Kalamunda Football Club Round 10, 19 June 2021
Cougars V’s Willetton @ Ray Owen Oval
In the last three rounds against Jandakot, Canning Vale, and Melville, our form has been ‘patchy’ with a loss to Jandakot in 6th position by 9 points then a win V’s Canning Vale in 8th position by 26 points and a loss V’s Melville in 4th position by 16 points.
It may be the teams just below us on the ladder sense that the Cougars are becoming vulnerable at this stage of the season and If they can get off to a good start they have a good chance of winning.
For the second game in a row, the Cougars have had to play ‘catch-up’ footy in the second quarter. They were lucky that Willetton didn’t score a goal in that quarter only kicking two points. We had a good chance to put them under pressure leading up to half-time however we were inaccurate in front of goal kicking 2.5 to be 5 points in front.
The third quarter saw a real slugging match where we only kicked 1.2 and Willetton kicked 2.4 leaving us 3 points behind at the break. At this stage I thought our players were in real trouble as we had lost Mick Brescacin at full forward to injury leaving us short of height in this area.
This created problems for our forwards as the taller and heavier bodies of the Willetton players continued to clear their defensive zone and provide plenty of opportunities further afield.
Coach Fare must have provided plenty of ‘encouragement’ at three quarter time as the Cougars rallied and came out to kick 2.5 to Willetton’s 1.2 to scrape home by one beautiful point!
Final scores: Kalamunda 7.15 – 57, Willetton 8.8 – 56
Best players: Team effort with special mention for Brett Van Groningen
Some things to think about:
Most of the teams in C1 have more mature players with stronger bodies compared to the physical size of our team. When our concentration is down it allows these players to break away and score freely.
I have also indicated that we need to avoid getting ‘bogged down’ on the clubroom flank, which happened again against Willetton.
We need to be more creative in moving the ball from defence to avoid the big opposition bodies who just ‘camp themselves out’ along this flank and make life miserable for everybody!
Our leadership team must think of another defensive strategy to avoid this problem, because practice at training is required to develop defensive tactics. I can make a couple of suggestions if anyone is interested. Remember the season is moving on!
Our leaders could also consider the forward structure as injury and a lack of height provided plenty of problems for our forward line in the game against Willetton. (Where are you, ‘Newie’ we need you up front!)
In finishing, there is nothing wrong in presenting a short lead when a free kick is in the offing. It may look a bit dumb to some, however in most instances it opens-up the play downfield allowing a teammate to use this valuable space.
By providing this one percenter you encourage the player taking the kick to become composed, knowing you will provide this option and allow him to seek other options further upfield.
This page is dedicated to Kalamunda Toyota, proud sponsors of the Kalamunda Football Club.
43 Canning Road Kalamunda, WA 6076 (08) 92579100 http://kalamundatoyota.com.au
