Eastern Warriors vs Parkside Spurs
Report by H

Making the early morning trek out to the Wild West of Werribee, the Warriors came in numbers. Arriving to a field skinnier than my wallet before payday, and frostier than my ex, it was game on against the Parkside Spurs.

Magnets were moved deftly as always by Sue, wristbands assigned, and with the obligatory game of “paper, scissors, ruck” won by the Spurs, we were on.

Once we warmed up and found our rhythm, the first quarter was all Warriors. As 1 August is the horses’ birthday, from the first bounce we were off to the races, quickly moving from a canter to a full gallop.

Playing seven-a-side, the long-awaited return of Mich was short-lived, as she graciously played the match with a under-manned and relatively inexperienced Parkside team. Just to let the Warriors know she was back, she took a sterling mark and kicked a ripper goal for the Spurs early in the first quarter. She continued to put in a great performance for the Spurs all day. Champion effort, and it was great to see you back on the track, Mich!

There were some outstanding passages of play from the Warriors, with great ball movement across the ground. The sodden ball was more like managing a greased watermelon, which made clean marking a challenge, but the Warriors girls were more than up for it. Great grabs in the first half by Kirsty, Sandra, Susie and Helen.

Our ball movement was much improved, and it showed on the scoreboard, with two goals in the first quarter and three in the second, plus a peppering of behinds. While all the Warriors were working hard in the first half, it was Kylie’s morning! She was a ball magnet—fast, composed and always in the right place at the right time. Living up to her nickname, Biccies ate and left no crumbs, racking up an impressive game-high four goals!

Field positioning got away from both teams at times, with backs roaming far from home and forwards checking out the scenery down back, leaving players unmarked and perfect targets for well-placed kicks. Well, they would have been if we could have managed the greased pig that was the footy!

Swapping over to the synthetic ball at half-time saw some of our “smaller kicks” end up belting the pill half the length of the field, which was a joy to behold.

I don’t know what Suni had for breakfast this morning, but it must have had some spark in it because she was on fire! Her crumbing work was outstanding, her ball movement elite, she used the footy beautifully, and there was barely a contest she wasn’t involved in. Look up confidence in the dictionary and you’ll see a picture of Suni today—she used her voice, her skills and her head, and was integral to loads of our key passages of play.

Jen was rock solid despite a fair bit of push and shove, and managed a great goal under some decent pressure (off a decent setup from Ren).

Ren was, as always, consistent, well positioned and reading the play deftly at both ends of the ground, the latter resulting in two great goals.

Great to have Charlie in the team today—fantastic coaching notes for the girls and a great contribution across the game, including a tidy goal.

Susie was up and about as well, using her speed to move the ball quickly and dominate the midfield. Nice goal to cap off a great game from Suze!

Sandra, Helen, Kirsty and Doc all worked hard today, taking some great marks, moving the ball well, playing a strong tagging game and switching positions whenever the magnets needed it. Kirsty executed one of the all-time blind turns, and Helen slotted a cracking goal from a decent distance.

The Warriors won the game comfortably with a total of 10 goals and 10 behinds, but the scoreboard says a lot more than that. With six different goal scorers, it really showed the girls’ willingness to lower their eyes and find a teammate in a better position rather than blindly snapping at the big (little) sticks. That kind of relaxed, unselfish footy is exactly what we’re about—giving up a good shot to give a teammate a great one, and having a ton of fun doing it.

This was a match played in the genuine spirit of Footy Rush—inclusive, fun, and helping each other out. Big kudos to our girls who assisted some of the newer Spurs players in understanding the rules of the game, and to those who had a run with them—Mich, Doc and Kylie.

Giddy up!