Nomads slump to third straight loss
By Matt McLennan (Armidale Express, 01/06/2009)
The Gunnedah Bulldogs emulated their AFL namesakes’ efforts on the paddock on Saturday, albeit in the local version of the game.
The Bulldogs smashed the New England Nomads 16-27-123 to 4-10-34 on the same day the Western Bulldogs scored 13 unanswered goals before halftime to defeat the Sydney Swans 18-9-117 to 12-5-77 in the national competition at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.
The Nomads were decimated by injuries and unavailability, and had four players withdraw on the morning of the match, making a total of eight players unavailable.
President Ben Page had choice phrase for the match’s result.
“They chowed us up pretty badly,” he said.
“Even when you consider we had a lot of fill-ins, it was a pretty poor performance on our part.”
Like in the national game, most of the damage was done in one quarter, according to Page.
“It was pretty disappointing, the last three quarters were actually pretty even,” he said.
“We didn’t stick to the game plan we set out for ourselves, and we were just under pressure early. I think the boys just panicked a little bit.”
The height difference between the two sides didn’t help.
“They are probably the tallest team in the competition, and we are probably the shortest,” Page said.
“Even with Omphile (Temoso, the Nomads’ six-foot-seven ruckman) we’re still very short.”
The Nomads will certainly benefit from the competition bye this weekend, which gives players a chance to address niggling injuries, before a home game against the Tamworth Swans.
“We should be able to put close to our strongest team on the park for that,” Page said.
The Nomads can take heart in knowing their result wasn’t the worst of the weekend. In Inverell, the Saints defeated the Muswellbrook Cats 30-29-209 to 0-6-6.
The weekend’s loss means the Nomads have slipped to fifth on the Tamworth AFL ladder, four points behind the Bulldogs, who are in fourth place.
Not for reproduction except by permission of the Armidale Express
Round 5 2009
| Bulldogs def. Nomads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | P | G | B | P | ||
| Q1 | 9 | 9 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| HT | 10 | 14 | 74 | 3 | 4 | 22 | |
| Q3 | 13 | 23 | 101 | 3 | 5 | 23 | |
| FT | 16 | 27 | 123 | 4 | 10 | 34 | |
Team:
- C. Ballagh,
- M. Bourke,
- K. Clayton,
- M. Clayton,
- T. Dimer,
- D. Dunlop,
- J. Frost,
- M. Maxwell,
- B. Meehan,
- B. Page,
- W. Redhead,
- J. Reid,
- M. Sawyer,
- N. Schultz,
- O. Temoso,
- J. Vesey,
- A. Walsh,
- T. Walsh,
- W. Webb,
- W. Whitby,
- A. Wright,
- J. Wright.
Goalscorers:
- B. Page,
- J. Wright,
- M. Maxwell,
- M. Sawyer.
Award winners:
- C. Ballagh (Players'Player),
- M. Maxwell (Coach's),
- N. Schultz (President's),
- M. Clayton (Captain's).
