By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Pakenham Silverbacks reached yet another impressive milestone in their young existence on Sunday, hosting their first ever Gridiron Victoria contest.
While the Pakenham juniors were unable to cap the occasion off with a win – going down 26-14 to the Melbourne Uni Lions – the day meant much more than championship points. It signified the official arrival of competitive gridiron to a region already enamoured with the sport.
The Silverbacks have achieved more in their short lifetime so far than many clubs of more established codes when it comes to furthering not only their own brand, but that of their sport.
And on Sunday, with curious locals making their way down to Toomuc Reserve in Pakenham to see what all the fuss was about, it was clear that what the Silverbacks are doing in their home community is working.
On field, an exciting crop of young Silverbacks – who have only been together for two months – showed that their club already has a bright future.
Lee Belton, more commonly known for his role as a Pakenham Warriors Big V basketball player, showed his athletic versatility – playing both safety, and back-up quarterback with plenty of encouraging signs.
Starting quarterback Jake Yardley also showed off his skillset, while Jimmy Kane, Jaxson Mahy, Jordan Weightman and Tom McLean also impressed.
Their side was ahead 14-6 shortly before half-time but a few mistakes, mainly caused by inexperience, later proved costly.
“The boys need a bit more composure and they definitely need to get down to training and learn the game,” said head coach, and Silverbacks senior’s player Damien Belsham.
“We’ve got a lot of natural ability but we’re still young and learning the game.
“We’ve got to have better ball protection on offense and our defense just needs to do a bit more on technique tackling, rather than just impact.”
But the positives out of the day far outweighed the negatives for the young Pakenham side.
“We had a lot of boys playing both ways and there was a lot of skill on display,” Belsham said.
“We changed our defensive formation this week because last week we were exposed in the running game out wide. In the first half we really shut the outside run down.
“Weighty (Weightman) had to go from linebacker in the old formation to safety in the new one and he had the best game he’s ever played.
“We’ve definitely got a team to build on. We only had two months to get this team together so we’re still really raw. Once this natural talent comes through it’ll be really exciting.”
A big part of the Silverbacks’ inaugural home game day was the activity happening behind the scenes – setting up the field in the early hours of the morning, preparing the food and manning the canteen throughout the day.
“A lot of the ladies who helped us are parents of the kids, or partners of the senior players who have come down and helped out the junior program as well,” Belsham said.
“We had to do all the marking of the field ourselves too.
It was a real Silverbacks effort from everyone.”
