Matchday 8 – Match Reports

Colts
Brothers 26 – 19 Roseville

Best & Fairest Points
3 pts – Charles Kilby
2 pts – Stuart Raines
1 pt – Adam Seage & Todd Stephenson

Referees Points;
3 pts – Charles Kilby
2 pts – Matt Cullen

Tryscorers;
Todd Stephenson
Stuart Raines
Isaac Vunakece
Sean Loughlan

Conversions:
3 Stuart Raines

Victory in the local-est of local derbies and didn’t it turn out to be a grudge match!
Roseville colts have worked their way in to the season and had improved drastically on their opening encounter with us and were able to offer contested scrums on this occasion and therefore played with a full compliment.
After an early feeling out period by both teams we found our first scoring opportunity after some great STRAIGHT running by our backs saw Todd finish a great try after contributing with a solid run only moments earlier he was fed the ball by Stuart’s incisive run and was able to cross untouched.
Stuart later scored what was by all accounts a screamer of a try.
From here the intensity lifted and Roseville threw everything at us and gave us every reason to bring aggression into our defence, In future however instead of adapting to the brawler mentality that Roseville adopted we should have maintained our structure not getting sucked in to the retaliation.
Whilst we finished the game with a bonus point win, it has been a costly experience with the standard two yellow cards to calm things down from the original fracas and we now need to defend the luckless Justin Gates at the judiciary on Wednesday night from a send off for punching, of which he is completely innocent.
If the ref can clearly see that we are not being drawn in to a negative game then he will be less inclined to find fault and look for reasons to penalise.
Your correspondent was a bit distracted by the fighting….. and his preparations for the next game in which he scored a try!
But more about that later, just ask me (no really anytime,…I’ve got photos too), as a result the report relies on memory and some gratefully accepted assistance.
The halftime huddle was a lot of nervous energy as we looked to settle things back down, but once Charles and Greg had had their chat we seemed to get our heads back in the game.
So eager was Alex to get into the thick of things that with his first tackle of the game early in the second half he gave himself a decent gash (checkout FB) it took eight stitches and some glue to close that one up.
His brother Marc keen to make a quick return from injury came on as a reserve late in the second but has done further damage to an ankle which will see him out for 4 weeks and only back in time for the finals.
Another great last line of defence tackle from Eddie Sudrudjat saw him make a tremendous technically correct drop on another a big man.
Great work Eddie!
I saw Sean cross for a nice try out wide in the second half well done and I’ve seen some photos of Isaac crossing untouched also.
In general terms a good win and a definite improvement on our last effort against Hornsby. Coach Lee made these observations of the performance;

– Stu Raines smart tactical kicking, read play well, turning the opposition inside out with his runs
– Tyler cleared the ball from the base efficiently and took some smart options
– Forwards had phases of brilliance when they didn’t rush and were able to deliver backs quality ball
– Backs made breaks but poor support saw points go wanting
– for the first time this year the backline chimed and when it did we score – all from straight running and a little compression
– Lapse in concentration in the last minute gave Roseville the softest of tries and this can’t happen again

Well boys with our disjointed season there is only two regular rounds to go, we need all hands on deck against Mountains this coming weekend and Hills the next.
After which we must keep match fitness over a 3 week break before a sudden death final that can see us enter the GF.
We are also still a good chance of taking the minor premiership, to do so we would need to beat our nemesis Hills when we play them at Roseville on Saturday week and maintaining bonus point victories would do us no harm either.

See you at training on Thursday, no excuses, lets show the commitment it will take to end this season with the premiers tag!

ZUMBA ZUMBA ZEY
Se-nor Ole

Next Fixture
Saturday 9th June
vs Blue Mountains
More details to follow!

4th Grade
Brothers 10 – 12 Hills

4th Grade (and all other games) started with a minutes silence in memory of young Andrew Heffernan who was killed the previous Saturday morning in tragic circumstances.
Brothers Rugby Club wish to extend out condolences to Hills Rugby at this time.

When the game started Hills definitely seemed ready to play football and started the game with a little more energy and drive than Brothers.
Aido Brannan popped up for an opportunistic try from a tap penalty to keep the scores close.
And Burnsie slotted over a conversion and a penalty to give Brothers a possibly deserved half time lead.
Hill went over in the corner for a well taken try in the second half and went ahead with the completed conversion 12 – 10.
Then the rain came down and Brothers failed to adapt to the changing conditions, and lost a lot of structure in the forwards.
Despite spending long periods of time in the Hills half in the last 10/15 minutes, Brothers couldn’t make the decisive breakthrough and were left to rue a missed opportunity to go to second in the table.
A more structured and disciplined effort is required next week against a very strong Hawkesbury Valley side.

Player points:
3: Si : Strong running and solid defence, didn’t get enough opportunities to run the ball, as the platform wasn’t there.
2: Matt G : Good defence and technically solid all day.
1: Burnsie: Solid goal kicking and got good go forward at the unfamiliar #8 position.

3rd Grade
Brothers 0 – 3 Hills

Let’s be honest this isn’t a game that’s going to live on in the memory for any period of time.
Brothers lost another opportunity to go second in the table and could have won what was a closely contested game between two evenly matched sides.
However a failure to adapt to the appalling conditions didn’t help Brothers and multiple handling mistakes combined with a tendency to over complicate
things on what should have been a day for 8 man rugby let us down.
It also never helps to go uncontested.
Kudos is due to Elvis, Toumas and Aido who doubled up in the front row today. Especially Elvis who played the whole of the second half behind 4 kilos of a face bandage.
We need to get over this mid season front row crisis, as this is where games are won and lost.
Credit to Hills for a more organised defensive performance.

Player points:
3: Dr. Fokker : For a man who’s had more retirements than Mike Tyson, is going really well, aggressive, strong and vocal as uaual!
2: Hansie : Deserved more from the game, good lineout work and good scrapping in the tight.
1: Matt G : More points for the versatile MG. Added some grit to the pack.

2nd Grade
Brothers 0 – 3 Hills

Another loss on the day, but this one has to gall the most.
Despite the vast majority of possession, and making all the plays and breaking the gain line at nearly every phase, we still managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Credit has to go to Hills for a solid aggressive defensive performance, but we tried pretty hard to lose this one.
The conditions were terrible for the kind of expansive game our second grade plays, and our good running lines in the backs were nullified by the difficult conditions.
Also, with the conditions, our forwards, who usually run a nicely controlled game, struggled to seal off rucks, and control the play.
All this led to a fractured, sloppy game, that Hills ground a victory from.
I think the lesson here, like in third grade is the need to be able to slow things down, and reduce the chance of mistakes by taking less risks.
Adaptation to the conditions is something we need to master in order to become a team that can challenge for finals rugby.

Player points:
2: Brendan : Nice work in the tight, solid scrummaging, and excellent defence.
2: Johnny Gibbs : Good running and solid defence, wanted more ball, but the platform didn’t happen.
2: Dean : Great service in terrbile conditions for the half back. Great technique in defence when targeted.

1st Grade
Brothers 26 – 20 Hills

A hard fought win this weekend against a well drilled Hills side who showed glimpses of excellent defence and some good solid pack work.
Hill also scored three tries, which means our defence needs a little more work.
However, it was another game where Brothers didn’t adjust well to the conditions and continued to play our game despite some handling errors, and difficulty in retaining possession.
Lenny, Matty Mc, Ratu and The Flying Mo pinched a try each.
Let’s hope it’s a better weeke all round next week against Valley.

Player points:
3: Blacky : Excellent performance by the nominal full back. Full of running and some excellent defence.
2: Lenny : Another great performance, made up for the missing Buckets with some excellent work in the tight.
1: Jonny Nichols : Excellent work in the tight, and aggressive defence all day.