After several years of winning games and featuring prominently in the Finals, the Under 16 Division One side had a tough year in 2010. In hindsight, perhaps we were a victim of our previous years success, as most of our best players were consistently unavailable for selection due to commitments with the Sandringham Dragons and for School 1st XVIII sides. More often than not, we had no Interchange Bench and frequently ended games with less than 18 fit men. This unavailability had a flow-on effect at training where numbers were rarely in double figures.
In consequence, we finished 5th and were well off the pace set by the best teams in the competition.
There were several highlights throughout the year, including:
· The introduction of several new Players to the Rovers
· A tie and some very narrow losses
· A handful of thumpings, one of which exceeded the dreaded 100 point mark
· Some spirited victories
· The maintenance of the famous Rovers never-say-die attitude, even in the face of adversity
Congratulations are in order to:
- Team Leaders Alex Whalebone, Alex Shulman and Tate Crampton, all of whom were voted to their positions by their peers
- Best and Fairest Winner Alex Whalebone, who also won the MSJFL Under 16 Division One Brownlow Medal
- Other Award Winners Runner Up in the B&F Josh McPherson, Most Improved Player Lach Mirams, Coachs Award David Nash and Most Determined Player Harry Sumpter.
Many thanks to the army of Parents who assisted with our team this year, especially Andrew Mirams and David Fester McPherson, who assisted through our the year and took over the reins for 3 weeks (for zero wins!) mid-season whilst I was overseas. Fester was clearly the best Runner in the Under 16 Division One and Andrews efforts and dedication to extra skills training sessions were both generous and much appreciated.
Many, many thanks to Judy Robinson and Virginia Tonc who shared the Team Manager role and also to Tim Michaelides who was our Team Medical Officer.
I loved coaching the boys this year and have volunteered to do so again next year. I do hope the boys enjoyed playing as much as we Parents have done watching them mature … I can assure the boys that we were all mighty proud of their competitive spirit, which should hold them all in good stead.
Go Rovers!
Mark Brayshaw
U16 COACH
