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Tigers In Professional Display by Michael Niesen
Looking at the respective positions on the NEAFL ladder one could have been excused for believing a Queanbeyan victory was a mere formality. The Tigers had been in the top 3 all season, while the Hawks were bottom with only one victory. However over the years Tuggeranong and Greenway Oval or Arctic Park as it is fondly called has caused the Tigers plenty of problems and this was a fixture that the Tigers needed to be on their game or the Hawks who had found themselves in a good run of form would be ready to cause an upset.
The Tigers took the field without duel Mulrooney Medalist Mitch Daniher and former Essendon player Jarrod Atkinson – both players unavailable for the clash. Coming into the team was Under 18 Grade Captain Stephen Camp and another Under 18 Grade player in Toby Yeates who has been showing strong form all season. This took the number of Under 18 Grade players to 4 in the team, the others being Kieren Shea and Sam Jensen.
Many had come to see 100 gamers in Ben Cleaver for Tuggeranong and James Kavanagh for the Tigers with the later having many people fly from Melbourne to witness his milestone. This included parents Maggie and Michael – two of his most staunch supporters.
Both men have fantastic CV in local football with Ben Cleaver being a dual Best & Fairest winner at the tender age of 23 and James Kavanagh being a League Leading Goal-kicker on 2 occasions, a runner up in the Tigers Best & Fairest in 2007, An All Australian Vice Captain in 2010 as well has topping Queanbeyan’s Goal Kicking in 2011 with many a game being won off the boot of this very popular player.
Both sides came out and played a physical brand of football and it was evident early that the Hawks were up for this game and would not give the Tigers an easy possession. Every ball was keenly contested as neither side were able to shake the other.
After taking a 15 point lead into the first change it was the Tigers who broke the game open in the 2nd term.
Slowly but surely the Tigers skill level was coming to the fore, their ability to hit targets and share the workload with numbers at the contest became a trend that the Hawks were finding difficult to come to terms with. The Hawks did not help themselves as on many occasions they struggled to hit targets and continually turned the ball over putting severe pressure back onto their defenders.
The visitors outscored their opponents by 6 goals to 2 and opened up a pretty handy 37 point lead at half time.
The trend from the 2nd term continued in the 3rd as Tuggeranong were struggling to hit targets coming out of defense while the Tigers were accurate with their ball use and were playing “tempo” footy to perfection. Numerous times the Tigers made the Hawks pay for their mistakes and piled on another 6 goals to only 1 from the home side to take a commanding 63 point lead at the final break.
The Tigers were spreading the workload superbly and while Toby Conroy was the outstanding player on the field the Tigers had many contributors which was reinforced with 15 players have 10 possessions or more up the 3/4 time. Each player was playing their role and Coach Kade Klemke would have loved the fact that he was getting an even performance from his team.
The final term followed the script with Queanbeyan doing as they pleased and while the Hawks continued to work hard as they had done throughout, their turnovers proved costly time and time again and Queanbeyan continued to capitalise. A late couple of goals to the Hawks gave them something to take into next week but in truth the Tigers took control of this game early and never relinquished it in a fine team performance winning by 69 points.
As mentioned Toby Conroy was best for Queanbeyan with 41 possessions, his work rate and ability to get to the right positions was outstanding. He was supported by Kaine Stevens and Will Griggs who continue to perform well with both having fantastic seasons. Alex Overs and Steve Jolliffe provided plenty of dash along with Andrew Swan. “Kav” booted 5 in his milestone game. Youngster Kieran Shea showed plenty of dash and has really stepped up since his promotion considering his limited training opportunities due to work commitments.
But in truth this was a very even team performance and one which would have pleased all the coaching staff as it really provided no insight as to who the opposition need to look after as the contribution was by all involved.
Tigers now face a crucial game against fellow table toppers Eastlake in a game which will go a long way to locking in a top 2 position. Both sides are in excellent form and should provide a fantastic contest that will showcase this great game of ours. The Tigers won the last time against an undermanned Demon outfit so it all points to a classic encounter next Saturday at Manuka Oval from 2.00pm.
Tuggeranong 1 1 3 6 4 12 8 13 (61) Queanbeyan 3 4 9 7 15 9 20 10 (130)Tuggeranong Goal Kickers: B. Hancock 3, M. Ghirardello 2, D. JOHNSON , D. SMITH , A. POCOCK Best Players: B. Cleaver, M. Dragicevic, L. GREENWELL, M. Ghirardello, C. ROBINSON, J. CAMERON Queanbeyan Goal Kickers: J. KAVANAGH 5, B Watts 2 , T. Conroy 2, B. Fruend 2, W. Griggs 2, J. Manie , B. Klemke , S. Jolliffe , T. Dickinson , B. King, R Quade, K Shea Best Players: T. Conroy, W. Griggs, A. Overs, R. Quade, J. KAVANAGH, N. Irwin
AFL Canberra Division 1
The Tigers AFL Canberra Division 1 team scrambled to an unimpressive victory over the Tuggeranong Hawks at Greenway last Saturday.
The uninspiring match was overshadowed by a sicking head clash in the last quarter which saw play stop and both players leave the field – Sean Kelly for the Tigers fortunately walked from the field heavily concussed with the Hawks playing being stretched from the field. Medical staff from both clubs worked in unison to assist both players and should be congratulated for their efforts.
From reports, both players have fully recovered after attending the Woden Hospital under observation. There was near another casualty earlier in the game. This time during the half time break. A stern discussion by Tigers Coach Adrian Pavese reverberated around the change room with few players left wondering where they stood with such a poor first half performance.
It was the Hawks who dominated proceedings and had it not been for poor kicking may well have had the game won at the long break. “Pavs” discussion with his players took immediate effect and they came out with more purpose and desire to eventually take the game and secure their fourth spot on the ladder.
Had they lost, the Hawks would have moved into the four and the Tigers out – a position this team has not been in – in recent memory! (The casualty at half time looked like being the Coach as he turned different shades of red, purple and blue before getting his message across).
Matt Liddle showed his experience with a solid performance. Paul Franchi showed his talents especially with the mark of the day in the third quarter while Dale Cummins played a tremendous four quarters of footy showing what a huge engine he has along with pace and determination as he continues to grow at the next level of our game.
The Tigers have the bye this weekend before tackling Gungahlin the following week.
TUGGERANONG Hawks 2 4 16 3 8 26 5 11 41 6 14 (50) QUEANBEYAN 3 2 20 3 4 22 8 5 53 11 7 (73)TUGGERANONG Hawks Goal Kickers: N. COSTIGAN 2, W. PROWSE 2, S. Hartmann , M. FERNIE Best Players: S. Hartmann, M. MALONEY, B. SYMONS, L. Monger, P. CLARKE, S. Kelly QUEANBEYAN Goal Kickers: C. GRIGGS 2, P. Franchi 2, M. Wescombe , M. Liddle , B. Walsh , D. Campbell , J. DANIEL , G. Hair , T. Hollis Best Players: M. Liddle, N. Kerlin, D. CUMMINS, C. GRIGGS, G. Hair, D. Campbell
Under 18’s Rising Stars by Stephen Camp on Work Experience
The U18’s have been showing some good form this year which continued against Tuggeranong Hawks. The team went into the match missing a number of players including the recently promoted Toby Yeates who has been showing some excellent form throughout the year.
His inclusion in the NEAFL team will be one of a number of our players who will taste the next level of footy during the back half of the season as the Club bloods its next group of youngsters.
Last Saturdays match ended up being a comfortable win in what were cold and windy conditions at Greenway. The boys came out early and really applied the pressure which was lead by Scott Wright who had plenty of the ball. Big ruck-man Justin Galloway was in “good nick” winning most hit outs but followed up his work and made plenty of tackles.
Our forward line was just too strong in the end as we had a number of different goal scorers. Jeremy Macdonald led the way with 4 goals but had plenty of help from Phillip Maher and Daniel Hespe both kicking 3 goals. As a mark of respect our team wore black arm bands acknowledging the passing of PJ’s grandmother as they did just recently with the passing of Ethan Callender’s grandmother.
James McKenna played his best game for the year and has showed some real improvement from the start of the year. The backline was again very strong stopping most of Tuggeranong’s attacks and created plenty of scoring opportunities on the rebound. Scott Lancaster is improving with every game with a strong performance throughout the match.
The Under 18’s match against Marist this Saturday has been postponed and will now be played on Thursday evening 16 August – venue to be advised.
Tuggeranong Hawks 1 0 6 2 1 13 3 2 20 3 2 (20) Queanbeyan 5 4 34 9 4 58 12 8 80 17 12 (114)Tuggeranong Hawks Goal Kickers: S. HOGAN , J. Townsend , S. cryer Best Players: D. Cleaver, R. Larson, B. Gainsford, A. GREENWOOD, M. SCOTT, M. Toogood Queanbeyan Goal Kickers: J. Macdonald 4, P. Maher 3, D. HESPE 3, J. ARMSTRONG 2, K. Farrugia , J. JACOBS , T. SHEA , E. Callendar , M. Haley Best Players: J. Galloway, J. McKenna, S. Lancaster, J. ARMSTRONG, J. Macdonald, K. Farrugia
Ladies – Tigerettes – Report to follow
Queanbeyan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (1) Riverina Lions 4 3 27 5 5 35 8 9 57 8 9 (57)
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