The Warriors

Overview

• Colours - Red and White
• Captain - Clinton "CR" Rodda
• Coach - Terry Knox

The Warriors started in the Morwell competition in 1981, one of the oldest clubs in the Latrobe Valley. The team has and has had in its ranks some of the best players in Victoria and even in Australia. The team is a close knit group that enjoy the heated competition and camaraderie that comes with team sports.

The team is Coached by Terry Knox. A state league player and coach of many seasons. His contribution and dedication to the team is a major contributor to the continued success of the Warriors.

During the 1996 season, the Warriors played with sporadic brilliance. Starting the year in strong form, an accident caused their primary setter, Clinton "CR" Rodda to step to the sidelines. For much of the rest of the first season the Warriors struggled. In the second season, with a number of shift workers, the team was slow to excel, but improvement was showing.

Towards the end of the 1997 season, the Warriors seemed to gather their momentum and found better form going into the finals. After a titanic battle in the semi-finals, (A five set victory over the Poachers, see News Clip!) the Warriors earned their place against long time rivals UBANGI.

The final saw the two teams leaning upon their strengths immediately, UBANGI, led by their setter captain "Grubb" Melnyk, set to the attack using their strong hitters Brett Mcgennisken and all around talent Chris "Woody" Wood. Warriors were consistent and improved on their back court coverage, using the blocking strength of Tony Basten, Brendon, and "Jimmy" Carruthers to force dumps and allowing the defensive back line to pick up the spikes and continue the play.

The match continued in hard fought points, both teams working hard to force the ball to the floor. The Warriors began to take a slim lead, helped by exceptional hitting by Warriors veteran Tony Basten.

Close games were the order for the match, and with determination the Warriors even further improved their backcourt coverage while UBANGI struggled to find the smooth play of the previous weeks. Aggresive blocking by UBANGI was not enough to keep the Warriors for edging into the lead and keeping it.

The Warriors won the match in 3 sets. A fine effort by all.

Comments

The Warriors have long be beset by shift schedules and have a tendency to pull members out of retirement to play matches. In all a very strong club with excellent coaching by Terry Knox and Captaincy by Clinton. With the plan to split UBANGI and WARRIORS, the resultant teams in Division 1should see be a general leveling of skill sets in the clubs, resulting in evenly matched sides. Predictions are that Warriors will continue to fair well, but questions arise as to who the new setter will be for Warriors 2.

Roster

Known Players Only - Some information incomplete at time of Publishing