Osaka Dingoes’ IMPACT Anzac Day Cup 2019

IMPACT Anzac Day Cup

 

Saturday 27 April 2019
12:00 – 16:30
Izumi Sports Village, Kaiduka, Osaka, Japan

 

Our third annual IMPACT Anzac Day Cup was held in a strong windy condition at 15 degrees. The strong wind made us feeling around 10 to 12 degrees.

 

Shanghai Tigers from China traveled to Osaka that the Dingoes welcomed and appreciated. Also we hosted the merged Tokyo clubs (Tokyo Goannas and R246 Lions).

 

Each club had struggled with fielding within a club, so two Tokyo based club formed a merged club. Then Shanghai Tigers and Osaka Dingoes picked player(s) from Tokyo to play equally with seven players each side.

 

Two forwards, two midfielders, a ruckman and two defenders were fielded for two 12-minute halves games.

 

The first game was played by two guest clubs (merged Tokyo and Shanghai Tigers). Tigers’ ruckman Tim Roberts hit out brilliantly with his height advantage. His fit teammates had good ball uses and found open space. The Chinese club demonstrated fast footy that was impressive. However merged Tokyo club fought hard with handpasses and pushing hard towards goal square. Tigers won by seven points.

 

Osaka Dingoes versus Merged Tokyo followed. Visitors tackled us hard and played with good ball uses. Their more experiences in playing demonstrated better footy. Tokyo side read the ball better than the home side. Merged team won by 26 points.

 

The locals faced the overseas side at the Game 3. Roberts’ ruck duties were magnificent and his teammates grabbed footy quickly and ran fast. They created opportunities much more than the Dingoes. Open space was well established for the Tigers. We only scored with the player coach and president Matt Gale’s goal. Tigers had a massive win by 55 points.

 

Robin tournament continued and the Game 4 was played, followed by a 15-minute break after the Dingoes-Tigers match.

 

Northern wind cheered the Tigers scoring goals towards the southern end. Fast and powerful footy was shown by the Chinese side. They scored 3.1 in the first half while gave away 0.1 to the Tokyo side. In the last half, Tokyo team played hard and kicked three goals with southern end’s advantages. But the Chinese side kept the lead and won by 14 points.

 

Dingoes were advised to be close to the opponents in order to dominate footy, by the Goanna mentor Sam. We obeyed his advice and fought hard with good efforts. Tackles were laid, we created open space and pushed hard. But Tokyo team won by 13 points at Game 5.

 

The last game was played by the Chinese side and the Dingoes. We kept Sam’s advice, but Tigers roared hard with speedy and accurate footy. It was hard for us to stop Roberts and fast teammates. We created more space and kicked more goals than the previous meet on the day, but the Tigers were awarded the fourth win by 44 points.

 

Shanghai Tigers won the championship with all four wins. Trophy was taken by non Tokyo team for the first time and indeed head home to the overseas.

 

Their ruckman Tim Roberts was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP). He was handed a medal by Matt at the closing ceremony.

 

It was a good footy tournament and everyone enjoyed the opportunity playing footy.

 

I had four contested possessions during the tournament.

 

But I missed an opportunity to score a goal with a free kick as being paid a mark. The distance was 30 metres out and over my limit to kick a goal.

 

I should have ran and kicked. Matt advised me it too.

 

My next opportunity playing footy is the Shanghai Cup on Saturday 1 June. It’s organised by AFL Asia as the the Shanghai weekend. It’s the day before St Kilda taking Port Adelaide.

 

I train hard and learn from the mistake to play the master competition of the Shanghai Cup and score goals.

 

Scores

MT: Merged Team (Tokyo)
ST: Shanghai Tigers
OD: Osaka Dingoes

 

Game 1
ST 5.4 (34)
MT 4.3 (27)

Game 2
MT 7.3 (45)
OD 3.1 (19)

Game 3
ST 9.7 (61)
OD 1.0 (6)

Game 4
ST 4.4 (28)
MT 2.2 (14)

Game 5
MT 5.4 (34)
OD 3.3 (21)

Game 6
ST 10.5 (65)
OD 3.3 (21)

 

 

Yoshi is a dedicated Saints fan and Almanac contributor. For more of his writing, CLICK HERE:

 

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About Yoshihiro Imagawa

Love, passion and pride are seen on the footy that is the biggest part of my life. 1. St Kilda Club member: I am a passionate and crazy Sainter. Just hope we will win the second flag soon, especially after Dogs and Tigers having ended long premiership draughts. 2. The Osaka Dingoes Player and Public Relations Officer: Player number 44 that I chose to honour Stephen Milne with my wish being like a small forward like him. Lenny Hayes' hardworking attitudes are adopted on my trainings and practices. Nick Riewoldt's great plays are in my player audiobook too. 3. Writing: Here on the Almanac and also on the World Footy News. My skills utilise on great footy websites.

Comments

  1. Keep working, Yoshi.
    It sounds like you’re having a blast, mate.

  2. Thanks Smokie. I have been practising footy hard as always. New drills are implemented to play better next time. Can’t wait playing the master competition as well as watching St Kilda versus Port Adelaide at the stadium. Cheers – Yoshi

  3. Hi Yoshi, love your passion about footy – I too love the game. Regards baseball – it was really big in Adelaide in the fifties, sixties and early seventies, especially when Japanese teams toured here.

    However, these days its just a poor imitation of those glorious days, for a number of reasons too numerous to go into here.

    Whilst I still like watching American baseball, especially the Boston Redsox, I much prefer AFL and test cricket. In my humble opinion Aussie Rules footy IS THE BEST GAME OF ALL

    Stick with the sainters Yoshi, I sense success is just around the corner.

  4. G’day Fisho,

    Thanks for your good comment and my apology for not getting back to you sooner.

    It’s interesting to hear Japanese baseball teams have toured Australia long time ago. It’s like Essendon and Hawthorn had an exhibition match in Yokohama in 1987.

    Old glory times…

    I am happy to play the best sport of Aussie Rules Football and train hard for the upcoming Shanghai Cup Tournament. I will be playing in the masters competition. To kick goals I started new drills after having played our IMPACT Anzac Day Cup.

    Cheers

    Yoshi

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