It was a black and gold day for the Annual Mick Nolan Reunion Day at the Den with the Tigers playing the Caloundra Panthers in a much anticipated game for Round Seven of the Hart Sport QFA Division1 competition.
The Panthers almost prevailed against the Springwood Pumas last week so the Tigers were very wary of what they might bring and with a capacity Reunion Day crowd of Tiger supporters in the house there was plenty on the line. The Tigers were desperate to win and the Panthers were there to spoil the show.
The two teams came out swinging going at each other with incredible intensity such that it took over ten minutes for either side to trouble the scorer and it was almost the twenty minute mark before Zac Quin kicked the first goal of the day such was the workrate of both sides with the ball going from end to end and each club’s defences holding strong.
The Tigers other young spearhead Ryan Doolan kicked the second goal of the term while the Panthers were held to four points at the first break.
It was another week where the Tigers built their game on a strong back six with Kyle Henry leading the way while James Stolz, Mitch Bruce and Will Brohm were miserly.
The Tigers were happy to be able to take a two goal advantage into the second term after which they really started to break the game open. They were led from the middle with veteran Jack Collings working extremely hard from end to end to will the team on while Club Captain Zac McLean was as usual front and centre.
Zac Quin hasn’t kicked anything less than five goals for any game this season so the Panthers were on a mission to stop the goal kicking prodigy as best they could. They deployed their Captain Trent Saxelby on the job and an enthralling contest ensued all day to the point that it might be called a draw with Quin only able to kick three this week. Quin was able to draw the fire while the Tigers other young goal kicker Ryan Doolan was able to get on the end of some clever forward entries to accumulate six goals for the day in another good return aided by the fact that Quin drew a lot of the attention and the experienced Ryan Eyles took the remainder of the heat from the Panthers defence.
The Tigers kicked five for the second term to increase their lead at the main break to six goals leaving the Panthers with plenty to do if they were going to get back into the contest having only kicked one goal for the half.
The Tigers were keen to keep the momentum going but the Panthers had regrouped at the main break coming out with the same vigour they started the game. It was a much closer period than the second term as both sides hit the scoreboard but the home side still prevailed as they absorbed all that came their way.
The Tigers running men in Jack Coghlan and Beau Harris were everywhere giving the Tigers had a plethora of ball to get them going all day while the evergreen Eddie Mallan was a battering ram as usual breaking open packs and charging ahead,
The Tigers did let the foot off the gas in the last term but both sides along with many at the ground were left bewildered by the extraordinary number of infringements doled out by the men in green.
In the end the Tigers were home by a healthy margin to the joy of the Reunion Day crowd.
In an emotional ceremony at the end of the game with Nettie Nolan and two of her boys there to support her, the Mick Nolan Medal was awarded to Jack Collings, the third occasion that he has received the much coveted award.
The Tigers take on Beenleigh at Beenleigh next week. The competition continues to deliver some enthralling results with Coorparoo beating Springwood this weekend leaving Mayne and Coorparoo at the top of the table with the Tigers just a nose in front on percentage.
Scores: Mayne 13.16.94 d Caloundra 6.9.51 Goals: R Doolan 6, Z Quin 3, R Eyles 2, J Ivers, B Wilkinson 1. Best: J Collings, J Coghlan, R Doolan, K Henry, B Harris, E Mallan.
Comments