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It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.


Blogs are everywhere. Campbell Street, Hobart CBD, October 2010.

Theme Thursday yet again and this week I wanted to talk about the current touch football season.

Now, I could bore you with vivid descriptions of our SOMNOLENT defensive line (or lack thereof), but I wouldn’t want to bore you with clichés.

I could talk to you about the myriad of injuries incurred in what is supposed to be a non-contact sport – game one = sore shoulder, game two = bruised thigh, game three = jarred knee – but I won’t.

I won’t lie to you: we’re struggling. Zero and three three rounds in, we remain [mathematically] still in contention for the finals.

We’re taking it one week at a time. There is no point getting ahead of ourselves, but (like the boy with the barrow), there is a big job in front of us. The reality is that we have had a number of injuries to senior players (my long list, a broken finger, back spasms, bruised egos), but we are looking at it as a chance for the kids to step up.

Despite the results, the coach has the full support of the board. We have all heard the rumours of friction in the dressing room, but at the end of the day, it is a team sport, and even if there is no I in TEAM, there is A ME. The other teams have just wanted it more. We are better than our record indicates, but we do need a result. We miss out again, he’s a dead man walking.

In many ways the team is in a in a rebuilding phase, in terms of the premiership clock, we are around the upper right quadrant. That said, we have a number of determined players, but the turnovers really hurt us.

It is a game of two halves, unfortunately, at the moment we are playing both equally badly. Although we’re still in with a shout, we are not getting ahead of ourselves and thinking finals, we’re focusing on next week.

We need to cut the costly errors, play a full 60 minutes, work on our fitness and get back to basics, work on the fundamentals and stop playing like millionaires. We need to take our chances, find another gear, get out there and have a red hot go. If we don’t, it’s guaranteed to end in tears.

If we get out there next week, give it 120%, I reckon that the next match can be a great advert for the game. At this level – Southern Touch Mixed Division Seven – there are no easy games. We have it all to play for, and although the opposition look good on paper, the game is not played on paper and touch is a funny old game.

It’s all to play for. If we want to be in with a shout, the guys have to put their bodies on the line, win the one percenters, take centre stage and provide the spark that lights the touchstone, let's us grind out a result and get our season off the ground. It’s a real battle for survival, and weed to get out there, take no prisoners and take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Time to draw a line in the SAND. I know that the opposition coach has been talking a good game, but one day the chickens will come home to roost. We are at the business end of the season and we’re not going to throw the towel in. If we win this one, we are in the hunt. We lose, and we’re in free fall and the knives will be out.

Comments

Roddy said…
I just read your post and the chooks are home on the roost.
Touch football? I dunno! Whatever your bent.

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