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EditorialAchillyday for footy–butagoodday to be cheering from thesidelines in your new North RydeDockershoodie!And,forachange,thisweektheU9matchreportisattheendoftheissue.

U13Thisweektheboysplayedathomeagainst tough competitors theForest Lions.Whilstwewere shorta few of our stronger players, ourregular helpers, Gabe, Tom andCameronweretheretolendahandandmadetheirpresenceknown.Itwasatoughdayattheofficeandwe started with a lead after thefirstquarter.Fromthe2ndquarter

on, itwas a case of not getting tothe ball first and not picking outour man from the disposals andclearingkicks.Itwasalsoadaythatthe ball didn't bounce ourway onmost occasions, which didn't helpthe score at the final siren.Standouts today were Nathan,Lucas,AdamandBlake,whoaddedtothescoreboardmorethanonce.Playingtothewhistleandlisteningto umpire calls is something totakeaway into the coming rounds.Wewillmeetthestrongerteamsinthecomingweeksbeforethefinals.We need to stay focused,committedandcometogetherasateam. Final score Dockers 9.6=60,Lions11.4=70.

–BronPapandrea

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U17Aweekisalongtimeinfooty.Lots of thanks to the match daycrew comprising the return of“Across the Top” Curdie whoextended his recent 9,000kmodyssey by running the boundaryfor our match againstWilloughby/Mosman. Also back inharness,ormorecorrectlywearingthe prescribed ridiculous hot pinkapron, was the imposingBrookshaw and Professor Barrettwhowavedtheflagswithregularityand significantly greater precisionthantheclubhousescoreboard.AlsoaccoladestoSydney’sownMrJuniorFootyDeanwhoappearedatDrummoyne, coached at Cronulla

andcoachedatGoreHillintheoneday. Thank you for deploying thenecessary gravitas to get the shipback on an even keel. And at thetopoftheorganisationalfoodchainwas CoachPlummerwho resumedhis control of the magnetic boardwith the mission to redress theambush the Swans inflicted on hisdebutinRound7.Thank you to Brendan and Lukewho had a run with us after theirU15s Div1 fixture and added theirtouch of poise and hard nut ballwinning to the mix. It was asurprise that we had Ryan backafteralmost3monthsofhiatusandJameshadhis first run sincebeinginjured in the Rep Carnival. Bothwill bemuchbetter for thegallop.Both sides had plenty of numbers

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so it was 18-a-side with anextended bench of 5, whichmadeforagoodcontestthatwasplayedincommendablespirit.Theovalwaswornandthreadbareof grass and there was the notinconsiderable obstacle of aquagmire guarding the northerngoalwhichmadethesouthernendthescoringzone.Scheduledtocommenceat3:50pmIhadbeenoftheassumptionwe’dbeplayingunderlights.Butnotso.Thegroundsman’sviewwasthat ifwe got done by 5pmwewouldn’tneed that and, with both sidesagreeing to an early start and achange to using a yellow ball forthesecondhalf,weavoidedhavingtoplayoutthefixtureusingBrailleby,well,asmuchas5minutes.For

the last quarter the only light onthegroundwaseitherreflectedoffthe high rises to the east of thepark or coming from vehiclesleavingthecarpark.It was a day for the goal-kickingwizards with outrageous majorsbeing kicked from wide out, fromon the boundary and occasionallyfrom outside the boundary. As itreads on the scoreboard westeadily ground out a comfortablewin but it was closer and morecompetitive than that. Late in the3rd quarter Willoughby/Mosmanhad all themomentum, gotwithin3straightkicksandtheprospectofaboil-overloomed.We startedpositively andwereupby 2 goals at the first changesuccessfully kicking a couple

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through the mud heap. The gamewas really won in the secondquarter when running to the dryend and working hard across theparkwekickedfiveandopenedupasixgoalbreak.

Willoughby/Mosman came backinto the game in the third quarterand looked threatening, butcomposed defending by us andsome wasteful kicking by themstifled their momentum. After aneven start to the last quarter wetookprogressivelyworkedourwayinto a strong position and ran outcomfortable enough winners by 7goals. Final scores: Canada BayDockers 11-9 (75) defeatedWilloughby/Mosman5-4(34).Itwas a very even game all round

fromthesquadwithalotofplayersplayingoutsidetheirusualposition.The Volkswagon “Played strong,done good” award was won byJeremy who continues to improveeachweek.Lukewasaclearwinnerregardless of which end he wasplaying. Ehsen was given a run inmid-field and showed his usualpoise.Harrison#1wontheruckasusual and Harrison #2 took somebig grabs when we needed them.The engine-roomof Tyler,Michaeland Robbo provided the drive.Dylan had some productivepossessions. Lots of other positivecontributors,nodetractors.Showdown#3vsForestLionsisthecoming week. Hopefully theHeathcote result from round 11and this week’s performance willshow what can be achieved withcool heads, sound skills and highworkrate.

It’sour lasthomegameforseason

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2016,we play the last two roundsoutofDrummoyne.

–GraemeDurrant

U9PurpleFifteen of the U9 Purples lined upto play under near freezingconditions against KellyvilleCamerons early Sunday morning.This week again had some greatteam plays, starting in the firstquarter with Scarlett clearing theball under pressure with ahandball, directing play towardsthe forward line. Ryan markedstrongly up forward, to kick thefirstofhisgoals for theday.Aidenwas also strong in the midfield,making solid handballs to set upplays to move the ball into theforwardline.The second quarter saw Charlie Etacklestrongly,whichresulted ina

free kick to Charlie. Our defencewas kept busy preventing goals,withkeyplaysfromAli,Sean,Aidenand Scarlett. Jeremy wasinstrumental with his running oftheballthroughmidfield.The third quarter saw Harry Cclearing the ball from the backlinetopreventanoppositiongoal.Johnwas strong under oppositionpressure, to kick the ball towardsthe forward line. Brodie went inhard for the ball, and, under thepressure of several oppositionplayers, cleared the ball fromground level with a handball out.Hugo had a turn as Ruckman, andcleared theball to setuphis teamintheforwardline.The final quarter had Ryan, Sean,AidenandCharlieCinthemidfield,working well to move the ball tothe forward line, where Callumscored a goal. Charlie E kicked agreat ‘Captains’ goal to lead histeam. In the backline, Liam K,Harry, Liam R and Hugo appliedstrong defence to apply constantpressuretotheoppositionteam.ThankyoutoHarryC,Callum,Ryanand Scarlett who each played aquarterfortheoppositionteam.

–SharonIrish

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AcknowledgementsThanks to managers, coaches andparents for match reports andCraigParr forthephotosfromtheU12andU13matches.