The first game was held in Armidale at Bellevue Oval where a very keen Nomads team was waiting for a chance to redeem their loss in round 1. Unfortunately for the Cats they were the team on the end of this wrath losing to the Nomads by 126 points. The good thing for the Cats is they now have their 2 longest road trips out of the way and can concentrate on putting some wins on the board at home. The first quarter was very acceptable for the Cats scoring 2 goals and having the Nomads only score 5 goals. The second quarter however was a vastly different story with the Nomads springing to life and dominating kicking 6 goals to 1 goal. The long break only seemed to spur the Nomads on again as they rammed home 7 goals to 1 goal in the third quarter. By the start of the last quarter the Cats were down by 94 points, but they did not give up. Although the Cats were kept scoreless in the last quarter, the Nomads only kicked more 4 goals to give the Cats something to work with in the next round. The major goal kicked for the Nomads was Weston Whitby with 12 goals and their best player was Hamish Pearce. For the Cats their main goal scorer was Matt Flopp with 2 goals and their best player was James McRae.
Game 2 was the match of the round between the 2 birds of the competition, the Eagles and the Swans. The Eagles look like causing anyone who dares try to kick them out of their nest pain this year as their excellent start to the season continues. While the Swans roller coaster ride start to the season also continues. Apart from their first game the Eagles have been very accurate in front of goals and this was again evident in the first quarter where they kicked 6 goals 2 behinds. The pleasing thing for the Swans was they too were accurate in this quarter kicking 4 goals 2 behinds. With just a 2 goal break at quarter time this game had the makings of a real cracker. The second quarter continued as the first with both teams remaining accurate and both kicking 4 goals to see the long break margin remain at 2 goals to the Eagles. The Eagles are becoming third quarter specialists and this is where they put some distance between them and the Swans kicking 4 goals to 1 goal to lead by 34 points at the last change. The Eagles have been taking their foot off the pedal in the last quarter so far this year and it nearly cost them in round 1. But in this game they put it down harder keeping the Swans to just 1 goal while slotting 6 goals themselves to win by 62 points. The Eagles best player was captain Duane Shawcross and their leading goal kicker was star recruit Tim Cooper with 10 goals. And for the Swans their best player was veteran Dean Finlay and their leading goal kicker was Simon Freer with 3 goals.
The last game was at No. 1 Oval between the Kangaroos and the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs copped a hiding at the hands of the Kangaroos here in the preseason and many thought that would happen again. However even though the Bulldogs only had 18 players coach Peter Chapman would have been happy with his team's effort. But he would not have been happy with their conversion rate in front of goal. The Bulldogs managed to kick 7 Goals 16 behinds for the game and had they been accurate and reversed this score then they would have caused the biggest upset of the season. I am sure Chapman will be putting his men through goal kicking duties over the next 2 weeks. I fully expected the Kangaroos to win this game well. Kangaroo Coach Tim Cotter will be pleased with the win but not the margin. He would also be happy that the Kangaroos have more than just Dan Overeem to kick their goals. Cam Douglas stepped up in this game and kicked 7 goals and their best players was the tough as teak backman Col Daye. For the Bulldogs their leading goal kicker was Tom Lather with 2 goals and their best player was James Hoban.
Last Modified on 15/05/2011 11:29