The young blokes were not sure whether to believe us about the brighton lighthouse that doubles as a ruckman but they were soon convinced. To our boys credit, I reckon we broke even in the ruck duels and a bit more game time together will help meld the midfield unit. We made the ruck duels a bit of fun with the advice that its just like jumping into a big tackle bag that complains when you hit it.

I looked nervously around for PK who had earlier received  vague directions whilst I juggled Tara and the shopping : on south road, just over Nepean highway near Milanos and the beach, the beach Paul. 20 years of driving to these grounds and the car just seems to find its own way there. At this point PK was trying all the mobiles that were already switched off and was driving around  the Dendy Park ovals searching for some blue and white love.

We got underway and similar to last week we were competitive early before the fitness factor came to the fore in the second quarter. PK was busy around the grounds with visits to Stilitoe reserve, Simpson reserve and Castlefield reserve.

The injuries began mounting and the Terry Wallace extended bench was looking attractive.  Mind you Brownie going off for a leg wax  was overdoing it a bit. Unfortunately the greedy twos had  already snaffled all the fittest and finest as well as Simon Thompson.

Meanwhile after a final tour including Peterson St reserve, Dane road reserve and Victory park, PK was relaxed at home with a cool one leaving nasty messages on my mobile.

Farrel was industrious around the middle, Shaun was racking up possessions  in the guts but the cash cow Sultan was a bit like Hill in my dreamtime, looked the goods in recent games  but not enough possessions this round. Both have been firmly spoken to. Nick was a little less angry than his last game on this ground and carved up his wing. Saundo did very well as a big forward target and then with stints in the ruck.

Following a brighton behind and with the ball rolling down South Rd, Shep called out to a trio of Brighton blondes –

 “Hey girls, do me a favour”.

 “And then grab the ball” came the predictable follow up.

Shep’s funny when he blushes.

Simon copped a don’t argue and went to ground. This was no Brian Lake fake injury as he handed over the kick and went to the bench for a nice cold compress and chamomile tea. Simon did much better this week and every one of his kicks went towards our goals. Small steps.

POS  was providing a big target at CHF. A little bit of Tomahawk in the lad and will benefit from the run. A little bit of Gulliver too as several brighton defenders struggled to bring him to ground.  The other u one nines were finding their feet and started playing with more confidence as the game progressed. Shep and Dave were stoic in defence but both suffered sunburn on the roof of their mouths as the goals were peppered.

One of their angrier backline players was running the water and was dishing some advice to Vohman. With the innocence of youth, he gave the waterboy a  playful tap on both cheeks and ran away oblivious to the Brighton players tackling the water boy keen on some Barry Hall style retribution.

It looks a one sided affair on paper but the signs were good and as we regain some of the tardy starters we will start to produce some better results, yes you, Rob Morrison.  The main problem was lack of adherence to Shep’s game plan, which was to kick more goals than they did. Subtly simple yet effective if followed.

Post match, Shep then decided he is a crap judge  and Simon had apparently grown tired of writing his own name down in the votes so he came up with a new system with which to ease a guilty conscience. Each player gave their 3-2-1 and the votes were tallied. A keen student of international politics, Hammo relished the Mugabe style election,  and found himself with 54 BOG’s  even though only 22 cast a vote. Hopeful of snaring some votes from the first round, he also noted King Gyanendra from Nepal who is demanding a second vote after losing the initial election. Pressed for comment Mick Malthouse expressed his displeasure at young Brown being overlooked yet again.

After game refreshments at Milanos and we were treated to Brownies recollection of accidentally walking in his mates sister whilst she was in the shower. When I say accidentally he managed to spot her on his third try. The footy lesson here gentlemen is persistence.

Recruiting wise Shep bumped into a couple of old stalwarts down at Elsternwick Park and initially tried to talk a few of them out of retirement before realising they would make size 38 shorts look like an LZR swimsuit.  Joffa is interested and promises to kick Wahn goal, this is Joffa talk for lots of goals but don’t hold your breath. Joff has been solely responsible for the survival of several  Victorian tattoo parlours since his retirement from football and entry into several  bands you are unlikely to have heard of.

Under 19s Round 1 vs. Old Melbournians, at Junction Oval, St Kilda

By Justin Kremmer

The season opener was always going to present a challenge for the U19s. Playing on probably the best surface in Melbourne apart from the MCG, it was a contrast to the pre-season where, at times, it took great effort to find a permanent patch of grass even to train on. But ‘the Junction’ was in pristine condition and it was a fine day – the wind slightly advantaged the city end goals, as we later found out.

The team outfit, apart from the orange jumpers we were forced to wear to avoid a clash, was looking strong with no shortage of smalls or tall players, except for Darcy Daly who was unavailable to play. It had been clear the U19 boys particularly those fresh out of school had displayed eagerness and enthusiasm to play with the school. Pre-season attendance levels to training had apparently reached a new high compared with years gone by. Getting the numbers out onto the field was what really mattered though. Old Melbournians started the game at a blistering fast pace with a couple of early goals which stemmed from centre bounce clearance wins. Their carry and run with the ball was to become a major problem for Caulfield throughout the day.

The midfielders knew they had a tough task and it appeared early that Old Melbournian’s endurance was unmatched by our overall lack of fitness as a team. Later, it was clear that this was the case. Caulfield were strong with laying strong tackles at stages but as the scoreboard showed Melbourne were a lot better at applying sustained physical pressure. Their conversion rate at goal was also extremely high and it was even more difficult for us to play our tactical game style.

Caulfield were able to get on top of Melbourne’s flow midway through the second quarter. This was due to the help of Tim ‘Bakes’ Baker, as alluded to by Matho in the post-match speech, he is our fittest player at this current stage. His preparation for the season was exhibited in fine style on Saturday. In the backline, Dom ‘Mumbler’ O’Keefe, Robbie ‘Laminator’ Lamont and Jordan ‘JD’ Stewart were able to sacrifice their normal attacking style of play and take on a more defensive approach. There were also signs of JD’s courage when going back with the flight of the ball.

It was similarly fantastic to see the emergence of a fresh recruit Woody Eke, who may have a De La Salle background but we’re happy to accept him as our own. It’s hard to believe Bakes and James ‘Footie’ Foote have both come from the 3rds school footy team. Co-captain Sean ‘Mez’ Meredith presented strongly as a target up forward all day but as was the case he had poor delivery which made things exceptionally hard. Will Rowsthorn became a menace for the opposition, snagging two good goals and leading hard from the goal square.

Footie and Justin Kremmer were able to add three goals between them from setshots showcasing a handy ability to kick straight in setshots. Luke Spinks, Jimmy Elrington, Jake McCahon, Luke Tamblyn, Clay Williams and, in the ruck, Dave Allanson and Mark ‘Nelly’ Nelson, all dug deep and continued to create contests and were daring. But it was Bakes who stood out and put on a show gathering possessions from all corners of the ground, laying ferocious tackles and even took a speccy in the forward line, and then he of course converted a major. His best on ground performance was a stellar effort since he has a history of playing soccer.

Footie’s two goals assisted in helping gather some momentum at a time when we were in fast need of lifting the bar. Kremmer’s move to defence paid off with his running off the backline looking sharp, while Francis McArdle, Cam Penberthy, Chris Game and Alex Ford were able to show acceleration and determination for the full game, not giving up at any point to become the team’s major ball winners.

While spending much of the time on the bench, Dyl Tobias, along with Jake ‘Whitta’ Whitford, Simon ‘Simon’ Reid and Max Price were able to add some support to the structure of the team.

A telling indication of the depth and ability of this talented group was co-captain Ben Price’s selection in the seniors. He had earned a call up after an impressive start to the year in the pre-season games, along with exciting first year players Tom Sundberg and Callum Sinclair. But, the continual message around the club has been made clear: there are spots vacant for youth, but only if you’re up to it. And these three had definitely shown they have the required attitude to match it at the senior level.

Despite the loss of the reserves in the curtain raiser, our lads had every reason to be confident of starting the 2008 campaign in a positive manner. The game opended with strong tackling from both teams and out first goal came from great ground work by Andrew Slevison who got it out to Richard Foote and ‘Footie’ snapped truly.

Carey would be dangerous given their size advantage in what was turning out to be an even game and after two goals to the opposition, Chris May roved superbly to run in and goal. Benny Carboni was again combining well with ‘Slevo’ who was dangerous but inaccurate. Chris Hammond marked strongly and got it to ‘Slev’ who cleverly chipped to Cal Sinclair for his first goal in senior football. At quarter time the score stood at 4.2 to 3.6 in Carey’s favour and we had been wasteful in front of goal.

We paid the price for an obvious lack of strength up back on the big Carey forwards and a poor kick in after a behind gave Carey an easy goal. When ‘Slevo’ goaled from a free we stemmed the flow slightly but the ball was spending too much time in Carey’s half of the ground as they scored 4.6 to our 2.2 for the quarter.

At half time we left the ground to experience Coach Colling’s first ‘real spray’ since his arrival at CGFC. It was clearly disappointing to also give up the ball by undisciplined play and it was obvious to all watching that we are not a good enough team to be able to show even an occasional lack of discipline!

Some changes to the line up in the third term saw Matty Sundberg creating some positive play and younger brother Tom was right in the thick of it. After a couple of chances went begging, Slevo goaled again and we were certainly showing a lot more spirit. A Simon Widjaja clearance to ‘Slevo’ for his third major and then when Carbs got it to Footie and on to Slev, we were looking far better. Cal Sinclair made the most of a free and we were right back in the game and at the final break we were only 2 points down, 8.14 to 9.10.

The final quarter was tough and crowded but when Ash Bruhn converted from Ben Hyland's initiative up back, we were finally in front. Unfortunately Carey had the answers and again our undisciplined play was costly. Despite some stronger efforts Carey ran out winners 12.13 to 9.17 and we again failed to start the season with a win.

I know there were no U19 players in the Carey line-up but I don’t see that as a disadvantage to us, rather an advantage at a time of rebuilding our list. I certainly don’t believe we were let down by the U19 players who did represent us in round 1 or the U19 graduates from last season. We may not have had as many strong bodies as Carey but the experience gained by the younger players will be invaluable.

No excuses, no complaining, just give us something better next week boys!

Goal kickers – Slevison 4, Cal Sinclair 2, Foote, May and Bruhn 1 each.

Better players (in no particular order) – Hyland, Evans, M Sundberg, T Sundberg, Slevison and Foote.

The 2008 season opened in perfect conditions at the grounds at Carey Grammar were excellent for our first encounter against Old Carey who were back in B Section for the first time since 1972.

The reserves caled upon a few of the boys who would have expected to be in the Clubbies and Vice Captain of the Reserves, Ed Kalaja, had the first kick of the new season for CGFC. Although Tim Noblett, Sam Wood and Andrew Strain got hold of the footy early, Carey looked to be a fairly well drilled reserves team and at quarter time led 4.2 to 1.2. Sean Garrood across half back and Josh McCahon up forward and on ball were also prominent, especially Josh who kicked our only goal in the term.

In the second quarter, Ed Kalaja marked strongly and Michael Murphy had a ‘purple patch’ with 4 kicks in less than a minute. Andrew Simmons (U19 player), Sam Wood and Brett ‘Boomer’ Scott were in the thick of things and Cheyne Gates marked strongly in defence. Ed Kalaja and Andrew Simmons both scored majors but we were well down at half time, 3.4 to 8.2.

In the third term our rushed attempts to send the ball forward resulted in a number of turnovers and the Carey boys woke up to the fact that Tim Noblett was going to win most of the tap outs and they roved to him. Sam Curry, who last played at CGFC in the early nineties as an U19 players, and had since played senior footy with Old Carey, was prominent in his first game with us in over a decade. Nobby and Strainy found plenty of the ball for a time and Sam Curry converted from good play by Gatesy. The scoreline at the final break saw us down 10.4 to 5.5 and hopefully it would not be a ‘blow out’ against us in the final term.

To the contrary, it was all CGFC but we could not deliver adequately to the forwards. Sam Wood was very strong down back and his work was finally rewarded when ‘Simmo’ found Grant Poulter in his return to the club and ‘Poults’ did not let the team down. This goal was the forerunner of some great play by the Fields and Josh McCahon, Andy Simmons and Strainy all converted to leave us only points down and minutes to play. After a couple of opportunities within reach of goal went begging in the final minutes, Carey held on to win 10.4 to 9.7 despite the fact they did not score in the last quarter.

Goals – McCahon 2, Kalaja 2, Simmons 2, Poulter, Strain, Curry 1 each.

Better players – Gates, Murphy, Wood, Noblett, Curry, Kalaja, Scott, McCahon.