Although I am certainly not a sports photographer I have always really enjoyed watching gridiron, particularly having played back in England as a middle linebacker for a team in Harlow (in my younger days!)

I avidly follow the NFL, devouring as many games as I can when time allows during the regular season in the US. Consequently I was somewhat surprised and of course excited to learn that there exists a solid league here in Victoria Australia, and that the next game of the new season was to be played within a 20 minute drive from my home. I really intended to just go along and watch, but of course at the last minute grabbed my trusty Canon 5D Mk III and a 70-200mm 2.8 L. I knew I would be shooting a LOT of pictures, and reasoned I really didn’t need the increased resolution of the 5DSR (unlike when I am photographing Spitfires, and need to see every rivet in the aircraft…).

This was the first game ever played by the fledgling Peninsular Sharks, and sadly for them the score of 42 – 6 in favour of the Silverbacks reflected this; however, they still played with incredible determination and no little amount of skill, such that that time and experience will surely see them develop into a powerhouse club. Not to detract from the Silverback victory, who also played a superb and very entertaining game of football..!

All the 90 images below are pretty much in order of capture, hopefully giving a feel to the fun and flow of the game….

While I was standing on the sideline I met two other photographers, one being the hugely talented Barend van den Hoek (https://barendphotos.com/) who has been shooting the gridiron here in Victoria for 10 years. If you have any interest in the sport at all, I recommend checking out his excellent website. The other photographer I met was Vicki Walsh, who unfortunately I did not get to chat to that much, but who very kindly gave me some tips for my upcoming Vietnam trip. All in all, a really fun day and I certainly hope to watch a few more games this season…