While most players will put their feet up, head home and take advantage of the chance to freshen up their bodies, others will be getting more ‘run in their legs’.
Ben Cunnington is one of those in need of some more match conditioning after being forced to sit on the sidelines for several weeks after reporting soreness in his foot.
He will be joined by Nathan Grima, Ayden Kennedy, Josh Smith, Majak Daw, Conor Meredith, Matthew Scott, and Nathan O’Keefe in a special North Ballarat intra-club practice match on Friday night at Eureka Stadium at 6.30pm.
The 18 year-old played his first football for the Roosters in 2010 on Saturday, taking part in a VFL practice match against Werribee. He played around fifty per cent of game-time.
“It felt great out there,” Cunnington told kangaroos.com.au.
“I couldn’t feel anything wrong at all with my foot and I was just happy to finally be paying footy again.”
The Werribee Tigers won the hit-out by six points and reaped the rewards after an extensive pre-season training campaign.
The Tigers had to overcome a poor first quarter with the home team’s outstanding defensive pressure restricting them to just three behinds.
The second quarter however was more closely contested as Werribee looked to provide greater opportunities for its forwards, who had struggled to receive the ball effectively.
It was a much better second half for the Tigers as they matched North Ballarat on the scoreboard after its midfielders worked much harder to kick the ball long into the forward fifty.
North Melbourne listed player Ben Ross kicked a goal to seal the win for the Tigers and coach Simon Atkins was pleased to finally play some competitive football after an arduous pre-season training regime.
“I know our blokes had really been hanging to have a game of footy,” he said.
“To come up here to Ballarat, (it was) a really good day.”
Saturday’s match also marked the first game at VFL level for North Melbourne rookie Majak Daw.
Daw spent time in the ruck rotating with the Tigers’ Liam Gardiner and his performance impressed Atkins and the 500 people who attended.
“Everyone knows that Majak is a really developing player and it’s possibly going to be through the ruck and forward,” Atkins said.
Meanwhile Daniel Pratt (hamstring) and Leigh Harding (general soreness) will be back at Arden Street for an intense training run on Sunday.
North Melbourne’s first match is against Port Adelaide on March 28.
