Nomads Make it Three in a Row!

by Nick Schultz

Like Melbourne against Collingwood, there’s one game the Muswellbrook Cats always get up for each year, and that’s against the Nomads in Muswellbrook. Weston Whitby-less, we faced a tough contest against the winless but determined Cats at Werriman Field on Saturday.

The first quarter saw an even contest. The Cats took the ball forward efficiently, with hefty superstar Stuart McAdam a handful for our backline. We wouldn’t have our noses in front at quarter time, save for a blinding cameo from new recruit Chris ‘Wally’ Murray, who created two goals in a couple of minutes from seemingly stale contests. We started controlling the centre breaks in the second, and prodigal son Anthony Reid was plucking balls from the lower stratosphere at centre half forward, but we couldn’t put it on the scoreboard. The Cats made us pay for defensive lapses across the ground. We were 11 points up at half time.

Both Coach and President got up us in the break, and it all started to come together in the third. We played the Cats forward line like a Sudoku – tricky at first, all over it in the second half. Grant Wagstaff, Clint Ballagh and Adrian Walsh (who temporarily forgot he was old) started running it out of defence. Gavin Nelson was tackling and shepherding like a malignant spirit, Paddy Tobias and Jonathan Frost were ball magnets, and Matt Maxwell regularly drifted forward on his way to a 5 goal bag. Despite Jamie Vesey’s send-off for some potty talk, the Cats were rattled, and we wisely declined their invitation to turn the game into an elbow fight. In the last we made a sure thing of it. Hamish Pearce went nuts and we ran out 62 point winners to make it three wins in a row. Definitely a whole team effort, we take from the game both confidence and a long list of things to work on at training.

The bus trip home was joyous, and Coach Meehan is to be commended for some 1st class driving in nerve-fraying conditions. We will require a better four-quarter effort to overcome Inverell next weekend in only our second home game for the year. Get to training Nomads!

Award winners: Player’s player – Paddy Tobias (In a three way tie with Matt Maxwell and Anthony Reid, Paddy was deemed both more worthy and better looking), President’s award – Matt Maxwell, Coach’s Award – Chris Murray (Wally), Captain’s Award – Gavin Nelson, Red Rooster – Hamish Pearce, Vice Chancellor’s award – Anthony Reid.

Round 5 2010

Cats def. by Nomads
 GBP GBP
Q13119 4529
HT6440 7951
Q37446 121789
FT8957 1717119

Team:

  • A. Baillie,
  • C. Ballagh,
  • D. Bioletti,
  • M. Clayton,
  • M. Dowdle,
  • D. Dunlop,
  • J. Frost,
  • M. Hamilton,
  • M. Maxwell,
  • L. McLeod,
  • C. Murray,
  • G. Nelson,
  • B. Page,
  • H. Pearce,
  • A. Reid,
  • N. Schultz,
  • O. Temoso,
  • P. Tobias,
  • J. Vesey,
  • G. Wagstaff,
  • A. Walsh,
  • T. Walsh.

Goalscorers:

  • M. Maxwell (5),
  • P. Tobias (4),
  • A. Reid (2),
  • C. Murray (2),
  • H. Pearce (2),
  • B. Page,
  • J. Frost.

Award winners:

  • P. Tobias (Players' Player),
  • C. Murray (Coach's),
  • M. Maxwell (President's),
  • G. Nelson (Captain's),
  • A. Reid (VC's),
  • H. Pearce (Red Rooster).

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