4th Grade – Away v Petersham

Petersham 17 – 5 Brothers

Today saw a team light on in terms of numbers prepare themselves for a big day ahead. Not only was this the club’s first game in Division 1 since 1983, most of the guys would play at least 2 games if not 3 or 4 by the time the day had finished.

To honour this day it was only fitting that Mick Bird, with 391 games at the club, lead us out.

The boys did us proud, shutting down the Petersham attack which was determined not to take us on in the forwards but swing it out wide to their faster runners. Rocky was solid in defence and attack at the, not so familiar, fullback position and Nathan Eddy worked hard around the ground in support and providing go forward.

Early play was bit each way with Petersham taking first points from a bustling sequence of pick and drives on our line that resulted in a (dubious) try. From there the game was a pretty close contest with Petersham getting across for 2 more tries. We looked good when we took them on in the forwards and our game plan started to come together.

Our perseverance and forward play paid off when the ball made it out to Liam Casey who broke the line, pinned his ears back, and sprinted 50m to the try line with their number 9 in hot pursuit. Good try Liam.

It was a good game of rugby with the win going to the better side 17-5 on the day. We showed plenty of potential and I’m sure with some more team training we’ll get the upper hand when we meet them at home in the second round.

Unfortunately the game did result an injury (broken ankle) to Viliami Topui (Willy) who left the ground by ambulance.

Join me in wishing Willy a speedy recovery. We look forward to seeing him at the games once he’s back on his feet.

Milestones

As mentioned it was a pretty full day of rugby that saw Pat Gortley start the day on 198 games and finish on 201 – running out for his 200^th game in 3^rd grade.

Congratulations Pat on your 200 games!

It’s also worth mentioning Mick Bird finished the day on 393 games – only 7 more to join that exclusive 400 club.

At this rate that will only take a few more weeks. Make sure you’re there when it happens.

Player Points

As the coaches and managers were on the field, points were awarded by our League of Esteemed Gentlemen on the sideline. Well selected.

3 – Thomas Roch (Rocky)

2 – Nathan Eddy

1 – Mick Bird