Colts Match Report: Brothers vs Hornsby 21/04/2012

Venue: Cliff Oval, Wahroongah
Result: Victory 44-0

Best & Fairest
3 Point: Nathan Timbrell
2 Points: Justin Gates
1 Point each to: Matt Cullen, Charles Kilby & Marc Lavermicocca

Referees Points
3 Points: Connor Stead
2 Points: Charles Kilby
1 Point: Nathan Timbrell

Tryscorers
Matt Cullen: 4 tries
Vuli Biuvanua: 1 Try
Todd Stephenson: 1 Try
Charles Kilby: 1 Try
Justin Gates: 1 Try

Conversions
Stuart Raines: 2 Conversions

With the amount of rain we had last week it took numerous phone calls between the two coaches to find a venue for the game and thankfully that was eventually done. Hornsby having the bye in the first round were keen to get their season under way, and Greg was keen for us to get some solid footy under our belts, Cliff Oval was available and locked in. Again the scoreline belies another dominant performance in which we showed our skills and attacking flair, but again demonstrated much room for improvement with countless attacking opportunities squandered at our own hands with mistakes and wrong last up options pursued. For starters let’s put the attacking kick inside their 22 on the backburner, it didn’t work on at least 4 occasions in this game and is rarely the right option. But overall an eight try victory in any event is an awesome outcome and again congratulations on all your performances are in order.

Thankfully Hornsby had a front row and contested the scrums, allowing our guys to have their first live scrums of the season, and as expected it performed well, it will be great to see this element of our game develop, a solid front row of Nate, Justin (rewarded with a try in this game, but injury wise offering the one concern of the day with a reoccurrence of a shoulder injury, we are all hopeful it recovers quickly) and Adam ably backed by a solid back five. JB and Jayde were again silent workhorses for us in the seconds and performed well with lineout claims both on our ball and theirs, the height from the lifters ensured their efforts often went rewarded claiming the ugget and accurate throwing on ours ensured the right result. The mobility of our back row was again most impressive with Charles, Marc and Connor seeming to take it in turns with the big hits and retrieving turn over ball as a consequence. With two of our regular options (Masters & Rohana) in the backrow absent it was great to see the versatility displayed, with players more than competently filling the absences. For this correspondent a stand out display of the victory was this effort and effectiveness of our back row, well done lads.

The tries started to fall for us again in the first ten minutes with Vuli crossing the line for the first time in the blue and gold and showing some promise of things to come. Charles again also contributed to the scoring but how Connor did not cross after two promising runs leaves me wanting to demonstrate some of my famous finishing ability, next time perhaps a step might be the better option rather than attempting to run straight over the top of the fullback.

This report would not be complete without an admonishment for our complete lack of discipline and chat to the ref on several occasions throughout the match but most notably for a ten to 15 minute period late in the first half. We were marched, penalised out of attack and forced to defend numerous penalties right on our own line. I implore us as a team to please learn the lesson here, this WAS a good referee with a very reasonable interpretation of the game, should we ever come up against a difficult ref this behaviour could cost us …… and even lose us the game. Furthermore this referee was very very complimentary to our team and it’s strengths, and did made some disciplinary decisions based on ‘leveling the playing field’ and out of respect for our strengths and their weaknesses. I am perplexed by how we could get him so far offside, by direct comment and before the game was over he stated that we had a very strong team that would be a force in this competition. Let’s not allow lack of discipline to cost us a good run in this comp!

Our defence across the park was again impressive and the effort to keep them scoreless when we penalised them into the game and were able to sustain the pressure exerted so very very close to our tryline on a number of occasions was pleasing. Of course welcoming Matt Cullen into the starting lineup gave us a solid option for attack in our backline, Mr Bonus Point scored 4 tries himself and will be a handy asset for the season. Todd Stephenson was again very solid in both attack and defence and again his efforts were rewarded with a try. Late in the game everyones heart was in their mouths as Michael Summers looked certain to pounce on the loose ball and score himself a meat pie, alas it wasn’t to be, the likable Mr Versatility didn’t cross on this occasion, better luck next time Mick but thanks for remembering the kicking tee! And honourable mention must go to Nathan Timbrell who played a barnstorming game at half, playing with confidence in a position (although not originally favoured by him) he seems to be making it his own, the tenacity and strength of a forward with the skills and finesse of a fine inside back, well done.

With the senior games rained off it was great to see solid support from the rest of the club, number of supporters made the trek North to watch our boys have a run around, playing as a club at the same venue next week for the first time will be a great day for the club. And again fantastic to see the family support, with more than a couple of parents remarking how awesome it was to see solid consecutive victories ‘neath the Blue ‘n Gold. The post match BBQ was a great example of the camaraderie of rugby, with the teams mixing well to discuss the game and the comp, always pleasing to see. All in all another good outing for the team, well done. Next Saturday morning we welcome the Mountain Colts team to Roseville, be prepared the Blue Mountains side and Brothers share a proud history of tough confrontational rugby and I am certain this will be no different, bring your game day mentality!

Next Fixture
vs Blue Mountains
10:45 am Roseville Chase
Saturday 28th April
Be there by 10am ready to warm up.