Our record overall was played 16 won 9 lost 4 and drew 3 games. The team scored 130 tries and conceded 62 with most of the tries scored by Trent Hogg, Jayden Goble and Jemiour Collins.
Player of the year was Jayden Goble who proved to be devastating with ball in hand due to his powerful running and a big fend. He also made a lot of big tackles and did a lot of cover defending.
Most improved player was Joel Morgan who started the season slowly but by mid season was getting more involved hunting for the ball at breakdowns and showing good support play. He thrived on the opportunity to run with the ball and with his low hard running was able to carve off a lot of territory up the middle.
The Jim Black trophy was awarded to Sam Cole for his fair play and good attitude Sam was willingness to help the opposition out when they were short of player and is a good trainer who listens and always has a smile on his face. He is also a very capable footballer who thrives when he gets to be more involved in games.
Other standout players were Trent Hogg who was difficult to contain when running with the ball and had a high work rate on defence. He was also a good organiser who displays some good leadership skills. Bailey Stewart is one of the smallest players around but has a big heart with his courageous tackling and running. He is a smart footballer with a high work rate and was effective at breakdowns. Pound for pound Bailey would be one of the best footballers around.
All of the players contributed positively at different times. Jemiour Collins played well this year due to his good running game which led to a lot of tries. Neha Kane was a dangerous runner whose defence became a strength late in the season. Special mention to Jayden Gough who at only 7 years of age showed great courage and ability at this level. Sean Morgan finished the season well lifting his work rate and running well with the ball. The standard of his game is not too far behind that of terrible twin brother Joel. Mathew Bragg was good at sniffing out try scoring opportunites close to the line and opposition players found it hard to stop him when he got some ball. Seth Ryder was a speedy elusive runner who although small was never afraid to mix it and was one of the best support players in the team. Caleb MacBeath is one of those kids who unselfishly doesn’t run too far and passes the ball to others even when he should back himself. We were able to take him aside just prior to our last game and encouraged him to be a bit greedy and run a bit more. This paid dividends as Caleb had by far his best game that day and scored his first try with a big run down the sideline.
Individually we have a lot of good footballers but we were a bit hamstrung by our inability to work well as a team. Other sides seem to have worked harder than us in this area but I am confident that if this group of players can be kept together then those issues will be resolved and they will be difficult to beat next season.