17 May Round 4 2024 Coaches Match Reports
Huge round of Footy for the Club as we celebrated the Pat Cronin Foundation Appreciation Round.
Obviously, a cause extremely important to us all at RJFC being Pat’s junior Footy Club. A fantastic day greeted us at Research Park and the Football was nothing short of fantastic with four wins and a draw across the five games at Research Park. It was extra special to have Matt Cronin, Pat’s Dad and former RJFC President, with us for a few hours to watch some of the u14 and u15 Boys Games and have a chat to many Research People. All in all, it was just a great way to honor Pat and the work the Foundation is doing – The love at Research Park on Sunday was just beautiful to be a part of, despite a few hangovers!
Round 4 also marks the final grading game. I anticipate by the time this Report goes live that grading is finalized and we see start to see some stable fixturing moving forward. I will continue to push for what is best for US as a club over and agenda’s the League might have. Our priority is our kids and our teams and them playing at the most appropriate level of Football.
Highlights this week
- Incredible five games at Research Park. All very high standard games played in great spirit. Headlined by one of the better U18 Girls games you will ever see – two very talented teams going head to head.
- Our team Captains presenting their Pat Cronin Medals to their opposition’s player for Courage, Respect and Fair Play !
- 50 Game Milestones for Grace Reed (u16 G) and Harvey Gould & Harrison Jones (14 B)
- The u17 Boys battling bravely away in Div 1. Challenges a plenty, but setting the standard of competitiveness and resilience that is the envy of the club.
- Xavier Groves (u14 Boys) awarded the one and only Pat Cronin Medal for a Research Player by the Laurimar Football Club – and presented by Matt too (little bit proud over here !)
Boys Under 11
This week saw us at home against an undefeated Monty to celebrate the annual Pat Cronin round. This round not only marks the tragic passing of Pat, but allows our club to compete in his honour, doing what he loved – playing footy.
Being a couple of players short, we had our backs against the wall. After a gripping pre-match address, and a reminder of what this round means to us, we hit the park keen to get into it. We started slowly in the cold. Fumbling, dropping marks, kicking across into packs and to their loose players. It opened up a couple of easy goals for them as our players were still adjusting to the flow of the game. We managed to restructure with some magnet shifting and got some pressure going our way. We were a goal down by quarter time and a reset worked well. Our pressure lifted in the second as the sun broke and we used the ball better resulting in some great forward pressure. Monty matched us well and we each kicked 2 for the quarter. Down by 4 points at the half.
The boys had a well earned rest at half time and we worked out where we needed to lift. We came out firing in the 3rd. Our tackling pressure increased and our ball use was a lot better. Centre clearance was sharp and first use with quick forward entries had them scrambling as we kicked another 2 whilst keeping them to 1 point for the quarter.
We went into the last with the job of finishing out the game well, trying to keep the momentum going forward. A scoreboard issue kept us guessing as Monty kicked 2.2 to our single goal in the last. Our tackling pressure stopped a lot of entries into their forward line, but our backs copped it all day with Monty’s loose players finding room to keep the footy going their way, and finding targets inside 50. Their big boys were clunking everything and converting, but our backs kept them well held for most of the day. Siren.
The boys rushed off the find out the score as the board hadn’t moved since 3 quarter time. Once we confirmed with Corey, and the goal umpires, we had a draw. Both finished on 7.3.45.
The boys fought hard all day. They knew they started slowly and lifted throughout the game. Monty kept us honest all game and played well. Looking forward to playing them again with a full strength team.
Special mention to Gus kicking his first for the year, and it was a ripper. Well done mate. And for Josh’s 3 – all from pressure play. Awesome effort.
Goalkickers: Josh 3, Cayden 2, Charlie 1, Gus 1.
Thanks to all involved. Coaches, on field and off
Go searchers.
Cheers,
Brad
Boys under 14
Last grading game of the year.
Another cracking weather day for Pat Cronin round. We also celebrated Harvey Gould and Harrison Jones playing their 50th games. Congratulations to both as they continue there football journey with RJFC.
After last week’s loss the boys where keen to bounce back. We talked about how to control momentum changes within a game. And as I’m finding out this group is starting to mature and take on board what we talk about and train for.
We got off to a good start again and controlled most of the first half. The backline held up well with Harvey K and Tom Johnson repelling the oppositions attacks. Harvey has a knack of being in the right spot when he plays down back. He reads the ball well and gets himself into space to take intercept marks. Tom Robinson had a great start to the game kicking two awesome goals.
Once again our third quarter wasn’t as strong as we’d like. We let ourselves down with some poor defence. I have been throwing the team around a lot over the past four weeks which has lead to a bit of inconsistency quarter to quarter. Now that grading is finished I hope to settle the team down a bit.
Super proud how the team responded in the last quarter as we settled again and put the game away. Bondy kicked his first goal of the year with a great read of the ball over two oppositions hands. Played on and kicked an easy goal. Blake in his third game ever attacked the footy, won himself a free kick and slotted it home.
Real even team effort again and looking forward to the rest of the season.
Best players: Thomas Johnson, Harvey Kulibaba, Everett Moore, Xavier Groves, Max Condon
Boys Under 15
Research 11.13.79 Defeated Hurstbridge 9.4.58
A great win by the U15 boys this week.
Such an important week for the club with PC round. We were honoured to be able to have Matt Cronin come into the room to speak with both the RJFC U15’s and the Hurstbridge U15 sides together in the homeroom before the game. It was such an important time for both teams to reflect on the importance of the PC foundation and the importance of mateship, respect, fairness and hard play – all of the characteristics which Pat displayed in his time with RJFC. This clearly meant a lot to our Research boys as they ran out onto the ground. Both teams then came together in a show of solidarity at the start of the game with the umpires and coaches around the centre circle, which was a moving tribute again to Pat and all he meant for the club and community football in general.
Hurstbridge started the better of the two teams and got the jump on Research kicking the first 3 goals of the game.
We were then able to get our structures in place and cut the lead to just 10 points at quarter time. The second quarter saw goals to both clubs however Research started to gain the momentum, but were wayward in their shots on goal. Hurstbridge held a 3 point lead at half time.
After the big break RJFC took over and ended up winning by a commanding margin of 21 points.
Main goals scorers were Hayden with 3, Zac C and Thommo with 2 each.
It was a great team effort, with better players on the day – Hayden, Zac C, Toby, Archie, Mitch and our captain Phoenix.
Great to see the boys trying new things and working on what the coaches had asked around their exit from defensive 50 as well as our entry into our forward line.
We look forward to a big challenge this week against Whittlesea away.
Boys Under 17.5
Research 4.11.35 def by Montmorency 14.14.98
Goals: Tom Dozzi (2), Charlie Klaster, Josh Northey
Best Players: Billy Johnson, Seth O’Malley, Nathan Bradshaw, Josh Northey, Hamish Collins, Tom Dozzi, Charlie Klaster, Angus Robinson
For our final game of grading in Division 1, we played the back-to-back premiers of the last two seasons, Montmorency. Our challenge was compounded by a high number of players unavailable through illness and injury, but this presented a great opportunity for players to settle for the day in their positions and for us to try some new things.
In particular, we put a focus on more composure when in possession, especially with our kicking decisions. Our goal was to slow the game down a little and look to use the ball better by foot, looking to identify team-mates with smarter pass decisions including switching and more lateral play, to players in space. We also wanted to improve our forward entries to give our forward line better opportunities.
For most of the game, we competed well and were well in the contest. There was a 10-minute period in the back half of the first quarter where Monty really hurt us on the scoreboard but even then, Monty’s goals came from set shots from the boundary, so we had done a good job pushing the ball wide, it was just that the Monty forwards kicked brilliantly, evidence being the 7.1 goals (focus on their accuracy) for the quarter.
After quarter time, the margins to Monty for the final three quarters were 1 goal, 1 goal and 2 goals respectively. While we always want to win, we also measure ourselves on how we are competing and how we are improving in this grade and we are very confident about the development in the group.
But the team played well to instruction, and we switched the ball and used the ball more effectively than in previous games. Our midfield did a tonne of work and credit to Billy, Nathan and Josh for working hard all day supported by Alex and Hamish in the Ruck and with rotations including Charlie, Seth and Tom Dozzi supporting them. It was really encouraging seeing some players have their best games for the season including Alex Lopes, Angus Robinson and River Mason. Kale Bollenhagen was ferocious as usual on the wing and Seth O’Malley was outstanding down back.
We had 15 scoring shots in total which was a marked improvement on last week against Whittlesea. While we need to kick more goals, we are creating a lot of opportunities and we hit the post three times and missed a couple of shots from in front which we really need to do better to convert. If we can make the most of those shots, we will put scoreboard pressure onto the opposition. Defensively, we are holding teams well, Monty’s 14 goals being the highest scored against for the year but compared to other teams who in recent years have jumped from Div 2 to Div 1 in recent seasons which we have measured ourselves against, these indicators suggest we are holding our own and we just need to make more of our opportunities.
As I said to the boys at ¾ time, they just don’t realise how close they are to breaking open games, and with more self-belief, they are well capable of taking the next step. We look forward to the rest of the season.
Paul and the Coaches
Girls Under 18
Research 8.8 56 d Diamond Creek Womens 5.4 34
Always an anticipated game v DCW and this was no different. Both side in good form and the winner to take top spot on the ladder.
The round was Pat Cronin Round which always plays a special part for our Research Club when reflecting on Pat. Before the game we reflected on being a good team mate and good sport in life and while playing football. A moment silent was had with DCW before the game with both teams wearing the yellow arm bands.
The game was hot early with both side getting early goals and the arm wrestle again was apparent.
Scores level at qrt time 2.2 apiece.
We got on top early in the second qrt but we could not shake DCW, and we went into half time only 7 points up.
Ally Pilakis was on fire all game kicking her 5th goal in the 3rd qrt helping us to a 4 goal lead into the last qrt.
The last qrt was a real battle and played between the arcs. Both sides only having one scoring shot each.
Both teams had a photo together with Anayah awarding the PC medal to DCW best player.
Best Players: Anayah Maher, Scarlett Fitzpatrick, Ally Pilakis, Scarlett Hall, Charlotte Kerr and Alice Welburn.
Goal Kickers: Ally Pilakis 5, Alli Allen, Sophie Lakey, Anayah Maher
The win gave us 4 straight and looking forward to another battle next week v YB