Coachy's Corner: Round 6, 2009

Hi everyone,

After our 14 point loss to The Wannabees three weeks ago, the Round 6 clash against this in-form side promised to be a beauty. We had Dani & Narelle return to the side to have a hit-out before next week's finals. Brent, Narelle & Simon started back. Dean, Luke & young Matt (who was filling in for us) were up forward, and in a rare move, I played in the centre - joined by Dani. The Bullets got off to a good start kicking the first two goals. Matt opened the account after a lovely pass from Brent, then when Luke found Dean right in front, we were looking good. The Wannabees started to rally a little and peppered the goals during the next few minutes. Luke and I swapped roles, while Dean scored another beautiful goal - he was playing well. I then marked and kicked my first to have both teams around even. Simon & Brent were playing well, Dani had gathered a few possessions, as too had Luke. A first half highlight was a sensational mark to Simon, displaying a big leap, with that huge reach and playing in front of his opponent. He landed on the turf, footy tucked under the arm. It is one of the best marks I've seen in rec footy. The side was 11 points down at half time and needed to keep the pressure up.

The break saw a good time to make some changes. Young Matt joined Luke in the middle and Dani went forward. The Wannabees got off the mark straight away with a goal and had control of the ball. Simon, Narelle & Brent were battling away in defence, when five minutes in, Simon and his giant opponent flew for a mark with Simon coming off second best. Simon, who was again in front of his opponent, got his feet tangled up with the other bloke, with the giant opponent falling on top of him, resulting in Simon receiving a horrible knee injury. As he was helped from the ground, the only thing that ran through my mind was, apart from the obvious discomfort he would be experiencing, this would, after playing and competing so well this year, be the end of his season. The match continued on, with The Bullets starting to find a bit of touch again. Narelle started to find the ball, with nice kicks out of the backline. Brent continued to find the footy, with young Matt & Luke chiming in. I happened to score my second goal, then Dean put through another one, started by a Narelle pass in defence, to have this game up for grabs. The Wannabees were also playing well, and kicked a couple in a row. Luke's chasing was great, as was Dean's. Dean was terrific up forward presenting for the ball, he marked well and found Dani & I with good passes. Then when Dani marked and goaled for her first, we were drawing The Wannabees in. Dean ended up with his fourth but it wasn't enough as The Wannabees won the day by 11 points. We played well in a very competitive game.

Positives were: Brent continuing to find and use the ball well, Dean's performance, which was back to classic leading, marking and goalkicking, Luke's chasing and one percenters, Narelle's kicking out of the backline was great to see, Dani's marking in the forward line and Simon's first half was terrific. It was a good hit-out for the team in a close game. The Bullets have a Grand Final appointment next Wednesday, so we all look forward to see how we go in the final week of rec footy for '09.

Best Players: Dean, Brent, Dani, Simon, Narelle.