested match up, Rocs were holding an advantage around the ground but wasted some easier shots on goal as the momentum of control switched between the teams. Rocs run & carry style of play & willingness to work together with quick ball movement was effective enough to hold a small lead at the first break. 1/4 time score Rocs 1-4 (10) vs TTGully 1-1(7)
Rocs were playing a great team game and started to create forward opportunities repeatedly, our backline were right on top, and the Rocs were relentless going forward. The Rocs kept up the pressure and managed a much better effort on goal to end the first half with a very handy 21pt lead. 1/2 time scores Rocs 5-7 (37) vs TTGully 2-4 (16)
The expected reaction from The Gullies was evident from the first bounce as the intensity around each possession was magnified to the maximum. Both teams were doing enough to create turnovers with fierce attack on the ball carrier as a dour contest continued to the siren. 3/4 time scores Rocs 5-10 (40) vs TTGully 3-7 (25)
A tiring Rocs were made to work extremely hard to keep TTGully from taking the game away but kept on working together to create enough forward chances for Rocs to hold on for a great & well deserved victory.
Final score Rocs 6-15 (51) defeated TTGully 4-9 (33)
Goalkickers- T. Barnes, A. Condo, P. Norris, C. Simile, J. Thoday, J. Platten.
Best players - N. Brown (first game for the club) , B. Warren, M. Dzido, S.Tagg, L. Tripodi.
Best team men - C. Pietrafesa, J. Avlonitis, J. Munchenburg - rest of the team
# On a sad note during the 1st quarter debutante Tom Fotheringham was involved in a heavy clash competing for the ball and was badly injured. Tom suffered 2 broken ribs & a punctured lung , our thoughts are with Fothers as he recoups from this early setback.
Steve Edwards
D Grade Coach
E Grade Match Report: Round 1 v Pembroke
Historic day for the club the launch of the 5th team. Thank you for all the support on the day it was a great atmosphere.
Nicknamed the “Ejects” what a fantastic performance for a first game. The appointed captain Tim Lewis and Vice Jack Hill lead from the front. As you know I believe a strong defence wins matches, Daniel Franzon, Alex Pietrobon, Pete (Pistol) Sianis led the way, with a solid performance from Henry Warren, Harry Musk, Darcy Nitsche, Ollie Kerkman and Blake Walker-Roberts.
Ed Lokan and Lachlan McGuinness debut for the Roccers and it was great to see our old warhorses, Sam Bridge, Tom Hurley, Tim Baccanello and Brendan Littler along with Simon Emanuele back in action.
Anthony Cream is back, and James Nyvlt was excellent.
Wayne Gowens battled hard along with Angas Massie in the forward line but in the end our prime movers Baccanello, Lewis, Hurley and Spehr delivered.
J-Mac was outstanding I anticipate myself and Stevo fighting for his services. The wingers in Jack Hill and Matt Mezzini dominated.
Final Scores: ROCs 13:17 (95) defeated Pembroke 0:10 (10)
Best Players: Tim Baccanello, Tim Lewis, Tom Hurley, Lachie Spehr & Matthew Mezzini
Goal Kickers: Hurley 4, Baccanello 2, 1 each to Littler, JMac, Hill, Spehr, Massie, Bridge & Mezzini.
We got a lot of more coming. My staff for ’26:
John Lewis assistant coach
Peter Buberis team manager
Peter Clemente match day official
Tony Franzon
E Grade Coach
LOSA - Round 1
Loreto OS 07 05 (47) def by
Adelaide University 03 05 (23)
Best Players: Tayla Gordon, Astrid-Marie Powell, Hannah Osborn, Elle Scott, Olivia Law
Goal Scorers: Lucy Franzon 1, Annie Green 1, Olivia Law 1
