Lessons from the Gamekeeper

Have you ever wondered why you give away so many penalties?

I have (wondered about you that is, not me).

So it turns out there are actually some rules, and that bloke running around with that different colored shirt on and blowing the whistle...well, that's his job to tell us what all those rules are all about...oh, and to give lectures whenever someone from Portland does something in the slightest bit wrong.

If you've ever wondered what it is that you say that riles a ref so much, or why you never seem to kick through the mark properly, then Skip Chase will be sharing his wisdom with us at practice on August 31st and September 21st. If you have burning questions, or just want to know what makes a ref tick, come on out and find out.

Skip does have a bit of an ulterior motive, in that he's looking for a few like-minded citizens who might desire to do a bit of reffing themselves. So, if you're maybe coming to the end of your playing career, or if you're just the kind of chap who likes to get sworn at on the weekends; well maybe this could be your next calling.

So come on all you Poachers, a little Gamekeeping knowledge could come in handy someday, and besides...we always need someone to ref the B game.

'skeag low down

This Saturday's match against Amoskeag was what your parents might have described to you as "character building", just like those beating they used to give you behind the woodshed. To be fair, this outing wasn't quite as one-sided as that, but the visiting side was able to expose some, ahem..."areas for improvement" over the coming weeks.

As is usually the case with early season fixtures, pleas for the Portland faithful to get on-board fell on deaf ears, so while at least in the pack we enjoyed some depth, the backs weren't quite as plentiful. As a result, while the pack may arguably be able to claim a draw with the Amoskeag pack, gaps in the backline were exposed repeatedly by a well-drilled and experienced opposition. Of course, to be fair, we can all share the blame for that, given that our out-of-shape pack managed to spend too much time congregating at the breakdown and not enough time covering across in defense. As we all know, once that oxygen supply to the brain gets short, a forward's decision-making ability becomes severely impaired and is usually superseded by the instinct to lean in to the nearest ruck and "look busy".

At least the oxygen supply is something that can be improved, either at the gym, or better still by coming to training.

The scoreline, whatever it was, was pretty lopsided, although not without a little resistance from the home side. Jerry and yours truly hooked up twice to prove that old dogs and their old tricks still work sometimes.

In the end the ref pulled up lame in the third period and nobody complained when the match was brought to an early conclusion. Plenty to learn from on the day, and still a ways to go before the first league fixture.

Special thanks go to Matt Boyer, who donned the red and white for the last time before he moves back to Chicago at the end of the month. Matt has been with the club long enough to father a couple of children, and unlike some of our other alumni, he'll actually be taking them with him when he leaves. Good luck Matt. Give us a call whenever you're in town.

Training (and games) are now moving to Douglas Street (park on St. James St.), directions for which can be found here. The fun continues this Tuesday, 6pm.