Moree Suns have had a top start to the 2018 AFL North West season, securing their first round one victory and first ever win against the Tamworth Kangaroos on Saturday.
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The Suns made their mark on the 2018 competition in front of a home crowd at Taylor Oval on Saturday, defeating the Roos 16.19-115 to 7.9-51.
“It’s the first time we beat them, which is really good,” Moree senior men’s captain Wyatt Roberts said.
From the start of the first quarter, the Moree seniors dominated play, putting the first three or four goals on the board.
“The boys right from the start put in a big effort,” Roberts said.
“We were going down in the second quarter but in the third quarter we came back and dominated.”
The Tamworth side were at a disadvantage, only bringing 17 players across, however Roberts said many of those players had been playing in the competition for the past five years.
“They were still a good side; they used their strength,” he said.
“It would have been close if they’d had the full 22 players.”
Roberts said Moree defended really well on Saturday, putting a lot of pressure on Tamworth’s strong players.
“No-one stood out for them, we shut down their big players and used our strength and quicker people and more experienced players in positions that suited our side,” he said.
“We all played our roles good and worked together.”
Man of the match for the Suns was 15-year-old Daniel Brown who played well for only his third game of seniors.
“He stepped up and put on a bit of muscle and worked hard over the off-season,” Roberts said.
“I think he’ll have a good year in seniors.”
Matt Lather also had a good game, scoring a few goals and getting in some big tackles, along with Adrian Smith who also scored a number of goals.
“Everyone got up and played well,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the round one win is a great start to the season and hopefully a sign of things to come for the Suns, who are hoping to top last year’s three wins.
“I think definitely, if we can get the same sort of side on the park every week, I think we’ll do pretty well and make the semis,” he said.
The Suns juniors also had a strong start to the season, once again proving they’ll be a team to watch throughout the competition.
On Saturday, the juniors defeated the New England Nomads 20.13-133 to 8.5-53.
“The juniors went really good,” Roberts said.
“Armidale usually have a strong side but I think they lost a few players going up in grades. The boys got into them. They had a good game.”
Meanwhile, the Moree women went down to the Kangaroos 2.1-13 to 16.9-105.
This Saturday, April 14, the all three Suns grades will travel to Inverell to take on the Saints.
The juniors will be out for revenge after going down to the Saints in last year’s grand final, while the seniors will also have their work cut out for them against the strong Inverell side.
“Inverell have a strong side … I think it’ll be a close game but a tough one,” Roberts said.
“Hopefully we’ll have the same side. We just need to communicate a little bit better and hit our target with our kicking and passing.
“That let us down a bit on Saturday.”