Sydney Uni American Football Club

Experts will often say that the difference between a good win and a great win is the number of units that are involved in a game. For a good win, your offense may click, or the defense may be unstoppable, while with a great win, all three aspects of the team are on song. The Lions’ round 3 match against the Predators could be considered a great win.

Andrew Matthews and the D kept the Preds in check all night

Offense shook off the rust of last week and went back to the hard nosed Lions style football they are known for, with tough inside running balanced with the deep threat to break a defense’s back. Powerhouse Alex Watson ran over and around defenders, speedster Liam Erby showed them the back of his jersey, Frank O’Neil scored his first (of what we hope to be many) touchdowns as a Division 1 player, and rookie Harry Hampton showed that training hard pays off, with tight interior running. Veteran QB Kiernan Dorney kept everything heading in the right direction, while the offensive line allowed for the aforementioned pretty boys to strut their stuff.

Harry Granger channeling his wolf spirit

Defense continued to show why they are the most feared unit in the league, spending almost as much time in the backfield as the Predators’ QB. Exotic blitzes, well disciplined coverage and sound tackling kept the Predators in check. Linemen Fady Aoun, Mick Rigney and Dave “Lions53” Allen not only occupied blocks, but were in on the backfield action, deciding to have parties with the ball carrier in the backfield. Dave “DB” Bourke had an excellent interception (even if we didn’t see his patented spin move) which almost went to the house.

DB Dave taking the ball away

The final group that made the game go from good to great was special teams, where we had excellent tackling, sound kicking and a return for a TD. Liam Erby reminded teams why it’s not a great idea to kick to him, with a return that was clocked at 10.2 seconds, which is slower than his usual, but he promises to work on it. The special teams brought a degree of swagger this week, with some great takedowns by Jay Tamanivalu, some solid hitting by Stuart “Harry Potter” Olive and excellent pressure by Keenan “Return of the” Mackett on punts.

Coach Ogborne was pleased with the effort that was shown by the guys, especially the younger players who stepped up and executed. Although a long way from where we want to be, this was a step in the right direction, and we will be better next week.

Photos can be found on our photo page, videos, stats and a better match report to come.