The Yass Roos suffered their first loss of the 2023 Community Men’s Division Three season on the weekend, going down to the Goulburn Swans 7.6.48 to 6.8.44 at Goodhew Park on Saturday.
The Roos got jumped by the Swans, conceding four goals to zip in the first quarter, meaning Yass spent all day playing catch-up.
The visitors steadied in the second quarter kicking three goals to one, however, still trailed by five points at the main change.
Goulburn kicked ahead once again in the premiership quarter to hold an 11-point lead at three-quarter-time and despite a spirited effort in the last quarter, the Roos couldn’t find that final goal to go ahead.
The four-point loss sends Yass back into second place on the ladder behind Yass Valley rivals Murrumbateman, however, Roos Assistant Coach and player Tom Lemmon believes the loss will galvanise the group going forward.
“The boys were very flat after the game. We came out very slowly out of the box and were probably flat from the get-go. After the game, the boys were very quiet and reflective, but we’ve rallied around each other and are looking forward to getting on to next week against Tuggeranong for our Old Boys Day and our Roos Ball that night,” Lemmon said.
“If you give a team like Goulburn a four-goal head start you’re going to have a hard day trying to run them down, especially on their home deck. They look like they’ve picked up a couple of new players for the team and they were quite impressive.
“Credit to our boys for the way they responded in the second quarter to bring it back to a couple of goals at halftime. You can’t give quality teams like Goulburn that kind of start and expect to remain in the game for that long.
“We got the margin back to four points, from a late goal by us. Geordie Whitton kicked a goal late to make it close, he was probably best on ground for us. Taylor Doyle, Macauley Harvie, Rex Stacey, Toby Serafin and Kyle McKenzie were all among the best on ground for us on the day.”
Despite the loss and losing top spot on the ladder, Lemmon believes that the team won’t lose momentum going into the back half of the season and finals.
“I think the loss probably galvanises us as a team for the second half of the year. We’ve got a few players to come back like Darcy Payne, Fraser Cloney and Jordan Hudson who will all slot straight back in,” Lemmon continued.
“We’ve got a little bit to build towards there. We’re certainly not taking any teams lightly going forward and we’re really welcoming the more even nature of the competition in the second half of the year.”
The Roos have a massive day for the Club this Saturday, as Yass takes on Tuggeranong at Joe O’Connor Park which incorporates their Old Boys Day and the Club Ball.
“We are absolutely pumped for this weekend. Hopefully, we can see a full hill out there at Joe O’Connor this weekend and a big crowd. We’ve got our Old Boys Day so hopefully we can get a lot of faces there.
“We’ve also got our ball that night, so hopefully it’ll be a wonderful day for the Club, and I encourage everybody to get a ticket if they’re keen.”
Ladder:
•Murrumbateman – 28 points – 322%
•YASS – 28 points – 306%
•Southern Cats – 20 points – 135%
•Goulburn Swans – 20 points – 114%
•Cootamundra –12 points – 115%
•Eastlake – 8 points – 43%
•Belconnen – 8 points – 40%
•Tuggeranong – 4 points – 31%
Tim Warren
