Hounds News

Season Review

The Normanby Hounds finished the Northside 2 2009 season in 7th position after a disappointing back end of the year.

2009 Began with several trial games played against Valleys, Brothers and then Dalby. Many Hounds newcomers bonded with a road trip to Dalby in the final trial and shared a few beers on bus on the way home in a pre-season bonding experience. Good times were had and at this point everyone realised that the season to come would be a positive one, if not on the field then defiantly off it.

With many new faces in the Hounds camp at the start of 2009 it could have been expected to have a slow start to the year but wins against Pine Rivers and the Bayside Warriors saw Normanby get out of the blocks with two wins from two appearances. A loss in round 3 to Mitchelton brought many back to earth as we came up against a side that were consistent performers in 2009 and a good yard stick to measure our opening rounds against.

Rounds 4, 5 and 6 saw convincing wins over the Northside Natives, Brisbane Pythons and Aspley Devils. The game against the Pythons was the best attacking display of the year with the Hounds running riot against an unfit Pythons outfit and putting on 46 points to 10. A disciplined performance against late competition entrants Aspley saw the Hounds in the top 4 and 3 points clear of Pine Rivers in 5th.

Round 7 saw the Hounds go down in their first and only convincing defeat of the year to eventual premiers Dayboro 24 – 10. Round 8 and 9 returned some mixed results against the competition cellar dwellers Samford and Sandgate-Brighton. Normanby narrowly avoided embarrassment by overcoming a brave Stags outfit 18 – 14 but in the following week poor form and injuries began to take their toll with a loss to the Sandgate-Brighton Gaters at Brighton. Normanby went down 26 – 22 in their worst performance of the year.

The Hounds displayed some grit and determination and grinded out a win against the Nundah Devils in round 10. A Grant Weiss Field goal got the hounds 7 points ahead leading in to half time only to be pegged back by a Nundah try and conversion after time had come to an end in the second half. Eventual victors 25-24 the premiership train was back on the rails. After the completion of round 10 the Hounds were sitting pretty in outright 3rd place with Nundah, Pine and Valleys all sitting 1 point behind on the ladder. For the entire first 10 rounds of competition Normanby hadn’t dropped out of the top 4.

Round 11 and Round 12 saw the completion of the opening round and the start of shortened second half of the year playing 8 of 12 teams again. With the opportunity to move clear of opponents Valleys and Pine Rivers the Hounds conceded back to back losses. Round 11 saw Valleys come home strong to be victors 20 – 12. A week later in round 12 a heart breaking loss against Pine Rivers in the final minutes 18 – 16 was a beginning to the end of Normanby’s season. The Hounds were pushed completely out of the top 4 for the first time in the year but with 6 games remaining Normanby could’ve clawed their way back into finals contention, but this wasn’t the case.

Rounds 13, 14 and 15 gave the Hounds a major opportunity to sling shot themselves back into the top 4. Round 13 started well with a hard fought win over Bayside Warriors 18 – 16. Round 14 however dealt a major blow to Normanby’s finals hopes with a 10 – 8 loss against Mitchelton with a top 4 spot in sight as well as the drawcard of leap-frogging Mitchelton on the points table in the following week as they had the bye due to playing the mid-season grand final earlier in the year. Round 15 saw more hope injected into Normanby’s finals charge with an unconvincing training run like performance over an under-manned Northside Natives outfit, Normanby were the victors 40 – 18.

Three rounds remained and the Hounds sat 3 points adrift of the top 4 and still a mathematical chance of sneaking home, this unfortunately wasn’t to be. A scrappy and unenthused 16 all draw with the Brisbane Pythons in round 16 signified that the 2009 Normanby Hounds weren’t in the right form or mindset to be playing finals footy. This again was the case in round 17 where Normanby blew an 18 – 0 lead to the Aspley Devils to eventually be beaten 38 – 22. The general feeling in the shed post-game will provide motivation for the boys throughout 2010. Final match up against Dayboro at Purtell Park in round 18 was a great team performance to finish up the year, even though Normanby were narrowly defeated 16 – 18. Intensity in defence in the first half coupled with some hard and straight running had everyone thinking what could have been in 2009.

Although not ideal to finish 7th there are many positives to take out of the 2009 campaign and if many of the boys stick around for 2010 something special is only just around the corner.

28 Jul - GE 2010 Wrap

28 Jul - Close, But no Cigar

13 Jul - Red Hot Devils, Dish out Lesson

04 Jul - The Hounds Junior Ranks Grows

04 Jul - Hounds Dominate Venom-less Pythons

29 Jun - Win Keeps Hounds on the Finals Pace

22 Jun - Natives Hoodoo Continues

07 Jun - Hounds Lose Nail Biter

30 May - A Rolling Success

30 May - Normanby Hang on for Tough Win

17 May - D Bay Bombs Out on Revenge Attempt

10 May - Roll Up Roll Up