It's been pointed out to me that this blog was really out of date so I guess it's time for a whirlwind update. The last post was from just after the 2nd Melbourne round where we set our season record to 6-6. Since then we have had the 3rd and final round in Brisbane and the Jetstar Gold Coast Wheelchair Rugby Titans ended the 2009 NWRL season in 3rd place, behind the South Australian Sharks and eventual champions, the NSW Gladiators.
The lead up to the final round was one where we worked very hard, knowing that it all was going to be left on the court. In the lead-up we also had hospital demonstrations to hold, Rhys and Amanda Tappenden had a baby girl, Olivia, and we also had filming for a segment on kids show Totally Wild (which should be airing in the coming weeks). Import Troye Collins joined us a week before the round, allowing us to train together and become more accustomed to his game. The week before the round was hot! Brisbane was having 30+ degree days and we knew if the heat kept up it would play to our advantage over the teams from the cooler states.
The weekend of the games came around, and while still warm, it wasn't as hot as the week leading up to the event. We opened the weekend with a match-up with Victoria, who were unfortunately understrength. Greg Smith was out with an elbow injury and Bryce Alman was out ill, although he would be coming up later in the weekend to help bolster their side. Being understrength, we easily accounted for Victoria. Later on the opening day we played season favourites NSW. We tried all we could to contain Ryley Batt, but containing Ryley is a lot easier said than done. In saying this, we managed to end up the game only 7 goals behind. Errors with the ball hurt us and we knew if we could tighten up our offense, and got a little bit of luck in defense, then just maybe we could cause an upset should we meet NSW in the finals on Sunday.
The follwing day saw us match up against South Australia. This was the first round for the year that they were at full strength. We always seem to have trouble matching up against them with Steve Porter and George Hucks causing trouble for us all over the floor. In a close match, yet again, SA managed to pull a few goals clear in the final quarter and we weren't able to close up the gap. This left one more game for the regular season against Western Australia. WA had battled all year against stronger line-ups while battling injury and illness. We were able to account for them again without too much trouble which should have had us playing Victoria in the semi finals, but on the other court NSW were playing SA and shockingly SA accounted for NSW by about 9 or 10 goals. This result meant that we would now play SA in the semi final for a place in the grand final.
The following day rolled around and I have to say home rounds are a huge advantage. Having your own bed and food and car makes everything about the round more relaxed and restful. Anyhow, we had to beat SA this time around. We pushed hard and tried hard, but unfortunately we couldn't get the monkey off our back and the same old story played out again with SA pulling away in the final quarter. The disappointment of our season ending set in, but we had to shake it off quickly as after a short break we had to suit up again to play against Victoria in a playoff for 3rd place, while SA and NSW would prepare to meet in the grand final later that day.
We started strongly against Victoria much to the delight of a large contingent of family and friends (mostly Jamie's family!) and were able to continue on with the job untroubled by Victoria. So we secured 3rd place which was a relief, 4th place would have been a disaster.
Later NSW cruised past SA by about 30 goals, a result that you would expect everytime these two sides met, NSW seemingly not having any of the 'issues' they had the night before. A large crowd was in for the final game which was good to see.
I've got to give props to the Sporting Wheelies crew that put on the weekend. Without experiencing the accommodating and transfers side of the weekend, everything was organised really well...thanks to all of those guys.
Presentations followed the final game with no surprises as Ryley Batt was named MVP for the season. The All Star 4 was presented and named to that line-up was Steve Porter (SA), Cameron Carr (Gold Coast), Andrew Harrison (WA), and Ryan Scott (Gold Coast). I picked up an award also, named Best New Talent for the year.
Since the round I have been laying low with bursitis in my left elbow. It's been a few weeks now, and after antibiotics and antiinflammatories for all that time, it is only now starting to show signs of going down. I ordered my first rugby chair following the final round also, so that is due to get here in a few weeks. Hopefully this elbow settles down quickly now so I can get back into the gym and when the chair gets here I can start pushing again in preparation for 2010.
The Titans website wraps up the final round
here
Getting as much game time in the preseason as possible is vital to our success and development this year. We really don't play all that much over the year with the national competition only being held over 3 weekends for the year. But preseason activity costs money... money we don't have, so very soon we'll be looking for some assistance....hopefully you know someone that can help... perhaps the business where you work? Who knows, we'll see what we can muster up.
