27.06.04
It was like a throw back to my much younger days. It was cold, it was wet and I swear I thought it was
going to snow. It may not have snowed but it sure felt like it wanted too and so "On the Prowl" comes
to you from North Ballarat where the Coburg Tigers took on the North Ballarat Roosters in the VFL.
As I have mentioned it was a throw back to my younger days - I drove into the car park and parked my car
right on the boundary line. The last time I remember being able to sit in my car and watch the footy was when I was visting
relatives in the country (I think it was up near the border somewhere). I must say I didn't stay in the car I did
watch the game from the "outer". In hindsight, with the freezing cold weather I can say that this was not one of the smartest things I have done this year.
The North Ballarat Oval enabled me to continue my trip down memory lane. Why? The centre square reminded me the old Moorabbin
ground that we hated visiting. You all remember - we'd have to walk (actually that should be trudge through the mud!) from the car park to the ground and once
inside we'd look at the centre square and wonder how there could be so much mud when it hadn't rained for 3 weeks. Moorabbin's centre square was always a quagmire and
and on Saturday North Ballarat's ground gave us a quagmire that would make the old Morrabbin's and Western Ovals of this world very very proud.
Under AFL rules relating to the "bye" round only 11 Richmond AFL listed players could represent Coburg seniors this weekend. So the 11 who had the benefit
of playing on Saturday were: Houlihan, Weller, Morrison, Gilmour, Moore, Flemming, D. Kellaway, Rogers,
Marsh, Tuck and Hartigan. Mark Dragicevic also played for Coburg in the mud and did quite well.
So did Mark Coughlan play? The answer is no and considering the conditions I doubt that it would have been in his best interests to play. Not only
was the centre square a mud heap but other parts of the ground had a lot of surface water. All in all the ground was very heavy. Great conditions for some
e.g. Duncan Kellaway who always thrives in heavy conditions but not great for a someone coming back from a groin injury.
Out of the Richmond players I thought Tuck gain stood out, with his goal (and remember Coburg only managed 2 for the game) a highlight. I know Tiger fans everywhere
keep asking but what does this kid have to do to get a game? I am hoping he'll be on the plane next week to Brisbane.
Brent Hartigan also did well and should be considered for a re-call to the seniors. As mentioned Duncan Kellaway thrived in the conditions
to be one of the Burgers best.
I just want to give a special mention to Shane Morrison who played his best game for Coburg in terrible conditions. He never stopped presenting as a target
just disappointing that his team mates often ignored his leads choosing instead to continually kick it to Adam Houlihan who usually had 3 opponents.
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