Clontarf Academy

It has been an interrupted couple of weeks for Clontarf with some staff illness taking its toll. This didn’t stop a group of our senior boys heading to the Village Green at Strath Creek for a Victorian Squad training camp. Boys form the Mildura, Warrnambool, Robinvale and Swan Hill Academies all came together for a footy focussed training camp under the guidance of coaches from the Phillips Foundation. 

The boys came together on Monday afternoon for an overview of the two-day program. A session on coachability was a great way to kick off with lots of discussion around what makes someone coachable and how this translates to everyday life. What followed was two days of footy drills with a focus on the fundamentals, a great early morning hike up one of the local ranges and a range of team building activities. A highlight was a two-hour session with Clontarf’s Vic/SA Zone Manager Mark ‘Bomber’ Riley, who dusted off his coaching boots and shared some of his vast footy knowledge with the boys.

This was a great camp in preparation for the Clontarf State of Origin Carnival in Term 4. A number of our boys had spikes in their attendance in order to take part and it has highlighted to the importance of having goals for our boys to reach.

Our King of the Table Championship wrapped up this week with a red hot Grand Final between the raging favourite Greg Bush and the underdog in Will James. Both players have shown glimpses throughout the tournament and have been the two many expected to get through to the decider. In a tense opening few points, Bushy was the dominant player, his forehand being unplayable at times. But just as we thought Bushy might pull away, Will ‘Spicey’ James adjusted his game to target Bushy’s backhand. The longer rally’s allowed Will to get into the game and after some incredible defensive play, the scores were tied at 9-9. The strong crowd were well and truly into the game by that stage; who could deliver on the biggest stage? With a couple of unforced errors from Bushy, Will was able to get the job done. This year’s dominance from a Year 7 continued last year’s victory by Brandon Triangolo. It was a great tournament with a lot of bye in from boys across all year levels. Congratulations to all who took part.