Kookas Great Southern Football Tournament 6/4/2011

Atlanta Kookaburras Great Southern Football Tournament
June 4th 2011

On a brutally hot day in Atlanta, the Atlanta Kookaburras hosted teams from Boston, North Carolina and Florida in the Great Southern Football Tournament.

In the first game against a tall North Carolina Tigers team, the Kookas started strong, following head coach Wayne Kraska's strict instructions to handball and run. The Kookas left the NC team floundering and raced out to 5 goal to 2 goal lead in the first half. Kookas captain Curtis Jones then went off with a broken nose and the wheels almost fell of the Kookas wagon. They stopped running and allowed NC back into the game. With the intense heat taking it's toll on everybody, the Kookas held on for a 2 point win. It was a good start to the season for the Kookas and good things will come from their new style of play.

Atlanta d. Nth Carolina

Best: Great Team Effort

Scorers: Moerman 3, Davis 2.

Following up immediately, the Kookas took on Division one team Boston Demons and got back into their running/handpassing game, driving the ball toward full-forward Chris Moermen. Moerman was a handful for all three teams and finished this game with 5 of 6 goals. With the ruck division rotating constantly off the bench to remain fresh, the Kookas slowly got on top of their opponents and ran out 16 point victors.

Atlanta d. Boston

Best: Davis, Moerman, Baker, Cain, Costyn, Crist, Gross, Kewley, Schierholz

Scorers: Moerman 5, M.Frost 1

After a well earned break, in which the NC Tigers triumphed over a depleted Florida Redbacks team 7.4 (46) to 5.4 (34), the Kookas took on the same Florida team and, after taking the first half to get back into their groove, proved too strong for Florida and won their third straight game, this time by 4 goals. Eric Baker showed consummate goal scoring ability and finished the game with 3 goals. Having more than one goal scorer will come in very handy for the Kookas in future games.

Atlanta d. Florida

Best: Baker, Davis, Moerman, Evans, Costyn, Garofalo, Gross, Kewley, Thrash, Olsheski

Scorers:  Moerman 4, Baker 3, Davis 2

The final game of the tournament saw the NC Tigers inflict Boston's second defeat 6.1 (37) to 4.1 (25)

Head Coach Wayne Kraska is trying to install a new style of play into the Kookas and, having 6 first year players on the team, has meant that there are less bad habits to break. Having a strong full-forward to kick to also helps as the Atlanta running game means the ball move forward very quickly. The future looks bright for Atlanta and if they get their captain and inspiration Curtis Jones back, they should be able to win many more games.

Crowd: about 50.

Weather: Too Bloody Hot f