Roosters show they aren’t chickens on the weekend
Photos supplied by Sarah Dadd and Karen Cuddihy.
The long wait was finally over for junior AFL with the opening round being played on Saturday.
The Tamworth Roosters were split with the under 14 team playing the newly formed Gunnedah side in Gunnedah while the under 17 boys headed up the highway to Moree.
It was also the first game without teammate Jacob Vallender who was remembered.
Although light for numbers, the 17s were keen to get back on the paddock to play footy and showed that with a strong performance.
Keep up to date with AFL North West news on our Facebook page
The Roosters came away with a 14.16 (100) to 2.0 (12) over Moree.
Brody Read kicked both of Moree’s goals while there were five different goal-kickers for the Roosters who started the year with a bang.
“It is amazing the difference a year makes with skills and confidence,” Roosters team manager Sarah Dadd said.
“We were a young side last year so it good to see the guys back playing together. We have also been lucky enough to pick up a couple of new recruits in Jake Cosgrove and Seth Morony who have slotted nicely into the team.
Full results for the weekend’s games can be found here
“In his Roosters debut Jake kicked five goals from the forward line and Seth was following the flow of the footy really well.
“And you don’t kick goals if your team-mates aren’t doing the hard yards across the field.
“Dusty Hagon and Luke Sing, worked really well with Jack Dadd and Bill Tydd. There were strong performances across the team and great support for each other.
“AFL is the ultimate team game, there is just too much ground to cover for one or two players to dominate the play, so when the team clicks it is exciting.”
Meanwhile, the under 14 Roosters were gallant in defeat to the Gunnedah Bulldogs who claimed their first ever competition win in the 14s.
The final score read 8.8 (56) to 4.6 (30)
Brody Kelly and Charlie McKenzie kicked a goal each in their first game while Dane Cuddihy was the other goalscorer for the Roosters. Standout players for the Tamworth side included Harry Hagon, Josh Vallender and Liam Bramley.
For Gunnedah, William Hoppe kicked three goals while Flyn Harrison and Liam Naismith kicked two each.
John Hoppe was the other goalscorer and also named one of Gunnedah’s best.
In the other junior games, Inverell claimed wins in both the under 14s – 9.5 (59) to 1.3 (9) – and the under 17s – 22.18 (150) to 1.3 (9) – over Glen Innes.
This report was supplied by the Tamworth Roosters. To have your own news featured, email benjaminjaffrey21@gmail.com or send us a private message on Facebook.
