TOUR TO TRIUMPH – Week 1

It really is a beautiful time of year for TDRL semi-finals and the SAINT was noticed sun-baking on Castle Hill and overlooking the Reggies warm up for the knock out Semi-Final against brothers. Whatever they did in the warm up, really worked.

Right from the outset you could see that the REGGIES had brought their A Game.  Hard hitting defence and slick back line play and it was one of those back line movements to the left after strong hit ups by the forwards, that saw fullback Moses chime into the line and score out wide to the left. Zac has been on fire with the boot over recent weeks and his conversion never looked like missing. 6-0 after 5 minutes and surprisingly it took another 8 minutes for them to score their second.  Good line speed in defence saw them force an error from their opposition and right winger, Nicklin, was their to pounce and run 40 meters to score and Zac was on target again for a 12-0 lead.

Despite the lead and the very warm weather the defence never let up and a couple of big hits from Granto caused Brothers to drop the ball. It was the ensuing set of six from the second error that had UNI 20 meters out and with a short blind on the left. But, not too short that five eighth, Rhys, didn’t notice the opportunity to expose the unprepared defence and grubber into the in goal and Mono was quickly through to pounce and score. Shock – Horror! Zac didn’t quite hit the conversion low enough on the ball, but, despite the miss the lead was handy at 16-0 and only half the half completed.

The heat wasn’t just getting to the forwards as the backs were also putting their hands up for the coach to give them a spell, but, when Nicklin asked to be replaced, the FUGS went off. “Stay on there Nicklin” they yelled. “You’re only a winger. Just suck it up, catch the ball and score. That’s your job.”  So, when the SAINTS won a scrum inside their half and Moses went sideways to the right touchline looking for a gap, he found Nicklin changing the angle back to the inside and then after beating a couple of defenders, he raced 50 metres to outpace the cover and score under the posts. The FUGS applauded each other’s wisdom. Zac’s conversion made it 22-0 and it was soon 26-0 when Simi kept the ball alive on the half way and off loaded to Moses to get to within 10 meters of the line. The ball was swung back to the right where Crowley (Kieran) found himself with an overlap and over to score. Zac’s conversion ended a half of total domination by the SAINTS and a score line of 28-0.

The FUGS mused during the break that next time the NRL consider a rule change they should offer the opportunity to a team leading by more than 20 at the half, to take the option to forego half time and just change ends and continue on.  

The REGGIES obviously felt that they needed to score first after the break to really secure the win. That’s what they did, and, it didn’t take long. Coach, Tobes, has the luxury of a big forward pack and in that pack are the ‘Triple TRONCs’. Tobes uses the three Tronc brothers cleverly off the bench and each time he takes one off he brings a bigger one on.  Tronc V1 & V2 were awesome in the first half with strong runs and hard hitting defence. So, when Brothers made the mistake of kicking towards Tronc V3 at the start of the second half, the FUGS were taken aback by his versatility  i.e.  we weren’t aware he could do impressions. After collecting the ball inside the 10 metres he looked very much like Moses. (and we’re not talking Moses our full back  …  we’re talking Moses who led the Israelites to the promise land). The sight of the big fella in full flight obviously startled the opposition and their defensive line parted like the Red Sea and he finished up on half way. A few plays later Granto was pulled up just short and then the ball went to Zac who cleverly grubbered behind the defensive line to the in goal and the Hulk crushed the ball to score. Zac converted from close range and 34-0.

It’s fair to say that the rest of the half lacked the same intensity as the first  and Brothers were allowed to make the score more respectable. The Reggies never really looked like losing it, but, there were times were it took some cool experienced heads to identify what needed to be done to get their minds back on the job. Tobes realised this and brought Granto back on and he stiffened up a few opposition players and helped the FUGS relax until the final hooter sounded for an emphatic 34-18 victory.

Tobes was happy with the result, of course, but bemoaned the fact that “I’m still looking for that complete performance.” Hopefully that’ll come over the next couple of weeks, as we play Burdekin for the right to get into the GF against HebertRiver.

See the link below for a well put together snippet of the pre-game and game produced by Benn ‘Danger’ Cox.  Noting that the players were wearing a special replicated jersey design dating back to 2001 when DOIGY first started playing with UNI.  A special presentation was made prior to the game where Doigy was handed his number 10 jersey and then given the honour of presenting the remainder to his team mates.

DO IT FOR DOIGY.   Go the REGGIES and Go the MIGHTY SAINTS!

Cheers  … The Saint    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5hrmYSNPJQ