It was an early start to the first official match of the 2015 AFL Ontario Finals for the Rebels. With strong numbers and a keen sense of focus, the boys all rocked up to get ready to battle the Kangaroos in the Elimination Final. Coach Bodz brought the squad in tight under the shelter to discuss the game plan. The message was simple. Be confident, do what you know you are capable of doing and do it well. Fight to be first to the ball and make smart decisions when you have possession. And believe!

With a strong start the ball went up and came down to a determined group of midfielders from both teams. The game was aggressive and hard hitting right from the beginning. When some quick calls from the umpires do not go our way, the first few minutes saw the Rebels trending in the wrong direction. The Roos jumped out early kicking three goals from penalties. The Rebels fought back and were able to snag a quick goal to help stem the tide. The Roos then converted on another penalty following a hard tackle by the young Dayvon Love. With that play the young gun put it on himself to get up and about and make some noise. Strong hand balls, some accurate kicking, and the incredible speed of the Love brothers brought the Rebels back in the game with two goals in a row, both by Dayvon. The quarter ended with the Roos leading by 2 goals and 2 behinds.

Roos: 5.2.32 to Rebels 3.0.18

The second quarter was a fight up and down the field with both teams stopping the other’s attempts at moving the ball forward. The Rebels defence, led by Capo Scubs, was in fine form and had found their standard confidence stopping attack after attack and moved the ball forward to Spider and Kid. With Jayden and Browny running amuck, and getting good ball movement up to the forwards, the Rebels were able to keep things close all quarter. Fabs and Wizz fought to get the ball in the right spots but alas the Roos were able to stop the Rebels forward pressure and held us to 1 goal. Both teams scored 1:1 for the second.

Roos: 6.3.39 to Rebels 4.1.25

When the third quarter started, the fight was still just getting warmed up. Philthy was dominant and stopped most of the attack and Trevor came in and did well against his opponent. Alex Irwin jumped in and showed heart with a tough fight. Big K Duff working the ruck against Manny was no easy job but he did not back down once and the wins were equal as the quarter progressed. Rebels forwards were running up and down to move the ball to goals and were successful. Some inaccurate kicking resulted in 3 straight behinds. The Roos fought to move forward and received some good positioning thanks to umpire calls to get them another goal.

Roos: 7.3.45 to Rebels 4.4.28

We knew that going into the last quarter it was a leave it all out there vibe. Scuba pumped the boys up saying there is no tomorrow, we need to give it everything we have and that whatever we do, we need to be able to walk off proud. Frogga deep in the back lines took some good grabs to help keep the score low. Some new Rebel talent showed they have what it takes with strong grabs and hard hits. Stokes and

Dayvon were out battling all game long. Dre was in fine form and made sure to clear the footy down the wing when under pressure. McMillan was doing his best and running all over the pitch while taking some incredible abuse. His black-and-blue covered body post game was a testament to how hard he played all day. Cale Donovan didn’t let anything get past him easily. Young Thomas and Wizz put in the hard yards to do what they could to help the Rebels get going. In the end, the Rebels were not able to match the experience level of the veterans from the Roos. When the final horn sounded the Rebels fell short on the scoreboard. Not the result we wanted, but this entire season was a positive learning experience for the majority of new players that represented the Black and White.

Final Score Roos: 9.6.60 to Rebels 5.4.34

There are a lot of good things to take from this season. With a turnover of veteran players from the 2014 roster, this Rebels were able to recruit and train a new crop of players to work the systems that were introduced by Coach Kon and implemented successfully by Coach Bodz in 2015. Tough training sessions and constant work helped to mold our players into a cohesive team. Rebels Brand is bigger than any one person. It’s a philosophy. It guides what we do and how we do it. It continues to grow due to the leadership of people who have been a part of this club for many years and by the new people that have come to love it and want to help it grow. We take our hats off to all our fans and supporters. We would like to especially thank the more than 40 people who were there to clap us off the field. The wives, girlfriends, relatives, children, and our Old Boys. We love this game and we love this club. It is truly a family and special group that will always represent #rebelsbrand.