Sydney Uni American Football Club

Head Coach Ogborne has been hammering into the team in 2012 the concept of getting better each game, and not playing to the level of our opposition. With the draw coming to the stage of starting to play teams for a second time, there is now a good measure of improvement. The last time the Lions played the Seahawks it was a solid 46-8 victory to the men in gold, so the bench mark was set.

When the two teams met on the 3rd of November, it was clear which team had been focussing on the little things, paying attention to detail and improving week to week, as the Lions were victorious 84-6, in what was best described as a comprehensive victory. The initial drives set the tone for the game, as the Hawks were unable to get anything going on offense, while the Lions executed at will. The young Seahawks offensive line was taken to town by the ferocious Lions’ defensive front, with Mitch Haney in particular making life uncomfortable for the Hawks’ QB, as he was constantly hitting him, stripping the ball and recovering for a score. Fady Aoun was a welcome sight back in a gold jersey, with some absolutely bone crushing hitting- Fady has long been considered the best defensive lineman in the country, and played like it yesterday. Nicolai Hansen made life uncomfortable for the Hawks with his usual hard hitting style, dominating in the box.

The Lions secondary was well disciplined, keeping the high powered Hawks passing attack from achieving much, while being strong in run support. The 2012 secondary is one of the best units for run support in recent memory, with Keenan Mackett, Jayden Pilling (who also put the ball into the endzone with an athletic play) and Kevin Trinh all making excellent tackles in run support. Mathieu Lachance Bertrand is always a force on the field, and put the exclamation mark on the game taking an interception 60 yards back for the score in the final drive of the game.

Although the Lions D outscored the entire Seahawks team, you don’t get to 84 points by accident, and the Lions attack was on point. Taking what the Seahawks were giving them, whether it was on the ground or in the air, the Lions attack was deadly. Led by trigger man Kiernan Dorney, an aerial show was put on display, with multiple receivers making great catches. A few highlights include Sam “Wonderhorse” Darcy offloading a pitch as he was getting tackled, where the biggest concern for the team was which one of the three gold jerseys nearby would be the recipient, with Harry “Dazzler” Granger was the lucky man getting the score on that one. Young receiver Anthony “Measurables” Tuong is translating his phenomenal athleticism into being a rounded receiver with improvements every week, topping off this week with an acrobatic, twisting catch for a score. A big shout out goes to Matt Rothwell who led the way with some excellent yards after the catch and tough running, barrelling over defenders, only just being denied the endzone.

The ground game from the Lions was at its challenging best. Dorney was able to punch the ball into the endzone multiple times, handling the challenges of the option game with ease. Alex “Barrel Pony” Watson was the only healthy running back on the day, so made the most of the opportunities, punching the ball into the end zone for multiple touch downs. Watson had two length of the field scores, running untouched up the middle for 30 yards, and on another play displaying his underrated speed, outrunning the Hawk’s secondary to score in the corner.

You can’t put on an aerial show, or have a running back churn up the field without some solid offensive line work. David Thode, Cameron Lawrence, James Gifford, David Allen, Paul Edwards and Justin Lauderdale were clinical in what they did, exerting their will on the opposition. As a unit who wants no individual praise, nobody will be singled out.

The Lions look to continue their improvement, taking on the Predators next week.