The Australian Country Titles were held in Noosa QLD in 2004. For the first time they were held over the space of a week instead of the usual Easter long weekend. The turnout for the ADF teams was poor with the majority of players either not released by their units or deployed overseas.
The men were unable to field a full team and so called on a couple of local Army players who had not originally been picked and applied for 2 draft players from QLD. This gave us 9 players but the team was well below our usual standard. We did however manage to beat the Deaf Olympics team and so saved our blushes and did not finish last.
The womens team was in much the same boat, despite some great work from Suzie Clarkson who was heavily marked, Bel Watts and Carol Young in goals they struggled in all their games.

ADF Waterpolo Coaches Report Australian Country Championships 2004 (Noosa)

The ADF Water Polo Association mens and womens teams attended the Australian Country Water Polo Championships held at Noosa Qld from 24 - 29 May.  

In conjunction with this the teams also attended a training camp from 17 - 23 May at the Centenary Pool in Brisbane. It was originally intended to use the Enoggera Barracks Pool, however it proved to be too cold at this time of year to be useable.

Once again from a coach's (and a player) point of view the attendance at the training camp was disappointing. Although most of the players arrived at the start of the week there were still some late arrivals due to work commitments and difficulties in being released. The  resultant lack of numbers at the training sessions made it impossible to carry out any meaningful training to bring the teams together as cohesive units in the water. This had a direct effect on the performances of both teams in the Championships.

As it turned out the training problems were irrelevant because by the time the championships got underway the mens team consisted of 6 defence players (all Army) plus 2 non defence players who we luckily picked up in the draft. The womens team fared a little better having 8 defence players at the start of the tournament (3 Navy and 5 Army). This gave both teams 1 reserve and this  was a very poor situation to be in at a tournament where the opposition teams are of such a high standard.

From the mens team perspective this was the most poorly supported (by players) ADF team that I have ever been away with. I do not understand the reasons why players would not attend when they had been picked in the team and said that they were available but the operational tempo of theADF obviously has something to do with it. From the players point of view it is not acceptable to not show up without notifying the team organisers, (in time for them to find a replacement) who put in a lot of time and effort to make these Sports trips a reality. The womens team has found themselves in this situation on a number of occasions and I now know what they felt like when this happened. Having said all that, I heartily thank all those who did turn up and hope that they found the experience both enjoyable and rewarding and that they came away having learnt something about Water Polo.

Tournament week 

Womens Team.   The womens team had a mixed week in the water. The first day consisted of 2 very difficult games against NT (10-3) and WA (13-2) the in which the girls showed a lot of determination against 2 very skilful sides. The result though of this was that they expended a lot of energy and finished the day very tired as a direct result of having only one sub. There were some very positive signs though in that the team had good speed in the water and they were able to control the game in attack for periods of time thus negating some fast break opportunities for the opposition.

The second day saw the best opportunity for a win with the first game against VIC (6-6). This game was the best performance of the team for the week with some very good goals scored from all round the pool. However a lack of experience and a couple of dubious referee decisions allowed a win to slip from their grasp. The addition of 2 draft players provided a welcome opportunity for rest and the opportunity to work a bit harder in the water. The second game was against SA/ACT (12-0). Once again so long as the fast break was controlled the girls were competitive and were able to set up in attack and create good scoring opportunities. However this team had an exceptional Goalkeeper and so the scoring of goals was extremely difficult. The end result of the second game was a little disappointing but the team was obviously very tired by this stage and the disappointment of not beating VIC was a definite factor.

Days three and four saw the women take on the two strongest teams in QLD (16-1) and NSW (17-1). Once again the team played quite well in attack with some good passages of play and some excellent goalkeeping in defence but conceded a lot of goals because of an inability to deal with counterattacks.

The womens team by virtue of a better goal difference than VIC played in the playoff for 5^th and 6^th against NT eventually finishing 6^th. This is by no means the highest placed finish the women have had however I believe it is one of the best teams the women have had. The team was able to work the ball up the pool and run a set attack with the opposition playing hard press (something the mens team has struggled with for many years). The shooting of Belinda Watts, Suzie Clarkson and Eleisha Flaskas was a feature, as was the goalkeeping of Carol Young. The team had good speed in the water with Alison Guest working extremely hard up and down the pool and the centre back work of Belinda and Suzie was also excellent. The support play of Anna Bumford taking swim offs, Karina Peacock and Joanne Deveney was also invaluable and their improvement throughout the tournament was very pleasing to see.

All in all this team had a good balance of players and played some of the best waterpolo the womens team has played in years. These 8 players combined with the other players that were unavailable will make up a team that will have the ability to beat many of these same teams at next years Arafura Games and would be a realistic medal chance.

Only a few general conclusions can be drawn from the games and I will cover these here. Once again as in previous years the team was unable to deal with counterattacks, the skill level and experience of some players was well below that required and the fitness of some players was well below the standard required. Having said this the team still managed two solid wins against the Deaf Olympics team and competitive results against VIC and WA.

1.              Players must play in a local competition, even if you spend significant periods of time away you must still be a member of a club and train and play whenever you are able. Players in the other civilian teams at Australian Country titles regularly drive over 100 km to play in higher standard competitions, we need to have the same commitment, it is the only way to improve as a player.

2.              Players must improve their overall fitness, this means training with a swimming squad be it a regular swim club, Masters swim club or just a group of swimmers in a location. It is not possibleto be fit enough without doing this.

3.              Players must make it their goal to play for the ADF at the Australian Country titles and not let anything stand in their way. The Tours are all organised, all a player has to do is turn up and as a bonus you will be paid your normal pay plus incidentals and get free travel and accommodation. The members of the civilian teams take leave from their jobs and pay all their own expenses.

Summary. ADF Waterpolo has so much unrealised potential, the players are out there, they just have to get serious about playing Water Polo and the results will come. Having seen a lot of ADF players over the last 13 years I know that we have the players with the necessary skills to be in the top 3 at the Country titles, we just have to all show up at the same time and be properly prepared. Get out there and spread the word and not only will we have a great time socially on tour but we will also win more games than we lose and finally earn some respect from the other teams. Make the effort to come away, it won’t cost you your career!

Phil Fletcher
SGT
RAMS