32 KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY MARCH 20, 2013 www.katherinetimes.com.au Published by North Australian News for Katherine Times PO Box 42, Katherine NT 0851 Registered by Australia Post - Publication No. SACO412 Printed by Northern Territory News, Darwin Katherine Times ADVERTISING Phone 8972 1111 Greens - Page 30 Around THREE years worth of going up and down the Stuart Highway cover- ing more than 650 kilometres every weekend. Three years of weekend early starts for teenage men and wet sea- son river rises and falls. Three years of small engine plane flights for remote players and no more than two home games a year. Three years of team lists of 60 or more players from an area the size of Victoria. It all paid off in the stinking hot midday sun on Saturday March 16 as a team, that due to the tyranny of dis- tance, has never had a training run together won the NTFL 2013 Under 18′s Premiership. The underdog Big River Hawks beating the highly fancied Southern District Crocs 10.12.72 to 9.9.63. Displaying the team spirit, grit and determination that saw them overcome a loss to the Crocs in the first week of the finals to go all the way, the Big River Hawks came from 14 points down early in the final quarter to kick the last four goals of the game to claim the title. The Hawks had come up from Katherine the night before and spent the night in swags on the change room floor at the Palmerston Foot- ball Club. Whilst the accommodation may not sound overly appealing, it served to bring the task at hand into clear focus and bring these young men closer together both literally and metaphorically. Whilst nerves and anxiety were obvious to the onlooker, so was a sense of unity and the experience that comes from having lost a grand final the year before. Spending the night in Palmerston also meant the team was at the ground an hour and a half before kick off for the first time this year. Coach Abbott had been forced to have some really difficult conversa- tions during the week with several players missing out on making the game day list, but all attended to sup- port and assist their team mates, an- other example of the growth of this group into young men of substance. Pre game talk was kept to a mini- mum, with the focus being on each player doing their job and the sacri- fice of the players who missed out. The boys ran out through a ban- ner for the first time, with thanks to Maryanne Lewis and the Hawthorn Football Club, the national anthem was sung and it was game on. The Hawks started well winning a number of clearances and entering their attacking fifty regularly. Both teams were feeling each other out with Jesse Bettison, Brad Lewis and Balung Martin being given the jobs of handling the Crocs big three of Daniel Cox, Nakia Cockatoo and Jordan Scanlon. The Crocs attempted to tag Jake Farrell, however his speed off the mark and evasive skills combined with his hard running soon had his opponent struggling. By the end of the first quarter the Hawks had a slender four point lead, with their historically inaccurate kicking not materialising as they en- tered the first break 3.1 to Southern Districts 2.3. The second quarter however saw the team from Katherine slip back into their old ways kicking a woeful one goal six turning a dominant quarter with regards to possession and field position into a deficit of three points at half time. As has been the case in recent weeks, a lack of poise and balance in range of goal and an apparent desire to kick the ball across the body rather than via a drop punt proved costly. The team from Fred’s Pass how- ever did not waste their limited chances kicking three goals one and had momentum going into the major interval. The Hawks were clearly deflated by their repeated missed opportuni- ties to break the game open and the dominance of Jordan Scanlon in the Crocs forward line was proving a real problem. Whenever the ball went to ground the desperation and skill of the Hawks backs would repel the attack, but when on the lead and in space, Scanlon was dominating in the air and kicking accurately to compound the issue. At half time Katherine football legend Doug Kelly addressed the team and emphasised the need to im- prove their skill level, put their head over the ball and focus on balance and drop punting the ball rather than snapping for goal. He reaffirmed that the Hawks had the speed and natural ability to win the match, but just needed to add some patience and a tad more belief. Coach Abbott repeated Kelly’s mes- sage of patience and maturity in front of goal and made it clear that com- ing out of defence the team was not to look inboard, but to use the wings and sideline to move the ball down- field. In the second quarter nearly every Southern Districts goal had come from a turn over from a Hawks kick across field where the taller, bigger bodied Crocs would intercept. This would then result in the ball being transferred quickly to the Crocs forward line due to it being clear from heavy traffic, and get to Scanlon in space and one on one. The third quarter was an arm wrestle, but unfortunately some of the issues being faced by the Hawks continued to raise their head. Scanlon was continuing to kick goals, and they were still coming from inboard Big River kicks. The Districts lead had now crept out to eight points and whilst the ef- fort of the Hawks could not be ques- tioned, some of the decision making was of concern. At the three quarter time huddle former Hawks player Riley Ross spoke to the team about the need to follow their coach’s instructions and that the games was theirs to win or lose but that it was them making the running not Southern Districts. The whole team was called upon by Coach Abbott for one more quar- ter. He placed his faith in his senior players to win the midfield contest and deny the ball to the Districts for- ward line. The Hawks inaugural coach Mal Fox was heard to quip how vital the first goal of the final quarter was, and in this case it went to Southern Dis- tricts only seconds after the start of the final stanza. Thankfully, for Hawks fans, it proved to be their final major of the match with the team from Big River kicking the last four goals to claim the three year old club’s first Pre- miership flag. In a pulsating period of play dur- ing which the multitudes of Hawks fans carried their team, the central group of Jake Farrell, Cedric Robert- son, Boyd George and Lawrence Watego were outstanding, winning clearance after clearance. This supply to the forward fifty was capitalised on by Dwayne An- derson who kicked three final quarter goals and finally Marcus Hamilton who kicked the match clinching goal. The team from Southern Districts had their chance to hit the lead late in the final quarter with a shot hitting the post, however the ball was moved down field from the resulting kick out and finished in the hands of Hamilton just inside the 50m arc and right in front. The young man calmly went back and sent the ball sailing between the posts from well outside the attacking zone. This resulted in muted celebration by the Hawks players as it had given them a nine point lead, but their was still a minute and a half on the clock. As fate would have it, the Crocs won one of their handful of clear- ances for the quarter from the ensu- ing bounce, but as the attack was repelled by the Hawks defence back to the centre of the ground the siren sounded and the celebrations began on the ground and in the stands. Southern Districts Jordan Scanlon was deservedly named best on ground for his eight goals, and Hawks Captain Kayle Kossack and Coach Nick Abbott received the trophy. Big River Hawks 10.12.72 def. Southern Districts Crocs 9.9.63 Hawks goals: D. Anderson 3, J. Farrell 2, J. Hall 2, M. Hamilton 2, C. Robertson Crocs goals: J. Scanlon 8, D. Cox Big River Hawks H H A A W W K K S S D D O O T T O O W W N N P P R R O O U U D D SPORT the