Chris Storey
Terry Ryan

Anthony Casaceli

Ian Wilson (temp)
Craig Ross

Thursday

While this match goes into the record books as a loss, the 14 players who played their hearts out at Woollahra Oval No. 2 on Sunday can all be very proud of themselves.

Most of you will understand that it’s never easy to confront a tough opposition on their home ground, with the temperature already past the predicted 27o, knowing that you have the bare 15 players required. Learning that one of the 15 has been delayed, and that another wasn’t coming at all, might have been enough to really rattle a lesser team, but the 14As seemed to take it in their stride, though, and went through their pre-match warm-up with their usual enthusiasm.

The game started badly for us, however, with Easts getting a couple of quick tries in the first five minutes, courtesy of a glut of possession, and a one-man overlap (we’d consented to them starting with 14, thinking our 14th player was only minutes away). The Easts forwards were hitting hit hard at the breakdown and controlling possession, with the halfb

With five minutes to go before half-time, and each of our players desperately in need of a breather, the momentum began to shift, slowly but inexorably, towards Burraneer. A couple of good tackles out wide by Nick H and Ryan C had showed the Easts backs that they wouldn’t have it all their own way, and then some punishing pick & drives by Jacob, Dom and Daniel had the Easts forwards back-pedalling as well. Hanging on to the ball for a few phases allowed the team to show what it can do, and when Blake stormed over for our first try, the Jillaroos (sorry, Wallaroos) knew they were in trouble, and were clearly desperate for the half-time whistle.

Despite the rousing half-time address from coach Storey, the second half didn’t start in quite the way we’d hoped, with Easts sneaking in for a quick try and conversion, stretching the half-time lead of 24-7 to 31-7. This wasn’t what the supporters had wanted, certainly, but in some ways it may have been just the thing to kick-start the boys into action, b

While they’d looked fitter and stronger than our blokes in the first half, Easts’ confidence began to fall away rapidly in the second, in response to a very determined comeback from Burraneer. In the face of sustained pressure, firstly from the Burra forwards in tight, and then from our rampaging backs out wide, the Wallies looked increasingly flustered, and unable to maintain their defensive structure - Burraneer were suddenly discovering (and exploiting) gaps in the defence that hadn’t been there before.

Despite the heat, and their increasing fatigue, the forwards began to work as a solid, cohesive unit and the retention of possession at the breakdown was a real feature of the second half. Our backline play was equally impressive - the passing from Jack at half and Chase at five-eighth was accurate, allowing Lachie and Nick to get outside their opposite numbers regularly, and setting up some penetrating attacking raids into Wallahs territory. Nick scored an impressive try out wide to close the

From the kick-off, the play followed the pattern of the previous 15 minutes, with Burra retaining possession, and steadily forcing Easts back into their own territory - it’s not quite so easy to swagger when you’re backpedalling!! Blake then scored his second try of the match, and the conversion took the score to 31-26, just as the full-time whistle blew!

Burraneer had come back from a 24 point deficit to very nearly snatch the game from the home side - the boys had the momentum, the drive and the determination to win the game….unfortunately they just didn’t have the time!

The impressive thing about this effort by the boys was the fact that they pushed themselves, knowing that they were a player down and knowing that they weren’t going to get a rest - and now they know what they’re capable of. The rest of the competition will need to be on their toes because Burraneer are coming for them!

Ian Wilson
Acting assistant co-manager

A tough match to start the season can be either a blessing or a curse - in the case of the 14As match against Dural, however, it was as much a case of the former as it was the latter.

Yes, it was a first-up loss, which is never the best way to welcome in the new season, and we know from our experience last year that all of the games will be tough, with no easy wins on offer. Having said that, though, the boys showed signs of the skill and talent that was obvious to most observers during the last season, and with only a couple of training runs, and one mix and match trial under their belts, they were probably never going to be at their best. Of course, knowing that Dural are essentially the Eastwood U/14 representative side in club colours shows that our team, even under-prepared, are a match for anything this competition can throw at them.

There were some very pleasing aspects to the team’s play. The forwards, for example, showed that they have the size and skill to dominate the set-pieces in most of their games, with a rock-solid scrum that won their own ball and most of the Dural ball as well (until the Dural props started to hook!). The lineout looked good as well, and with Angus, Zac and Jack alternating as jumpers at No.2, and Nick and Jacob at the back, they have more options than the currency market.

The backs also started very strongly, and seemed to have the measure of the bigger Dural backline for the first ten minutes or so, without being able to take full advantage of the early possession. When Dural had the ball, our backline adapted to their tactics very effectively – first sliding to cover the Dural efforts to spin the ball out wide, then compressing to prevent any mid-field breaks resulting from an inside pass.

Honours were even for most of the first half, with neither side willing to concede, or able to take, the advantage. As half-time approached, though, Dural managed to hold the ball for a sustained period that tested, and finally disrupted, the Burraneer defensive pattern enough to gain an overlap, and go in for a try out wide - the conversion from close to the sideline had Dural up 7-0 at half-time.

The second half started in a similar fashion to the first, with the teams going at each other with a ferocity that might have led a recent arrival on the sideline to think this was a match to decide a finals berth rather than a first-round clash. Dural were first to put points on the board, courtesy of a penalty goal, extending their lead to 10-0. Despite this setback, the boys came back at the opposition with a renewed vigour that had Dural reeling, and looking likely to break at any moment. Unfortunately Burra just weren’t able to capitalise on this apparent advantage, and Dural bounced back (you could say against the run of play) with another try, to stretch their lead to 15-0.

If there’s one thing supporters of the 14As learned from last season, though, it’s that the team have a very impressive ability to come back from seemingly hopeless positions, and this game was no exception. At 15-0 down, and with the opposition gaining in confidence after their second try, spectators might have been forgiven for thinking the contest was all but over. The boys had other ideas of course, and from the kick-off, immediately put Dural under pressure with a neat strategy of pick & drive forward charges, followed by efforts to spread the ball wide. This clearly caught Dural by surprise, and while their defence rallied briefly, they weren’t able to hold out completely - Lachie Hughes used his power and strength to drive over next to the posts and with a quick conversion by Ryan Carmody, Burra were back in the game at 15-7!

Another passage of hard-driving forward play saw Burra camped on the Dural line again, and when a cheer went up from the players involved in the maul, we thought the boys were a real chance to set up a grandstand finish – but it wasn’t to be – the ref indicated that the ball had been held up over the line (despite the fact that Jacob Storey was the last man up off the ground, with the ball firmly wedged under his chest!). Dural won the ensuing 5-metre scrum, and held Burra at bay for the final seconds of the game to run out winners, 15-7.

All things considered (early season fitness, lack of timing, and the heat), this was a very good all-round performance by the team, and one which should give the boys and their supporters a great deal of confidence for the remainder of the season.

Ian Wilson
Acting assistant co-manager