Round 14 Match Reports Under 9 White "Hello Cougar Players and Parents, What a great season our boys had playing for the Northcote Cougars in 2015. After so many strong performances this year, I have to admit that our Round 14 game against Thomastown on Sunday did feel a little to me like losing a grand final. I guess we are all a bit competitive deep down. While it wasn't our best game of the year, it didn't seem to make much difference to the boy's enjoyment and the energy they put into singing the song for the final time. I took a bit of a risk by not guiding the players as much as usual during the game on Sunday. Clearly this was not a winning strategy, but my thinking was that I wanted to get an accurate picture of what they had absorbed during the season, without me bossing them around. What I learned is that most players, as demonstrated by George and Noah, could almost cite word for word the key messages I have given during the year. "Work hard in midfield, stay with your man in the backline, make space in the forward line, stay in your zone!" I'm pretty pleased about all that. Without talking so much, I also got to watch each child a bit more closely during the game, and I'm convinced that each and everyone of them has grown in confidence and skills. Watching them closely was also a good reminder that they are still only under 9s, and consequently, they will struggle to stay in their zones and struggle to make space, because they all just love chasing the ball. It reinforced that we will need to continue to focus on the basics during training over many years to come, because it is hard to pass the ball accurately, it takes courage to take a mark, and sometimes you just don't see a tackle coming! Most importantly though, watching them reminded me that when left to their own devices, and in between the times when they were criticising the umpire's decisions, I noticed how much they smiled during and after the game, and how much they encouraged each other. To me that's the best reminder of how much they love playing footy with their friends, and how much pride they get knowing that their parents saw them "kick that goal", "take that mark", and "lay that tackle". I hope you have all enjoyed the season as much as I have and that you are already looking forward to next year. Go Cougars." Under 9 Blue As usual Laurimar provided challenging conditions for the Cougar players to contend with, strong winds, arctic temperatures and a soggy and muddy ground. (Thanks to Chris Mews for the game summary.) First Qtr Muddy and soggy ground - enter Luca who again thrived in these conditions racking up plenty of hard ball gets and laying many tackles on the Laurimar midfield. Rory provided great run and carry from the midfield and provided the cougar forwards with plenty of opportunities. He also discovered a talent for the "in and under" and maybe the team Mudlark next year. This was Rory's best quarter of footy for the season in really tough conditions. Xavier S continued his good form of recent weeks taking a nice mark and kicking truly - in the windy conditions this was not easy. Second Qtr Sam and Henry got into the action in the midfield, Sam was winning the ball in the close and feeding it out to Henry who in his usual way was kicking long and direct to the cougar forwards. Hayden was at his bullocking best in the forward line and was unlucky not to be given a goal. It regularly took three opposition players to bring him to the ground. Link, James V and Macsen formed a wall at half back repeatedly rebounding Laurimar forward entries. Macsen was particularly clean and read the ball early in it's flight. Third Qtr Henry took some great marks and Link continued to take some telling marks. Macsen continued on this good form winning lots of midfield ball. He consistently ran hard and provided a strong contest whether the ball was on the ground or in the air. Dean came on to the ground for his first run and got straight into the action. It seemed like he was playing in dry conditions! Fourth Qtr James V and Hayden continued to work had for the ball laying many tackles and providing real pressure on the Laurimar players. Sam laid a bone crunching tackle on the Laurimar goal line, this standard was set by the team all day.....special mention must go to Toby and Macsen who both tackled hard all day Toby fired a rocket like pass to Matthew who took another strong mark in front of goal for the third week in a row, unfortunately the strong wind just pushed his shot off line. Highlights Macsen - super game of hard ball gets and strong marking in difficult conditions. Macsens best game for the season. Rory - a super game Rory, fast, great use of the ball, and many hard ball gets in difficult conditions A real team effort, all the boys had a go in tough conditions. Oni-Ray ran hard, Xavier F continued his improvement taking some nice marks, Matthew continued to find space up forward, Xavier CR took the game on a couple of times and showed courage to play through the pain of a heavy knock, Hayden his usual hard working self, Big Jack as always giving the midfielders first use. Thanks to the following: Matt Timothee for his goal umpiring duties Spiro for umpires escort Fruit and Hot Choc - Jason and Lynda Timekeeper - James F's parents First Aid - Anna Steph - great job filling in for Jacqui Some Season Highlights and Thank Yous Our marvellous manager - Macqui Stanford (aka Jacqui with a little bit of Matt thrown in). Thanks so much for your efforts all year and all your work behind the scenes. The season ran seamlessly mostly due to your efforts. Our wonderful assistant coaches - Chris and Vince. Great to have so much help both at training and on game day. The two games I missed you blokes managed to coach a win... I won't be making that mistake again! Both Anna and Phil for all the weekends working as the team trainer. Jason and Lynda for the hot chocolate that warmed the boys on all those cold mornings. And the rest of the parents who were always willing to put up a hand to help. As I mentioned at the last game we have been very lucky to have such a great parent and family group. On field highlights: Jack Barry - early in the season against West Preston, Jack picked up cleanly and ran his full measure before slotting it straight through the big sticks! Xavier Coghlan Rennie - against Mill Park Xavier was under strict coaches instructions to "stay warm" and get himself a goal. Not content with one in the first quarter he followed up with another in the last quarter. Macsen Connelly - with barely a minute left on the clock in the second last game Macsen provided a season highlight when he latched onto a bullet pass from Henry. The loudest cheer of the year came as he slotted it through and completed the 19 players all getting a goal for the season. James Fasilakis - in the same game against South Morang James marked strongly in the first quarter and wasted no time putting it straight through the middle. Xavier Ferridge - in a 2 minute patch against West Preston Red, Xavier slotted two goals in quick succession, including a goal of the year contender from the tightest of angles. Rory Harty-Gale - in the final game for the year Rory discovered he had a "love for mud" and repeatedly won the contested ball at ground level. Oni-Ray Jeffery-Gallagher - against Mernda Oni-Ray again demonstrated what clean football was all about with a run and handball "Play of the Day" that showed why he was one of the team's smartest decision makers. Archie Johnson - in a Captain's performance in his last game Archie marked strongly in the forward line and kicked truly to help lift the team. Hayden Kanjou - within a few games it became clear that Hayden was "untacklable" as he barraged and bustled his way throughout the season. The U9 Cougar Blue's "hardman" of the team who never stopped smiling. Matthew Lodato - against Keon Park it seemed like Matthew had "brought his own ball" with concerns that he may have to be taken off with leather-poisoning. Sam Mews - in a game where Sam was challenged physically against West Preston he rose above and took the "mark of the year". Out of nowhere he flew between 4 opposition players and one-grabbed a screamer. Luca Norquay-Whitford - the early season rain put a dampener on the season for most of us. But Luca thrived in the wet and muddy conditions and quickly became known as the team "mudlark". Uche Ozougwo - Uche's enthusiasm each week at training was fantastic. Dean Perawati - the silky skills were on full show against Mernda. Dean's "smother-mark" and play-on, run and bounce was a personal highlight. Link Richardson Stubbs - Link's early season celebration with an "aeroplane" after slotting truly was an insight into how the Link-man was going to become the team showman.