2024 Club Update – Round 14

Konnichiwa Cobbers!

I hope this missive finds you all peachy keen, fighting fit and pizza pockets this fine August morning as we sit back, gather our thoughts and contemplate our navels in reflection of last Saturday, the final round of the Division 1 of Sydney Suburban Rugby competition for 2024, wherefor the jolly green giants of Forest travelled south, down Warringah Rd, to the fair and enticing shores of Canada Bay and the welcoming embrace of Drummoyne Oval. Inclement weather had meant nowt but the first grade played the Forest fixture back in Rd1, which also meant that all the lower grades were therefore playing for double competition and club championship points on the Saturday just passed to close out the season. And as can be expected after such a long and interrupted season, more than just a few were ‘hanging’ on the results. Indeed, given the somewhat unpredictable performances across all grades and the veritable plethora of draws among the lower grades in-particular across the seasons breadth, our Club Championship position was a tad precarious at the end of last week and ‘a good showing’ was needed across the club the ensure that, in our 150th year, relegation did not rear its head to mar the record.

And so it was that we gathered our wits, tightened our studs and limbered our appendages as a light breeze chased away the previous nights rain. We ‘stood to’ to have our photos taken to commemorate the year (thanks Geoff Granger), went through our various physical exertions as warm-ups and then took to the field to put another weekend of stitches in the Dirty Red jersey.

For the record, despite not fielding a side on the day, but being the last competition round, I thought to acknowledge the Sutherland Cup results. As such, the Red Brekky Club ended the season with 1 win and 3 draws from 12 potential starts and given 2 close losses (so an extra +2 BP’s), the lads mustered 13 table points and so finished 6th on a table of 7, 3pt clear of the Mosman Whales who rounded out the bottom of the table.

Judd Cup (4th grade) – Won 36-0
The Red Juddo’s came into the weekend knowing they were mathematically out of the hunt for a semi-final spot, but still keen to ‘do the right thing’ not just by the club, but also by themselves, and to finish the season with a really solid display. In 6th spot with 3 wins and 4 draws from 12 starts for 21pts, the lads were determined to meet the 7th placed Jolly Green Giants of Forest head on and get the club day off to a flying start. And it must be said that the pregame mood was good – coming off a cracking Thursday night training session and moving through a relatively relaxed but accurate warm-up, the bhoyos were clearly keen for the trot. So with the photo taken and the last words of encouragement said, we rolled onto Drummoyne Oval one more time for season 2024.

Pleasingly, the enthusiasm carried past the opening whistle with Fraser ‘Hitman’ Lamont letting fly with two brutal frontal tackles in the opening 2 minutes that sent ball-carriers one way and their balls-carried another. Whilst unfortunately drawing the ire of the Ref for hits that in previous years would be nowt but applauded, those tackles nonetheless were a great opening salvo and set the tone for the day of Red ownership around the collision areas. From there, the Red Juddites quickly established their now-familiar set piece dominance for the duration of the match, with the Three Amigos of Leota/Edwards/Nutta making merry hell at scrum time and Alex, Paddy and Oscar owning the altitudes at lineouts regardless of who threw the pill. As such, the back line were served a veritable sushi-train of possession and it was mere minutes before Brandon Leota reaped the first pie of the morning, down the left flank. With the dam now burst, pies then flowed and were sauced at a steady rate by the likes of Sean ‘5 years’ Bennie, Jack ‘Johnny’ Walker, Taylor ‘Chip Kicks’ Smith, Josh ‘Tackle Him Nutta!’ Wheatley, and a 4th open-field galivanting-about pie for the year for some old fella who should just stick to his set pieces.

In what turned out to be a masterclass of lower-grade constructive rugby, it should be acknowledged that the eventual 36-0 final scoreline did not do justice to the Forest willingness to compete both with and without ball. Off the back of self-inflicted penalty streams at the ends of both halves, the Green Giants did repeatedly pound on the Red try line with seemingly relentless intensity. But pleasingly, the Red Juddo’s seemed to only revel in the ‘blood & guts’ defensive commitment required to hold the green waves at bay, and thus it was perhaps the best part of the day that the Forest scoreline read a stark zero at the full-time whistle as testament to the Red Juddo’s willingness and commitment to defence.

Points were awarded as 3 to Sean Bennie, 2 to Charlie Yeomans, 1 to Jack Walker and in what was likely the highlight of the day from a ‘spirit of rugby’ perspective, the Forest Juddo’s joined the Red Juddo’s for beers and skols in the Red Room immediately after the final whistle.

For the record, 4ths finished the season with 5 wins and 4 draws from 14 matches, equal 5th on the table with Lindfield on 31pts, and a solitary 1pt behind 4th placed Blue Mountains who finished with 32pts. Yep, if but one of those 4 draws had been wins, we would be playing next weekend. Such is life.

Whiddon Cup (3rds) – Won 36-15
Coming into the weekend needing to maintain their recent good form to keep their season alive, the 5 from 12 for 27pts and so 5th placed Red Widows were pumped, primed and ready to rock and roll against the 7th placed Forest with their 3 from 12 on 15pts. Given 4th placed Lindfield were battling 3rd placed Colleagues, a solid Red win over Forest would see the Red Widows take at least 4th spot, possibly leapfrog as high as 3rd spot, but either way grab a minor semifinal berth next weekend. But such musings were pointless without first tackling the immediate challenge posed by the Forest 3rds. And so the lads took the field committed to putting the right sort of stitches into their jersey.

Comments from Supercoach Scully afterwards, grabbed in the raw moments as his heartrate fell back to something approximating normal, were nothing if not “relieved”. Still keenly aware that the team were missing some key troops from the regular fold, the side as fielded still included high calibre cattle and all their accumulated nous was needed as they confronted a big, physical and clearly motivated Forest Thirsties who jumped out to an early lead with an unsauced pie. However, as Supercoach went on to say, this early bloody nose seemed to ‘awaken’ the Red Thirsties, and so the Red Pigs stepped forth to pave the way for “the Maserati’s to come out of the garage, and lay-on some long range entertaining tries.” For the record, those Maserati’s included the likes of Matty ‘Ferrari’ Moore, Tom ‘Mustang’ Zwart, Jim ‘Maverick’ Davis, Tom ‘Ice Man’ Sidgreaves, Cory ‘Still Bludging’ Johnstone and ample squirts of sauce from Cal ‘Sniper’ Boland. And with that, the Red Widows did record a fine victory and so put themselves in good stead for next weekend.

Best & Fairest points were awarded as 1pt each to Tom ‘Mustang’ Zwart & Rabi ‘Maloo’ Karaali, 2pts to Cal ‘Sniper’ Boland and 3pts to Jim ‘Maverick’ Davis.

The win means the Red Widows end the regular season at 7 wins and 1 draw from 14 matches for 37pts. And given 3rd placed Colleagues thumped 4th placed Lindfield Thirsties by 26-0 on Saturday past, the Red Widows have nudged the Linfieldians aside and take 4th spot on the table to book a seat at the Minor semifinal table next weekend. In doing so, the Red Widows will lock horns with the Woollahra Colleagues for their 2nd semifinal showdown in two years. Accordingly, whilst Supercoach was keen to extend thanks to everyone who had supported the team along the way so-far this year, he was likewise focussed on exhorting everyone involved to keep up their support for the Thirsties and to stand with them as they prepared for the coming weekends challenge. Go hard lads.

Barbour Cup (Colts) – Won 26-19
I always find it vaguely amusing when folk pull out their abacus late each season to attempt to conjure the possible Pythagorean permutations that may compute if someone beats someone else by eleventy-seven points, and in so doing attempt to plot a pathway of survival for their respective team through such minefields of variables. For me, I find such machinations frustratingly imprecise and prefer to say “Just go win it” then assess the field thereafter. And such was the landscape for the Colties as they approached the weekend. The table read as a veritable rubic-cube of possibilities with our Red BaaBaa’s at 5th with 4 from 12 for 22pts, so positioned to move to 32pts given the double-points round, whilst Colleagues were 5th with 6 from 13 on 28 and so likely to move to 32pts with a win over Lindfield, whilst Forest themselves were on 30pts and so well within range of a semifinal spot themselves with x2 bonus points. But any way you like it, the first step was that the lads simply had to beat the 3rd placed Forest. And as such, the lads braced themselves, pulled all available resources and charged headlong into the fray.

In the aftermath of a victory that saw even the otherwise unflappable Alex ‘Anvil’ Perkins jittering about with nerves, comments from Supercoach Rowdy focussed on how the message to the lads this week had been ‘Our destiny is in our hands, so what are you going to do with it?’ And it was clear the lads had taken that message on-board, and so played with heart and guts and thus didn’t disappoint. Despite worrying signs early and going into oranges at 8-0 down, and then seeing the deficit increase further to 13-0 not long thereafter, the lads endeavour and determination did not flag at any stage, and the match was played with almost an expectant air that at some stage a Red comeback would come. It was undeniable. And their persistence and courage was finally rewarded when rampaging lock Luke Qalovakarua scored the critical pie which then seemed to unlock the gates for Peni Saurara, Josh Rhodes and then finally the ever-reliable Nick Baksa to follow suit, all dutifully sauced with extra’s by Nick Long, while Forest could only manage a couple of penalty goals in return. Full time sounded with some farcical scenes underway as the coaching staff tried to work out if we had done enough to qualify, and while initially the boys were told they had missed out, the brighter members of the squad finally got the abacus the right way up, connected the dots and sent the lads into spasms of raucous cheers and calls for beers!

Points went 3 to Jordan Lancaster, 2 to Luke Qalovakarua, 1 to Harry Di Girolamo. For the record, the win saw the Red BaaBaa’s finish the season locked in a remarkable three-way tie with Colleagues and Forest on 32 table points. The coaches thought they lost out as they had mistakenly focussed on points-scored for/against differential, which put Forst marginally ahead. But in-fact, the positions were decided on win/loss countback. As such, with 7 clean wins the Colleagues took 3rd, while with 6 wins and 1 draw the Red BaaBaa’s grabbed 4th, leaving Forest with only 6 wins and 0 draws to miss out by the barest of margins.

The win sees the Colties join Thirsties in progressing to the Minor semifinals next weekend, wherein they also will meet the Blue Giants of Colleagues yet again. With the Colties vs Colleagues record this year at one game a-piece, this match is shaping to be a cracker, likely one of the match-ups of the day, and so of-course all are being called to be ringside for the spectacle. Up the Colties!!

Burke Cup (2nds) – Lost 20-14
Similarly to Colts and Thirsties, the Red Ressies came into this weekend needing to win to stay alive in the 2024 season. In 4th spot on the table with 6 from 12 on 28pts, compared to Forest with their 5 from 12 for 24pts, the double-points final-round fixture loomed as the maker for one team and the breaker for the other. As such the pre-game warmup for both sides was clearly intense and the nerves emanating from the respective huddles and tunnels prior to kick-off were certainly palpable.

In the aftermath of what was clearly a disappointing result, comments from Supercoach DJ Woz were that ‘It was just not meant to be’ as despite the ‘mighty 2s’ going into the final round as the highest placed Drummoyne grade, with an able squad and a sideline full of reserves, that last elusive win to make the finals proved just beyond reach. In terms of the match itself, Forest initially went ahead with a penalty and then sauced pie to set up a 10-0 lead. A pie to Niall McDermott, sauced by Lachy Palm, pulled back the margin somewhat despite another Forest penalty. Then a pie to Zech Browden (with Palmy sauce again) set up a grandstand finish, with the D.Reds seemingly having the momentum, only for the script to go awry and the Forest Hooker to seal the match with a pie plus sauce to finally put the Red Ressies 2024 aspirations to bed. As such, up against what was clearly a ‘strengthened’ Forest outfit, and despite the lead changing a number of times in what for impartial observers would have been a highly entertaining match to watch, the Dirty Red Ressies fell short on the day. In the aftermath, Supercoach Woz commented that when opportunity doesn’t meet with a successful outcome, it is important for coaches and players to reflect on the ‘why’ and learn from the experience accordingly. But that said, in the changerooms immediately after the game, and despite all the raw disappointment, there was a genuine acknowledgment that the Red Burkies had produced a positive season, and that all indicators are good for success to follow for this group. In closing, Supercoach was keen to point out that the team was led magnificently all season by Captain Corey Griffin, and the core group of players behind him had been reliable, committed and enjoyable to coach.

Points were awarded as 1 to Lachie Palm, 2 for Shep and 3 to the always reliable Niall McDermott.

For the record, the loss saw the Red Ressies end the season in 5th place with 6 wins and 1 draw from 14 matches for 30pts, 4pts adrift the 4th placed Forest.

Summation
And thus that was the way the cookie crumbled for the middle-grade warriors in the last regular-season home game and fixture of the 2024 season. On what turned out to be a fantastic day of rugby we saw a ‘what if?’ resounding victory for the Juddo’s, a pair of semifinal securing victories to Thirsties and Colties, and a heart-stopper of a loss for the Red Ressies, which all then set the scene for the 1st grade, Kentwell Cup fixture thereafter.

Next week will see us all man the sidelines and cheer on our own Colties and Thirsties in that most-rare of things in Sydney Subbies rugby – a home semifinal. And, to not put too fine a point on it, in what will be a huge day for the club in hosting the first round of semifinals, those of us not playing are all expected to be at the grounds as early as we may be to help set up pads, ropes, tables, cart ice & beer, man BBQ’s and bars, and then help pack all that veritable mountain of gear away again, to make the day work. Please lads, it’s many hands that on days like this make it all work. So do your bit for your club and community please.

As for the First Grade match report, I’ll leave you all to be astounded and astonished by the melodious and mellifluent tones of DORK…

Boire Le vin.

Nutta

1st grade V Forest at Drummoyne – Win 34 – 19
Well, it’s a wrap, that’s it, finished for 1st grade this season and to end with a good win was very pleasing for all.
With numerous changes to the team including players selected out of position, players having to play lower grades and eligible players playing colts before this game, all proved to be a worthwhile challenge and it opened the way for some younger players to play in the top grade.
Making his 1st grade debut from colts was Peni Saurara who played on the wing and Nick Long, Jordan Lancaster who had both played colts earlier in the day were called upon as well. These young players all held their own and proved they are future of the club. Add to this were regular 1st graders Callum Richardson (hooker) and Benjamin Faavae (No 6) were both eligible for colts and played in the colts game earlier in the day.
Captain Alex Connolly found himself moved from flanker to centre where he was solid and was seen to be mixing it with the forwards regularly. Lachlan Jackon was moved to fullback, Ben Newell started as No 10 and Mackenzie Long was called up to play centres and they all can be proud of their effort.
The front row of Tommy Botting, Callum Richardson and Christian Vanezi dominated the scrum with there counterparts looking for mercy and at least one was seen leaving the field after Tommy chewed him up.
Young Peni opened the scoring very early in the match but the dreaded penalty goals came back to haunt us and Forest hit the lead 9 – 5 soon after.
Yellow cards (one each) followed but then it was a Dirty Red rampage with tries to lock Alex Wilmore, No 9 Ben Halmarick, Nick Long and Benjamin Faavae sealing the deal.
Whilst disappointed not to make the semis everyone involved was happy with a good bonus point win and contributing to the club coming in a respectable 4th on the Club Championship.
Well done to every player that donned the scarlet jersey in First Grade this year, it’s been a pleasure. I’ll see youse all in 2025 .

Ken Stevo

3 points – Ben Newell
2 points – Tommy Botting
1 point – Alex Connolly

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