Roos Articles
[all articles & game coverage]
Links in archives may no longer work. Photo collections temporarily unavailable.
Kangaroos Take Top Honors in John Harrell Memorial Cup on ANZAC Day
The Louisville Kings are a reincarnation of the Louisville Cats, one of the teams that played in the first ever game of footy in the US, way back in 1996 (along with the Kangaroos!). John Harrell was the driving force behind the Cats and the founding of USFooty. His passing was devastating to their club. The new incarnation of the Louisville club honored their memory of their founder by etching his name on this tournament (formerly known as the Thunder Over Louisville). In addition, the tourney began with a bagpipe tribute a minute of silence for ANZAC Day. The Kangaroos were honored to be a part of that historic day when USFooty was born and were honored as well to be part of this historic day.
The tournament is designed as a pre-season get together for teams gearing up for the summer MAAFL competition. The games are played under Metro Rules, meaning the teams are nine-a-side and games, two 20-minute halves, and are played on soccer fields. One might think this means less running due to the smaller field; au contraire, mon amie, the reverse it true as there are less players to cover the ground! In a fitting tribute to bringing Aussie Rules to the US, there were less than five Australians playing across the six teams in the tournament!
This year the tournament was set up with an A and B pool, with the express intention of giving the new players a chance to play in competitive games. Participating in the A pool were Columbus A, Louisville, and Nashville A. In the B pool, were Cincinnati, Columbus B, and Nashville B. Yes, the Nashville Kangaroos footy has grown to the point were we were able to send two teams!
The Kangaroos A team was competing for the tournament CUP, and faced the newly formed Columbus Jackaroos in their first match. With the wind blowing fiercely from one corner to the other, the Jackaroos were able to put pressure on the Roo defense, but unable to get a major. Meanwhile the Rooboys took their shots and were able to convert more than half the time. In the second half, with the breeze, the Roos easily put the game out of reach, riding high on the legs of Mischa Nemeth in the new role of full forward and Gilberto "Chimi" Ortiz in his natural role of forward pocket, winning 12.8(80) to 0.5(5).
In their second match, and the closing match of the day, the Louisville Kings showed that they are a vastly improved squad, putting the pressure on the Roos from the opening bounce to the final horn. The match was never more than a couple of goals apart and if either team could have kicked at all straight, they would have run out easy winners. However, the stiff breeze proved tricky, and it came down to the greater number of scoring shots. Led by the best of the best, Luke "Ooga Booga" Nemeth and Dee "Weeman" Vsetecka who combined on more than a few high skill combination plays, the Roos outlasted the Kings, 5.7.(37) to 3.6(24), taking home the inaugural John Harrell Cup. The highlight of the day, however, had to be Nick "Chopper" Parker simultaneously marking in defense against Louisville's seven foot tall full forward (yes, he is indeed seven feet tall!). While the decision was a ball up, it was a tremendous effort none-the-less.
The B Team was in the pool competing for the PLATE. With the two teams competing simultaneously, Neil Cumming, nursing a hand injury, took the role of Coach for the B team as they worked hard in the head and fought the wind. The Roos were winning against eventual champion Cincinnati but the more experience Dockers were able to take advantage of the wind in the second half, taking down the Roos 8.7(55) to 5.9.(39). In the second match, a surprisingly strong Columbus/OSU B team outran the Rooboys and kicked accurately at the same time, winning easily 9.7(61) to 1.5(11).
Although it was a tough day for the B team on the scoreboard, there were many promising signs. Daniell "Whippet" Leipply was like a terrier all around the ground and found a lot of the footy. He constantly led into space and provided a great marking option from the half back line to the half forward line. His tenacity for the ball was unmatched as time and time again he put his body on the line to win contested ball. He is well worth watching for the future. Carrying an injury into the day, Justin Whiteshowed no sign of it as he played a dominating role in the ruck. He regularly won the tap and provided a wall of defense across the center half back line. Todd "Tonka" Haralson continues to look like a second or third year veteran in the full back role. He wears the full forward like a glove and never gives up an uncontested mark. Often outnumbered 2 to 1 on the day, Todd kept the pressure on and forced numerous turnovers out of certain goals.
Jesse "The Body" Wells worked tirelessly all day and did all the was asked of him. Not seeing much of the ball in the forward line he ran hard and provided options when moved into the ruck to give Justin a break. He attacked the packs hard for numerous hard ball gets and kickstarted many forward drives. Providing support to Jesse in the forward line, Mike "Goon" Guinsburg showed vast improvement over the previous week. He frequently made himself available with an alternative lead or by running into the unmanned goal square.
Despite losing both games, the boys all gave a good account of themselves. Nine-a-side footy is tough at the best of times because of the fast pace, but it is even tougher when there are no substitutes to provide a rest period. All in all, everyone benefited from the extra game time and learning to play the game without our superstars to back them up. Even more impressive was the effort by everybody to dig deep and run out the games to the final whistle despite the weary legs.
