THE Junee Jaguars senior’s teams kick off their 2009 campaign this weekend.
The Jaguars will travel to Rawlings Park in the senior men’s competitions to meet Wagga United in Pascoe Cup (1st grade) and Gardiner Shield (2nd grade).
The senior women’s team travel to Kessler Park to meet West Wagga in the Leonard Cup/Madden Shield clash and the Jaguars Nankivell Cup squad (3rd Grade) meets South Wagga at Wagga Showground for their one and only Sunday fixture.
Senior men’s coach Jason Mutimer and assistant coach Ray Jones are quietly optimistic about their chances against Wagga United who have proven to be worthy adversaries over the past few seasons.
The way the players have been working over the past few weeks will hold them in good stead over the course of a long season and if they maintain their intensity and hard work ethic, they could well find themselves back in the top four at the business end of the season.
Senior women’s coach Genelle Keough is also positive about her team’s chances against an unknown quantity in West Wagga who have reformed this year.
The Junee team is coming together well and training hard on their fitness and ball skills.
The addition of a few new faces and retention of the core of last year’s successful team should see a top four finish again this season with all the work being directed towards going one step further than the team has over the past two seasons where they have finished 2nd both years and only made it to the preliminary final.
Last year’s major semi-final match against Cootamundra was seen by many as the best performance from a Junee women’s team ever and knowing that they can produce this level of football is a motivational tool to see the team reach that level, surpass it and maintain it this season.
Junee’s Nankivell Cup squad will meet last year’s grand-finalists first up and will be going out to enjoy their football, and with the influx of a few new younger faces (and legs) should be able to press for a few more positive results this time around.
Junior football
The 2009 junior season kicks off on Saturday, May 2, with all junior teams travelling to Wagga, with the exception of Rooball (under-6s to under-8s) who play all their games at Burns Park and the club is looking forward to a good season.
The under 9s and under 10s will travel to Bolton Park for their games.
Bolton Park has taken over from Rawlings for the small-sided games concept and Junee will only travel once in these grades as the remainder are all played at Burns Park.
The under 9s will meet Henwood Park Lions at 10.30am on SSG Field 19 at Bolton Park and with the work that the team has been putting in at training over the last two weeks, the players are picking up their ball skills and are beginning to learn about positional play and they are enjoying their training and can’t wait to play.
The coach for this year’s team is Craig Duncan and the manager is Kym Sainsbury.
The under 10s will meet Henwood Park Lions at 9am on SSG Field 19 Bolton Park and the players are
keen to emulate last season’s performances.
This team was exceptional and as they continue to lift their ball skills and tactical skills, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Their coach is Kim Jenkins and assistant coach is Brad Wall.
The under 11’s begin their season against Henwood Park Leopards who finished 4th on the table last season.
The match is at Rawlings Park 4 at 9am.
Coach Terry Judd is looking for a good team effort and also ensuring that the players enjoy their football.
The under 12s will find life a little easier this season after playing up in this age group last year due to a shortage of players.
The team is a composite under-12/13 team – the under 13s only had four players register and they should give a good account of themselves.
The experience from last year will be of benefit to these players and under coach Adam Baldock a good year is envisaged.
The 12s meet Henwood Park Eagles at 10.15am on Rawlings Park No.4.
The under 14s is also a composite U14/U15 team due to a lack of numbers in both squads and given that the under 13s from last season played every bit as good as their oppositions this season should be a cracker.
This team has the bye first round.
Email a friend