Newport arrived for our top of the table clash still  snarling from our grading game win some 6 weeks earlier. Their results since had suggested we poked the bear that day, their form a steady stream of comprehensive victories.

We had some good form too, but with sickness, injury and availability challenges, the question begged, were we the real deal.

From the outset, we were under the pump. Newport ran in waves, their quality ball use, marking supremacy and willingness to share the ball was, if you weren't coaching against it, a pleasure to watch. They had turned the headlights on, we were the deers lost in its glow.

By half time they had stormed to an insurmountable 9 goal lead. We bravely fought out the second half, squaring the third, but a 79 point defeat was a reality check that we might well have needed. 

Despite the defeat, there were many positives, none more so than Jye "Burger" Raciti's excellent return from an extended layoff with a fractured wrist.  
Welcome back Burger, and your pre game tunes!

U14G Team Roach

 Bye

U14 Team Bloomfield

It was a solid performance today against a determined but struggling Altona outfit. The first half was a real grind, with Altona applying consistent pressure and challenging our usual ball movement. While we went into half-time with what looked like a comfortable lead on the scoreboard, it certainly didn’t feel that way on the field.

During the break, the message was clear stick to our structure, and make the ground big to make it hard for the opposition to defend. The boys responded brilliantly, clicking into gear and started playing the way we have been training.

The result was a dominant second half, capped off by a comprehensive 100-point victory.

A special mention goes to cult hero Harry ‘Big H’ Lancashire, who celebrated his 50th game in style with a strong performance and three goals. Well done, Harry! 

U14 Team Sacco

A tough 2-point loss to Werribee Districts at home today. My overall observations were that we were a little out muscled and a little out worked for a large part of the game.

Werribee Districts presented as a big bullocking side that did not give our boys much time on or around the ball and at the contest. We lifted a little too late in the last quarter to just fall short, although not without our opportunities to hit the lead but for some late missed shots at goal and dropped marks when it counted most. Tim Hickey once again showed his class as a club umpire being extremely fair to both sides. Some absolutely astonishing decisions, though from the opposition club umpire, there were only so many that could be absorbed before it significantly and adversely affected the game.

Our boys did very well to maintain any semblance of composure out there as, too, our parents, coaches, and support staff. I tip my hat to them all. Standout game from Cooper Saric in his 50th who was given a job with specific instructions to quell a boy who kicked 38 goals last year in U12s, he only got 1 today and it only came from a quick kick clearance that he read slightly better off the boot to get a one step break on Silky to mark in front of goal. Also, our skipper Jack McConvill, in his 50th game, too who just willed himself to every contest, often getting groundball from his own ruckwork, time and time again. Jacob "buckets" Calleja absolutely ran himself into the ground again today and put his heart and soul into everything for this team.

Other very notable mentions were Tommy Hickey and Henry Sacco crashing their way through the traffic against significantly bigger bodies. Noah Smith continues to impress me with his effort and composure and willingness to listen to team plans and Max Vescio close to our best on the ground in the first half. On to YSE next week away.

U12G Team Zucco

The girls travelled out to Yarraville/Seddon to face the equal best team in the competition. The game was tough but our girls tried their best tackling hard and putting pressure on their goal kickers. While we went down 99-0 they only scored 2 points in the last quarter so we’ll take that as a small victory. We were super proud of the last quarter effort of the whole team. Ruby Bayliss, Olivia James, Alyssa Galle, Ella McGowan, Scarlett Calleja and Eva McManus all tried hard all game saving many goals. Olivia James was our SLAY Queen with great leadership and Sammy Miller gave her all on the wing and earned the Heartland award. On to Williamstown at home next week.

U12 Team Farrugia

A hard physical game against Car Springs inaccurate Kicking cost us and how a junior team slots 7 goals straight was something I have never seen before. We're down a man by the last quarter but the boys battled on in a hard physical game for a respectful loss. No Easy games in the division. Congrats to Jack Niemann and Jono Mikael 50 games today! 

U12 Team Trewin

This week we were up against the undefeated ladder leaders, Altona Vikings, and knew it was going to be a tough contest.

The focus was on applying pressure, playing man-on-man, and kicking to space.
We started strong, keeping Altona to just three goals in the first quarter and nearly scoring one ourselves—only for the ball to stop just short of the goal line.
For the first eight minutes of the second quarter, we held our ground and kept Altona scoreless. But once they broke through with a goal, three more followed in quick succession.

In the second half, Altona pulled away, but our boys gave 100% right to the final siren. Alex Malakellis kicked our only goal with just a few minutes to go—a well-deserved reward for the team's consistent effort throughout the day.
A special congratulations to Darcy Smith, who played his 50th game for the club—well done Darc!

U12 Team Fitzpatrick

 Bye

U10G Team Smith

Top of the table clash against a CS team that hadn't had any team score more than a goal against them all season. 

Our girls were up for the contest from the opening bounce. 
Willow Cameron led from the front all day doing it all, in and under, tackling and about 500m gained for the match in a BOG performance. 

Special shout out to our younger girls Olivia Cruz, Juliet Smith and Pippa Biggs who were under every pack, tackling and digging it out against much bugger and stronger opponents showing true courage and determination 

Zoe Groves, Tully Allen, Stella Andronico and Maisie Smith all played well. Super effort girls. ‎

U10 Team Biggs

Word was out upon arrival that these boys were big. In wet conditions, that was music to our ears. 

Our warm up/prep wasn’t where it needed to be and Centrals jumped us in the 1st Quarter. Their bigger boys had our boys a little intimidated, along with a bit of overuse of the footy in slippery conditions, saw them take first quarter honours. Had it not been for Tommy Nieman who held us together down back, then it could have been worse.

The second quarter was more like a St Bernard’s team, heads over the ball, hard running and chasing got us back in the game with Eamonn Williams and skipper Tristan Borg, leading the charge. Kicking to the Buckley St end in the 3rd was another hard slog with misty rain making life difficult. Then, enter Tiarnan O’Dwyer. A great mark up field to AJ Barbaro then quick ball movement through Leo Biggs to Forrest Johnson saw Tiarnan one out in the 50. With a pressure on him, Tiarnan snapped from 30m out and it bounced through in one of the goals of the year. 

A goal to Werribee on the 3/4 time siren closed the gap to 4 points.
Our last quarter was one of the best I’ve seen. Billy Vernon was pumping it into our forward line kicking one or 2 of his own. Sam Gia, who’d had an average day by his standards and Sam Sanka lifted our side. Sanka kicked 3 last Quarter goals and was unstoppable.

We won comfortably in the end but the scoreboard wasn’t a true reflection of the day.
A huge team effort and better players today were, in no particular order 
Tommy Nieman, Eamonn Williams, Billy Vernon, Sam Sankovich, AJ BigTone Barbaro, Forrest Johnson

U10 Team Manley

A tough, aggressive and tight contest at home to Caroline Springs. A few soldiers down with absence and illness, we were supported by some handy inclusions from our under 9s.

The game was a highly contested affair with Citta, ‘Danger’ Doyle and ‘Stinger’ Moretti using their big bodies to help win the ball. With the wet conditions, we needed some of the smalls to step up and they didn’t disappoint. The Wiz, ‘Crippa’ Attenborough and ‘Iceman’ ElKhouri all cracking in to bring some heat. 

Our opponents were able to find cleaner outside possession and generated more scoring opportunities. A four goal loss in the end, but we take a lot of learning away from the game. Our opponents questionable aggressive intent and disrespectful behaviour gave the boys a chance to work through challenging situations and they stood up magnificently. Onto next week!

U9 Team Round

Today we met Willy at the Pit and sent them home with a few bite marks!

It’s always a privilege to play on the Snakepit, and today was no exception. With a clear focus on WWF (Wet Weather Football) and a plan to kick long down the line, the Bernards 9s hit the ground running from the first bounce and never let up.

In a great show of team spirit, three of our boys crossed over each quarter to join Willy for bragging rights. Not a single complaint — just trademark Bernards character.

Every player stepped up when it was their turn, with fierce contests at each centre bounce. Willy brought skill and dare, but that only gets you so far against this group.

Our tough nuts were everywhere — Michael “Nails” Mikhael (Coaches Award), Archie “Chippa” Maiorana, and River “Rage” Cooper (Coaches Award) dominated the centre bounce, combining with slick handballs to drive us forward.

Levi “Hulk” Hill set the tone early with two majors, proving yet again how dangerous he is around goal. When the heavier rain hit, it only highlighted our class: Charles “Choco” Hardy was in everything — big kicks, rocket handpasses, and his fearless attack on the ball earned him BOG honours in a dominant display.

Darcy “Duke” Round, Tom “Dutchy” Van Zuiden, Valentino “Rossi” Orlando, and Flynn “Flipper” Wishart (with a brilliant 25m boundary goal) all played key roles, racking up plenty of the ball in a convincing win.

Special mention to Lawson “Laws” Carrick, whose hard work at training is shining through on game day.

Next week we’re off to Aintree. It might be a far cry from the Snakepit, but the Giants better be ready for a rampaging Bernards outfit hungry for more.

U8 Team Ryan

We are arrived at Point Cook full of confidence after stringing together a few consecutive victories. However, by quarter time we realised we had a serious game on our hands trailing by 2 goals. It would’ve been more if it wasn’t for Dion Tangopoulos and Levi Byrne repelling multiple Point Cook attacks to keep us in touch.
The rest of the game was a real arm wrestle with our boys not taking a backwards step in a very physical match.

Our co-captains Jye Carvounaris and PJ Kapiris led superbly throughout the whole game and a big congratulations to Harry Lancashire on winning the Heartland Award.

Unfortunately we were unable to recover from the early deficit but the boys fought on well and certainly made us proud.

Onto next week back at the snake pit.

U8 Team Cameron 

The kids went out to Point Cook and fought really hard in their first time experiencing wet weather football. 

We dominated possession early in the game but couldn’t capitalise and allowed the opposition some easy goals late in the first quarter. After quarter time it became a really tight contest and I was proud of the way the kids responded across all four quarters with our main focus areas for the game. We went down by a few goals but continue to improve each week.

Best players were Ashton Perona, Darcy Langford, Will Liberatore and Jack Cameron.

U8 Team Mirtsis 

Great effort today by the under 8's Team Mirtsis at our home ground. Final score was
22.10.142 def North Sunshine 4.6 30.

A fairly straightforward game against an undermanned North Sunshine. Our boys displayed great sportsmanship and great skill with some great goals by Orlando Micheletto our top forward, Thomas Mirtsis (T-Train) a great all rounder and Rocco Marando good ground ball gets. A top effort all game also by Jacob Inguanti our BOG today.

Proud win for our boys especially being down a few of our players. Keep up the great work!