ADF All Stars Assistant Coach Lt Luke Thatcher, 1MP Bn, and LAC Michael Kemp, Outstretch a CES player for the ball at the AFL Services Challenge Cup. Photo by Bill Cunneen, Army newspaper

Stars blitz Sydney

By Pte John Wellfare
THE recently-selected ADF All Stars dominated play against the Combined Emergency Services (CES) team for the AFL Services Challenge Cup at Telstra Stadium on April 24.

With a decisive 111-33 win, All Stars assistant coach Cpl Paul James (RAAF) said the game, played as a curtain-raiser to the Sydney vs Melbourne AFL match, had been won in the third quarter.

"They [CES] came out pretty hard early on and we obviously picked up our game as we went," he said.

"First quarter was a little bit scrappy, we just needed to lift our talk and our work rate. They came out harder than we expected they would.

"Second quarter [CES] were actually a bit better; I think we outscored them by about a goal.

"Third quarter we came out hard, we had a little bit of a chat in the rooms about coming out hard.

"We sort of ran over the top of [CES] because we played a good, running, Defence Force style footy."

The success in the third quarter allowed the ADF team to relax and ride in on their high score for the last.

"The last quarter we just changed a few things, we wanted to give a few blokes a run because we had six on the bench," Cpl James said.

"The game was great, it's a great atmosphere, it's been a great lead up, the boys had a good time and I think that's what footy's all about."

2004 ADF All Stars - Team list

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