PICKERS PAPERS
We are now well and truly aware that footy is a winter sport. Please give us a weekend with no rain! As much as I enjoy running around in the rain, I miss those nice high teens, overcast days that produce great footy.
Now very rarely you see a quality game in torrential rain, however Rd 9 v Chidlow was an absolute doozy. I don’t think I’ve seen a better game played under intense pressure, since last year’s semi against Mundaring.
After playing a shocker against Gidge 2 weeks ago, I hadn’t seen the boys more pumped up to make amends, ever! Training was, and needs to stay at that level and the pre-game tunes had the lads up and about well before bounce down. As usual, our day started with a hiccup as poor Andy did a hammy during the warm up. I really feel for the Glass Cannon as his body can’t seem to handle his explosiveness. Maybe time for him to go from 100mph to 90mph, and he would still be a weapon. Luckily Jono was well prepared with a 10 minute warm up!
Bomber kicked it off with a nice banana in the pocket and the 1st of his 3. Always handy having a big target at full forward, now with Hunty at CHF it seems we may have found the 2 hit combo we have desperately been looking for. In fact the whole forward line was looking ‘Baingerous’ with Bainsey, Jake and a guy who also used to be a defender, Clarkey. But that’s been our year, plenty of talent but where do we play em! They hit back with their big full forward who was giving us a bit of grief in the 1st. All that did was fire Matty and the backline up and we turned up the heat. Our backline loves a challenge and love to bounce back even more.
After an entertaining 1st, especially in the conditions, which didn’t improve, the lads knew it was going to be a tough one. Then the dreaded PB curse hit with both Tommy and Kane going down before half time, leaving us with 2 rotations for the match and 2 less mids. As the rain belted down both teams struggled to score but the backline took the honours keeping them goalless. Led by Mitch ‘good luck with the tackle’ Shilling mopping up down there and Mitch ‘never out of the contest’ Johnston running it out, they made it look like a dry day. No Hunty and Clarkey didn’t bother the backs as Matty ‘big forward slayer’ Castafaro started to get on top of Adam or Buzz McKinlay, couldn’t really tell the difference, and Josh ‘will I make a full game’ Vellinga dominated as usual.
We took a valuable 2 goal lead into the break.
As we expected, they came out firing, or targeting, whatever you want to call it, in the 2nd half. It begun with Timmy copping a high one and almost having to be stretchered off. Luckily he’s a tough bugger and a fat lip wasn’t enough to stop the little master’s influence. By this point we were down 3 mids meaning the only rest they were gonna get was in the forward line. Chets, Jordy and Linds seemed like they spent all day at the bottom of the pack doing whatever they could to get it moving. Unfortunately Jordy lost his cool and gave a 50m penalty resulting in a goal, now I’m not the kind of guy to criticize the umpiring, but sometimes I wonder if they realise, we are men. Dane’s effort to hit the ball hard while struggling to walk was inspirational, in fact the entire midfield should be commended for their efforts since they couldn’t get a proper rest. Even resting in the forward line was never really ‘a rest.’ Can’t say it was our best qtr as we butchered a few shots and let them kick a couple, all this led to a juicy final qtr.
With scores level to start the final qtr, it was set up to be one to remember. Thankfully we had some pretty handy players in Jon, Bainsey and Jakey to chop the lads out in the middle. Obviously Jon and Bainsey you know what you get everytime, but Jake is another bull we have desperately needed in the forward line. Timmy put us in front when Linds hit him lace out in space with the perfect floater, but then they scored the 1st to put us right under the pump!
That just made the boys more hungry for victory and we knew we had the determination to drag this one back. Enter Big Arnie, he willed that ball forward with that mighty fist and gave us a 15m advantage every contest. The cream rose to the top when Hunty showed his class to wheel around his opponent and set Timmy up for a great clutch goal and even up the scores again. For the next 10 minutes the scores were level. With less than 2 minutes to spare, our star CHB, now CHF, Hunty, showed his class with a text book rove and left foot snap sealing a memorable win.
This team never seems to amaze me, one week we played the worst footy ever in good conditions and then the following week we are playing champagne footy mixed with plenty of grit and determination. When we play like this, we can’t be beaten!
Now if you haven’t heard already, we will be hosting this years GRAND FINAL on October 11 and we have every intention of being in it!
We want everyone who has ever worn a PB jumper, coaches and volunteers to be there, to not only inspire the lads, but be part of that long awaited 1st premiership.
CARN THE HAWKS
Ben BBQ Harffey