Trevor Jackson
Robe 12.4 (76) d Kalangadoo 5.6 (36)
IT is early in the 2023 Mid South East football season, but already Robe has played its hand.
While the Roosters easily accounted for Tantanoola in the opening round, Saturday they comfortably defeated the reigning premiers to the tune of 40 points.
It was a huge turnaround from 2022, when Robe struggled to get close to the Magpies in either of their minor-round games.
Robe applied the pressure early and in a low-scoring first half, held a 16-point advantage at the long break.
From there the game opened up somewhat, as both sides began to find the big sticks, but it was the Roosters who made the best of it, extending their lead in the third term, before running away in the final stanza with a five-goal-to-two quarter to ice the game.
Robe coach Nathan Brown said he was “very happy” to have claimed the win.
“I was expecting it to be a closer game, but to be fair, they brought it to us for the first three quarters,” he said.
“I think in the end our fitness probably allowed us to run over a bit more and cover the ground a bit better.
“Credit goes to the guys and how much effort they have put in over the last three or four months to get prepared.
“It has been a fantastic start, so hopefully we can keep that going.”
That “fantastic start” began last week with a comprehensive victory over Tantanoola, where the Roosters kicked 17 goals and 19 behinds.
The ratio was much better this time, with 12 major scores and only four behinds.
That came from what Brown described as confidence within the roster.
“Our quality of shots were good,” he said.
“There were only a few shots out wide in the pockets … there were a couple of hard shots guys kicked, but I guess it goes back to the confidence we are playing with and just backing ourselves in.
“In contrast, in the Tant game we probably blazed away a bit and probably weren’t as smart with our ball use.
“I was definitely very happy with 12-goals-four.”
Another major aspect of the win was a quality backline, which extended further up the ground to include the mid-field.
Brown said he highlighted the necessity to be on the mark defensively against such a strong side.
“Kalangadoo is a tough side, they smash in hard,” he said.
“I just said to the guys we need to defend well as a team.
“Our back six was phenomenal with our defensive structures and the way we backed it in.
“Our mid-fielders were willing to work back and help the back six, so across the board we were switched on in that defensive mindset.”
The winning roster also included five Reserves players, which showed the reserves are on the same page.
“Credit goes to our B Grade coach Antony Kokiousis who has hopped on board, got behind what I am doing and has tried to get that through to the ressies guys,” Brown said.
“When we do have days like that the guys aren’t coming in blind, they can play the same game plan.”
As for the results so far this season, Brown said he was not getting ahead of himself, but was pleased with how the game-plan and execution had come together.
“We are chuffed to be two and zero,” he said.
“To beat the reigning premiers has given us a confidence boost, but we are not getting ahead of ourselves and will take every week as it comes.
“We know there is a lot of footy to be played yet, it is a long season and anything can happen.
“We will just try to deliver each week.”
