FROHL’S BIRTHDAY TREAT
Andrew Frohling celebrated his birthday at the Superules match of the season on Sunday against Sacred Heart.
Coach Dave Piro gave “Frohls” an unexpected present by starting the despised defender at full forward.
Previously banned from crossing the centre line to enter the forward half, the birthday boy had a visa to co-exist with some of the “hungriest” footballers in the competition. The other gift came in the form of a team present when the Hills’ Supertigers triumphed over the college boys in the highest standard game in a decade.
Still smarting from their loss to the Hills’ team last year, in a showdown for the unofficial premiership, they fronted with a team of stars. Current Sturt coach Luke Norman led the charge with strong support from former Fremantle star Chris Groom and a host of former SANFL and AFL players.
The first 10 minutes was frenetic with hard bodies at the ball and powerful tackles stopping players in their tracks. Once in the clear, precise kicks and strong marking were features of a game which resembled a Saturday match much more than the sedate endeavours of ageing “has beens” mixed with a few players who really “never were”.
It was only the straight kicking of the Hills team which saw them lead by 4 straight goals to 2 goals 3 behinds at quarter time. New comer Richard Slater and old hand Rob McGregor both slotted classy goals staking claims for much sought after forward spots.
The hectic pace of the game was maintained in the second quarter and had it not been for the fanatical efforts of the Hills’ defence the momentum may have shifted.
Chris “Fritz” Geraghty was supreme as he rebounded fearlessly and Dave “Runt” Wuttke intercepted attacks better than the “Star Wars” missile defence system.
Leading by 17 points at half time coach, Dave Piro, knew that he had to pull something special out of the bag and so told the same joke twice, just so everybody could get it. This worked a treat as a 4 goals to 2 third quarter all but sealed the match.
This period of play was not without incident however, as Chris Hill, having nailed a second quarter goal, now had a taste for it. Marking on an angle at the 30 metre mark he was quickly and wisely advised that Dick Kleemann was on his own in the goal square. Hill kept his head down over the ball, muttered “Stuff him” and proceeded to slot through a minor score.
Many believed Kim Pearce left the ground with a heel injury but he had actually just completed an exhaustive head count. 24 Hills’ players in Tiger uniform, two on the side line and only 22 cans of beer in the esky. It was a “no brainer” for Kim; he just had to get into the change rooms before anyone else.
The eccentric behaviours of the Hill’s players delivered a number of AFL options to the VB march to the Victory Hotel.
Chris Hill joined Gary “Specky” Magee and Troy Snooks behind the “Forwards Who Don’t Like To Pass Off” banner while Chris Geraghty and Wayne Seymour formed the “Balder We Get The Better We Are” cohort.
Dave McGill and Alex Tucker signed up for the “Players Who Others Love To Crunch” team and Dick Kleemann, Mark Jaensch and Simon Kemp were “Men Who Love To Run”. Aleks Bojanic and Tommy formed the “Players who keep their own statics brigade, with Aleks able to articulate the fact that of his 4 touches, 3 resulted in goal assists.
Wuttke, Tom Hancock, McGegor and Paul Zoontjens became “People Who Play In Defiance Of Medical Advice and Common Sense ” but despite their obvious differences the team marched on as one.
Adversity prompts different responses from people. Faced with the prospect of an unsavory defeat, SHOC took the field with 19 players at the start of the final quarter and nailed the first two goals to make it a tight contest. Once normality was restored the Hills’ team regained composure and closed out the game.
For a game played with such intensity, there were no spiteful or aggravated moments, and the match became a triumph for the spirit of Superules.
Alex Tucker did add interest to the next encounter between the two teams by explaining, with great sincerity to the vanquished SHOC foe, that by getting within 4 goals of the Hills’ team they had performed better than any one else this season.
HILLS 13 – 5 SHOC 9 – 6
Best: Geraghty, Wuttke, Thomson, Kleemann, Kemp, Tucker, Seymour
Goals: Kleemann 3, Magee, Ormsby, Snooks 2, Slater, McGregor, Hill, Watt 1
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