In blustery conditions at Gunnedah’s Wolseley Oval, the New England Nomads showed good form, as they beat the Gunnedah Bulldogs 19.15.129 to 9.9.63. Coach Zac Econonou starred up forward with 6 goals while Modra Richards and Jed Ellis-Cluff kicked 4 apiece. Out in the midfield, Zac Old and Mark Spencer had the ball on a string, while Wulu Hall and Clarrie Barker also starred.

The weather in Gunnedah was ominous as the game began with every indication begin that it would rain at some point in the afternoon. The wind was a strong south-westerly. Modra won the toss and kicked with the wind. Within the first 5 minutes light rain fell making the ball difficult to handle. Zac and Modra were looking dangerous up forward and Jed Ellis-Cluff was getting a lot of ball when in the middle. Down back Tom Granleese was marking strongly and sending the ball forward. Snowy Snowden was also hitting the ball hard. Tim Keys was dominating in the ruck and Wellsy was throwing himself at the ball with his usual exuberance. By the end of the first quarter the Nomads were leading by 22 points.

The Nomads had to readjust their kicking in the second quarter going into the wind and though there was the occasional shank, much of the delivery was excellent. There a couple of memorable passages where the ball was run around the northern flank with short accurate kicks and good leading. The Dogs were kept to one goal on this quarter due to some excellent defensive work by Phill Mitchell, Tom Granleese and Hughie Cook (amongst others). In this quarter Clarrie Barker ran amuk seemingly gaining the ball whenever he wanted it, and if he had not rolled his ankle early in the third term he would surely have ben best of ground. It was a real pleasure to watch him and Ryan Davies winning so much contested ball. At half time the Nomads were six goals up.

The third quarter saw the Nomads kick 6 goals. Zac Economou marked everything that came his way and the Dogs had no match for his strength in the air. Jed was also marking strongly up forward, while Paddy O’Connell chipped in with a number of well-crumbed goals. Zac Old and Mark Spencer were the standouts in the middle while Wulu Hall was up to his usual breaking-a-line tricks. Despite the scoreboard pressure, the Nomads did fall into the trap of playing to packs and not switching enough. The team lacked a few more outside players picking up the quick out the back bandpass (no 4 – where were you foles?). There were a lot of scrimmages in this quarter. At the final break the Nomads were 50 points ahead and the result seemed beyond doubt.

The last quarter was a battle as a number of the Noamds succumbed to injuries and by the time the final siren blew there was no bench. Liam Howard had suffered concussion early on in the game and then in the 3rd quarter Clarrie and Wellsy were injured. In the last quarter Snowy and Rhino Davies also were injured. Despite these setbacks, the Noeys managed to kick 5 goals in the final term to win by 66 points.

There were some interesting moments in the game (for instance when coach Economou and Dave Bioletti running at full steam decided that they both needed to be in the same place at the same time) as well some great marking and precision kicking. Phill Mitchell had another blinder and in one magic moment burst through the middle to deliver the ball lace out to the forwards.

Best for the Nomads were Zac Old, Mark SPence, Wulu Hall, Clarrie Barker and Jed Ellis-Cluff.

Round 3 2015

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