by Jo Westgate

Under 10

Despite a two week break the Under 10's Crocs returned to the field with lots of enthusiasm to take on Cairns Saints at Griffith Park.

As always coach Rod Davidson was pleased with the boy’s commitment and effort throughout the match. The Crocs managed to boot six brilliant goals which were once again shared around with Ryan scoring two goals, Reuben, Toby, Tyson, Casey and Leon kicking one each.  Awards went to Toby Ellison - club medal, Tyson Lynch, Rory Nyko - McDonalds and Casey West - cap.    

Under 14

Cairns Saints 18-13-121 def. Port Douglas 1-0-6 

Port Douglas Crocs travelled to Griffith Park on Sunday to take on Cairns Saints. After two wins on the trot, the boys from Port Douglas were brought back to Earth with a ‘thud’.

With a high number of under 14 players not in attendance on the day, a forfeit was looking highly likely due to lack of numbers. A potentially embarrassing situation was avoided thanks to the Under-12s who played up and all of whom showed great courage in taking on much bigger opponents. Thank you boys – your assistance was very much appreciated!

Saints established a comfortable lead early in the match and they continued to add to their winning tally with impressive running football. The Crocs boys fought hard throughout the match to contain their opponents and, to their credit, never gave up as coach Pat Barnett reflected at half time it was definitely a ‘hard day at the office’ for the boys from Port Douglas.

The Crocs only goal for the match was kicked by Patrick Lanskey. Thomas Radcliffe received The Beach Shack award with the E.J.’s Takeaway voucher presented to Nathan Evans. Other award recipients were Ethan McCullough, Brady Stewart and Harry Brown who each received McDonald’s meal vouchers for their efforts.
Thanks to those volunteers who assisted with match duties especially our tireless Water Carrier, Cheryl McCullough, who kept the boys well hydrated in very warm and humid conditions.

Under 16

North Cairns 10-8-68 def Port Douglas 4-9-33

After such a great victory against Pyramid Power the Friday night before the Crocs and their supporters travelled to Cazaly’s with high expectations but as with previous weeks the boys failed to work as a team for four quarters with the results showing on the scoreboard.

The first two quarters, although low scoring, were very competitive with both sides kicking three majors. The Crocs went into the long break two points ahead with the score line 3-7 to 3-5.

After half time however it was all North Cairns with Port Douglas only managing to kick 1 goal 2 for the rest of the match. Although there were some moments of brilliance like Ashley Turnbull’s great grab in the backline and Max Aldrich’s bursts of pace and running game the Crocs failed to capitalise on their half time lead and were outclassed al over the ground.

Jack Goodall worked tirelessly as always but his opportunities were few and far between. Kiz and Josh Harris also played hard all match but we need all the boys to show this sort of commitment if we are going to be competitive this season.

There are still plenty of more games to play and a couple of wins could see us contenders for the finals. Look at the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday night, half of those boys are only a few years older and their never say never attitude saw them steady and fight back when it looked like the Lions were going to run over the top of them. It was there team work and commitment that got them over the line.

Best players for the Crocs were Josh Harris, Ashley Turnbull and Brett Mckeown. Goal Kickers were Jack Goodall 2, Alex Forbes 1 and Micheal McKeown 1.