Round 1 Roundup

After a week of rain that threatened closure of the ground, Round 1 of the 2020 season kicked off under glorious sunshine and what a day it was.

If you didn't get down to the ground you missed out on some great park rugby with a nail bitter in the Meldrum Cup that had the crowd fired up. The final score in the Halligans doesn't do it justice. It was a closely fought game that got away in the final 10 minutes.

It was great to finally get the season underway and have over 30 Brothers players running around the park. Results and match reports below.

Next week we are up against Wakehurst at Wakehurst Rugby Park and have a Halligan's booked in for 1:30pm with the Meldrum Cup kicking off at 3:15pm.

We look forward to seeing all our supporters there.

ZUMBA ZUMBA ZEY!

Meldrum Cup

19-22 Rugby a game of discipline and structure.

We posted 19 points and created opportunities we did not convert. Altogether not a bad effort considering we lost two players holding key positions. Out of the 15 that started, I think 7 made training last Thursday so the potential for this group of players to succeed boils down to time spent together. Understanding our system and executing our system will lead to good results.

Our discipline has to better, once you get on the wrong side of the referee there’s no coming back. We should all make a strong effort not to speak to the referee but our captain.

Credit to the Manly Savers to how they played. Hope we get a chance to play them again.

There were some great individual efforts all around: Chris Royle great run down the touchline; Dermo pulling out some good hits; Jayden & Parker working tirelessly around the ruck; Max creating opportunities from fullback. The points this week go to:

1- Nick McCamley - versatile, got moved around but responded well in each position.
2- Josefa Bilo - once introduced showed power and skill.
3- Smithy - worked tirelessly in defence made so many tackles.

Lenny

Halligan Cup

0-31 Closer than the score indicates

Our Halligans team had a solid first half against a fit and well-drilled Manly team, going in at the break only 5 points down. Fitness told a little bit toward the end, as Manly rang the changes and rolled on their complement of substitutes, managing to put the game beyond contention in the last 10 mins of the match.

Even with a team that had a few returning players, who hadn’t been to training and weren’t familiar with our game plan, the boys continued to play for each other and were courageous in defence, with some great hits going in and some determined defence, as well as a genuine attempt to stick to our plays. The points this week go to:

1- Tom Channell - Great exits from the 22 under pressure and great field position from penalties.
2- Tim Opie - great chases from the restarts, regathering a couple and really putting pressure on the opposition with some big hits if the catch wasn’t on.
3- Mitch Clark - was an absolute menace all game, tackled big, carried strongly and worked hard for every ball. Well done Mitch!

Cheers, Scott.