NEVER GIVE UP!!
Something changes in the air when it comes to Finals Footy. Nothing to lose, so you leave it all out on the field. If you don't it can be a long summer of pondering and regrets.

The Rosebank Cricket Club Under 12s had been working hard all season, building for this very moment. Finals Footy.
We had beaten our opposition, Greythorn, convincingly in the Home and Away season and knew it was possible to do the same again.

The Scene: Players taped up, warmed up, revved up and ready to rumble. Siren, whistle, bounce.... game on.

Boom!! Greythorn applied pressure from the outset. They played with structure, discipline and had lose players everywhere. They were playing out of their skins and the Bullants were shell shocked.
The Dad's Gallery estimated a 3 goal advantage northerly blowing in favour of the Falcons. Not far wrong with Greythorn 3 goals 1 by quarter time. Preston had our chances but we went deep into the first term before Sage snapped from the ruck to score our first major. Individuals were having an impact in bursts but there was little run to support, kicks were blind and panicked and Greythorn were playing our style of game.

Down by 11 points Scott challenged the boys:
'Are we up for it?'
'Don't wait for it!'
He also rewarded our fantastic run down the wing and kept the optimism up with the knowledge that we would now be kicking with the wind.

The pressure continued in the second term and prevented our free flowing, running game. The nerves of finals footy were showing and the Falcons swooped in on any fumbles. Tom Maddison sent a long ball bouncing, tumbling through for our only major of the term. Greythorn answered with a goal of their own and by half time the difference was still 11 points and still none of the Bullants usual run and attack on the ball.

Half time address from Simon – welcome to finals footy where the intensity is up and it doesn’t just happen for you. From Scott, an impassioned plea. “Make the most of this opportunity. You worked hard to get here. You deserve to be here. It’s our time! Work hard, play smart and make it happen!

 At the end of the 3rd term the Bullants were 3 goals down as Greythorn continued to dominate, delivering a crushing blow with a goal on the siren taking full advantage of the scoring end. The Bullants were not out of the fight but we needed a spark. Simon had been conditioning the boys all season and one thing we know is that we are able to run out a game hard. In the face of adversity, we called on our leaders to step up. Sage & Tom forward, Wato to Full Back, Tommy G and Hamish on the ball, Ned to play a defensive sweeper from the wing. Do your thing and leave it all out there!
The final term was an exciting pulsating blur. Our Families, Grand Parents, Supporters and Friends were not giving up on the sidelines and nor were our boys. Had the wind picked up or was it our intensity? Tom Maddison opened the goal scoring followed by Callum's second effort to goal. Somehow we had clawed our way back within striking distance. Six points behind and then a rushed behind to bridge the gap to 5 points. One minute and fifteen seconds on the clock and the order was given for our defenders to flood the middle to lock the pill in our forward line and not let it out.
With 20 seconds left on the clock, our captain Sage found some space and took a mark. Time slowed down. Hearts pounded. Was he within range? We'd dominated the quarter and this was our chance. The kick was good, 'it's a goal'. Queue the jubilant celebrations.
 
In the first half the occasion got to us. Our hearts knew what to do but our heads weren't enabling it. In the third quarter we ground it out. A touch here, a tap there, a tackle to slow the momentum, a fingertip last line of defence saved goal. The many one percenters and individual efforts kept us in the game. Our run in the last was matched with our desire to turn it around and write our little piece of history. Never give up Bullants, you do us proud!!
 

The Preston Bullants headed into Sunday’s Semi-Final clash against Banyule on the back of some impressive form. A positive outcome in this match, one in which we celebrated two milestones, Lucas’ 100th game and Anthony’s 50th, would mean direct entry to a third consecutive Grand Final appearance.

As well as the boys had performed throughout the season, finals were different, and the Bullants knew they’d have to bring their A-game. Within seconds of the first bounce, Liam’s quick extraction out of the centre square, followed up by a handball receive and goal, showed that the boys were on. The first quarter was hotly contested, with both sides finding it hard to adjust their kicks against the swirling wind, the game played out for some time deep in Banyule’s forward pocket. Great pressure from our defenders, with Lachlan’s tackling, and Caspian intercept marking, ensuring Banyule were unable to make the most out of their forward pressure.

Winning the first quarter by a slim one-goal margin, the boys broke the game open in the second, piling on four goals to one in a dominant display. Brody and Seb R set the standard in terms of marking, and the boys generated a few opportunities early on but couldn’t convert those chances into scoreboard pressure. Skipper Phoenix, broke the deadlock, kicking the first two of the Bullants’ slew of second-quarter goals, one a result of great ball movement initiated by Harry. While Banyule would get one back, Josh was there, his evasive skills in congestion resulting in a clear shot for goal and establishing a 27-point lead at the main change.

The boys worked hard at the resumption of play, evidenced by Lucas’ chase on the wing to win a stoppage and popping up immediately in the next play to take a pack mark up forward. Likewise, Jesse’s gut running to chase the ball, bouncing towards goal, and Makaio following up his ruck work with some great efforts at ground level, made it hard for Banyule to make inroads into the Bullants’ lead.

Despite the great play, the boys had only extended their lead by three points, and with the final quarter underway, 30 points didn’t seem all that tenable. But as they’d done in previous weeks, the Bullants finished strongly. Mahmoud and Cooper both took some huge contested marks, each one worthy inclusions in any highlight reel. None of the boys’ intent waned as the game drew to a close. Rufus, who’d chopped off a number of Banyule’s forward entries, chased down an opposition player who was running perilously towards goal. Daniel appeared in the right positions on a few occasions as the Bullants probed forward, and Jordan’s second effort in getting to the ball and kicking it forward after dropping a mark—the boys made sure they’d get another crack at the ultimate accolade in a fortnight’s time.

Go BULLANTS!

It was hard to pin-point the most thrilling thing about this game. Was it that we were actually playing in the second semi-final? Or was it Marty’s rousing speech before the game, with blood in his eyes, daring us to believe the fearsome quality of the Red and White jumper? Or was it Al, epitomising the heart and soul of this team and club, wearing the Bullants jumper for the one hundredth time, sprinting through the banner and hardly slowing down for the next 80 minutes. When he took the ball out on the Boulevard flank and threaded it through for our first you kinda sensed that B.B King might have been wrong when he sung that the thrill is gone. The thrills were just getting going.

What a frickin quarter. In the drizzling rain on this mud-heap excuse for a football field at the quarter time huddle parents and friends were trying to keep a lid on what they were thinking. That was the best quarter the Ants had played all year. They are that freakin good. The Brunswick Dragons must have wondered what hit them. The scoreboard told a story most of us would have had trouble buying only 30 minutes earlier. 5.2 to one measly point.

Our Bullants ran full speed across a ground that lesser mortals would have slipped and tripped, stumbled and tumbled, sunk and kerplunked all over the place. They owned it. Brunswick on the other hand sunk into the morass, becoming more undisciplined the further into the quarter we went. In conditions bordering on terrible the Bullants shone on like crazy diamonds. Terry set up the next goal finding Leo leading into space. His goal was as clean as the day was filthy and his day would just get better.

Our tackling was as good as it has been all year. In fact the pressure Bullants applied to Brunswick was best on ground. Ball use came a close second. About now the Dragons started to crack and the Ants were rewarded with a 25m free. Leo, leading beautifully took the mark and kicked true. Our clearance work at centre bounces was the lever with which we controlled the play and applied pressure. Terry was our signature move. He took it out of the centre, cleared to Leo who passed it to Billy. And before we knew it we were four goal up on the not so fiery Dragons. Then this. (Well this is how I noted it, such was the speed and my excitement at how well Anton played): 37 leads, 37 marks, 37 kicks, 37 goals.

The Bullants had the run of the game. Jordan was throwing himself at everything. The backline was Checkpoint Charlie and no Dragon was getting through. Even Brunswick’s first shot on goal, some 18 minutes into the quarter was thwarted; touched on the line. Ben D was our backline incarnate; hustling, bustling, and rustling the ball forward. Billy’s pressure was like a sledgehammer on the Dragons hopes and dreams. Their final score did not match our first quarter effort. Bottle that one boys.

Still, as we know full well, footy is a four quarter game and a team like Brunswick would not surrender. In the Second they fought back. The Dragons scored two goals in the first ten minutes reducing our lead to 18 points but raising the anxiety levels of the Bullants supporters. You’d think the parents would be the calming influence but oh no, we went to water. Meanwhile, out on the field our sons didn’t. They steadied. They soaked up what Brunswick threw at them. Then, they took over. In a scrappy, congested tussle the Ants pushed the ball forward but out into a dead flank. Jackson centred the ball to Leo and Leo found Rory on his own. Rory did the rest. That goal calmed the team and our confidence (and skills) took it from there.

The weather and playing field combined to mock any attempt to play sophisticated footy. It was a scramble and a scrabble. First to the ball had control until the next scrabble. With less than two minutes to go before half-time the Ants were pushing it forward. The intensity was something to applaud. While a goal wasn’t registered the intent was worth more than six points. Everyone was doing their bit but Ben D’s efforts were brilliant, as were Anton’s. If the first quarter was the best we’ve played this year then the second half of the second quarter was the second best we’ve played. On another day, the Ants might have wilted under the pressure the Dragons applied in the first ten minutes of the second quarter. That we didn’t says something very important about this team. This is what they must take with them to the big dance. Our half time lead was due to every player’s effort. That’s a hell of a thing to learn this late into the season. But we knew it already, didn’t we!

Terry, Kingy and Josh are hard at the ball. Anton is brilliant in defence. Leo gets a freo and kicks clean and true. Billy gets the ball out of the centre. Anton to Billy. Terry to Leo. Bullants, one and all, are hard, determined to pressure and first to the contest. Remember the following as it is important for your next game. The Ants stunned the Dragons in the first quarter (through skilful play and pressure) and they never recovered. As Marty made the point before the game, that’s the Bullants way!

Maxy, who has played a ripper takes down one of the Dragons’ best. Kingy finding space gets the ball forward. And Terry! Brunswick score a couple of goals but really this quarter (the Premiership quarter) has been a real tussle. A red hot slog. Brunswick win the quarter 2 goals to Bullants 1.1. The game is over.

But it isn’t. In the last, the Bullants score three points to Dragons one point. It is a nothing stat but it is actually worth reflecting on. The Bullants maintained their game and pressure until the final siren. Brunswick played in fits and spurts. Bullants stepped up and did not bend, Brunswick did not. Bullants had winners across the ground, Brunswick had four or five players working overtime. Marty and Nick’s coaching move about four games back to move Terry to the wing and Jackson as a loose man forward has changed and elevated the Bullants game plan. That has put the Bullants on par, or, if this game is a guide, better than Brunswick. Whatever. We head into the Grand Final wearing not only the fearsome red and white jumper but also the red shorts, because the Grand Final for the Bullants is a home game.