First XVIII
cOACHTony Paatsch
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CAPTAINAdam Podbury & Liam Jackson
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BEST & FAIRESTDaniel Broderick
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PerformanceRecord: 8 wins 1 loss
ACC Premiers Won Grand Final by 60 points Herald Sun Shield Runners Up Lost Grand Final by 30 points |
players drafted & rookiedYear 12
Chris Kangars (Geelong) Year 11 Ben Bucovaz (Fremantle) |
The year commenced with over one hundred players keen to represent the College in the 1st XVIII. As reigning Herald Sun Shield Premiers and with nine of last year's victorious team still at school, we were cautiously optimistic about our prospects for the year.
In the first three games we easily accounted for Whitefriars, had a battle for three quarters against De La Salle before dominating the last quarter to win, and had an easy win against Mazenod. With these three wins we moved through to the semi finals of the Herald Sun Shield. The semi final was played at Monash University against Bendigo Secondary College. The team showed tremendous resolve to narrowly defeat a very accomplished team which boasted many highly rated TAC Cup players. The Final of the Herald Sun Shield was played at the MCG against Penleigh Essendon Grammar, the team we had defeated to win the shield in 2006. Playing at the "G" is a wonderful but potentially overwhelming experience and this proved to be the case, with a nervous start and uncharacteristic errors leaving us almost four goals behind at quarter time.The players again showed tremendous commitment and resolve and we worked our way back into the match, getting to within ten points. PEGS proved too strong in the last quarter and we had to be content with being runners up this year. Those who were fortunate enough to witness this game felt enormous pride in the way all players represented the College. The final score was PEGS 11.10 - 76 def SJC 8.8 - 56 Goals: Stephen Paulke 2, Sam Hughes, Hugh Hunter, Kirby Bourke, Dan Hovey, Ben Bucovaz, Ben Capra Best: Chris Kangars (Kevin Sheehan Medal), Andrew Rogers, Hugh Hunter, Nick Scott, Nic Sutcliffe, Ben Bucovaz, Sam Hughes With the Herald Sun Shield over, attention turned to the Associated Catholic Colleges competition. The non - Herald Sun Shield games in the ACC provided a chance to rest our TAC Cup players and an opportunity for many more boys to represent the College, It is a tremendous indication of the depth of talent at the College to note that we lost only one ACC game for the year. In the ACC Final at Elsternwick Park against St Bernard's, the team started strongly with Liam Jackson in control in the ruck and his co-captain, Adam Podbury, along with Hugh Hunter and Daniel Broderick, Jack Chafer, Justin Maher and Ben Bucovaz dominating the stoppages. They continually drove the ball forward where Steve Paulke was dominant at half forward with Daniel Hovey marking strongly at full forward. Small forwards Gabby Denton, Matt Kennedy and Darcy Purser were effective at the fall of the ball. We kicked the first five goals of the game. St Bernard's forays forward resulted in only one goal late in the quarter. Shannan Gove, Ben Capra, Damian Flanders and Nic Sutcliffe dominated in the air with Hugh Hanlon, the consistent and reliable Nick Scott and David Fawkes running the ball out strongly.We were winning on both wings with Tom McManus, Matt Sheridan and Kirby Bourke rotating through them. We held an extraordinary 11 goal lead at half time. We were challenged briefly in the third quarter but steadied in the final term running out winners by 60 points. This result was a fitting culmination to a successful season.ACC premiers and runners-up in the Herald Sun Shield reflect the quality of the team and the effort put in during the season. While 23 players represented the team in the Herald Sun Shield Final and 22 in the ACC final, the success of the season is a credit to the 67 players who represented SJC this year. I would like to acknowledge the outstanding leadership of co-captains Liam Jackson and Adam Podbury, along with the other senior players. We were fortunate to have the services of wonderful staff including the speedy and astute Steve Catanzariti as runner, experienced and methodical manager, David Breheny, reliable and tireless trainer, Shane Dawson and the passionate and positive trainer (and one man cheer squad) Mick Hinds. We are extremely grateful for the assistance of past parent Greg Vaughan, trainers Lenny Alford and Rachael Hovey. Matt Marais has been a really important part of the team over the past 2 years working tirelessly to produce video material of games and audio visual presentations for presentation nights and assemblies. We were also fortunate to have assistance on match day by committed students including Tim Carroll, Calvin O'Brien, James Rowe, Jackson Moore, Luke Dowling, Tim Lubczenko and Blake Vrendenbregt. Tony Paatsch, Coach 1st XVIII |
2007 Awards
Most Determined - Nick Scott Most Consistenu - Liam Jackson Best First Year Player - Hugh Hunter Best on Ground in ACC Final - Stephen Paulke Best on Ground in the HSS Final - Chris Kangars Coaches Awards - Liam Jackson & Ben Podbury Runner Up Best and Fairest - Nick Scott Best and Fairest - Daniel Broderick Most Exemplary Player - Chris Kangars Best and Fairest Results Daniel Broderick 40 Nick Scott 37 Stephen Paulke 35 Chris Kangars 24 Liam Jackson 21 Hugh Hunter 21 Nic Sutcliffe 19 Gabby Denton 17 Jack Chafer 16 Andrew Rodgers 16 Tom Littore 16 |