26th May 2007
Back on Track
by Adam Bennett

The lads were absolutely gutted after their first defeat of the season against the Lions last week, and were determined to make amends against joint 2nd place Hawks. Welcoming back several veterans into the line-up, but still missing a few regular faces, the Roos have gelled remarkably well at the start of this season, integrating new recruits with a minimum of disruption. Observing this week on the sidelines was Ollie from BBC Radio Berkshire, giving live reports from Fortress Kings Meadow.

Andy's strange wind dance fails to bring the ball back.

With the Hawks awaiting some players in transit, the game started with 14-a-side, and the Roos made ample use of the extra space, finding Phil, Whits and Teimus for early goals. It is a real testament to the work the guys have put in that the goals are far outweighing the points so far this season, something which let us down in our season in the Premiership 2 years ago. The Roos centre was up against quite a bit of experience and ability, but Andy, Brett, Matt and Jules were still getting more than their share of ball and hitting the good leads with some great distribution. The first quarter ended with Teimus making an immediate impression, as he very wisely did not handball off to Ads rampaging past him from the back line, and then managing to shank a kick for a point from dead in front.

With this piece of smart play (....NEVER pass to Ads....), yours truly was getting a little annoyed, as the Roo's half back line this year has conspired to cut out everything heading toward the sticks. New recruits Ash and Tim have joined Brent, Oli and Mark and all have been awesome in the early games, not only cutting out most of the attacking ball, but running the ball out well and giving great service to the centre and wings.

Up top, Whits, Phil and Teimus were having a field day, taking some great grabs and showing the hours on the training field have paid off with their accuracy. Paul and Timmy were battling well and always involved, and Jon was unlucky not to get some grabs after some fantastic leads into space. One of the Roo's promising rookies this year, Jon is developing well and learning from those around him all the time.

Ash and Tim tidy up another loose ball.

With a sizeable lead going into the half time break, the message from the management was "more of the same, but keep the focus". In each of the Roo's matches so far, even with a comfortable lead, the lads have allowed a few chinks to appear every now and then in their attention, and these need to be plugged before coming up against teams like the Raiders and Demons.

With a few knocks to Ash and Brett, the Roos also welcomed back staunch servants and veterans Rossco and Crox. The former has done great service this year as primarily off-field support and will be sorely missed when he heads back to the sunny side in a few weeks. Crox has relocated up to Aberystwyth and will only be seen occasionally, but still showed that he has a very good footballing brain on his shoulders. This is a great recovery from Phil trying to remove it and breaking his nose in the grand final a few years back. Competition at the top of the scorer's chart will do that to a man - though Phil always seemed like such a nice lad.

With the game winding down and the sun starting to peep out, the Roos finished off a great display with a dominant 4th quarter, Andy getting on the scoresheet and Jon unlucky to soccer one just wide of his first goal for the club. Hearts fluttered slightly when Ads played on from the back line and even took a bounce, but faith was restored when he booted it out to someone else who knew what should be done with a footy.

Guess which one was playing up top.....

The final whistle brought elation from the IX Europe Roos, back on track after a stumble and looking forward to a break next week in the demanding schedule. Ads and Jules gave interviews to an entertained and bemused Ollie from BBC Radio Berkshire - none of us had been expecting quite such a total victory against a traditionally strong Hawks team. He'd obviously been doing his homework though, as Kangaroo pun after pun made their way into the chat.

Thanks very much to Ollie for making it down - we hope he'll be there again for some more matches. Thanks to Ted for being a last minute stand in. Ian, who is hating standing on the sideline with injury, and of course our supporting WAGs, who managed the siren and scoreboard. After freshening up, the Roos headed into town for the local Walkabout and enjoyed a night of game analysis and bragging. Two prominent club players were also seen later on, rocking out in the local metal pub.

Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home....

The Squad
Ads, Crox, Andy, Whits, Ash, Brent, Brett, Jon, Mark, Oli, Paul, Phil, Ross, Ted, Timmy, Tim, Matt, Teimus

Outstanding Performances
Teimus, Phil, Tim, Paul, Andy

Fines