The Nomads convincingly beat premiership contender the Tamworth Kangaroos at the Bellevue on Saturday. Jed Ellis-Cluff kicked 5 as did ‘Rampaging’ Dave Richards, while speedy wingmen Mark Spencer and Luke ‘Rambo’ Raymond, midfielder Paddy Tobias and backman Tom Hunt stood out. It was a hard fought game but on the day the Nomads were too strong, although the Roos will undoubtedly come back harder the next time the two teams meet – this battle is far from over. The final scores were 19.10.12 to 9.12.66.

The weather for the top of the table tussle was perfect. Warm sunshine and no wind greeted the players at the Bellevue as the teams warmed up at 1.30. The Roos had brought quite a contingent of spectators making it seem more like a final than an ordinary home and away game – and in a sense it was, given that the chance for a home semi was up for grabs. The Nomads only had a couple of players out due to injury, including future (and current) star forward Clarrie Barker, whose knees were still not quite right.

The Nomads kicked once again to the Uralla end and almost immediately began controlling the flow of the game. In the middle Tim Keys was working well with Paddy Tobias and the Jeddacutta Man. Zac Economou marked strongly a number of times and Modra was up to his usual elusive tricks. Although the Nomads scored the first two goals the Roos quickly replied with snaps from the pockets.The backs had their hands full with a number of the Roos talented forwards causing headaches. The twin Toms, Gleeso and Sticks, provided plenty of leadership and the backs held firm. Overall, the Nomads had more of the play and by the end of the first quarter were leading 4.5.29 to 3.2.20.

The second quarter saw the Nomads’ wingers and midfielders really turn it on. Mark.E. Spencer and the ‘Angry Albino’ Luke Raymond were at their destructive best on the wide open spaces of the Bellevue and continually pushed the ball forward to the grandstand end. Tim Keys and Tom Hunt were dominant at the centre bounces and around the ground. The Nomads were hard at the ball in what was very tough contested football. Especially pleasing was the delivery being served to the forwards. Jed was dominant in the midfield and kicking goals into the bargain. Zac-the-Accumulator and Modra provided strong leads and what they could not mark was quickly snapped up by the ground dwellers, including Matt Foley and the boy from Barham-Koondrook, Jesse Petrascu. In the back-line his younger brother Tony “Dickson” Petrascu was killing anything that was in the air and Snowy Snowtown and John Shirley were also hard in the packs. The Nomads took good advantage of their opportunities and at half time lead 9.7.61 to 5.5.35.

The third quarter saw the Nomads kicking towards Uralla once again and starting to play some good team football. At the final change the scores were 13.8.86 to 7.7.49.

The final quarter began with a sense that the Roos could quite well come back. And they did. They kicked the first goal of the term not long after the ball was bounced But the Nomads steadied and quickly replied and it was clear from this point that the Nomads would triumph. Some champagne football was played in this quarter. Perhaps the highlight of the day was Modra’s goal over his shoulder despite being heavily checked. Also impressive was the kicking and vision. Rambo at one point in this final quarter looked up and saw Modra behind a crowded forward line and landed the ball in his arms 10 metres out. Jed also showed vision and in one telling moment with a low raking kick hit Spence some 50 metres away who grabbed the ball with all the enthusiasm of a starving dolphin being fed fresh fish. The team work and the run in this last quarter was outstanding.

The win was impressive and the team were in high spirits when they headed off to the Ball, where there were plenty of laughs to be had at the remarkable transformation of many of the suave young hipster Nomads into fully-fledged Bogans.

A good night was had by all.

Round 15 2015

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