At the mid-way point of the 2016 VAFA season, the Hampton Rovers senior side has recorded just the one solitary victory, but the young side has improved and we look forward to a stronger second half.
Losing a few experienced heads over the summer was always going to make things challenging. In all, 44 players have represented the senior side, with 15 of those being Under 19 players – that tells a story in itself.
Despite being 1-8, the feeling around the club is amazing, and it’s noticeable at training, match day, Thursday selection dinner and at functions. Numbers on the most part have been exceptionally at training, sometimes with over 60 on the track on a Thursday.
It’s been a young and inexperienced Hampton Rovers side that has endured a very challenging and tough first half of the season.
Senior coach Owen Lalor said despite being smaller and vastly inexperienced to all our counterparts, the boys have put together some very encouraging efforts.
A four goal loss to top side Beaumaris and five goal loss to third placed St Bedes/Mentone were excellent efforts BUT the highlight was the victory over fourth placed Old Hailebury in round seven. That day, there were ten Under 19 players that produced a very memorable win for the season.
“For the next nine rounds we are chasing continual IMPROVEMENT built on CONSISTENT EFFORT – if we can turn in a four quarter effort like round seven, we certainly have the ability to cause a few headaches for opposition teams in the run home” said Owen.
Next up, the Rovers make the short trip to Brighton Beach Oval to face local rivals Old Brighton. They also currently sit in the relegation zone and the Rovers go into the game knowing they are stronger than last time they met.
The second-half of the season sees home games against Monash Blues, Ajax, Old Haileybury and St Bedes/Mentone at Boss James Reserve.
The development of the youngsters in the team has been fantastic – Christian Carnovale, Jack Toouli, Benji Audige, Zac Donald and Nathan Smith has been sensational. Smithy leads the club goal kicking with 24 (and until last round was the Premier B leading goal kicker), followed by Danny Corp on 15 and Sam Bradford 14. The addition of recent new player Roland De Biase to the midfield provides more strength, and with the continual improvement of the others, they’ll help the Rovers efforts in the second half of the season.
Despite not fielding a Thirds team this year, the club has had exactly 100 players represent the three senior teams in the first half of the season. The youth is exciting for the future and the club is working hard to provide the best possible environment to maintain existing players and attract new players moving forward.
The Reserves have struggled against stronger opposition, also winning just the one game, but continue to work hard. The Under 19s have won three matches and have put in several good performances – not bad considering the number of eligable players lining up in the senior side.
Off-field, numbers have been strong at home game luncheons and we encourage all supporters to get along to the remaining four home games. You can book online here. The Ajax home game is the final of three Hall of Game Luncheons where we’ll induct further legends – this isn’t to be missed!
Thursday dinners have been amazing as always and we thank all the volunteers who’ve helped throughout the season so far. Functions have been great. The new lights at Boss James Reserve are amazing and the new electronic scoreboard isn’t far off.
We encourage everyone to stick by the club, get along Saturday’s and Thursday’s, and continue to support the players as we head into the second half of the season. If you haven’t already done so, it’s not too late to purchase a club membership – click here for details.
#GOROVERS
