Well the season has finally come to an end, and from a Quinns point of view we couldn't be happier with how the season has gone for us. It's been a long hard slog, but to our boys credit they have remained focused on the task all year and have finally reaped the rewards.
2 premierships, league b&f winner, club champions, and all four sides making finals, what a year for us.
Canningvale v Basso colts:
Only got to see a bit of this game, but it looked like the Canningvale boys had a bit more leg speed across the heavy ground and there skills in the wet were just a little better than the Basso boys. The attack on the ball by both sides was good, but like I said, the Canningvale boys just seemed to have a bit more run. Well done to you guys LAG, three flags in three years is a mighty effort for any club.
Quinns v Warnbro Reserves:
After watching the canning v Warnbro final the week before, we felt that the game was a hard fought contest and may have taken a bit of a toll on both sides. To our boys credit, we knew that if we were first at the ball all day that things would fall our way. Again, I think our run on the heavy ground helped, but to be honest, the game could have gone either way until about the last 10 minutes of the game. We could see that the Warnbro guys were looking a bit tired towards the end, but to their credit they fought it out all the way.
Canning v Quinns:
To say our league side wasn't ready for this game would be an understatement. Our boys got a big kick in the arse last time we played Canning in the 2nd Semi, and you could really tell for the following few weeks that our boys were ready to go. The intensity at our training since the 2nd semi had increased greatly and the boys couldn't have come into the GF in better shape. Well done to our coach Ian Lee for the way he managed our boys and really got them back on track after the 2nd semi.
The game itself, well we knew that Canning has a big bodied side and would be very physical around the ball. We also took into account the weather and knew that a few extra runners would be a benifit to us on a big heavy ground.
As was expected the game was a hard fought contest but to our boys credit, we made sure that the big bodies of canning wouldn't intimidate us and I think our hardness at the ball was a lot better than it was in the 2nd semi. Our skill level was also about 70% better than it was in the 2nd semi, which on a wet day is vital.
After the 2nd semi, we knew there were two players from canning that we needed to try and shut down, number 7 who I believe was the runner up league B&F and the centre half back with the longer hair. Both of those guys have great skills and we knew that Cannings attack off half back with those two was something we really needed to manage. We decided to play two talks across half forward to make these guys accountable and I think it really paid off. It was great to see the league B&F (Gilly from quinns) and the runner up B&F (number 7 from Canning go head to head in the middle in the last quarter. To be honest, when we saw that and the CHB from Canning go to CHF we realised that Canning were trying to get a spark.
All in all it was a hard fought contest all day, and we as a club have the utmost respect for Canning. They have been one of the best clubs in the c2 comp for several years, and we look forward to seeing them again next year in c1.
I will add, that it was unfortunate for Canning that Scotty Fawlkner injured his thumb in the 2nd semi which ruled him out of the GF. His leadership around the ground has not gone unnoticed when we've played them.
To all the sides in the C2 comp, congratulations on the way the whole comp had conducted themselves this year, it's been great to see a competition that each week has been all about the football and not all the other BS like in other grades. The hospitality at all clubs has been first class I think and we have really enjoyed playing against you guys.
To LAG, I have sat back all year and read everyone's posts without making any real comments, but LAG, I would like to personally thank you for your write ups each week. Not only have they been entertaining, but with Quinns playing each side the week after Canningvale, your match write ups have helped us with players to watch, injuries and where each clubs strength and weaknesses are. Cheers buddy.
And lastly, to BigOrs, thanks for giving our guys a little bit more motivation after your round 2 comment about us starting per-season training in November, and how "that was cute". Looks like we did something right!
In closing, I just need to add, best hot chips goes to Canningvale, worst hot chips SNESA ( but hey, at least you have hot chips, we don't)
Have a good off season guys and good luck to you all next year.
