Week 1 saw the Warriors head down to Endeavour Hills to face off against the Berwick Miners.
Like the Men’s teams, the juniors went into the season with strong numbers and were well prepared for their opponent.
Head Coach Callum Marini has set 5 captains for the upcoming season where four captains are set and the fifth chosen on a rotational basis. The rotational captains are selected based on training attendance and player conduct in previous games.
The 2016 captains are Pradeep Rethnam, Jed Melican, Dimitri Maksoutov and Vish Sivakumar and week 1 saw Jonothan Keusgen as the first rotational captain.
With the warm weather came a hot start for the young Warriors who in front of a great crowd of support put up 32 points in the first quarter alone. Ghok Yien Thiang punched it in on the ground and Ben McGaw dazzled for two punt return touch downs in the first quarter and was seen receiving a touchdown later in the game also.
Coach Marini did not see the opportunity as a means to punish the young Miners who seemed to struggle in hot conditions, instead he threw in rotations to work players in positions to test his chargers.
Whilst the Defense easily dominated all day; the Offense were led sensationally by QB Nick Whitehead who consistently drove down the field all day and protected the ball by not throwing any interceptions.
Young running back Ghok Yien Thiang was game MVP as he had multiple rushing touchdown, almost 100 yards rushing and filled in on defense with an interception also.
The Warriors Defense were led by Defensive Linemen Josh Deakin, Jomo Kigotho, Matt Tang and Nick Hughes who shut down the run and applied pressure on the Miners young QB which led to 3 interceptions on the day and very few yards allowed while shutting out the Miners.
The Warriors ran away victors 50-0 and now have their sights set on the reigning back-to-back junior Champion Melbourne Uni Lions this Saturday 27th February at McPherson Park Recreation Reserve in Melton.
Kick off is at 3:00PM
With Pride
