Round 5 Roundup

Out to the land of latte we went for round 5 of the Meldrum Cup. Those who attended were treated to some great free-flowing rugby and a real gritty performance from our second grade, who came from behind in the last 10 minutes to win the game.

With Balmain being our furthest trip this season I think it's fair to say the players and spectators are enjoying getting to the games and both are turning up in numbers.

Next week we have a wet weather weekend and have organised a Halligans against Mosman 6s at Roseville Chase Oval. The week after that we are home against Dee Why where Declan Ward will run on for his 100th with the club.

We look forward to seeing all our supporters there.

ZUMBA ZUMBA ZEY!

Meldrum Cup

FEAR IS A REACTION. COURAGE IS A DECISION

Saturday we played a side that thrives on intimidation and unnecessary niggling. Balmain doesn’t care about your rugby ability, what they do best is test your sportsmanship and courage. Any moment you show weakness or ill-discipline they pounce, that’s what they play for. The most part we kept our discipline but we didn’t take advantage of the extra man courtesy of a RED card to their prop. At times we played to their level, pushing passes when we didn’t have to and unnecessary banter with the opposition and referee. Balmain is a team coming 2nd on the table so putting 47 points on the board is no mean feat. No doubt will be playing them again.

All in all a good team effort but we can’t go on without mentioning Joseva Bilo, scoring a hat-trick, this man is class. Two of the tries coming at long range, cutting the defence with ease and scoring untouched under the post. Maika Mudunavosa scoring a brace, a 40-meter effort off the back of a tight head scrum, selling dummies, and showing good agility on the way to the try line. Our forwards continue to dominate the set pieces, and again the opposition had no answer to our scrum and Michael Parker’s ability to steal at line out saw them resorting to quick taps. The backs continue to gel on game day, if they trained together, they would be unmatched in this competition.

Another good weekend for Brothers Rugby, with both teams winning.

The points this week;

1- Matt Norman - Some tough carries into solid contact, never took a backward step.
1- Jordan Smith - Dogged determination in defence.
2- Michael Parker - Not at 100% but put in a captain's knock.
3- Joseva Bilo - Come watch him!

Thanks,
Lenny

Halligan Cup

Yellow team on a roll!

A gutsy win, the second in a row now for the Yellow Team/2nd Grade, against a top of the table and in form Balmain 2nd Grade.

The first half saw early intensity from the team, as has been asked of them by the coaches after an earlier lacklustre performance and intensity. This week they got straight into the opposition from minute one with some great ball retention and defence with Tom Channell finding all sorts of angles to secure some fantastic territory, courtesy of his cultured right boot. It wasn’t all roses as early on the pack struggled to cope with a very capable (& heavy!) opposition in the first contested scrums of the season for us. However, we stuck in well and the return of Sam Stanley to the Brothers team setup helped to bring some stability upfront.

Big efforts from the second-row pairing of Mat Barton and Finn Hutchison and also, a number of Fijian players showing real endeavour to get go forward and set a good platform for Tom Channell to begin to take control.

A second-half highlight has to be the effort of Tim Opie that was disallowed with the referee ruling a certain try as a knock on - Tim had already done the hard work, reclaiming the kickoff, weaving his way through a number of players and crossing the whitewash, only for a marginally loose grounding to put paid to his efforts. Hard luck Tim!

A loaded bench meant that we could really empty the tanks and know we had ample back up when guys were running on empty. A torrid final 10 minutes saw Balmain really pressing for an equalising score in a match that went the distance as an entertainer.

Keen to keep this squad together and put together a solid run until the end of the season. If you can - get down and catch a game we highly recommend you do so! Some very entertaining footy on show!

The points this week go to:

1- Tom Channell - Some great nudges and kept the opposition penned in their own 22 for long periods.
2- Ifireimi Veremalua - Willing and capable hard worker, took as many hit-ups as you gave him and rarely set a foot wrong. Great game.
3- Tim Opie - was a real handful all day out wide, finding gaps in the opposition defence at will, turned them inside out, mazy elusive running, and real endeavour to get underneath a restart really puts pressure on the opposition. Great game Tim, well played mate.

cheers,
Scott