A move befitting the Nou-Kemp
WHILE I watch a fair bit of NRL when I'm not tuned into the round ball, it's not every day I feel compelled to write about the egg-ball code, but a moment of sheer instinctive brilliance last night, born from the round-ball, certainly got me to my feet. It was a WOW moment for sure.
It came as I was flicking between Man United's predictable hammering of the Hammers on Fox and the Channel 9 delayed clash between the Wests Tigers and Brisbane Broncos.
Shortly after I'd just seen a brilliant Tevez strike, followed by a wonderful Dean Ashton over-head volley, Denan Kemp, the Bronocs left winger, provided another moment of sheer exhilaration.
Waiting for a Darren Lockyer long pass, with the tryline open, the pass eventually came, but uncharacteristically for Lockyer it was low and mis-directed, towards Kemp's feet. While most league wingers (or players) would have bent down and tried to get their hands to it, Kemp improvised.
He trapped the ball with his right in-step, dropped the shoulder and shifted the ball around his direct opponent, into the Tigers in-goal area, diving on it ahead of Brett Hodgson (as pictured above, courtesy of Getty Images).
But for the use of his hands at the end, it was a move that wouldn't have looked out of place on any football field, even the Nou-Kemp, a wonderful piece of 'football' technique.
Turns out the kid was a pretty decent footballer in his younger years, where he played for one of the Gold Coast's big clubs, Mudgeeraba Soccer Club. On the evidence of his move, which you can track down in the Tigers/Broncos highlights package here, looks like he might be one that got away.
posted by The Round Ball Analyst at 4.5.08
4 Comments:
I look forward to seeing that one!
I'm a keen AFL follower and these days one sees a "soccered" goal (i.e. kicked off the ground), about once every 2nd game, and some of them are quite incredible (considering the shape of the ball).
One I remember clearly is when Brad Johnson, the Bulldogs captain, was just inside 50 (about 45 metres out). He was about to be assailed from all sides, but there was no one in front of him so he's smacked of the deck cleanly. He's hit it so sweetly that it spiralled (like a torpoedo punt), stayed about two metres above the carpet all the way and split the sticks.
These days it's common for kids to grow up sampling a variety of sports, and there's no doubting that that variety will help their sporting careers, no matter what they decide to do. There are quite a few AFL players who have played both rugby and soccer as a kid. Indeed one Melbourne playeer,can't remember who (Brad Green?), trialled with Man Utd as a 15 year old before returning to Tasmania and taking up aussie rules.
it feels a little weird/strange reading about nrl and afl on trba. I thought the Bulldogs were a league side? Now you've confused me completely!
Lets move on.
Any chance of getting a round up of all major european leagues as they finish up and uefa/champions league qualifiers. Like to see your thoughts.
I wouldn't mind an indepth analysis of all the Euro championships participants including strenghts / weaknesses / key players / predictions.
i saw a list of sporting attendances on wikipedia, and AFL was second on the list (of average attendances). the two rugbys numbers were also respectable enough. it brought home to me just how sports mad us aussies are.
and also how diverse our sports culture is.
sometimes i wonder how afl talent/rugby talent would look playing the world game. the recent world cup success, the move into asia and the rebadging of the domestic competition should now really open things up for socccer. IF an up and coming multi-sport talent`s first love is soccer, we are more likely to keep them (there is less negativity about the game now).
some will get away, and we will get some we weren`t expecting (like that ruckman at port who started out in basketball).
clayton
...I look forward to seeing that one!...
Trust you've seen it by now Pippinu? Thoughts?
Yeh, agree, our kids do get alot of exposure to various sports which in my mind can only help when they eventully settle on one...I grew up playing both the round-ball and cricket and I've no doubt the skills I gained as goalkeeper helped me in my cricket fielding, and visa versa...
Yes, the 'soccered' goal is very popular in afl (vaguely remember the Brad Johnson one), I watch a bit of that myself (good to see the Blues stringing some wins) and there are other skills which readily translate to both codes, such as the 'check-side' (the use of the outside of the foot)...Growing up, I struggled to master that with the Sherrin, tbh...much easier with the round-ball, i thought.
In league, there are synergies in the kicking-techniques (in-step) and I think it was Graham Arnold who was involved as kicking coach at at least a couple of nrl clubs recently, but to see Kemp's move, in open play, was definitely unexpected.
...it feels a little weird/strange reading about nrl and afl on trba. I thought the Bulldogs were a league side? Now you've confused me completely!...
Pinuts, we know how much you love your Dogs, so I take you back to Friday April 4 - it was good to see the dogs beating the tri-colours...pity for you it was the Western Bullies over the Sainters :-)
....Any chance of getting a round up of all major european leagues as they finish up and uefa/champions league qualifiers. Like to see your thoughts.
I wouldn't mind an indepth analysis of all the Euro championships participants including strenghts / weaknesses / key players / predictions....
Time permitting, I'll see what I can do, but first a short sojourn up north...
...it brought home to me just how sports mad us aussies are.
and also how diverse our sports culture is...
Too true Clayton, while the round-ball occupies most of our thought/time, there's no doubt its great to have such a vibrant sports culture.
I agree the growth of the game in recent years will attract more and more of the kids who have the choice, if it hasnt aleady.
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