Coachy's Corner: Round 5, 2011 Hi everyone, The Bullets just sneaked home in our Round 5, 6:40pm fixture this week against Fitzroy, in pretty warm conditions. The team had also lost Renee, who will be missing for our Grand Final next week. We were joined on the sidelines by Narelle and Keith Randall, who are expecting their first child soon, to have a look at how the team's travelling. Plus John-Paul Shanley popped down for a look at how AFL 9s is played. Eddie and Dean ventured forward for the first half; Olivia, Rob & Andrew were in defence while Luke, Laura & Brent took on the midfield. With Brent playing the majority of his footy in defence in recent times, this was a good chance to see how he went in the middle, as he hadn't appeared there for quite a while. Unfortunately for him, he received a heavy knock on the leg in the first five minutes which restricted his running capacity and general movement. Still, he played on to effect and gave good service during the half. Luke's half was also very good, pulling down marks and winning plenty of touches. Laura too, got a couple of handy possessions running out of the middle, which was pleasing to see. Andrew continued on from the Corporate Games with his sublime form in defence, using the ball really well, setting up scoring opportunities with lovely kicking to running targets. Rob supported him well, taking a couple of saving marks and using the footy beautifully by foot, with Olivia doing the same. Ed and Dean took full advantage of this, kicking 1 and 3 goals respectively, which was no mean feat, marking and kicking into the sun. But we were still 9 points behind at the change - Fitzroy scoring a late super goal at the end of the half. I thought it was time to move Andrew forward for the second half, he was setting up play from down back, but now I wanted to see if he could make a difference up the other end. Olivia also wandered up forward to try and snare a super goal or two. With only the two girls on hand, we threw Laura into defence to join Brent and Rob, while Ed went into the midfield with Luke. After a few minutes, the umpire stated we must have a female playing mid, so Laura joined Luke; Ed joined Rob & Brent and Olivia stayed forward. What a lead struggle that followed. Dean kicked the first goal - and his fourth - to bring the margin to 3 points. Fitzroy then got out to a 16 point lead. Andrew took a mark and scored his first, then Olivia led out, marked and goaled, to bring it back to 1 point. But Fitzroy whipped the ball up the other end for a goal, with Andrew replying with one of his own to have it to 1 point again. A Fitzroy 9 point super goal followed right after and we were in a bit of bother again, 10 points down. The Bullets, led by Luke and Rob, got the footy up to Olivia for another 9 pointer - with a behind following for the Bullets, to make scores all tied. With play continuing on, Luke got the ball to Andrew for another goal - his third, to put us six up. Fitzroy followed with a behind, with the siren sounding soon after, with us surviving the challenge by 5 points. With only two in the middle, Luke's massive knockouts from the centre were a feature. He really imposed himself on the contest by taking marks and winning the ball at crucial times. Rob's foot passing was fantastic to watch out of defence and Brent and Ed were in the thick of it. Andrew and Olivia continued to show how well they can play at both ends of the ground. That was a terrific hitout for the group, getting over the line in a tight one is always pleasing. We now have another Grand Final - our third in a row. We're all looking forward to it - we'll see how we go...