Bullant Banter Round 3 2016

Another exciting round of football has come and gone and watching our teams evolve from week to week with new learning’s, new hope and forever Bullant Spirit never ceases to amaze me.

Evolve is the key word. For a club to grow, it must keep evolving and moving with the times to stay ahead and be prepared to take on new challenges as we strive to be the best we can.

Let’s take Adam Marcon for example, son of the former great “cult hero” at the Mighty Preston Bullants Adrian Marcon who won two premierships in the 1980’s, who has himself evolved from a junior Bullant, to Northern Knight, to Northern Blue followed by a Williamstown Seagull and now fulfilling his dream of playing league footy being drafted to Richmond.

Speaking of evolving and Richmond, Adam’s great mate in Kane Lambert himself has made a massive impact on the AFL and the Tiger faithful after years of hard work and solid training. The son of Russell Lambert a former club President, co-founder and current life member who has the prestigious “Russell Lambert” award named in his honor awarded to the best club person has always had a hard work ethos and never give up attitude that saw him evolve practically down the same track straight into Tigerland.

Andy Hill, PBJFC life member and premiership coach of the 2013 U15’s premiership side has seen his son and former junior Bullant in Tom Hill become the first ever junior Bullant drafted to an AFL club being the Western Bulldogs on his journey through the Northern Knights.

The word “Evolve” according to the Oxford dictionary means to “develop gradually” and develop as a club, we will. Dennis McNiece, co-founder, past President and current life member of the Mighty Preston Bullants JFC leads by example as both he and his wife and fellow life member in Christine McNiece proudly watch their son and past Bullant player in Ben McNiece take on all comers as Ben runs out with the VFL Bombers line up as their vice-captain no less, week in week out. Dennis also has the “Dennis McNiece” award named in his honor which is awarded to the player who leads by example and achieves to the best of their individual ability.

Karly McNiece

Imagine their delight then, when their daughter Karly McNiece who is also a past Bullant player of some 73 games between 2007-2011, is named in the final 2016 VIC Metro U18’s girls team that will be playing in the state carnival in Melbourne this very week, is awarded the co-best and fairest player in the U18’ Calder Cannons Girls academy after recently completing a stint there where Karly shone above those around her and with hard work, determination and the opportunity to “evolve” made her mark on her peers and opponents to be nominated in the VIC squad. Karly is the current captain of the Darebin falcons U18’s 2016 team! A team orientated individual who couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving her team mates behind in her Bullants days and so instead of leaving ran the water out to that very team for the following 3 seasons!! WOW!

So then what I seek as the current club President is an all girl’s team who will make history at our famous Preston Bullants Junior Football Club by being the first all girls team to be registered in the YJFL and go through together and build wonderful friendships, memories and any amount of success you can dream of even if that success simply means that you are helping our great club and game “evolve”.

Whitlam Malkoun
President
Preston Bullants JFC

As the AFL season continues to demonstrate, un-predictability is a feature of footy that means on any given day, any team can win, home or away. It’s a facet of footy that no amount of coaching, systems or processes can eliminate.

What Hocking Stuart Preston and the Preston Bullants Juniors always aim for however is consistency of effort. If this is in place, then we’re maximizing the chance that the right results will follow.

Joe Ledda
hockingstuart/p>

Stay tuned for an Under 9's WHITE Match report in Round 4.

This round saw the Mighty Bullants take on the Banyule Bears at Banyules home gound. Thunderstorms overnight made for slightly damp conditions with a blustery wind but fortunately the rain held off for the match.

Banyule was not kind to us last year so pre match the Bullants were instructed to stick to their zones & structures, go for their marks & follow the game plan we practice at training.

Captains for the day, Caitlin and Felix lead the team out, won the toss & elected to go with the swirling breeze to the Eastern end.

From the outset the contest was fierce with the Bears showing plenty of desire for the ball. Tackling pressure from the Bullants was just as fierce but we were 2nd to the ball on too many occasions. Despite claiming to feel unwell, Patty Bubbers continued where he left off last week, constantly chasing the ball and following up with 2nd & 3rd efforts. The drive out of the midfield eventually found targets in Sam and Cameron who kicked truly.

The second quarter was a scrappy affair with neither team gaining acendancy. Our defence was kept busy with Felix taking a great defensive mark & Harry putting his body on the line with a coragious smother. Midfield continued to work hard with Tamers hit outs gaining more distance with each massive thump! Marcus was everywhere as usual but was often left without support. Our Bullants were looking a bit flat & certainly not showing their usual run & desire for the ball. A lone mark from Andre in the forward line was the highlight for that group who failed to take advantage of anything coming forward.

Rob and I were frustrated with the aparent lack of desire shown by our normally passionate Bullants and at half time all were urged to work harder, go for their marks and be vigilent in defence by picking up their players. The forward line was singled out to work harder to get into position, lead and mark. We were doing barely enough...just.

The 3rd quarter saw a lift across the board. Marcus was everywhere in the middle, head over the ball & hard at it as always. Tom Maddison was solid in defence & provided quick drive out from the back line but there was another story unfolding in the middle of the ground that brought the crowd to its feet....It was a little man with a big heart who stood up. Thomas Moribito always tries hard & does so with a smile...but today his efforts finally found reward! His first mark (that we have been working hard on) dished out and recieved a couple of handballs & generally got himself in the mix! The improved drive out of the middle saw our forwards peresented with greater opportunities with Callum, Darcy and Cameron all converting majors. The Bullants had superior skills, we just needed to apply ourselves & work for the ball!

Difficult to write anything politically correct about the last quarter....lets say that luck and maybe the wind was against us. The Bears took advantage and slammed on a few quick goals & the Bullants could not get reward for their efforts. Everyone kept at the task at hand & although frustrated continued to work hard. Ava took a turn in the ruck & did well, while Jack H got busy in the forward line. Caitlin showed a few of the Bears who was boss with some great tackles. We got plenty of the ball forward but a couple of valuable opportunities went begging that should have put the game beyond doubt.

In the end, we did enough, just. It was not our best game, not by a long shot and that was the message before we sang the song in the rooms...all we want is for our kids to give 100% & keep trying. If we follow the plan, the structures & work hard we are a beautiful team to watch.

That said, it was all smiles as we belted out our song with a proud Thomas Moribito in the middle!

Thanks to everyone who helped out on the day & to the ever reliable Rob & Chris for their support.

Go Bullants!

Bright and sunny with a strong west wind.

Welcome Nathanuel, joining the team during the week and playing his first game.

Captain Thomas Crookshanks leads the team onto the ground after Coach’s final message, Man Up & Run hard

The team is down to a one man bench this week.

1st Quarter

Bullants won the toss, the Bullants are kicking to the southern end. The Bullants go into attack, but neither team can get a clean string of possession. Rafferty gets a touch and the ball remains in the Bullants attacking half.

Parkside move the ball forward and score a goal.

The Bullants get within striking distance and Jaxsyn kicks a point, touched on the goal line. From the kick out Jaxsyn gets possession again and goes for goal, this time just clipping the post, Point.

2nd Quarter

The orange boy forgot the oranges, so the team run out sugar free.

Parkside launch a sustained attack, scoring 3 successive points. The Bullants defence stands up to the pressure, repelling attack after attack. Marianne, Patty, Archie, Jude, tackle pressure stops Parkside from getting a clean shot for goal.

Thomas takes a defensive mark in the goal square, but the Bullants can’t seem to get possession out the back.

Half Time.

Ray keeps the team on the ground. Oranges for everyone. Ray makes some changes, throwing Rylan into the ruck. Grady is on the bench with a sore leg, which leaves a significant hole in the half back line. The wind is influencing the game, keeping the play on the far side of the ground.

3rd Quarter

Parkside are kicking with the wind this quarter, and they press hard. The defence has its work cut out, Rylan drops back for a saving mark in the goal square, kicks to Thomas who marks, but the next possession breaks down and Parkside kick a goal.

From the centre bounce Parkside come forward quickly, and score another goal, followed by 4 points. I saw many strong individual defensive efforts, but the Bullants can’t string together clean possessions and clear the defensive area.

4th Quarter.

This is the Captains quarter. Thomas boots for goal but it’s touched on the line. The ball finds Thomas again, and he goes back and kicks a Goal from 30 out. The Bullants come from everywhere to congratulate him.

The Bullants have finally woken up, Thomas is everywhere, Rylan dominates the ruck duel, belting the ball forward at every opportunity. Alex and Ike get involved in the centre, stopping the Parkside outside run. Samuel and Patty both make play saving tackles. Kalan, Anthony, Asher, Ayden strove all day to break out of the centre. Final siren. We lost. The Bullants finished strongly. Everyone played well, but couldn’t get their team game going.

Thanks to Ray, Craig, Dom, Amanda, Kelly, Daryl etc.

Coaches Note:

Conditions were pretty hard to play in Sunday very strong breeze favouring one end, pretty hard to get a good run going in the windy conditions. To all the under 10s that played on the weekend we all tried our best and run our guts out that’s all I can ask of you.

Everyone that helped out in the rolls that needed to be filled thank you, and a big thanks to simon for doing a wonderful job with match report again.

Looking ahead this week to Doncaster away AGAIN!!! Hopefully we can come out firing and take the game up to them and notch up a confidence boosting win.

If anyone didn’t know the first 4 rounds are grading games to try and even out the competition so hopefully after this week we can 2-2. And we can keep up playing our hard pressurising football we have been playing for 3 weeks and notch up some wins under belts which will give us all a bit more confidence going forward as a group.

From Ray

Preston Bullants	Whitehorse Colts
2.2.14	5.3.33
Goal Kickers	Oscar K -1, Harry -1
Best Players	Lachie, Harry, Makaio, Declan, Alistair, Ben Nathan

On a blustery Sunday morning, the Bullants made their way to Bulleen for a home game against Whitehorse. Expectations were high after the improvement of the week before that we could secure back to back wins.

From the opening bounce it was clear that this was going to be an extremely tough day. The opposition were not only big, but attacked both the ball and the body very hard. We were on the back foot from the start and only some superb efforts from Lachie O and Ben G stemmed the flow. The run we had seen the week before seemed to have dried up and our smaller bodied on-ballers found it difficult to compete with their bigger opponents.

The second quarter was much a repeat of the first, with Whitehorse using their size and strength to advantage. Although we tried to run the ball, we probably over handballed on occasion when a longer kick to advantage may have been the better option. There were some pleasing efforts from some players though. Nathan was proving lively on-ball and in the forward line and our ruck trio of Declan, Noah and Makaio were doing an excellent job as well. Jesse competed well a number of times on the wing and Tyler was giving us some good run in all areas of the ground.

We were dealt a hard blow at half time when Noah was ruled out with a head injury after competing really well in the ruck. Despite this set-back, we started to compete much better in the mid-field and our forward line structure held together better. Seb R started to work really hard to get to the front position and was rewarded with a great mark. Alister was also prominent in this quarter and his speed around the ball was noticeable. Harry began to have a significant influence on the game in this term and Oscar K gave us a much deserved goal after a great tackle.

Unfortunately it was one of those games where we couldn’t seem to get a break. Just when we were about to pounce the ball seemed to bounce in bizarre ways. Liam and then Tyler were about to run onto loose balls and drive us into attack when the ball either bounced miles in the air or sideways and out of our grasp. Nevertheless, I was really proud of the way the boys played the game and fought it out to the end. Another goal to Harry in the last quarter gave us some respectability on the scoreboard and the boys kept their heads up until the final siren.

Thanks to the coaching staff, the parent helpers and especially the boys for a great effort. Special congratulations to Lachie for a great game and for winning the encouragement award from the opposition.

Preston Bullants	Fitzroy 2
2.2.14	3.11.35
Goal Kickers	S. Nadeem - 1, K. Critelli - 1

The day started out cold, wet and windy. However, by the time our boys stepped on to the oval, the weather started to clear. It was the first game this year that actually reminded us that we participate in a winter sport! We welcomed back Luca Camilleri, having missed the start of the season due to injury. We eased him back into the team, playing one and a half quarters (much to his disappointment!) and he proved he’s ready to rumble and keen to contest the ball hard again for the Bullants!

Fitzroy is a club who always play a strong game against the Bullants and we never underestimate their abilities. True to form they came out displaying beautiful ball movement, good delivery of the ball to key players, and finding their targets time and time again.

The first quarter started with a strong wind blowing across the oval - it was tricky to play in these conditions. We had good performances by a few key players. Jet was strong in defense - he really locked the backline down and prevented Fitzroy coming down and scoring more than they did. Jordan, Henry and Oliver also worked hard in their positions during this quarter, and throughout the whole game. Max LT and Lachlan H were assertive and helped move the ball through to our forward line, scoring 1.1.

Steven played ruck most of the game and he is proving to perform consistently well in this position. The big fella always comes off the oval red-face and covered in sweat – he really gives it his all!

Second quarter saw another tough contest between both teams. Whilst the scoreboard showed Fitzroy had a better scoring quarter than us (1.4 to 1.1), our coaches felt that the Bullants performed stronger, showing some great moments of intensity and control of the game. Jack B controlled centre-half back alongside Jordan and Toby. Max LT was thrown into the Ruck position to mix his game up a bit and he responded really well. James took over ruck in the second half of the quarter and he also performed well. Felix, Marcus, Serge and Maxim also put in a good solid quarter.

After the half time break Fitzroy very quickly came out united and dictated play - this was consistent throughout the last half of the game. Our boys couldn’t really get into the match. Fitzroy kept the ball in their forward line for most of the third quarter. Jet and Xavier did a great job trying to contain Fitzroy and Toby, playing full back, tried really hard to kick the ball out of their forward line. To Fitzroy’s credit, they displayed great handball, kicking and marking skills. One of their boys had a ripper quarter taking some excellent marks. Our coaches revved up the boys going into the fourth quarter. The boys came out firing but unfortunately they struggled to keep up with Fitzroy’s passages of play. Fitzroy were strong in all areas. The Bullants did try hard to get the ball back, they gave it their all. But it was Fitzroy’s day today, adding a couple more goals and a few points to seal our fate.

Well done to all. Part of developing as an individual and as a team is learning how to bounce back after a hard game. We’ve had a great winning streak, reflecting on last season and the first few games of 2016. Stick by each other boys, learn from this game, and let’s look upward and move forward as we anticipate another strong contest against Hawthorn Citizens next week.

Brunswick	Preston Bullants
4.2.26	10.4.58

Thanks to our team manager and all parents for assisting with game day duties.

Round 3 v Brunswick at Gillon Oval. Gillon Oval is very similar in size to PCO and one of the better grounds YJFL. The surface was in great condition considering the amount of rain the night before but that wasn’t going to dampen our boy’s spirits as they looked to make it 3 from 3, in 2016.

Our focus like all weeks was to be first to the ball and to make the right decisions when disposing of the footy, which they did for most of the first quarter. The tackling pressure was intense and our movement around the ground clean. A nice start and a small lead at the first break. PB 13, B 7.

Man on man was the message for the second quarter and again most followed instructions, however mental lapses in concentration hurt us in the transition. Brunswick were able to move the ball out of our defensive area with ease and if not for the wind blowing into their faces at 100 miles an hour, they should have put far more score board pressure on us. Again goals late meant that we had a comfortable lead, but not convincing at half time. PB 38, B13.

We were kept scoreless in the 3rd quarter as Brunswick’s on ballers got on top and they were able to reduce the margin to just 12 point at the last change. Too many boys running forward of the ball and not being accountable. PB 38, B26.

In the final quarter it was about taking the game on and running, running and running, which is what they did. A great effort all round to finish the game off strongly but leaving it to the last quarter and kicking with a massive wind is not the way we want to play. PB 64, B 26.

Well done Terence on winning the Brunswick medal for best afield on the day.

Best team players on the day: Nick, Lucas, Ryan, Charlie, Pantelis, Josh, Noah and Zach D.

Thanks again

Dom Vaiano U13’s Coach

Glen Iris	Preston Bullants
9.16.70	3.1.19
Goal Kickers	Jessie -2, Alex -1

Round 3 01 May 2016 saw the Bullants U14s take on Glen Iris, another team that lost heavily in round 2. On a blustery day, after wild overnight storms, we arrived at the ground to find it pretty dry and firm with the hope of no more rain. We also found that the opposition coach was former St Kilda Best and Fairest in 2000 and Channel 7 player of the year 1999 Andrew Thompson, so we expected to come up against a well drilled team.

We started the match good ball movement, coming out of defence with Daniel up the wing with a chain of kicks, marks and hand balls.

There was strong tackling by Alex and great attack on the footy by Ben Morgan and quick play by Charbel getting the ball going forward. Perry was hard at the footy. Maivia kicked out well to Darcy who was demanding the footy. There was also a great lead, mark and kick on by Jackson to give our forwards a chance up the ground. As the wind picked up favouring the Glen Iris end, the rest of the quarter saw good defensive work by Suhail, Perry and James. Leo and Alex were marking the ball well and Jack King and James continued to push the ball away from half back.

The second quarter started with great pressure on the ball from Charbel, then on to Jessie then to Alex for a mark and Goal! Jessie was working hard as a forward option but hurt his leg trying to get a quick snap at goal when tackled hard. Maivia was strong in defense, with Darcy and Anthony winning the ball at lots of contests. The defense held up well for most of the quarter but another good goal by Glen Iris late in the quarter had them comfortably ahead at the half.

Half Time Score Bullants 2.0.12 v Glen Iris 4.9.33

In the 3rd quarter the wind picked up again to the Glen Iris scoring end. We won the first clearance through Anthony, but the ball quickly went back the other way for an easy goal to Glen Iris as we failed to man up after a turn over. Finn was working hard on the forward line and Perry and Darcy tackling ferociously in defense. Maivia protected the goal square as always. River made a dashing run and bounce up the wing. A great forward thrust saw Jackson Kane drive the ball forward to Jessie resting injured near full forward, but only resulted in a point. Leo had a strong quarter in the back half taking mark after mark as a spare defender (good coaching).

Our first thrust forward in the last quarter saw Ted and Jackson involved in getting the ball to the top of the square where the still hobbling Jessie picked up cleanly and snapped truly for a major. A great tackle by River held up the next passage of promising Glen Iris link up play, but eventually they got a player out back behind our defenders for a goal to them. James Taylor continued to push the ball out of defense along the boundary line, repelling many of Glen Iris forward thrusts. The Bullant boys were all tired but were still throwing their bodies in when they could get to the contest. Alex marked well on the wing and drove the ball to centre half forward where Finn, caught behind, got to the contest and bumped his player off the ball in what was our last push forward for the Game

Full Time Score Bullants 3.2.20 v Glen Iris 9.16.70

Overall it was a competitive, team effort by the boys. There was something for the team to build on going forward.

There was plenty to be impressed about with the likes of Jack running hard all day to deny his opponent. Ben Morgan presented well as a forward, consistently playing in front and he also spent some time in the ruck to give Alex a rest. Suhail showed glimpses of his potential reading the play well to position himself in the right spot and Jacob battled on despite getting a rough knock in a tackle and having to spend time on the bench.

When you consider we only had eighteen players (no bench to give anyone a rest) against a team that had a full bench, it was a commendable effort and represents a great opportunity to improve again next week when we hope to have most of the playing list available.

Terry Johnston

Boroondara Hawks	Preston Bullants
7.14.56	5.12 42

The old football clichés, “A week is a long time in football” and “It was the loss we had to have” applied to the Under 15s in round three. After two impressive wins to commence the season and facing a Boroondara team that was holding up the ladder, the boys went into the game was a palpable sense of compliancy. A lack of focus before the game was a concern for the coaches and proved to be an indicator of the team’s performance once the game started.

Poor kicking by the opposition gave our boys a false sense of security in the first half, as they went into the break with what appeared to them to be a comfortable lead. Boroondara had had more scoring shots, but they had only resulted in a score of ten straight points. However, once the opposition kicked their first goal at the beginning of the third quarter they seemed to find their accuracy. Our boys were outscored for the first time in the game and as the quarter progressed our lack of run started to become more noticeable.

Our boys went into the last quarter with only a ten point lead. Right from the start of the quarter, Boroondara’s attack on the ball was more fierce and our teams skills dropped away as many of the boys found their fitness levels waning. The ball rebounded out of our forward line with regularity and the defence who had battled manfully all day cracked under the pressure. In the end Boroondara proved they were the better team on the day and had a well deserved win.

The boys were noticeably gutted by the loss but have the chance to bounce back this week if they want to put into place, the things that made them a successful team in the first two weeks. Every boy needs to contribute they are not a team that relies on a few stars but rather a team that relies on all eighteen players on the field at any one team contributing to their best abilities.

Again I would like to mention Jack N whose efforts were of a Herculean manner, Jackson T, Joshua D, William G, Rory H and Matty M who never gave up trying all day and Daniel Habchi who was a revelation at fullback and stopped the opposition scoring even more goals.

Preston Bullants	Opposition
6.9.45	7.10.52
Best Players	Liam Sutton, Max Vaino, Tom Hallebone, Adrian De Sando, Liam McErlain, Julian De Napoli

Round 3 saw us face a Banyule outfit that had won it’s opening 2 encounters with ease. We hosted Banyule at Bulleen Park in Windy Conditions. Jackson Curic captained the team in game number 100.

We welcomed back Aidan Baynes from injury to take a key defensive post.

We began strongly with the boys winning clearances thanks to the dominant ruck work of Tom Hallebone and Jack Hayes – Liam Sutton, Max Vaino and Adrian De Sando were influential.

We were able to kick 3 first quarter goals to the scoring end and restrict the opposition.

The second quarter was an arm wrestle with it difficult to score in to the breeze. Callum Chilcott snapped truly to ensure we still held a slender margin at half time.

The third quarter saw us play really well, move the ball well. De Sando kicked a brilliant running goal.

We led by 17 points at ¾ time.

Banyule were going to the scoring end, however, given the low scoring affair we really backed ourselves to get the job done.

Unfortunately Banyule kicked the first major after a lapse in defensive concentration. This was followed by a lack of discipline resulting in another goal awarded at the top of the goal square. Our lead had been cut down to 5 points within the first 2 minutes.

We had our chances to kill the game but our skill execution just wasn’t quite there and Banyule kicked another 2 goals.

We finished the game strongly but in the frantic final minutes we just weren’t able to convert and Banyule held on to win by 7 points.

Obviously a very disappointing loss, from a coaching perspective I’m pleased that we have been in all 3 games, however, we have lost 2 games that I felt we were the better side in.

We will look to improve throughout the week and hopefully make it 2 wins from 4 starts this weekend against Parade St.Damians.

Go Bullants!!

Parade St Damians	Preston Bullants
2.5.17	18.20.128
Best Players	Christian Renna, Josh Torcasio, Christian Fakhri, Karl Rentos, Liam Webster-McAllister, Johnston Mai

We were optimistic coming into round 3 at 1-1 after the first two games. The boys were still disappointed with last week’s loss and were ready to bounce back onto the winners list. Before the game we spoke about today being a great opportunity for both individuals and the team. We only had 19 players available so it would again be a challenge to run out four quarters of quality football.

Josh Torcasio would captain the side for the first time this season after leading the boys extremely well through the first two games.

The first quarter saw us take a commanding lead with a strong breeze. Christian Renna had a great start to the day, kicking four majors in the opening term. We were able to assert our dominance early with our on ball pressure causing Parade St Damians to turn the ball over. Louis Paolacci was great in his first game of the year. Jack Perin provided a great target up forward and continued his hard work delivering forward pressure when the ball hit the ground.

The second term was a much closer contest with us playing against the wind. We learnt that we could no longer kick and hope into our forward line. We needed to lower the eyes and play with more tempo to minimise our turnovers. Our backline was once again sensational under pressure lead by Oscar Chaplin, Sean O’Connell, Paul Palazzolo and Christian Fakhri.

At half time we discussed utilising the third quarter with the wind to put the game to bed. To our boy’s credit, they did just that and had opened up a ten goal lead by the final break. Our ball movement was fantastic, giving our forwards great delivery. Moe Merhi provided one of the highlights of the day with an incredible checkside banana from deep in the forward pocket.

Our final quarter effort was just as impressive. We were kicking against the breeze but our boys didn’t stop playing until the final siren. John Karahountris was at his best in the last term kicking two goals. The lead ballooned out to a final margin of 111 points. As a coach I was super proud of the way we were able to string together four solid quarters of competitive football. We are starting to gel together as a team and are excited for what is to come in 2016.

As always, thank-you to all the parents and volunteers who help out during the week and on game day.

Go Bullants!

Bullant Banters 2017

Bullant Banter Round 2 2016

With season 2016 well under way, it gives me great pleasure in announcing some key achievements our new 9 member committee has achieved over the pre-season period leading into the official season kick off.

As of the commencement of the season, we have some 257 registered players at the Mighty Preston Bullants. For the first time in the clubs history, we are fielding 2 tackers (U9’s) teams which will compliment representation from each age group from U10’s to U15’s and of course culminating in 2 Colts teams. We are also very excited to announce that the Preston Auskick which has been successfully managed for the last 8 years through its initial inception to current date by Siobhan Corr, will now be officially run and managed by the Preston Bullants which will be a direct feeder into our great club for years to come, with a long term view of seeing the club culminate into a 2 or even 3 stream club where possible.

Committee member David O’Brien has been appointed the clubs Auskick Co-Ordinator who will have a wonderful group of 3 Auskick managers in the wonderful Kate Woods, Katelyn Stanyer and Dave De Bono. With a further interest from some 130 odd families, all is pointing in the right direction for the Mighty Preston Bullants.

Post round 1 of course attracts the start of season function being the famous Pizza Night which was held at PCO’s “The Grandstand function centre” and was a great event where we chewed through no less than 90 pizza’s! A huge night where the families and all players that attended got to hear directly from each coach of each age group as to what the season looks like ahead and how the pre-season went.

Speaking of pre-season, with Zwar Park having drainage installed (and coming along beautifully!!) and PCO off limits with cricket commitments, it was a trying time to say the least for all families coaches and the players themselves. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to our flexible coaches and families for their patience, understanding and input as it was a trying time for all involved and with true Bullant spirit, we stuck together through it all and got the best we could out of a tough situation, so thank you again.

Remember, we have our famous Bullant Dinner Dance fast approaching, so grab the numbers, make up your tables, book the baby sitter get onto your team managers and let’s make it one for the ages! All details are now live on the website. Oh, and speaking of the website prestonbullantsjfc.com.au, a huge thank you to both Matthew and Melanie Meehan for their timeless and selfless efforts in getting the new and far improved website up and going in time for season proper for without you both and Meehan Design, we wouldn’t be as fortunate to have such an inviting, vibrant, information packed and use friendly website to be so proud of. Thank you both on behalf of the entire club.

That’s it from me for now, good luck to all teams as they embark on Round 3, go the Mighty Preston Bullants!

Whitlam Malkoun
President
Preston Bullants JFC

Round 2 acknowledged and celebrated the legacy of the ANZAC spirit at every level of the game. It produced some quality team performances and showed great depth of character of the Bullants players.

The values that are important to the Preston Bullants Junior Football Club are also shared by hockingstuart. hockingstuart Preston and Reservoir offices, and Preston Bullants, uphold the same vision of cohesion and engagement in our local community.

Joe Ledda
hockingstuart/p>

The Tackers White team took on the Fitzroy Lions at Preston City Oval. It was a beautiful morning, the ground was in great nick with conditions perfect for football. Tackers reds and whites stood together an observed a minute’s silence for ANZAC Day before getting stuck into the game.

Our captains Kade and Omar won the toss. Right from the first bounce it was a tight tussle with both teams showing off good skills and passages of play. The Bullants took a couple of minutes to settle down with Fitzroy opening the scoring. The Bullants responded quickly with a lovely chain of passes from a centre square bounce that ended up on Sonny’s chest. He coolly slotted the shot.

In the second term Tackers Whites really shone, the backline was strong with good chest marks and great tackling. At training we’ve been working on running to give an option and there were plenty in the middle of the ground. Our midfielders had time and looked up to spot their teammates forward resulting in three great goals. One was thanks to some ferocious forward tackling that saw Rocky run into an open goal.

The second half started as the first had finished, with great effort, running and tackling that resulted in goals to both sides. One of the highlights of the third term was Pablo’s great work to tackle and tackle again until he emerged from the pack with ball in hand to boot it upfield. In the final quarter we tried super hard, the backline were terrific staying on their men and we kicked another goal, but gave a few away as well.

All in all a terrific game played with good spirit from both sides.

Thanks to everyone who helped on the day to make it all happen! Special thanks to Chris O'Neil & Simon Reid who were called on at the last minute to umpire both Tackers games... Great job done in great spirit!

The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.

Round two saw our tackers at home taking on the always slick Fitzroy club. Preston City Oval, ‘the people’s ground of the north’, was bathed in sunshine for the ANZAC weekend clash. Both teams observed a minutes silence in remembrance of service men and women, past and present. Coaches instructions were to move long and wide in the backline, run all game and kick to space and running players. Captain’s for the day Callum & Darcy lead the team into battle.

From the bounce it was evident that Fitzroy continue to turn out mature and well drilled teams. The first quarter was played at pace with plenty of strong tackling and constant pressure. Our backline were kept busy with last line of defense efforts preventing more goals. Up forward Ava showed the importance of playing in front, was paid a mark and rewarded when she kicked truly for our first goal.

The quarter time address focused on the need for running crumbers at the fall of the ball, loud communication and to man up with our opposition. The second term was a seesawing affair but far more evenly matched. Highlights included strong team tackles, passages of play that strung together 4 players (Tom to Marcus to Pat To Callum and into attack), strong last line of defense efforts and a second goal to Ava, again out in front.

The half time address congratulated the team as well as individual efforts (‘Marcus you do 400KM a game, great stuff!!’ Ava, keep going for your marks & you'll kick 100 this season!) The coach reserves the right to embellish and exaggerate at will! Our young players were challenged that ‘our best is better than the competition. You have got to want it and you have to work hard. This is our ball, our ground, so let’s go get it!’.

Our coach Scott Maddison was clearly chuffed with the immediate response. Fast break from the first bounce resulting in a bouncing goal to Cameron. We applied great tackling pressure, made second and third efforts to win the ball, took great marks (Harry), strung together several possessions and found our running players leading out. The result of these efforts converted into two more goals to Andre and Darcy before the end of the term.

We’re not sure if it was the coaches address or the lollies at 3 quarter time, perhaps a combination of both, but what happened next could only be described by Bruce McAvaney as ‘Sssspecial’. The doubts before the game, ‘Fitzroy are a strong side who beat us last year’, were set aside. Individuals played with a fierce determination to take that mark, make that tackle and spoil that kick to win possession. All of our players stood up. Our team communication lifted, we connected handballs, taps, kicks and started to dictate the play. Our midfield were the engine, with Tom Maddison and Patrick Bubbers appearing to have the ball on a string at times. Our defenders were the brakes, taking strong marks and denying Fitzroy that much needed major. Our forwards were the wheels, full of run. It was a fast paced term with desperate efforts. Our bench lead, cheer squad amped up the atmosphere. Highlights included strong marks to Thomas, Daniel, Jake and Tamer. The latter resulted in a kick forward to Andre who sealed the result with the deciding major.

Congratulations team!

Back in the rooms we belted out a Happy Birthday to Jake followed by a rousing rendition of the club song.

Never give up ‘little ants’ and together you’ll be headed for greatness!

P.S. We’ll be passing the hat around at training this week to get the umpire a pair of shorts.

Thanks to James Bubbers for another Ripping match report!

Scott

Ashy Redbacks	Preston Bullants
7.10.52	4.4.28

Round 2- Burwood Reserve - April 24th: On a sunny picturesque but chilly Autumn morning at home of Ashburton Redbacks our Bullants Boys burst out of the blocks to kick 4 of the first 5 Goals to lead by 18 pts early 2nd Qtr. With power Key Fwd Lucas in his 1st game dominating inside 50 kicking 3-2 of our eventual total 4-4 it seemed we were headed for a repeat of Rd 1 but unfortunately a few mental lapses + couple of injuries saw us get overrun late in the game. Final scores: Redbacks 7-10-52 to Bullants 4-4-28 not a true reflection of our spirited effort for we had extremely high numbers of 1% stats: Tackles, Chases + Smothers! The dejection on our boys' faces when Ashburton sang their song right in front of us showed just how much this loss hurt so expect to see our proud group bounce back at Parkside this week....

Written by:Dom

Coaches messages:

Hopefully we learn from our mistakes this week and come out next week and rectify our we're went wrong against ashburton.

I'm sure all the boys tried the hardest and left all they had out there on the field. Main point out of it all is i hope the boys had fun even though we came up short. Win lose or draw all this boys I'm proud of each and every one you for giving your all for the team.

Preston Bullants	Banyule
7.5.47	3.2.20
Goal Kickers	Josh -3, Brody -1, Callum -1, Liam -1, Tyler -1
Best Players	A great team contribution!

For our first home game of the season the weather gods were again smiling and we awoke to perfect conditions. We had made some minor adjustments to the team of the previous week and made the decision to rotate from the bench during each quarter as well – something completely new for the boys.

We began the game really well with Phoenix and Liam combining really well in the midfield and driving the ball into the forward line. Our handball and run was again a feature of the early part of the game but this week our tackling was outstanding with Phoenix and Oscar leading the way. The boys worked really hard on their rotations and we were pleased with the way they were able to share the workload. The few times that Banyule were able to get the ball into their forward line Brody, Harry, Seb F, Ben and Callum were able to repel their attacks. By quarter time we held a narrow lead but felt that we were playing some pretty good footy.

In the second quarter we started to get some reward for our dominance in possession. Remy was proving to be a lively presence in the forward line, along with Tyler and Michael, while Anthony made some really important contests to hold the ball in the forward line. Lachie played the wing very well in this game and repeatedly sat about a kick behind the ball and was able to rebound the ball for us into attack on a number of occasions. Coen and Jack backed him up well and we had a great even contribution from these guys across the middle of the ground. Liam ran really hard all day and at one stage of the quarter won a contest across the half back line and then made it so successive contests in the middle of the ground and then at half forward before finishing off with a brilliant goal. Josh and Phoenix were also racking up possessions and delivering the ball with prevision to teammates and Josh also converted to put some real scoreboard pressure on Banyule. Nathan, and Tyler were also making some important tackles and contests on ball which allowed us to take control in this quarter.

The third quarter was a pretty even struggle but there were still many excellent individual efforts and some good attempts to switch the ball into the corridor and run it forward. Nathan used his head well when he was ‘falconed’ early in the quarter but he bounced up as usual and went straight back after the ball. Our tackling was again exceptional in this quarter and Banyule found it very difficult to break free. Declan and Noah are learning their roles well and provided us with good service when they were in the ruck and and they also started to lead well up the ground when playing in the forward line. Seb R was also impressive in this quarter when he was at centre half forward and Dion’s pressure was important for us.

We ran the last quarter out really well possibly due to the interchange policy for this week. Callum scored a brilliant effort off the ground that was reminiscent of Cyril Rioli on Friday night (cry), and Mikaio was superb in the ruck and earned a comparison with Nick Natanui for the way he followed up his own work and drove the ball into our forward line. Jacob was also courageous and ran out the game really well despite a very saw knee. Thanks to the coaching staff, the parent helpers and especially the boys for a great effort. Special congratulations this week go to Dion and Anthony for their great improvement and contributions to the side this week.

Preston Bullants	Camberwell 2
3.18.36	3.6.24
Goal Kickers	J.Beker - 1,H.Stratford-Browne - 1,J.Nicolo - 1

The boys were excited to be playing their first home game at Preston City Oval for 2016. What a beautiful day it turned out to be! We paid our respects to the ANZACS alongside Camberwell before the game got underway.

The whiteboard in the players room displayed the message “Tough times never Last”, “Tough People Do” and today was a tough game against Camberwell. We came out to play strong and so did they. The first bounce of the game we got that ball out with two touches and down to the forward line, which was exciting to see.

The goals were very hard to come by this round. We had our fair share of scoring opportunities but the ball did not want to soar through those goal posts at the Cramer Street end!

The first quarter saw some strong performances from Alex, Max L-T, Felix and Oliver. Alex and Max LT made good use of the ball down the right hand side of the ground. Unfortunately we couldn’t direct that ball through the goal posts no matter how hard we tried – and boy did our kids try – we kicked 5 points.

The second quarter saw much of the same style of play, it was a hard slog getting the ball down to our goal scoring end and the wind picked up a bit as Camberwell scored 3 goals 2, to Bullants’ 1 goal 5. Serge took a heavy fall and hurt his knee in the backline. He never came back from that which was a shame as he was putting in a solid effort.

The half time break was needed by our boys. The third quarter saw some dramatic improvement in the intensity of our boys. We realised that our boys were struggling with the legs so rotations started a little bit earlier to try and give them a break.

Maxim put in a solid quarter with fantastic defensive work which helped protect the backline alongside Jet who put in a strong effort in full back. Some heavy defence work was also seen from Max D. We did a quick rotation throwing Jack B over to the wing from centre half forward and freeing up his position. This helped develop more movement in the play and drive the ball to our forward line. This saw us score 1.3.

At three-quarter time Felix let the coaching staff know that he wasn’t sure he could carry out the Rover position as his legs were struggling with the pace. It was great that Felix thought about his capabilities and what would be best for the team. We swapped Felix into the back line and Alex Nestoroski into the Rover position and this rotation turned out to be an important move as we saw the game turn in our favour - Alex played a brilliant role keeping the ball in our forward line. Jordan also helped to deliver the ball down to the forward line and his strong game sense and efforts helped prevent Camberwell moving the ball out of our forward line.

After a game of many points, it was great to secure a goal in the final few minutes thanks to Jack B. The ball went through the goal posts and the spectators in the grandstand celebrated the 6 points!

Well done Bullants!

Just a quick mention that in the last two rounds many boys have been playing positions they haven’t spent a lot of time in. It’s encouraging to see the boys step out of their comfort zone to play positions that may not necessarily be their favourite.

We aim to build confidence in our players to take on positions anywhere in the field and we only ask them to give it their best shot. To their credit, many boys have shone. It’s a sign of maturity and great team spirit.

Thanks to all our helpers,
Coaches Matt, Craig and Julian

Preston Bullants	Opposition
7.4.46	5.9.39

Thanks to our team manager and all parents for assisting with game day duties.

Round 2 v St Marys always going to be a test for the boys as this has been a team that we have had mixed results against over the years.

We travelled to Whatmough Reserve on this sunny but cold ANZAC round. A very special ANZAC day game where we remember those who have given so much so that we can play this wonderful game today and live our lives as we see fit.

The boys jumped out of the blocks early and kicked the first goal within the first few minutes. We won the centre clearances and used the ball by hand and foot with great effect. Enter their key ruckman to the field. This kid was tall very influential around contests. Our structure was sound, our talk was up and our decision making was sound. 3 goals to 1 at quarter time.

The second was nothing like the first with the boys kicking around the body and not lifting their eyes, no leading, no talk and no real effort at the ball, but for some reason we found a few cheap goals out the back to draw further ahead at half time. 30 to 13.

St Marys took it up a gear in the 3rd and started to make us look slow in the middle. With their team structures St Mary’s were winning the ball around the ground and gaining 50m each time they took on the game. Our mid’s were being beaten in the middle and St Marys were able to reduce the margin at the end of the quarter to 14 points. 38 to 24.

In the last quarter a few cool heads down back and strong marking by a few boys was the difference. The clock beat a very fast finishing St Marys. Our boy’s ran out eventual winners by just 7 points.

Thanks again, Dom Vaiano U13’s Coach.

Preston Bullants	Surrey Park
0.3.03	23.17.155

Another week, another drubbing. Yes, we have been mis-graded and are plainly playing in too high a division. That’s the deal for the next two rounds before the YJFL reviews standards within each division and regrades accordingly.

So we play on, we do our best but more importantly, we treat these game as a great way to learn. Yes, it’s a steep learning curve. None more important or telling than that fitness matters and footy is a running game.

While watching Sunday’s game (and wasn’t it good to be at PCO!), and after the resignation that Surrey Park are a cut above us, I really enjoyed watching our Bullants on the field. That might seem a strange way to understand a big loss but let me state unequivocally, there’s a lot to like about the Bullants U14s.

Wasn’t Darc’s game a beauty? A real captain’s game. Taking to the field with a bunged up knee and still playing at 100%. He lifts others and for our developing players is surely a beacon for skills, grit and team.

It would be easy to signal other great efforts and they deserve it. Players such as Alex and Max are giving their all and their efforts will be rewarded as the team coalesces into a more structured and drilled unit. Jessie runs his guts outs and didn’t he save a goal or three working deep in the back line. Ben, as I noted last week continues to impress and Daniel started to get his engines firing with a couple of runs through the middle.

Across the field, the team kept the fight up. There were times when one bad bounce changed the run of play. I believe I muttered to myself that Surrey Park even had luck on their side. Don’t worry too much about that. The ball will bounce your way.

When it didn’t it exposed two critical areas of the Bullants game. Fitness and the running game. To be our best our fitness needs to develop. In endurance as well as to sprint. That combines with the running game. This is where Surrey Park won the game. They beat us hands down in turn-overs because they had the one, two, three or four running players to get the ball out of congested play and in their possession. And quickly.

But when there was a contest we were more than their equals. We have good players across the field, from Leo to Maivia to Jackson. We contest the ball and we get possession. But we need to run it faster and control it more. That will come and it will work against more even competition. If you took anything from this game it should be that Surrey Park’s running game won them the match and we can learn a lot from that.

Camberwell 2	Preston Bullants
5.2.32	11.15.81

As round 2 approached, the big question amongst the Under 15 team’s parents was, how was the previous week’s great victory going to effect the team’s performance against Camberwell, who were predicted to be a more capable adversary than their previous one. In essence, the concern was, had the boys taken the first game’s result to heart and literally been “drinking their own bathwater” since the win, or did they see the result as a good start to the season, with the realisation that there would be more hard work to do.

On a beautiful day for football and playing on a well-manicured ground, the opening minutes told the tale. It was one of controlled aggression at a willing opponent, swift movement of ball, taking the game on when opportunities arose and supporting teammates with positive words and good use of shepherds and deft taps to teammates in a better position. It was easy to see that last week’s victory had given the boys a sense of belief, and a healthy appetite for the contest.

The boys controlled the ball for most of the first half with possession being concentrated in the attacking 50 metres. When Camberwell were able to bring the ball into their forward line, it was repelled by the disciplined Bullant’s defenders. The second half was more competitive, but the result was never in doubt on the day, with the boys running out relatively easy winners.

Very pleasing for all observers was the continued improvement in the boys kicking and marking skills.

It was a great team effort with every boy contributing to the result. Special mention however goes to Jack and Stevie who must have caught a severe case of leather poisoning by the end of the game, Harry who played his position beautifully all day and was a match winner and Brodie playing only his second game for the club and who showed great courage and a mature knowledge of the game.

Preston Bullants	Templestowe
12.17.89	4.6.30
Best Players	De Napoli, Vaiano, De Sando, Sutton, McErlain, Hachem

Goal Kickers – Chilcott 4, De Sando 3, Webb 3, Hallebone 1, Moleta 1

After a shattering 1 point Round 1 defeat to Surrey Park, we were excited to get back on to PCO at host Templestowe who were also chasing their first win of season 2016. Lucas Fragale came in for his first game of the season after kicking 5 the week before in Colts 2, however he would station himself at full back in the early stanza’s with the injury to Aidan Baynes.

We began slowly, with Templestowe showing us up in terms of intensity. Tom Hallebone and Jack Hayes were winning their fair share of tap outs, however, this wasn’t resulting in clearances. Julian De Napoli was playing as a small defender again, where his defensive actions and ability to be clean with the ball and use well saw him lead the way. Matt Webb kicked a beauty out of a contest whilst De Sando showed class with another ripper.

The second quarter we looked to make our move, Vaiano was in everything through the middle with partner in crime Liam Sutton. Webb applied great F50 pressure to see De Sando swoop and kick another one. Hachem was in everything across CHF with him taking some telling marks, unfortunately for Daniel his kicking boots weren’t on.

With Templestowe down to 18 players and us with 3 on the bench we really felt we could run over the top of the opposition, we really made our move booting clear with Chilcott at his opportunistic best and Tom Hallebone taking some telling marks and duly converting.

A highlight of the quarter was Anthony Moleta’s intercept before running and goaling at the Cramer Street End.

The last quarter was played out by our boys in great fashion with some slick ball movement coming out.

We didn’t get reward for effort with us having almost 30 scoring shots and only kicking 12 goals, however, we were very pleased to run away 10 goal winners.

Big thanks to the parents for attending the game and supporting their children’s football – they might not tell you, but I’m sure they appreciate it.

I would also like to thank the players / parents who attended the Dawn Service at All Nations Park, Northcote.

Go Bullants!

Surrey Park	Preston Bullants
011.9.75	5.8.38
Best Players	Josh Torcasio, Ryan Bonett, Christian Renna, Sean O'Connell, Rob Catalano, Liam Webster-McAllister

After a great win in round 1 we were all excited to get going in round 2. The weather gods were good to us again as we had perfect conditions for our first away game of the year.

Surrey Park started the game well and to our boy’s credit, we answered back strongly. By quarter time we had regained the lead after going down by as many as three goals. Our backline was fantastic all day under pressure from a much bigger side. Oscar Chaplin, Ryan Bonett and Sean O’Connell were all huge for us in the back half of the ground.

One of our biggest weaknesses on the day was our lack of depth on the sideline. We only had one on the bench and unfortunately we suffered three injuries in the second quarter, which made it hard to keep up. At the main break we trailed by three goals.

Our boys were fantastic in the third quarter, staying in the game with no one on the bench and two players battling through the game hurt. Josh Torcasio, Josh Bruzzese and Rob Catalano lead by example and gave us every chance of making a remarkable victory.

Trailing by only a couple of goals at three quarter time, we began to fade in the last quarter as we ran out of legs. I was extremely proud of the way we fought for three quarters being undermanned. We showed great character and determination. Although we went on to lose the game, we were able to learn a lot which will help us in the long run.

I would also like to congratulate all the boys who came to the Dawn Service and the football on ANZAC Day. It was a fantastic experience and great to spend the day together as a group. Let’s continue to get to training so we can keep learning and developing as a team.

Bullant Banters 2017

Bullant Banter Round 1 2016

Stay tuned for an Under 9's WHITE Match report in Round 2.

Round 1 – V St Mary’s @ Greensborough Park

Greensborough Park does not hold fond memories for those tackers who played the 2015 season. Today though the oval was bathed in sunshine and the team were excited and upbeat about their chances.

The first quarter confirmed our optimism with our training and coaching immediately paying off. The team looked confident by foot and by hand, with side steps and play on, resulting in fast ball movement. While our defense was ferocious the highlight of the quarter was a kick from Callum to Ava who marked and slotted through our first goal of the season.

The second quarter was dominated by our midfield full of run, with strong tackling and great passing. Our goal for the term came from a great pass from Marcus to Callum who ran in bounced and kicked truly.

Our Captain for the day Tamer had a day out celebrating his 9th birthday the day before. He took strong marks, tackles and most importantly tenacious 2nd, 3rd and 4th efforts helped retain to the Bullants possession.

Coach Scott was full of praise for the young team at half time; Oranges were consumed and players asked to work hard, communicate and encourage each other. The tackers were challenged to be the loudest team in the competition.

Highlights of the third term included Jake, Cameron, Ava and Ziggy playing well for the opposition. More run from our midfield lead by Marcus and Patrick. Our goal for the term came from a glorious passage of play stringing together 3 passes; Patrick to Callum (mark) to Jack (mark) to Sam (mark, kick goal!!).

The three quarter time, lolly break, address, focused on keeping to our structures, spreading within our zones and working hard to run out the match. Results were immediate with the tackers listening and playing like a training drill. The midfield continued to deliver and 3 more goals were scored via Zac (2) and Andre.

St Mary’s awarded Marcus as the most enthusiastic player award for his continual efforts in the midfield. A lovely gesture nominated and presented by the St Mary’s captain. Throughout the game the following players showed the Bullants spirit and helped St Mary’s by turning their jumpers inside out and playing a quarter for an undermanned opposition; Tom, Sam, Daniel, Andrea, Xavier, Darcy, Zac, Catlin, Cameron, Ava, Ziggy, Jake, Jack Callum, Thomas, Ned.

Special mention to Archie the water boy for his dedicated service! No special mention for Archie the hound who made a pitch invasion mid-way through the first, landing his owner in more controversy.

The cold, torrential rain and an old fashioned hiding from last season were a distant memory as the sun shone on the backs of our jubilant tackers as they ran from the game. A rousing rendition of our club song was sung and parents and players went home proud of our combined efforts. What a difference 12 months makes!!!

Footy is back! Well done Tackers!!

James Bubbers & Scott Maddison

Preston Bullants	Bulls
8.5.53	2.3.15

Round 1
Sunday 17th April
Preston City Oval
Preston Bullants v's Bundoora Bulls
Game time 10am.

The ground looks magnificent, bathed in sunshine with a light southerly breeze.
Coach Ray revs the team up in the rooms, the kids make a lot of noise.
The Bullants run out through cheering fans.

Captains Will and Pat at the toss, Bullants kicking to the Southern end. 4 on the bench

1st Quarter.

Ryland wins the first ruck duel of the season. The first minutes are a tight tussle.

The Bullants move the ball forward and #4 Ayden takes a chest mark 15 metres out. Ayden goes back kicks a goal.

The Bullants get some great linking run forward from the centre bounce, the ball is held up in our forward line and Jackson snaps a goal from the stoppage.

The Bulls get a point, as the Bullants defend and harry their opponents.

From the kick out the Bullants stream the length of the ground, kicking marking and handballing fluently. #23, Samuel snaps a goal from broken play 20 metres out.

¼ Time. Coach Ray takes the forward line aside for instructions. The Coaches encourage the team to hold their positions around the ground and man up whenever the other team is attacking.

2nd Quarter.

The Bulls come out firing, the ball remains in the Bullants defensive area for minutes, some excellent tackles are made, but the Bulls push forward and kick for goal. Spoiled by Marianne and the Bulls are on the board with a point.

From the kick out the Bulls are able to hold in their attacking zone, and they score a fine goal.

From the Centre bounce great clearance work from #3 Will Hanlon, and the ball comes forward for the Bullants again. Will marks 40 metres from goal, passes to Samuel who marks 20 metres out on an angle. Samuel goes back and executes a beautiful kick and Goal.

Bullants move forward again and Dean grubbers a mongrel punt for a minor score.

The Bulls can’t get the ball clear of their defensive area, and Ryland kicks a point from a flying kick on the run.

½ Time. The coaching team hold the under tens on the ground for a minute, then off to the rooms.

3rd Quarter.

The Bulls are determined in the contest, but Jackson beats off 3 tackles and bangs the ball down the line to Grady, who controls the ball and pumps it into the forward line. The Bulls defend fiercely, but #4 Ayden snaps a goal.

This quarter is a real tussle, and the Bulls keep the ball in their forward line and kick two points.

¾ Time. Assistant Coach Craig pulls the team together, and Coach Ray drives home is message. Run hard. Man up, and concentrate on the game.

4th Quarter.

Bullants get clearance from the centre again. Jackson takes a big mark 25 metres out. No mucking about, Jackson goes back and bangs it through for a Goal.

The Bulls are valiant and show good skills, but the Bullants keep the ball in their attacking zone and score a Point. The Bulls can’t clear the defensive area and Aiden kicks another Goal.

From the bounce the ball is muscled forward, Asher chases the ball down and snaps for a Goal.

Final Siren.

Congratulations Bullants. Final score.

Big thanks to Ray, Craig, Dom and all the parents helping out on the day. Match reporter Simon Greaves Coaches message: Big thanks to all that helped out various roles on Sunday greatly appreciated. And to all the players again well done to all the whole team we came together and we played a very very good game of footy. We stuck our 3 rule game plan and we executed it very nicely everyone payed attention and listened very well to craig,dom and myself instructions at the start of the game until the end of game.

Thanks again and to Simon for our match report

And go BULLANTS’ From Ray

Preston Bullants	Warrandyte
3. 1. 19	6. 4. 40
Goal Kickers	Josh - 1, Phoenix - 1, Seb - 1
Best Players	Makaio, Josh, Harry, Oscar, Lachy, Phoenix

Preston Bullants v Warrandyte

In perfect conditions for football the Bullants U11 team made the trip to the beautiful Warrandyte ground for our first official game of the season.

From the first minute of the game it was clear that the boys were prepared to play the running, handball style of play that we had developed in the pre-season. Warrandyte were kicking down the hill and with a slight breeze so the back 6 were tested time and time again. Harry was extremely reliable and repelled countless opposition attacks and Lachy provided some excellent run as well. We managed to hold Warrandyte to just one goal in the first term and scored a brilliant goal of our own. Through good running football we managed to get the ball in our forward line only to see the opposition win possession. However, some excellent defensive pressure from Oscar K allowed us to regain the ball and deliver it to Seb R who finished off with a goal.

The second quarter saw us control the ball in our forward half for the majority of the quarter. Brody and Noah were providing us with good targets and the ball kept getting pumped in there by the midfield through the likes of Josh, Oscar H, Makaio and Liam. Unfortunately we were unable to convert our domination of possession into scoreboard pressure and we went into the long break 2 points down.

The start of the second half saw Warrandyte gain the ascendancy. Despite some excellent defensive efforts by the backline, as well as some good work by Phoenix in the midfield, the opposition were able to keep the ball in their forward line for lengthy periods of time and score a couple of goals. At three quarter time Warrandyte held a 2 and a half goal advantage and the momentum of the game had definitely swung in their favour.

Even though we were kicking down the hill in the last quarter, Warrandyte held firm and their superior marking power around the ground meant that we were unable to win enough possession to cause them problems. Despite this though, it was pleasing that the boys persevered with the running game and were prepared to share the ball around. There were some terrific individual efforts from:

Ben G who was 1 out against 2 opposition players running into goal and Ben was good enough to stop both of them and win a Free kick for his tackle;

Jesse in the 3rd ¼ who was in the back pocket who firstly intercepted an opposition handball that would have resulted in a goal. He then followed up by diving for the ball and won the free kick for in the back;

In the 2nd ¼ we ran the ball from the halfback line where Remy took a mark, handballed to Harry who kicked up the line to Liam who handballed to Josh then again handballed on to Oscar who delivered the ball into to forward Line for Noah to mark and have a shot on goal. The run and carry was great as well as the way the boys are learning to link up.

What we learned from the game is that our running style is effective but that perhaps we haven’t got the balance right in regards of which positions the boys are in. We will make some minor adjustments this week in regards to where the boys start on the ground and look forward to the next challenge against Banyule.

Thanks to the coaching staff, the parent helpers and especially the boys for a great effort. Special congratulations to Makaio for a great game and for winning the encouragement award from the opposition.

Preston Bullants	Doncaster
03. 05. 23	03. 04. 22
Goal Kickers	Ty D'Ath - 2, Yianni Papaioannou - 1

This year’s Under 12s team were runners-up in Blue division last year. We have gone up to Green division for grading games. Sadly two boys from last year’s team have not returned this year. Lachlan Hoo and Kristian Critelli have filled these two spots. Welcome Lachlan and Kristian – we couldn’t have recruited two better players to slot into our team. We hope you are both enjoying being members of the Preston Bullants Under 12 team.

Our boys were keen to start the season today and our round 1 match was against Doncaster JFC – the club we played in the Preliminary Final to reach last year’s grand final. Preston always play tough games against Doncaster, so it was fitting that we began the season playing them to benchmark how our pre-season training has prepared our boys.

The first quarter saw our boys play really well by getting the ball into our forward line. Every time Doncaster tried to drive the ball down to their forward line, Preston’s backline was fantastic in getting the ball back and moving the ball back down to our scoring end. Yianni Papaioannou scored our first goal for the YJFL season. Our boys kept Doncaster scoreless in the first quarter, which was a great achievement.

The second quarter saw a change in momentum from Doncaster. They came out a lot stronger, which we expected. They managed to score 2 goals against us and kept the ball out of our forward line for pretty much the whole quarter.

To quote Coach Craig as we gathered the boys in at half time, we needed to “pump the boys tyres up a bit”! Coaches Julian, Craig and I revved the boys up at half time, acknowledging the hard quarter they had just experienced, however we reinforced the message of moving the ball quickly down the ground, to use as much of the ground as possible, and to focus on the game.

The boys responded by putting in a very strong 3rd quarter. Ty D’Ath played centre half forward and he had a ripper quarter, adding two goals to our score. Scoring a goal very early in the quarter improved our spirits dramatically and the boys all really got involved and worked together. Doncaster couldn’t get into the game that quarter.

We vocalised our passion for the game at ? time, and our boys entered the final quarter as a united team to put in another solid quarter to combat Doncaster having the favourable scoring end.

Doncaster worked hard, scoring 1 goal, 4 points. Our defence worked very hard, keeping the pressure on them. Well done to all who played in the back line, you made Doncaster work really hard to create scoring opportunities.

Preston won by 1 point. It was great to get a win under our belt for the first game of the season. A good cross-section of players put in a huge game. Hard to individually name strong performers - what we saw today was the strength of many individual players coming together, working as a team, moving the ball forward quickly, to play a strong, skilful game of footy.

Well done to all.
Coaches Matt, Craig and Julian

Helpers: Many thanks to all who help field our team each week.

Preston Bullants	Warrandyte
15. 6. 96	0. 0. 00

Thanks to our team manager and all parents for assisting with game day duties.

Round 1 is always a special day. Hope and dreams can be won and lost in that first round with all teams desperate for a round 1 win. For this team it’s round 1 after a flag the previous season and an automatic elevation to the next division, a division that the boys have played before with mixed results.

A win could mean you’re on track for a great year and a loss could be devastating for team confidence. Have we trained hard enough, are we good enough for the higher division? Fortunately for the team we had an easy win but it’s not a true indication of where the team is at. Warrandyte fell victim to the grading curse and were elevated to a higher division, which was clearly not right. Their issues were also compounded by the fact that they only had 16 fit players on the day. I wish them well for the remaining part of the year.

It’s has always been a privilege to play at Preston City Oval (PCO) and this club is very fortunate to have the best ground in the YJFL. The surface was green and true, the sun was shining, Brad was on the BBQ, the mums were chatting away pretending they are interested in the game, the car park was full and the club officials were running around making sure that everything was in order for a great day.

Ooh the match report…..so that’s what this section is for. I will reserve that for next week.

Thanks again,
Dom Vaiano U13’s Coach.

Preston Bullants	Hawthorn Citizens K
1. 2. 8	30. 25. 205

Forget the scoreboard.

We took a hit and we will learn and build from that.

I was more interested in our team. The Bullants U14s is a side with a bunch of young men who have played together for a number of years now, as well as some brand new team-mates that we welcome into the side this year. It will take time to knit the team together, to identify the best strengths and to see how the Bullants can build as the year goes on. That’s what I was watching on Sunday. I watched it as the team got ready before the game and then I watched it as the game unfolded.

I like what I saw.

1. Is the fitness there yet? No, we need to build our fitness.
2. Are the ball skills there yet? WE can always improve.
3. Is our running game there yet? This is our big challenge!

What we do have is a core of our stronger players. And we have players who have developed noticeably. Ben Dursun’s game was a case in point. He has got bigger over summer but also, more confident getting his hands on the ball. And it showed. Jack King didn’t tire regardless of what the scoreboard said. Watch him improve this year. Jakeb Gray as well.

Our new players are going to give the team something else. A great first game from Rhett (look after the hammy mate, we need your running style). Ben Morgan built in confidence as the game went on. I really like River’s game. A bit more speed and I can see him providing some determined outside runs for the team. Welcome Suhail. This was his first game of competitive footy. Check his kicking style.

By halfway through the first quarter the lads in Red and White must have been feeling overawed. But when Ange addressed the team at the first quarter break they didn’t shirk from the job at hand. His last instruction, after extolling effort and running and spreading, presenting first to the ball was this: Keep your heads up.

And the Bullants did just that. They fought harder, the intensity lifted, you could tell, across the ground, that they were trying their best. Alex, or Jessie or James or Darc, and Perry and Leo and others besides. They tried their best.

So, forget the scoreboard and focus on what you can do to make the team better. Tackle, run, sheppard, get in and under, handpass, kick, run and keep on backing one another because that’s the Bullants way!

Preston Bullants	Fitzroy 2
12. 09. 81	09. 04. 58

1.00pm Sunday was the culmination of a long preseason: a preseason that was challenging due to a lack of consistent numbers and up until the last couple of weeks, clouded by a realisation that we may struggle to form a team. At all times however, a core of between ten and fifteen boys fronted up to training, with a resiliency that belied the tenuous existence of the team.

And so when the whistle blew on Sunday, the ball was bounced and Jack went up for the first ruck contest against his Fitzroy opponent, and achieved the first possession for a Bullant’s player, the boys became winners, even without the result on the scoreboard being declared. Jack was the first of twenty four Bullant’s players to get his hands on the ball during the day. Like every one of his teammates, he played an important role in the teams’ endeavours to be competitive and give a good account of itself.

As the game progressed (after the boys kicked the first goal of the match), a belief in themselves and each other became obvious, and aspects of a run and carry game plan that had been practised during the preseason become evident in many exciting passages of play. The boys were able to hold onto a sizeable lead throughout the game. Going into the last quarter it had grown to six goals. Fitzroy showed that they were a worthy and gallant opponent in the last quarter and gave the boys a lesson in focus and concentration by kicking three goals. In the end however, the boys were able to enjoy a well earned four goal win.

Every boy can take credit for the win, but I would like to acknowledge Jack and Stevie for their magnificent efforts on the day, Kenny who whilst playing his first ever game of football showed an incredible level of fearlessness and Xavier for his skilful marking and who along with Jackson S, provided a mobile marking option every time the boys went forward.

Preston Bullants	Surrey Park
10. 07. 67	10. 06. 66
Best Players	Liam McErlain, Liam Sutton, Max Vaiano, Adrian De Sando, Daniel Hachem

Our first game of season 2016 saw us travel out to Surrey Park to face the Panthers in perfect conditions. The boys had been training since early December and were looking forward to pulling on the Bullants jumper for the first time. First gamers for the club included Adrian De Sando, Christian Giudice, Alex Bonadio, Daniel Hachem whilst Liam Sutton was given the honour of Captaining the club for season 2016.

We started very well kicking 3 goals to 1 in the first quarter, with centre clearances and forward 50’s all in our favour. Sutton, McErlain, Vaiano were really important in the opening stanza’s of play and were ably supported by ruckman Jack Hayes and Tom Hallebone.

After giving the boys some praise at ¼ time I was disappointed that we took our foot of the gas in the second, lost discipline both at the umpires / opponents leading to Surrey Park getting a real run on. Our execution of basic skills had dropped off and we headed in to the main break down by a couple of goals.

Surrey Park booted the first 2 of the 3rd to go up by 4 goals, to our boys credit, they showed tremendous character to come back in to the game kicking the next 3 majors to be down by only a couple of points.

The last quarter was a seesawing affair with both sides going goal for goal. Adrian De Sando was instrumental in the last quarter along with Daniel Hachem – both had lifted after quiet first quarters and Hachem drilled a goal 50m out to put us in the lead for the first time since early in the 2nd quarter with only 3 minutes to spare. Unfortunately we failed to hang on to the game when we had control of the ball and allowed Surrey Park to kick a major after being awarded a free kick.

This was a really tough loss for the boys, they tried very hard. From a coaching perspective it shows that we have a lot of growth left in us in terms of understanding requirements at certain stages of games. I’m sure this loss although very disappointing will make us stronger in season 2016.

Thank you to all the parents who came to support their children play football and also to the parents that assisted with designated match day roles. A big thank you to Maree Hallebone & Debbie Black who have been a huge help to me.

This week we face Templestowe at PCO and are hoping to get win #1.

Go Bullants!

Preston Bullants	Ashburton
15. 11. 101	09. 08. 62
Best Players	Karl Rentos, Josh Torcasio, Lucas Fragale, Adrian Vella, Johnston Mai, Rob Catalano

The boys were pumped to finally get the season underway after a long pre season. We were stoked to be playing at PCO on a beautiful day and knew we could use the good conditions to our advantage.

Our captain for the day was Josh Bruzzese. This duty will rotate on a week to week basis in Colts 2. Josh was rewarded for his hard work throughout pre season and for being a great vocal leader. Josh was great early and set the winning tone for the day.

We came in at quarter time with a 10 point lead, however we knew we could improve in areas. Specifically, we wanted to use the middle of the ground more as we believed our ability to run was a huge advantage. Rob Catalano was excellent in the ruck all day, giving us first use of the footy at most stoppages.

We continued to improve in the second quarter and opened up a handy five goal lead by half time. Karl Rentos responded to the quarter time message well, delivering multiple runs through the middle of the ground and providing the forwards with great delivery. Lucas Fragale presented well all day at CHF.

Unfortunately, we faded away in the third quarter and let Ashburton back in the game. We began to get complacent and gave away some easy goals. By three quarter time we only lead by 15 points.

To the boys credit, they responded well. When the game was there to be won, we stood up to the challenge which was extremely impressive. Our hard work in pre season definitely paid off as our fitness and decision making in the last quarter was far better than that of Ashburton. With that being said, we will continue to work on some areas to ensure we don’t let teams back into games.

Well done to all the boys for a hard fought win. Let’s make sure we keep coming down to training. Let’s continue to get better together and we will have a great year.

Thanks to the parents who volunteered on the weekend. Please continue to support your children and the footy club. Thanks also to Maree Hallebone, Stephanie Carroll and Daniel Vella for all your hard work.

Bullant Banters 2017