Match Day 7-18 and 19 June 2022

Updated: Jun 19, 2022

After the Queens Birthday long weekend, footy is back. All teams were away again this weekend with every team playing at a different ground. This is the final weekend for the U6, U7 and U8 teams before re-grading takes place and we hope that the U6 and U8 teams will be playing in a division that better matches their skill level.

U6 Green Tigers 24 De La Salle 68

This was an entertaining game and the U6 team was unable to bring it's strong gala day form to Captain Cook Oval and eventually went down by 44 points. Jake McMillan scored five tries and Layken Koprivic scored one try and were the only try scorers for the Tigers. Caden Macpherson had a great game and Conor Lehane also had a good game and was busy all across the park. This game will prove to be another good learning experience for the U6's and hopefully next week they will play against teams who are more on our level.

Player of the Game: Caden Macpherson

Tigers Spirit Award: Conor Lehane

U7 Green Tigers 84 Kurnell Stingrays 24

On a windy and chilly sunny winters day, the Yarra Tigers U7 team headed to Marton Park in Kurnell for an early morning game.

In what looked to be an evenly matched game that was a bit like a tennis match with the back and forth up and down the field in the first period, Kaleb Jones scored the first try off the first set. This was closely followed by Harrison Payn who ran in 2 tries in the opening minutes of the game. Hendrix Crawley was on form and was doing his very best to move down the field, at times having 6 Stingrays stuck to him as he pushed forward.

The Stingrays looked the goods with big runs, tackles and scoring 4 tries in the first period, trailing the Tigers by 1 try.

The second period saw Hendrix C again holding his line when running for the try line and he did really well to stay in touch in a big tackle close to the try line. He made it over the line shortly after and this buoyed him on to score another 2 off the sideline tries in the final period. Hendrix C has been trying really hard all season to be a try scorer so it was good to see his efforts pay off today.

The Tigers were giving as good as they were getting on the tackle count with Harrison, Arlo G, Hendrix M and Caleb D all making excellent chase and tackles manoeuvres and forcing errors, giving the Tigers more ball time. Jack Jones was all over the field, making excellent runs and side steps attempting to get to the try line but was thwarted at all but 1 attempt today. Arlo - our quiet achiever - was great in support and back up for his team and made some important runs while taking some big hits that took his breath away, but he got back out there and gave it all he had.

A big shout out to Kade for being so excited to score his 3rd of 4 tries for the day that he ran the length of the field and placed the ball down under the other games posts! Big effort mate! You’re a scream and bring so much energy and fun to the team.

Caleb and Harry are the dream team and many comments were made today about their outstanding abilities, their speed and their tackling. Both are great champions of their team mates and are our all-rounders - Caleb put on 7 tries today and Harry was close behind with 6. Well done!

Unfortunately for the Stingrays, they weren’t able to get any additional points on the board until the final period where they were able to get in for 2 tries but today the Tigers were too good and ended up coming away with an 84-24 win-Thanks Danielle Marsh for a great match report.

Player of the Game: Hendrix Crawley

Tigers Spirit Award: Hendrix Malaki

U8 Green Tigers 10 Gymea Gorillas 42

The Tigers made a solid start to the game and took an early lead through a try to Levi Horne, his first of three for the game. The Tigers played well but the Gorillas defence was well organised and proved to be just too strong for the Tigers to break down. Zac May and Levi Horne made plenty of runs and kept troubling the Gorillas whenever they had the ball. Hudson Amor had his best game in a Tigers shirt and Hunter Welfare was always encouraging his teammates and got through a tonne of work. Malachi Kane scored a good try and Charlotte D, Aston G, Joey R, Hayden W and Max C all made important contributions throughout the game. Like the U6's this team has found the Green Division a little too hot to handle and next week we hope that we will be in a more even competition.

Player of the Game: Hudson Amor

Tigers Spirit Award: Hunter Welfare

U12 Bronze Tigers 8 Aquinas Colts 22

The Bronze team met the table topping Aquinas Colts this weekend but could not keep up their recent good form and went down by 14 points. Hunter Loveday scored the only try for the Tigers who lacked the energy and cohesion of recent weeks. Jake Dooley, Lewis Amesbury and Ben Rooke all had strong games for the Tigers but they were just unable to keep the Colts at bay or put any tries on for the Tigers. Next week the Tigers meet the Kookaburras and we hope to get back to winning ways.

Player of the Game: Jake Dooley

U12 Silver Tigers 12 Engadine Dragons 6

This was a must win game for the Silver team and in a tight game the Tigers came out on top and can start to make a charge to the finals in the coming weeks. The Dragons scored first before Bede Staniforth levelled things up for the Tigers with a barreling run. Both teams had chances but strong defence from both teams held firm. With the scores at 6-6 late in the second half, the Dragons were on the attack in the Tigers half. The ball was being passed through hands before Levi Dawson broke out of the defensive line and intercepted a pass. He then ran from the half-way line, outpacing the Dragons defenders to score under the posts and give the Tigers a 12-6 lead. In the final minutes the Dragons attacked to get the scores level but the Tiger defence held firm and they ran out 12-6 winners. Next week another tough game awaits against the Titans and we will be looking for the Silver team to go two from two and make their charge.

Player of the Game: Billy Dunn

U15 Silver Tigers 10 Gymea Gorillas 10

In glorious sunshine the 15’s take on the top of the table Gorillas in a must win game for the Tigers. The Tigers kicked off and held out until a great kick from the Gorillas rolled into the end goal and a Tigers mistake gave the ball back to the Gorillas who scored to go 4-0 up after four minutes. The Gorillas bigger bodies were proving difficult to get through or around for the Tigers who were struggling to create any attacking pressure.

A good period for the Tigers saw them threaten but they were just unable to cross the line. A few forced errors gave the ball back to the Tigers and a quick move to the right created an overlap and Tom Robinson scored in the corner to level the scores up at 4-4. The Tigers did well to hold the Gorillas out and have had more possession in the first half. There is hope on the edges for the Tigers, who have more pace a more skill on the outside and with some quicker ball movement could threaten in the second half.

In an even contest in the first 10 mins the Gorillas went ahead with a move down the left wing. A good offload created some space and the number 6 threw three dummies to create space for himself and get over the line to score 10-4 Gorillas. The Tigers players never backed down despite relentless tackling and hits from the bigger Gorillas. The game became a bit stop-start over the next 10 mins with both teams coughing up the ball and making few metres in each attack.

With five minutes on the clock a quick break by the Tigers caught the Gorillas out and quick hands got the ball to Alex Moussa on the sideline. Alex sped past the first defender, put on a step to beat another defender and then threw a dummy to beat a third defender, outpacing the entire Gorillas defensive line to score under the posts and get the scores back level 10-10. In the final minutes the Tigers pressed for a winner and thought they had scored but the referee ruled a knock on in an earlier play. A draw was probably a fair result for both teams who had contrasting styles but plenty of heart.

The Tigers can be immensely proud of their effort today. The Gorillas are a hard tackling team that give no quarter and the smaller framed Tigers threw their bodies on the line time and time again to repel all attacks. Let’s hope the last two results can give the U15’s the confidence and belief to string a good run together and challenge for the finals.

Player of the Game: Jai McEwen

U18 Merged Tigers/Crocs 10 Gymea Gorillas 32

The merged Tigers came up against a strong Gorillas outfit who got out to an early lead in a tight game. The Tigers scored a couple of quick tries to offer some hope but the Gorillas pulled away again in the second half to win convincingly 32-10.