Roosters go back to basics as big two weeks loom

‘ONE game at a time’ might well be the oldest cliche in football, but for North Ballarat coach Clint Proctor, the words have never rung truer.

Crippled by their horror injury list, the Roosters can do little else but follow the well-tried mantra as they look to hold their ground in the top six of the Ballarat Football Netball League comp.

Despite a 35-point loss to Bacchus Marsh last Saturday at Maddingley Park, the Roosters held on to sixth spot after Ballarat lost to Darley by 25 points.

The Roosters and Swans find themselves under pressure from Sebastopol, which moved to within two points of both teams following a win over Lake Wendouree.

Redan too breathed life into its season with the upset of the season against Melton.

As frustrating as the growing injury count has become, Proctor is concentrating on the silver lining.

“It’s good exposure and a good opportunity for our young blokes to step up,” he said.

“Blokes like Jacob Hutchinson, Oscar Stone, Jackson McInerney, Finn Russell – these are names no one would know.

“They are all 16 years of age, so it’s super exciting for our development.

“We just need to get games into these guys now. We’ve had Jamie Quick (jaw) and Brock Leonard (concussion), who are out for the rest of the year now.

“So, we’ve just stripped it back and said, let’s go one game at a time and get these boys up to speed as quickly as we can.”

 

Behind by 19 points at quarter-time after Cobras star Jake Owen kicked three of his six goals for the game, the Roosters struggled further in the second to be down by 32 at the main break.

Proctor took heart in his side’s second half on the back of a bold change in game style.

“Bacchus Marsh defended the ground really well. Their contest was good, their tackling pressure was good and they got the game on their terms with a good start,” he said.

“But what we did was adjusted a few things in-game and we wanted to make it a bit dirtier. Kick the ball into space, bounce it around a bit, get some frontal pressure.

“You would have seen a few torps and a few bumbles, but that was from us. We wanted to play a bit dirtier as they were beating us in the one-on-ones in talent with drop punts, so why not make it dirty, bounce it and see if we could get our speed around it.

“I thought we did that well and we scored the bulk of our goals dirty. It wasn’t clean, but we needed to do it.

“It was an in-game adjustment and I thought the boys did it well.”

With a young and developing list, Proctor foreshadowed some further tinkering of the game plan over the final six rounds.

“I think respectfully, we need to adjust how we play a bit now, just with who we are as a team and help out our young guys now,” he said.

“Play a bit straighter and potentially pop it into space a bit more.”

Proctor praised Indigenous talent Jaylon Thorpe, who started across half-back before moving on to Cobras star Owen, for sticking to the task.

Taj McMillan, Isaac Carey, Simon McCartin and Josh Morris all toiled hard.

 

It was always going to be a tough ask for the Roosters with Denver Grainger-Barras earning a call-up to Carlton’s VFL side during the week, and Riley Polkinghorne plying his trade at Port Melbourne.

With Sunbury next up, followed by Melton, Proctor made no secret of his desire to snare at least one top four scalp.

“We’d love to pinch a win against one of them and then it’s Lake Wendouree, Redan and Sebas,” he said.

“We are right in it still for finals.

“Making up some ground on fifth might be hard, but we should be aiming for sixth. That’s our goal.

“But because of our health, it is really one week at a time.”

A crucial win for Bacchus Marsh capped a memorable milestone day for favourite son Tyson Shea, who became only the second player in the club’s history to play 300 games.

Not even some inaccuracy around goal could wipe the gloss off a great day for the Cobras.

“When you have 30 scoring shots to 15 and only win by about 30 points, we were wasteful all day,” he said.

“But it’s a credit to North Ballarat, we knew they were always going to come. They are a diligent side.

“I asked our boys to hit them hard early and I thought we were able to do that.

“We probably got a little fatigued late, but I was really proud of the boys.

“If you had told me we’d get four points and a 30-odd point win against North Ballarat, I’d sign on the dotted line any day of the week.

“I’m very proud of the boys, I asked them to do it for a bigger cause than themselves and Tyson is definitely that.

“To get that win for Tyson is special.”

Alongside Owens’s six goals, Jake McCreery was dangerous around goal, finishing with five.

The win was the Cobras’ third in a row, leading into an exciting clash against top-of-the-ladder Darley.

Round 12 recap: East Point 14.10 (94) defeated Sunbury 10.12 (72); Bacchus Marsh 14.16 (100) defeated North Ballarat 10.5 (65); Melton 12.13 (85) lost to Redan 13.9 (87) Ballarat 10.13 (73) lost to Darley 15.8 (98); Lake Wendouree 11.10 (76) lost to Sebastopol 20.14 (134).

Round 13: Ballarat v Lake Wendouree; Darley v Bacchus Marsh; Melton v Sebastopol; North Ballarat v Sunbury; Redan v East Point.