Water Polo | Round 1

ROUND 1  | SATURDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2022

Last Saturday, Trinity played against Barker College in the first round of the truncated CAS Water Polo Competition. It was an exciting day for players, spectators and staff to be back in the Trinity Centenary Pool. Trinity experienced many positive results across the board and  these results are reflective of the hard work and determination of players and coaches throughout Term 4 and the pre-season of 2022. This pleasing start to the season puts Trinity in a position to have a highly successful CAS season. I wish all players the best for their Round 2 fixtures where we host St Aloysius’ College in most fixtures.

HARPER STEWART – NATIONAL LEAGUE DEBUT

Congratulations to Harper Stewart (11St) who made his National League debut last Sunday. This is an outstanding achievement for Harper who played for UNSW-Wests alongside some current Australian Sharks players. Harper’s team won 8 – 2 against the ACU Cronulla Sharks Team which consisted of 2020 Captain of Water Polo and 13A coach Tristan Glanznig. Well done, Harper.

Seamus Rodden | Director of Water Polo

Team	Opponent	Result	Score
1sts	BARKER	W	44 – 0
2nds	BARKER	W	41 – 4
3rds	ST ANDREWS	–	FORFEIT
16A	BARKER	W	23 – 2
16B	TRINITY 16C	W	10 – 6
16C	TRINITY 16B	L	6 – 10
15A	BARKER	W	9 – 8
14A	BARKER	W	24 – 0
14B	ST ANDREWS	–	FORFEIT
13A	BARKER	W	17 – 2
13B	BARKER	W	9 – 8

1ST VII | WON 44 – 0

Round 1 of the CAS Water Polo Competition saw our First VII boys play Barker College on Saturday. The game was an extremely successful start for our team, winning convincingly 44-0. The game saw a high level of consistency maintained for four quarters, with a particular focus on our defensive effort given our primary goal going into the game was to keep Barker scoreless, and this was achieved. By playing a strong press high up in the passing lanes, making it difficult for our opponents to get up the pool, it opened up our game with steals and counter attacks, which made up the bulk of our offence. The first round was a solid start to the season, and will enable us to build towards more competitive opposition in coming weeks as we look towards St Aloysius’ College and Knox Grammar School.

T. Rathbone | Captain

2ND VII | WON 41 – 4

In a very lopsided game against a very un-competitive Barker College team, Trinity ran out winners 41 goals to 4. From the start of the game it was obvious that the Trinity team was far more skilful, swam faster and had greater awareness of game situations than Barker, and were thus able to convert all scoring opportunities giving a half time score of 24 to 3. However, Trinity did relax a little in the second half out scoring Barker 17 to 1. We were able to steal the ball on numerous occasions scoring many counter attack goals, whilst in set play Trinity’s centre forwards had a field day with Finn Ramanuskas (11Ke) scoring nine goals and Jake Varone (12He) with eight. In a game such as this, it is difficult to name the best team players, as all contributed and many of the goals were real team goals involving a number of players. The other goal scorers for Trinity were James Robertson (11Du) with five, Lewis Potter (12Fo) and William Rule (12Ar) with four each, Hunter Myliotis (12Yo) and Thomas Power (11Mu) with three each, Samuel Fong (11Ke) and Luke de Lisle (12Ke) with two each and Jaden Higgins (11He) scoring one. Well done gentlemen. It was good to see that we were able to keep our minds on the job and continue to play proper Water Polo as the scoreboard ticked over.

Ray Swinnerton | Coach

 

16A | WON 23 – 2

On Saturday, the 16As played very well, demonstrating intensity in both defence and attack. In defence, they played as a team and implemented our team meeting tactical strategy of attacking the ball holder, by holding two hands up, which in turn, forced the attacker to turn the ball over and allowed Trinity players closest to steal the ball. Having done so several times, it proved a successful strategy, as it opened up the opportunity to control the ball throughout the game. The highlights have been Lachlan Rathbone (9Ke) and Sam Maakrun (9Fo). They have worked very well in defence stealing a lot of balls and in attacks playing for the team by shooting goals when they could. Also, Orlando Mina (9St) to stand out in attack with shots that are very difficult to stop. In general, all the players have played very well.

Florin Bonca | Coach

 

16B | WON 10 – 6 (Internal match with 16C)

Due to the opposing school not being able to provide a team the 16Bs and 16Cs decided to have a friendly match. The first two quarters the teams stayed in their allocated teams so the team could play together.  By the half time mark, the 16Bs were giving a class performance leading 7-0. Honourable mention must go to Callum Robinson (10WJ) for a valiant effort in goals saving many difficult shots. However, the second half became much more competitive with the two main goal scorers Ryan Webb (10Hi) and Jonah De Groot (10Ar) from the first half being traded to the 16C team. With the 16Bs losing 2 players the 16Cs were able to strike back. Well done, to all the players in both teams.

Oscar Jones | Coach

 

15A | WON 9 – 8

In a very close encounter, Trinity were able to outlast Barker College and finish on top at the end of the game. Our team had control of the game in the first quarter leading 4 to 2 but wayward shooting and some very basic errors, both in attack and defence, let Barker back into the game. Barker matched Trinity scores in the second and third periods, but some defensive lapses in the final quarter gave Barker three easy goals, resulting in the final score 9 to 8 in Trinity’s favour. Whilst all players certainly tried hard and put in a great effort our mistakes were costly and if not for the superb goal keeping effort from Matty Weston English (9Ta) – the result would have been far different. Matteo Pezzano (9Fo) gave a wholehearted effort in attack scoring four goals, Ben Sulyok (9Sc) played well both in attack and defence, scoring two goals. Other goal scorers were Jacob Michail (9Hi) with two and David Simmons (9Ar) with one.

Ray Swinnerton | Coach

 

14A | WON 24 – 0

On Saturday the 14A team in defence stood out against Barker College. The Trinity tream displayed strong skills throughout the whole game as the 24 to 0 scoreline indicates. The players standing out were: Taj Young (8We), Nik Shoefer (8Ta) and Jaiden Sivapirabu (8Hi). The truth is that in defence all the players have played very well in a very aggressive press, as well as being in the line of passes, so they can steal the ball. I was very satisfied with the attitude of the team.

Florin Bonca | Coach

 

13A | WON 17 – 2

The 13As had a strong performance against Barker College last Saturday, which was most of the boys’ first official Water Polo game. Saying that, they did well to adapt to learning new rules and new game tactics. One major observation is there is much potential from everyone in the team. What won us the game was their ability to control the ball and take advantage of their speed. The differing scoreline of fifteen goals in Trinity’s favour reflects such a great start to the season.

Tristan Glanznig | Coach

 

13B | WON 9-8

It was a very exciting match, which we can only wish to experience in courage, mental readiness and team spirit. Our goalie, Vassili Pappas (7Du), demonstrated great leadership by keeping the field players aware in critical situations, as well as showed some saves, keeping the other players in the momentum of the game, even though it was his very first game ever. Lachlan Stewart (7Ho) had an outstanding time in the center-forward position, delivering goals and fouls. In one of the most heated moments Marc Licenblat (7Du) showed focus, great courage and skills when he scored with a presumptuous lob over the opponent’s goalie from the left side with right hand. Daniel Simpson (7Du) who was brave and fast in  counter-attacking during the last quarter, helped the team to keep up its confidence and good spirit. In his defence position, Hugo Verguizas (7Ke), who is completely new to Water Polo, proved his eligibility for this sport. It is an uplifting feeling to see great potential in this brand new team. I am looking forward to coaching them through this season.

Gergely Malyusz | Coach