The Whalers started the season on a very wet track. The preseason training had been of a high quality and the boys were ready to open the season. In some ways the team was depleted as they were without last year’s young ruckman in Dylan Wallace but there were some new players in the team and some veterans returning. Some of these players had missed all of preseason but were willing to pull on the boots and join the team to play against Bermagui.
The Whalers started out in high spirits after a few team members had to introduce themselves to the others. Adrain Pavese made his way down from Canberra and Matt Hopper from Melbourne to join the team. Eden started well with a greasy wet ball and a light rain. It was difficult to mark the ball and Eden was happy to mix it with Bermagui while the ball was on the ground. Kane Kirkby took over his father’s number and kicked the first goal of the season for the Whalers. At quarter time the score was 1 goal 1 point for Eden and 1 goal 3 points to the Breakers. It was still any ones game.
The second quarter started out with great expectations especially after Adrian Pavese kicked a huge goal to have the Whalers in front for a short time but the Breakers were quick to overtake Eden. Ben Siede was in the thick of the play after being out of the game for a number of years. He was using his speed and agility to move the ball forward. Matt Hooper was leading by example tackling and showing the younger, less experienced Whalers how to mix it with the big boys. At half time the Breakers had extended the lead by 13 points.
In the Third quarter the ball and ground started to dry out and this made the marking easier for the taller Bermagui side. Nathan Goodrich who had not played much football was able to spear pass a ball to “sure shot “ Pete Russell for the only goal of the quarter for the Whalers. Unfortunately for the Whalers the Breakers had a big quarter kicking goals and the lead had now blown out to 50 points.
Scott Munday, normally a full back for the Whalers had a run on the ball and enjoyed is venture out of the back line kicking 2 goals. Ryan “Crusher” Turnbull worked hard all over the ground and chased players using his speed and showing that the hard preseason training had paid off. Nathan Goodrich continued to pressure the opponents as did new comer Damon Lawler in the tight packs. At the end of play the scores were Eden 6 goals 4 points 40 to 16 goals 16 points 112 to the Bermagui Breakers.
The Whalers awards went to: Eden Motor Group to Ben Siede, Casses lunch award to Nathan Goodrich, Eden Radiator and Exhaust to Ryan “Crusher” Turnbull, IGA 6 back to Pete Russell, Golden Ocean lunch to Tom Foat for his general play and a great marking effort, Players Player award to Matt Hooper. Terry Grant also had an award from the Turnbull family that will help him enjoy his overseas trip.
The Whalers have a couple of bye weeks and then it’s off to for our next game to Narooma. We hope to keep the numbers at training growing and this should improve the scoreboard results further down the track.
Last Modified on 09/05/2014 13:29