Sponsor: MSHF Training
Trophy Winners
Best and Fairest:- Nicholas Karamitos
Runner Up Best and Fairest:- Josh Docking
Best Team Player:- Ben Davis
Most Courageous:- Kane Spanos
Coachs Award:- Kyle Verbunt
What a pleasure to be involved with such a fantastic bunch of boys all in their very first year of junior football. Most came straight out of Auskick so it was a big step-up to play in a competitive environment. It was all new ground for the coaches and support crew too as we tried to find our feet with how the big league works.
It was a tough start to the season as we were up against some very high quality opposition in the first four weeks and were dealt with some heavy losses the regrading couldnt come quick enough! As parents we were concerned about how the boys would take this every week and whether they wanted to keep coming back. However to our amazement and delight we still had full numbers at training each week and the enthusiasm never wavered. The boys played with such high intensity in every game regardless of the score. We knew this was one of the required ingredients of success of which we could happily tick this box. All we needed to do was improve our skills and teamwork and wins would not be too far away.
By Round 6 we were witnessing a considerable improvement in the skill level. We were playing with a game plan that was well understood and implemented by all the boys. The boys were now training twice a week and on the field this transformed our team into a much more competitive unit with some close losses. We could sense a win was just around the corner. It was Round 9 when we made our break-through win against top side Beaumaris and the celebrations were out of control. This took our confidence to a new level as we remained very competitive for the remainder of the season with another win against St.Peters in Round 11.
In the Lightning Premiership, the boys really stood up for the big occasion and played their best footy by far all season. Winning 2 out of our 3 games against sides that had walloped us during the season was most satisfying as we finished Runners Up. We are just so proud of these magnificent young men. They are true fighters, they play hard but fair football and always give 100%.
As a first time coach, I just loved every minute of the experience. Theres no way I could have done this role justice without the support of the fine footy brains of Graham Davis, Justin Clarkson, Peter Docking, Graham Verbunt and Jonathan Spanos. I cant thank-you enough fellas.
Nick McKimm took on the Team Managers role and had us running like clockwork all season. A huge thanks mate!
Also thanks to all the other parents who helped contribute to such a successful season with boundary / goal umpiring, first aid, oranges etc too many to mention but so grateful for your input each week.
What a memorable season! The B&F will be held September 15th and looking forward to another fun year of footy ahead!
GO ROVERS!!!
Steve Taranto
