2003 Round 3

Well it doesn’t get much hotter in London than it did on Saturday, so after battling it out all afternoon it was fantastic for the Raiders and Wildcats to again come away with convincing victories over the Hawks, while the Emus unfortunately were outgunned by a pretty impressive looking City Swans unit.

The most impressive thing about the Wildcats victory on Saturday was the way we finished the game off. Last year it was the type of game we would have lost - in it for the first three quarters but then overrun in the last. This wasn’t to be the case though and the boys steamrolled Wimbledon in the last term to run out winners by 23 points. The other impressive factor in the game was our physical presence. We’re hitting the ball and the man hard and that’s exactly what we want to do, we want to make other teams worried about playing us because they know that they are going to get hit with everything we’ve got to throw at them.

The Wildcats had winners in almost every position, starting in the middle. Dicko dominated the ruck clearances and controlled the air around the ground, allowing our on ballers – Bakes, Clarkey, Ako and Belly to get first use of the footy. Up forward the big Slug was giving us a target to look for and Ciaran and Ruiry were working well at ground level. The backline was once again at its miserly best with Gools/Sloog, Slates, Rory and JB continually repelling the advances and spring boarding our own attacks. Chris Meehan was also great back there and the boys are really starting to gel nicely. I can’t see many opposition teams kicking too many goals against us at the moment.

The Raiders also managed to get another win on the board, but at times they haven’t looked overly impressive with the personnel they’ve had playing. Perhaps a few more sessions on the track and an earlier arrival on game day might be needed? We started the match a man down on the ground due to the district line problems and ended it a man down when the Big Codd Fish did his hammy in the third quarter leaving us an EU short. Although in the end we were easy winners, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done if we’re to achieve the lofty heights that we’ve set for ourselves. Things like playing to position and pushing both ways rather than just forward. Madz was again one of the better players, along with Gerry, Gus and DB who did a great job in defence, and the late arriving Evans brothers, Pat and Damien. I also think the heat really started to show up our lack of fitness, so there’s a lot of room for improvement there.

In the Emus we were severely outclassed by a surprisingly strong City Swans outfit. Despite them playing the first half of the first quarter with 18 players to our 16 as stated in the rule book and consequently having their score discarded after they’d booted three goals, they still managed to lead at quarter time and from then on extended it at every break. Full credit to the Emus players though who are amongst the most committed at the club, which is fantastic for the depth of the Raiders and Wildcats, and they battled it out til the end. There are plenty of opportunities coming up for blokes that have played consistently well to get a crack playing at a higher level. Dave Hulsman was again amongst the best, as well as Benny Kent, Aussie Austin, Benny Smollet in the ruck, and Fred and Stuey Shutts who’ll both be much better for the run. However despite the best efforts of everyone, we still went down by a tick over 20 goals.

I think the feeling around after the Wildcats game and again out having a few beers that night shows that everyone realises that we are in for a big year, and sticking together like we have been is exactly what playing footy in London is all about. So with just a little bit more hard work on the track and everyone pushing in the same direction then there’s no reason why we can’t go all the way this year. We’ve got another huge game this weekend, our first for the year out at Trailfinders, against the side that beat the Wildcats in last year’s grand final, North London. Let’s hope the pay back will be swift and brutal.

Go Cats,

Dogga.