The pre-season phase of our year is slowly winding down, and from my perspective, I couldn’t have asked for more from our playing group. They have attacked this difficult phase with great enthusiasm and are fast approaching a level of fitness that will be required throughout season 2006. Special thanks go out Trent and Brad for all their efforts in making sure that each and every training session was well planned, and the boys had every opportunity to improve in both fitness and skill level.

We are very lucky to have a number of passionate older players involved in our club who also had a huge impact on the success of our pre-season. Dave St Quintin , Damien Amesz, Glen Austen and Stuart MacKinnon all took control of their respective squads and did a fantastic job in creating a competitive, yet enjoyable, environment in which to train. All of these great team men will have a huge impact on the success of the club this year and we are lucky to have such fine leaders within our club.

On Saturday 11^th March, we had our first intra-club matches at Clontarf aboriginal college. Fine, windy conditions greeted the boys and after a difficult 8 weeks of training, the boys flew into their work with gusto. I was extremely impressed with most aspects of the games, especially the work rate shown by our players. The most pleasing factor of the games was the emergence of some of the younger players. 6 – 8 young colts players showed enough to suggest that they will be excellent players not only this year, but for a long time to come.

At the other end of the spectrum, some of our older boyss showed some great form also. Thor Bekkevold was the best player on the day, showing clean skills and customary dash through the middle. James Dunsire looked solid down back as usual and Peter Bednall took some telling marks up forward. Look out for newcomers Clay Bland, Nathan Farley, Troy (TV) Van Steed and Scott Frawley this year. All will be wonderful additions to our great club this year.

It’s now on to our first official scratch match against Mt Lawley at Pickering Brook this weekend. We will field a young side this week and a lot of new faces. If you haven’t been down to the tigers as yet, it would be a great opportunity for you to come for a country drive and check out the boys in action on Saturday.

Greg Harding

Club Coach