Roos send Oliver Davis off to Adelaide with a thrilling win over TSL Tigers
He was meant to leave the state before Saturday’s game, but Ollie Davis delayed his flight for one last hurrah with the Roos – and his teammates didn’t let him down.
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CLARENCE fans may have seen young gun Ollie Davis for the last time so it was fitting the Roos sent him off with a win in over the fast-finishing Tigers at the Twin Ovals on Saturday.
At the request of the Adelaide Crows, the 19-year-old onballer heads for South Australia tomorrow to audition for a potential career in the AFL.
Davis starts training with Adelaide’s SANFL team on Tuesday and will be under the microscope by Crows recruiters with the AFL Mid-Sean Draft only a month away.
Clarence’s 18-point win over the Tigers was doubly important for the Roos onballer.
“It was a great way to go out and I really appreciate everything the Clarence footy club have done for me,” Davis said.
“No doubt, at some stage I’ll be back.
“I’m excited about my new opportunity and there are a few nerves.
“I’m just really keen to get over there and pursue the dream of getting onto an AFL list.”
Originally, Davis was due to fly out yesterday, but it was put back to Sunday allowing him one last hurray with the Roos.
“It has been pushed back to Monday now, so I’m straight into training on Tuesday and play next weekend,” Davis said.
“Clarence is on the right track. With the leaders we’ve got in place and the young list we’ve got it’s onwards and upward from here.
“It’s really exciting what’s in store for the Roos.”
Demons ground Bombers for breakthrough win
NORTH Hobart has ended a decade-long drought at SkyBus Oval to deliver coach Clinton French a stirring breakthrough State League victory against a hapless Lauderdale.
The Demons had not tasted success on the Bombers’ turf since the opening round of the 2011 season but snapped their streak with a 12.7 (79) to 9.7 (61) result to get on the board this campaign.
Coming off a 20-goal hammering from Launceston — having trailed by just eight points at halftime — North set up the win with a four goal second term while keeping the hosts goalless to set up a 24-point buffer at the main break.
Young gun Jye Menzie (four goals) booted back-to-back majors to end the first half and added a third early into the third stanza, before Lauderdale stormed back into contention with Joseph Salmon (four goals) bagging three in a row.
Sam Siggins joined the party to cut the deficit to two points at the last change, but the visitors steadied to pull away.
“It is a very good feeling to get win, it is tough to come down here, we knew they would come out after half time and go again and credit to them they pushed us pretty hard but our boys weathered the storm and responded,” French said.
“Our boys moved the footy the way we wanted them to and that’s the pleasing things, what we are educating and trying to get our whole club to play, we are starting to do that.
“We knew in our hearts that we played a really good first half against Launnie and we knew they played a good first half.
“The base is there, we just have to put the actions into place and play four quarters of footy.
“The belief internally is really strong, we understand that we’re young and we have a lot of improvement to do.”
Coming off a horror outing themselves against North Launceston, Lauderdale has slipped to 1-4 and heads into its bye with plenty of soul searching in a season slipping fast away.
Coach Daniel Willing was again left scratching his head at a lack of effort in the second quarter, when the young Demons ran rings around his side.
Aside from Menzie’s four-goal haul, young forwards Jack McCulloch and Tomas Liefhebber looked dangerous at times, Hugh Williams Sr and Jr patrolled the defensive 50, while skipper Jack Sandric again led from the front.
Bombers desperate to earn back some respect
LAUDERDALE coach Daniel Willing is banking on last weekend’s TSL capitulation at the hands of North Launceston being an aberration as the side looks to regain some respect.
The Bombers were blown away by their northern counterparts by 94 points on their home deck _ failing to kick a goal on the first half while the rampaging visitors piled on 13.
Although refusing to sugar coat the heaviest defeat of his coaching career, Willing also understands following some big changes from the end of last season it may take time to adjust to a new system.
However he also expects a strong response when North Hobart makes its way to SkyBus Oval.
“We just have to probably put that down as an aberration that first half last week, Lauderdale don’t often play that poorly down at Lauderdale,” Willing said.
“It is an advantage we get to back up at home again and given home proud our experienced leaders are, I would be surprised if they didn’t come out and all play well.
“We sat down and had a little chat about last week … the overall consensus was it was just effort based.
“I can’t remember losing a game by that margin, but that’s footy. This is a new challenge for me and there has been a lot of change and we just have to be patient and understand that Windy [Darren Winter] leaving, whatever has happened through the pre-season, new coach, new game plan, turnover of players, it might take us some time to get everything right.”
Helping the cause to rebound quickly is the return of former captain Bryce Walsh, who missed the mauling due to his sister’s wedding.
Willing said the inspirational midfielder would not only help around the ball but also in attack.
“His leadership is outstanding, he is clean around the footy and he makes good decisions.
“Importantly when he pushes forward he has an impact on the scoreboard, we haven’t been able to get that from our midfielders at all this year.
“We are hoping he can do that for us.”
The Demons are also on the rebound after watching an eight-point deficit at halftime to Launceston on Anzac Day turn into a 125-point mauling.
Coach Clint French wants a response from his troops as much as Willing does from the Bombers.
“We want to respond, we don’t want it to be another week where we are having the same conversation,” French said.
“While we are definitely learning … we want to know what we are educating they are adapting to.”
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