Coaches Report R7
C's , B's and A's all uploaded - Another great weekend for the ROC's with strong wins over TTG in the A's & B's and the C's over Walkerville
A Grade Report - R7
Saturday's game against TTG was probably our worst performance for the season. Our first quarter was ok, we came out with good intensity, our tackling was at a good standard and we gave our forwards enough opportunities to kick and good first quarter score. However, for all of the second, most of the third and most of the fourth quarter we were very poor. We were well beaten at clearances, our ball movement was sloppy and we turned the ball over a lot. Consequently the game could've gone any way at three quarter time with the scores locked away. But to the players credit they managed to change things up and for 10-15min period in the last quarter they moved the ball with better fluency, hit targets, reduced our turn overs and kicked the ball to our forwards advantage. This 10-15min of good football allowed us to kick 6.4 to 1.1 for the last quarter and win the game by 33 points. The 33 pint margin certainly flattered our performance!
Luke Manuel continued his good season and accurate goal kicking to finish with five goals. Charlie O'Malley was outstanding at full back, not only blanketing his opponent but also showing composure and good decision making when he had the ball. Brendan Littler won a lot of hard balls and played a consistent 4 quarter game. Mitch Sutcliffe, playing his third game of A grade battled well in the ruck and his efforts certainly helped the side stay in the game once we lost Kieran Holland to a hamstring injury during the first quarter.
If we're to remain in the top 5 we must improve on this performance. We look forward to taking on Broadview this Sat at ROC Park and going into the break with some good form.
Tom Wigley
A Grade Coach
B Grade Report
After a solid performance against Henley, it was important for the ROCS B grade to continue their strong form against Tea Tree Gully. Pertaringa is always a difficult ground to play well at, so it was extremely pleasing to see the boys play some of their best footy for the year to run out eventual winners by 19 pts!. After a slow start to the 1st quarter, the ROCS dominated the next 30 minutes of football, kicking 7 goals to 1 to open up what proved to be an unbeatable margin. In the end the margin flattered Tea Tree Gully, with the boys probably deserving to win by 5 or 6 goals.
With 2 of our key on-ballers out from the previous week, it was important for other players to lift and cover for their absence. Sam Bowler in this regard was sensational. His continuous run and ability to win the ball through the midfield set-up many of our 1st half goals. It’s great to see him playing to so well! Dale Sheedy’s attack on the footy was something to be seen and his hard work and strong hands at CHF provided us with a tremendous target. Sam Wilson and Nic Holland played outstanding defensive games in their key defence positions, and Chris Ash showed that he can be a damaging player for us in the midfield and across half-back.
With one game left until the bye, it’s important that we set ourselves to put in another strong peroformance against Broadview this weekend. Being 7 wins - 1 loss at the end of this round would put us in a healthy position to push hard in the 2nd half of the year for a position in the top 3.
Final Scores: ROCS 11-12 (78) def Tea Tree Gully 8-11 (59)
Goal Scorers: J. Harrison 3, S. Fitzgerald 2, D. Sheedy 2, T. Versace 1, S. Bowler 1, K. Smith 1, J Lyons 1
Best Players: S. Bowler, D. Sheedy, S. Wilson, C. Ash, N. Holland
Paul Bannister
B Grade Coach
C Grade Report - R8
Round 8 against Walkerville was the biggest test the young ROCs squad has had to face during the first round of season 2013. The Walkerville side had demolished the ROCs in the qualifying final of 2012, winning by more than 90 pts and de-railing our finals’ campaign.
As the ROCs took to the hallowed turf of our home ground, ‘the Quarry', the game started with Walkerville dominating the ruck & centre clearances slamming home 2-1 before any of the shell-shocked ROCs players had touched the pill... The ROCs on-ballers became more physical at the contest led by Murf (Pat) Murphy in ruck, Hollywood Gava and small-men, Stagg (Sam Tagg) & Jacko Adams began to influence the game with some heavy tackles and presence around the ground.
Bungee (Juddy) O'Connor joined in with some important touches and the juggernaut was awakened as all ROCs players rose to another level and took total control of the game, despite some of the worst & most questionable umpiring ever witnessed. We dominated play while holding our opponents goalless from the 5 min mark in the 1st qtr till 1/2 time. ROCs forwards were in control spreading possessions and linking to drive home 8-4- 52 vs 2-3-15 at the long break.
As expected Walkerville threw everything they had at the physically smaller ROCs boys & held the ball in their forward zone. The ROCs defence held the Cats at bay as Jacko McSozza, Plugger (Dan) Farrugia, Brad Holloween Hollis & the Thirsty Camel Shirley repelled the Cats’ best efforts. A not-too-well-disguised elbow from the Velvet sledgehammer (Funk Millard) started some heavy retaliation from the Cats. A fiery few minutes ended with a ROCs free kick, a quick transfer from defence into attack, with Stagg on the end of some courageous & persistent effort from Grizzly Adams to slam home a major against the run of play. Once again the ROCs Academy of Football took control until the final bell, outscoring their opponents in all quarters of a highly entertaining & physical encounter with the Walkerville side, with ROCs emerging 49pt victors at full-time.
Final scores: ROCs 15-7- 97 def Walkerville 7-6-48
Players just out of the best were Wonker (Jack) Tagg embarrassing opponents with flair & poise, Rowdy (Josh) O’Leary dominating the wing displaying courage & lightning pace, Vic (The Wizard) Pisaniello on ball or across half-forward displaying all his skills, Snorkel (Matt) Zamparelli holding pack-marks against bigger opponents, Jersey Boy (Paulo) Emanuele with Adam (Richter scale) Richter finishing off their team-mates’ fantastic plays booting three quality goals apiece.
Goalkickers - P.Emanuele-3, A.Richter-3, M.Zamparelli-2, H.Edwards-1, S.Adams-1, T.Gava-1, J.Pick-1, D.Leggett-1 S.Tagg-1, M.Bazzica-1
Best players - J.McCarron, D.Farrugia, A.O'Connor, S.Tagg, T.Gava
Best team-man - B.Hollis
Steve Edwards
C Grade Coach
