Round 14 Newsletter

Match Day Lunch- Don't forget the second match day lunch is this Saturday v Fitzroy. Hawthorn premiership player John 'Bomber' Hendrie will be the guest speaker. click here for the flyer. RSVP by Thursday at the latest to jonderry@optusnet.com.au

Senior
The clash between 3rd & 4th placed teams at Albert Park promised to provide an exciting afternoon's football for all in attendance. Old Camberwell were well aware of Ajax's ability to get off to a "flyer" therefore there was a strong feeling in the group that an intense effort would be required early on in order to set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. The Jackers maintained a slender lead at the first break and maintained it at the half time break, with the Wellers struggling to find the big sticks, kicking 3.7 for the quarter. Early on the Jackers' mid fielders were holding sway, dominating the clearances and testing fully the young Wellers' defence. As the game unfolded, the Wellers mid fielders regained the momentum at centre bounces, and at stoppages and the forward entries were becoming more regular. There was a strong sense of calm in the away teams rooms, with the margin sitting at 10 points. The boys came out firing and scored 7.1 to the Jackers who were having their own issues with the kicking radar, scoring 2.8. The ball was buzzing end to end, in an extremely entertaining quarter of football. Warren Carlyle's 3 goals, all from strong marks, was a feature in the development of a 13 point lead at the final break. The match became an arm wrestle for the first 8 minutes of the quarter, where neither side scored. Both backlines defended resolutely, before the forwards got their act together. Ultimately, the young Wellers side, held sway to record its strongest victory for the season, by defeating a more highly fancied opponent. Better Players: Alex Lattuada, Simon Bonahady, Peter Jenkin, Andrew Clarke, Dan Morley, Mitchell Hough

Reserve
Starting with only 19 fit players and one running late due to other sporting commitments it appeared we had weathered the early storm by holding our own in the first quarter. Dom La Fontaine was playing his best game for the season and the Cottrell brothers were creating havoc for their individual opponents. Blake Hillier was also providing some strong attack on the ball and our defense was holding strong. Unfortunately during the second quarter we produced probably one of our more insipid 25 minutes of football which allowed the opposition to run riot and take a commanding lead into the half time break. Apart from struggling to hold our feet in the difficult ground conditions the over use of handball and simple turnovers made life very difficult for our team structures. After the usual “home truths” session during the major break the second half of the game was an arm wrestle with AJAX running out winners, 16gls 12 behinds to Old Camberwell 11 gls 10 behinds – almost exactly the half time leading margin. During the second half our mobile division of Searles, Robinson and Hudson battled hard against a very strong opposition. In defense, Woodbridge and Middleton maintained their strong work ethic and up forward it was left to Sam Mulligan to provide some aggressive attack on the ball. This week we are back home to play Fitzroy in an opportunity to redeem ourselves for the narrow loss to them early in the season.

Under 19
On Saturday the Under 19s faced off against a team on equal points in Uni Blues. Both teams were one game outside the four. Needless to say the stakes were high as the winner would be a true finals contender and the loser having a near impossible task to make it. In near perfect conditions other than a sloppy centre wicket area it was poised to be a cracking game with both teams having some big ins as it was the end of the mid year Uni holidays. The game started with both sides missing some early chances in front of goal. The Uni Blues started to get on top slightly due to some nice skills and hard running. At quarter time they held a 13 point lead. More was needed if the Wellers were to bridge the gap by half time. The Second quarter was a very even one, with both teams trying to gain the advantage. By half way through the quarter the Wellers had gained the run of play through some big efforts in the midfield, however other than one or two forwards firing this spell of possession was not capitalised upon and only yielded two goals. Whilst at the other end Uni looked very efficient on entering their front 50 meters with the fewer opportunities given. At half time Uni led by 14 points. At half time the Old Camberwell side was reminded how important this game was to the season. Whilst not playing particularly well the effort was good and the coaching staff where pleased however some poor option selections and poor discipline (both traits not common to this group of footballers) cost the team dearly to half time. The team where urged to play more intelligent football. The third quarter started with the ball being cleared quickly and cleanly by the Uni on ball unit, this would set the trend for the rest of the game. From this point Uni dominated, piling on the goals and making the Wellers look second rate. The third quarter was as poor as we had seen from the Wellers this year. Luckily Uni missed some relatively easy chances in front of goal. One was hoping it would turn around quickly! It didn’t! What ensured was an unacceptable effort by the Old Camberwell under 19’s. Allowing the opposition to run around as they pleased kicking goal after goal unimpeded. Uni Blues ran out winners by 64 points. The Old Camberwell under 19’s team has been built around its hardness at the ball and player, which has yielded some good success over the season but what was served up in the final quarter was nothing short of an embarrassment. Some players need to ask themselves if they really wanted to play football on Saturday or did they just want an excuse to get together before the Gala dinner. Some players went twice as hard on the dance floor as they did on the field and it stunk! To those players who busted their gut I commend you on your efforts and thankyou, to those players who missed due to injury and promotion I apologise on behalf of the team, we let you down. The great thing about Football is that it gives you a chance to redeem yourself time and time again. This week we have a golden opportunity to win back the respect lost by putting in a strong performance against the in form Beaumaris. I’m sure with the character of the individuals concerned that the effort will be our best of the year. Beware the wounded Weller!

Under 18
This game was our opportunity to again make a statement to the rest of the competition, to defeat another finals contender and to take over second spot on the ladder – a very important game in the context of the U18 Division One season. We had a great opportunity – and we missed it. The stark outcome of this game is that we waited until Round 14 with 4 games to go before the finals to play our worst game for the season. Despite a very disorganised game day preparation and being unable to even finalise our Team until just before the start of the game, we managed to start the game with a fair amount of intensity. Unfortunately, we were not capitalising on our dominant possession of the ball. Our basic skills and fundamentals of talking and team support were down and we missed several very easy shots at goal. For all the play and dominance we had, we should have been several goals in front at quarter time. Once again, we were relying on the efforts of several individuals to propel us forward. It was obvious from the bench that our use of the ball through basic handballs, basic kicking and basic support through blocking and shepherding was well below par. Instead of being able to draw on each other’s trust and certainty of what to do as a group in times of pressure, our Team strength crumbled when it really mattered. With only 5 points between both sides at three quarter time, the last quarter was massively dominated by Oakleigh who rallied together, motivated one another and they psychologically overpowered you with their confidence, trash talk and running to slam on 6 goals and missed another 5. I reckon our group of players is applying about 50% or less of your potential. Your task is to unleash that extra 50%. It will only come from working together to harness all of that potential. Only YOU can decide what you want out of this season and decide what you are willing to exchange for that. YOU have to as a group establish this Team’s priorities for the rest of the season and GO TO WORK.

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