A SLICK moving Sunraysia Under-18 team was too strong for Central Rivers in the curtain-raiser to the main Under-23 show at the Swan Hill Recreation Ground at the weekend.
On a fine day to have a kick, the Two Blues just couldn’t click into top form and also did themselves no favours in front of goals as they trailed all the way in a 41-point loss – 9.17 to 3.12.
“If you don’t kick straight, bad kicking is bad football, but I thought the boys were really good though,” Central Rivers coach Scott Wishart said.
“They (Sunraysia) were strong at the contest.
“We got our hands on the footy pretty consistently, but they were just a bit cleaner around the goal and the ground and that was probably the difference.”
The Central Rivers’ outfit was near evenly divided between Central Murray and Golden Rivers players with the former having about a “60-40” edge in personnel.
“All the clubs in that league (Golden Rivers) are quite strong and it was great for all our boys to get that experience today,” Wishart said.
“Interleague footy is quick, fast, and a different intensity to what you get in club footy. The experience those boys will get from that run is invaluable,” he said.
Xavier Jonhson was the pick of the host team’s players, but he received plenty of support in a solid all-round effort.
“Xav was obviously our best on ground today,” the coach said. “Sam Whinfield through the midfield, Ryder Morris did a good job for us today on the half-back flank and Will Meharry in the ruck battled hard as well.”
Sunraysia Under-18s coach Liam Garlick agreed with his opposite number about the value of interleague in the development of young regional stars.
“There’s a lot of talent in the region and it was hard to pick best players on both teams today,” Garlick said.
“What they (under-18s) get out of interleague, I believe, is development in their own football,” he said.
“They are playing against a high standard in another region and there are people out there looking. So, hopefully they can grow through these opportunities and further their football careers,” he said – alluding to the presence of scouts at the game.
Garlick said his side’s key to victory was scoreboard pressure.
“It came down to scoring efforts and composure around the footy … as long as you kick goals regularly you can win the game,” he said.
His green-and-gold team’s best players were hard to split.
“Rory Adams played really well as did Felix Smith on the half-back flank, Josh Furey with his composure around the midfield – and he was also captain today, along with Max Kiel. They stood out because they have all played senior footy back in Sunraysia, but it’s hard to pick,” he said.
The visitors also did well in the younger age groups, sweeping all of the encounters.
Sunraysia’s Under-14 boys were the most impressive downing their Two Blues opponents 20.10 (130) to 7.2 (44) at Alan Garden while Central Rivers Under-15s fought back late to only go down by eight points – 12.7 (79) to 11.5 (71) at the same venue.
The Under-16 team from the west was also made to work for their 13.6 (84) to 9.5 (59) triumph and in early morning action the Under-15 ‘Sunny Girlz’ won a low- scoring clash 3.6 (24) to 2.4 (16).
