Force to be reckoned with

The North Coast Force representative teams produced their best results ever while playing in the Hunter Challenge Cup on the weekend.

The carnival at Tuggerah saw the Force field six teams for the first time with the inaugural appearance of an Under 15 Girls team.

The new team didn’t disappoint either winning two of its three matches.

Other North Coast teams to record two victories from three matches were both the 13 Girls and 13 Boys teams as well as the 17 Boys who narrowly missed out on making it three from three.

The 15 Boys team won one match while the 17 Girls team was asked to work harder than any other at the carnival, being the only team to play four matches.

Despite the workload and results not going their way, the effort and resilience was outstanding from the girls. Particularly when fatigue was setting in on Sunday. 

For the Boys program to win more than 50 percent of its matches was a tremendous result considering all three age groups contained large numbers of bottom age players.

For those boys to start each match conceding not just a year of age but also a year of experience, height and weight and still perform strongly was a fantastic result.

The 13 Girls also faced the challenge of losing the core of the team that played last year. The team lost its first match while the girls were still finding their feet at the representative level and learning how to work together but once they clicked into gear their performances for what is basically a new team were truly remarkable.

Overall the Force teams played a total of 19 matches and won nine of them.

Among those wins were multiple come from behind victories which showed the spirit, attitude and fitness among the Force teams.

Further examples of this spirit and attitude were seen when the players weren’t playing. Their desire to get around to other grounds and show their support for other North Coast teams was truly impressive.

One who was certainly impressed with the way the Force teams played was AFL North Coast Force Coaching Co-Ordinator Matt Anderson and he explained that he wasn’t the only one.

“It was the most competitive we’ve ever been and for the most part, any losses that our North Coast teams did have were close losses,” Anderson said.

“That was certainly the case with the 17 Boys and the 17 Girls had some close losses.

“Former GWS Giants coach Leon Cameron who is now the Coaching Director of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy said that he was really impressed with the growth and development of the program and with our on field performances. He added that it was really good to see how far North Coast footy has come.”

The consensus among those at the carnival was that the teams really are becoming a force to be reckoned with. A reflection of why the nickname for the squads was chosen in the first place.

The next opportunity for the Force teams to shine will be during the Northern NSW Championships to be held in Coffs Harbour during the upcoming school holidays on July 8, 9 and 10.