Strong Performance In Round 1.

The Tigers commenced the 2012 Season posting wins in all three grades against Tuggeranong Hawks at Dairy Farmers Park.

The Tigers new electronic scoreboard had a busy day with Jill Brights fingers hammering out a couple of large scores in the Rising Stars clash and in the NEAFL game.

The Division 1 match was the highlight game of the day in terms of closeness of scores with the Tigers managing a goal in the last 30 seconds of play to take the points.

A strong crowd witnessed a day of activities at the ground with the raising of the Reserve Grade Premiership Flag, the unveiling of a plaque honouring our first LEGEND of the Club in long serving team manager Noel Miller and then Roy Jaques leading the NEAFL team onto the field for his 100th 1st Grade appearance for the Club.

NEAFL

Neither team could score in the opening 10 minutes of the NEAFL clash until Tuggeranong posted the first goal for the game. From there on it was one way traffic for the home team posting a massive 200 points against the Hawks.

James Kavanagh up forward had a field day just failing to covert a major after the final score which would have given him 10 gaols for the afternoon. He looks as fit as he has ever been after a stint in the Northern Territory League over the summer months.

The new faces for the Tigers all contributed to the overall performance of the team. No doubt the Tigers key recruit in former Essendon defender Jarrod Atkinson will play an important role throughout the season.

His arrival at the Tigers Den just recently and lack of knowledge of most players names didn’t hamper his abilities to be amongst the Tigers best players. Ben King provides a strong in and under player with Josh Bryce being a true leader of a strong backline combination.

The experience gained in recent years by a number of the Tigers younger players stood tall last Sunday. Kaine Stevens (best on ground), Will Griggs, Steve Jolliffe and Alex Overs were great contributors on the day. James Manie was another who has developed over the summer months and can be placed anywhere on the ground.

Brett Fruend (3 goals) and Daniel Campbell (4 goals) are both handy around the big sticks – and when combining with Kav – are lethal.

The 100th 1st Grade appearance of Roy Jaques was an extremely popular occasion and a well deserved milestone for this like able character. Predominantly a backline player, his two goals in the last quarter in front of a packed Growlers deck ensured he enjoyed his 100th appearance in the black and gold.

Injury to Paul Franchi and a referral of an incident involving Josh Bryce from the first quarter were the only downside to the Tigers emphatic victory

Queanbeyan 7 3 13 11 26 14 30 20 (200) Tuggeranong 1 1 4 3 5 6 7 10 (52)Queanbeyan Goal Kickers: J. KAVANAGH 9, D. Campbell 4, W. Griggs 3, B. Fruend 3, R. Jaques 2, K. Stevens 2, B. Klemke 2, T. Conroy 2, T. Dickinson , A. Overs , J. Manie Best Players: K. Stevens, B. King, J. KAVANAGH, A. Overs, J. Manie, T. Conroy Tuggeranong Goal Kickers: A. POCOCK 4, S. WILKINSON 2, L. GREENWELL Best Players: B. Cleaver, Z. Litchfield, T. RICHARDS

AFL Canberra Division 1

The Tigers AFL Canberra Division 1 team looked certain victors with only 5 minutes remaining and 16 points in front.

It was not to be with the Hawks displaying great character to post three goals and seemingly steal the game from the home team. With just 30 seconds remaining an unlikely character stood up in Ben Jabornik. He kicked a goal for the Tigers to take the match – a win for this triple premiership team for the first time in the opening round of the season in 4 years.

The Tigers had a star studded line up but lack of preparation by a number of players due to work and family commitments seen a number of players dusting off the cobwebs for long periods during the match.

Regular senior grade players of last year included Mitch Daniher, Casey Walsh, Michael Wescombe, Tom Hollis, Ryan Price and Jeremy Kirkwood in the team. Injuries to key positional players didn’t assist the situation with Daniel Jabornik and Liam Wilkinson both leaving the field before the main break.

Ben Walsh rucked for the majority of the second half to be adjudged best player along Sean Kelly, Kaeden Watts and late inclusion Chris Haddock. Campbell Griggs showed his incredible talent in his first game for the Tigers after a long absence posting 3 goals.

Newcomer Matt Beckmans also showed class in his debut. A former Sydney Swans listed played, Matt joined the Tigers last week after having most of last season off due to injury.

It was the first game of the season for veteran Paul Briedis and his last for the Club this year with his pending move to England through employment opportunities.

His departure is a huge loss for the Club as his presence both on and off the field is highly regarded. The entire Tigers organisation would like to bid PB a fond farewell and look forward to his return “down the track”.

Queanbeyan 3.3 4.3 6.9 9.11 (65) Tuggeranong 4.4 5.8 5.11 8.13 (61) Queanbeyan Goals: Griggs 3, Beckmans 2, Bevan, B Jabornik, D Jabornik 1. Queanbeyan Best: Walsh, Kelly, K Watts, Haddock, Wescombe, B Jabornik.

Rising Stars

The Paul Campbell Coached Tigers Rising Star combination whitewashed the Hawks in the early morning fixture posting one of their highest scores for this grade in recent times. A 27 goal to 3 win playing just 20 minute quarters highlights the nature of the game.

The Tigers were far to accomplished across the ground with the benefit of the off season Armstrong Academy training coming to the fore.

Live-wire James Armstrong showed no effects of off season knee surgery to be the Tigers best player but he was closely followed by the likes of newly appointed

Captain Steve Camp who regularly stemmed any attacking moves by the Hawks. Toby Yeates gave a solid and determined game along with a powerhouse on-ball performance from Kieran Shea.

Youngsters Ethan Callender and Jono Bowyer were other solid players in a complete team performance in perfect conditions at Dairy Farmers Park. Three players kicked five goals – Daniel Hespe fills the goals square quite well, Jack Jacobs creates heaps of opportunities along with left footer Marcus Lawrence.

Queanbeyan 7.3 11.7 19.11 27.15 (177) Tuggeranong 0.0 1.2 2.2 3.2 (20) Queanbeyan Goals: Hespe, Jacobs, Lawrence 5, K Shea, Callender 3, Lennon 2, Armstrong, Farrugia, Maher, Taylor 1. Queanbeyan Best: Armstrong, Bowyer, Camp, Lawrence, K Shea, Yeates, Jacobs, Taylor.

After years of manual work on the scoreboard Loyal Tigers Volunteer Jill Bright now only has to push a button with the new $30,000 Electronic Scoreboard in operation.