The Yass Roos have kept their extraordinary AFL Canberra 2023 Community Men’s Division Three season going, defeating the Belconnen Magpies 12.8.80 to 5.2.32 at Holt Oval on Saturday.

The win means the Roos still sit on top of the ladder after Round 10 of the season as finals football fast approaches.

After both sides went into the quarter-time break all square, Yass kicked four goals to one in the second quarter to take a 20-point lead into half-time.

 Belconnen flipped the script in the premiership quarter and made their charge back into the game, with the Magpies kicking three goals to one to reduce the margin back to 11 points. 

But that’s as far as Belconnen would go in the game, being held scoreless in the last quarter as the Roos piled on six final-quarter goals to win by 48 points. 

Yass had seven individual goalkickers against the Magpies, with captain Sam Williams kicking three, Jarrad Forlonge and Darcy Paine registering two each, and Joven May, Lachlan Gillam, and Ben O’Connor all chipping in for one major. 

Maxwell Shadbolt, Toby Serafin, Macauly Harvie, Ryan Ulrich, Taylor Doyle, and Elliot Johns were all amongst the best players on the ground for Yass on Saturday.

Yass playing President Jarrad Forlonge said the win was just another step on the path to the Roos’s ultimate goal in 2023. 

 

“It was a lot trickier game than what the final score showed. We were even at quarter-time, and they came out really hard. It did catch us by surprise how they were playing,” Forlonge said. 

“They were a real physical team on the day, so I’m not sure if they had a few extra players or what this week, but that was definitely a way better team than what we faced in round one this year.

“To come away with an eight-goal win, we’re really happy with that because that was actually a really hard game. 

“Belconnen kicked three goals in a row late in the third quarter to get it back to a small margin, so credit to them, they just kept coming at us all day. They really got themselves back there.

“It was a bit of a tale of two ends though with the wind. One end was really wet and boggy compared to the other end. We definitely had the better of the conditions in the last quarter, which helped, but we spoke at three-quarter time about just trusting the process and knowing that what we’re trying to do is actually working, we just needed to stick to it.

“They got a little bit grubby and fiery there at times. We just needed to keep our heads and not give away any silly free kicks or buy into the stuff that they were trying to get us to do. I think once we just settled down and played footy it kind of it took care of itself.”

 

This Saturday, 8th July, the Roos will travel to Cooma to take on the third-placed Southern Cats in Round 11 action. 

 

“We know that they’re always going to be a really hard game. We’ve got them with their only game in Cooma this week, which is their traditional home, so we feel like they’re going to be well and truly up and about for this week’s game,” Forlonge continued.

“The Cats are going to come out hard. There’s a lot of spots to keep playing in finals, for not just us, but for everyone. We know that they need to keep winning if they want to stay in the top four and for them, that starts with us this week.

“We need to be mindful that they’re going to come out hard and just continue to trust the process and keep trying to do what we keep working on it. We know that if we can do that, it’ll all take care of itself.

“It’s going to be a tough game, but I think all the boys are just really looking forward to it and just keeping trying to win at the moment, which is fun.”

A win this weekend for the Roos would mean they are three games clear of third spot with three games to play, guaranteeing themselves a top-two berth and a second chance in the finals. 

 

“We’d definitely like to finish top two because at least we know that it guarantees us two cracks in the finals if we need it.

“I guess that’s an added bonus of a win this week. But I think realistically, we’re just trying not to get too carried away. We had that slip up there a couple of weeks ago that probably refocused us a little bit, which was probably what we needed.

“Every game for the rest of the year we’re just keen to go out and try and win and to keep improving. We know once we get to the finals, it’s a different ball game. 

“We’re obviously going to have a finals spot now, so that’s good, but we’d like to just keep getting better, but keep trying to win. If we finish first, second, or we finish fourth, we just want to keep winning no matter what.”

Ladder: 

  • Yass – 36 points – 342%
  • Mururmbateman – 36 points – 270%
  • Southern Cats – 24 points – 144%
  • Goulburn Swans – 24 points – 130%
  • Cootamundra – 16 points – 119%
  • Belconnen – 12 points – 46%
  • Eastlake – 8 points – 37%
  • Tuggeranong – 4 points – 27%

Tim Warren