First-up win helps Tigers
Meesen facing nervous wait Gleeson proud of his players
MODEWARRE co- coach John Meesen will undergo scrutiny from AFL Barwon’s match review panel after the ruckman threw his arm back and collected Torquay’s Patrick Kelleher high in the Warriors’ loss at Torquay yesterday.
The former AFL player admitted he had cause for concern after the Tigers recruit was sent off under the blood rule.
Kelleher tackled Meesen as he tried to dish off a handball, earning a holding the ball free kick, before the frustrated Warrior threw his arm back to fend off the ex-St Joseph’s midfielder.
“You’ve always got to worry when you have a little bit of a misdemeanour and he goes off with a blood rule,” Meesen said.
“I’ve never been reported in my footy career and the umpires didn’t say anything straight away.
“It was just one of those things in the heat of the moment, I pushed to get away from him and copped him in the face and copped a 50m penalty.
“We’ll comes.”
Meesen was one of the Warriors’ best in a spirited fight against last year’s premier that ended in a shattering nine-point loss.
The visitors were 11 points shy of the Tigers at three-quarter time, but will be left to rue a number of missed shots on goal in windy conditions at Spring Creek Reserve.
“I think we had our opportunities, we had more scoring shots,” Meesen said.
“Both sides missed some gettable chances, but we were in the game at three-quarter time.
“We asked our players to step up, we did and we just didn’t convert at crucial times.”
Meesen said marquee recruit Nathan Ablett, who missed the match with soreness, would be a certain starter against Newcomb next Saturday.
He said Daniel Sturzaker should also return from a twomatch ban incurred for striking Travis Gavin in last year’s elimination final win over Ocean Grove. assess that as it TORQUAY has put the salary cap saga behind it with a season-opening nine-point win over Modewarre in front of a packed crowd at Spring Creek Reserve.
A relieved Dom Gleeson spoke in the rooms of the pressure released off the shoulders of his club after a tumultuous month which saw it handed a $20,000 fine, docked three player points and restricted to a reduced salary cap after breaching last season’s $100,000 budget.
The playing-coach said it was he who decided the club should unfurl its flag in front of players and members at training on Wednesday night, rather than at the season opener, to try and prevent the likelihood of verbal abuse aimed at his players.
But there was no such antisocial behaviour, as the Tigers scrapped their way to a 7.8 (50) to 5.11 (41) win over the Warriors at home.
The visitors had most of the play after quarter-time but failed to convert, with the Tigers proving more clinical in the clutch moments.
Gleeson said the recent troubles of the club had galvanised the playing group.
“It’s a satisfying one. You just don’t know where you’re at after a long pre-season, particularly the one that we’ve had,” Gleeson said.
“(There have been) a lot of rumours, a lot of innuendo about why players have moved on. We know within ourselves they’ve moved on for personal reasons around study and trav-