Reserve Grade
We kicked of our regular season on Friday night hosting Brothers out at Ivanhoe’s. With the lead up to the reserve grade kick off we knew it was going to be tough for both grades with rain continuing to bucket down all afternoon and well into the Reserve Grade game. It was great to see our boys all turn up early to help support each other in there preparations, it’s a shame the Reserve Grade Referee got the draw mixed up and didn’t show. Fortunately Richard Northcote was close by to come and Run the game.
By the time the Ressies took the field they where chomping at the bit. The boys (In conditions you would expect to see in New Zealand) kept their head and dominated field position and possession. It was great to see nothing but positive talk from the boys at the same time the usual negative talk was coming from the opposition. Penalties flowed against the Fish and our boys relished the opportunity. With some great lead up work the back line put Sam “Grenade” Penwarden into the corner for the first 5 pointer of the night, conversion unsuccessful. Unfortunately I was taken away from the game to go and prepare first grade but I did manage to see glimpses of the rest of the game. I was proud to see the boys continue to dominate the game and to keep fellow 2008 grand finalist to a zero score sheet. In the second half we saw some class come thru especially from senior clubmen Justin Brown, Brendan Turner and David Robinson. The second try was to come from some pretty handy foot work to see new Club recruit Loven Yakka, conversion successful and the score would finish that way.
JCU Mariners 12 (Sam Penwarden and Loven Yakka 1 try each, Justin Brown 1 conversion) def Brothers 0. 3,2,1’s Justin Brown 3, Clinton Pryor 2 and Loven Yakka 1.
A-Grade
Despite the weather conditions the rain held off for the first grade encounter. The game started at a pretty quick pace but neither team could seem to string more than three phases together. We did manage to score the first try to give us a 5 nil lead early on. Brothers did come back to post a try and convert to give them a 7 to 5 lead. The game was a bit scrappy and we where finding it a bit hard to apply our game plan and to hold on to the ball. With about 15 minutes to go in the half we where reduced to 14 men with our big hard running number 8 Brian Tauafao being yellow carded for a head high tackle (to Brian’s defense there wasn’t much in it). With a penalty goal late in the half we then hit the lead 8 to 7. We returned to the sheds at half time, and I am pleased to say that the talk was positive and we knew what was needed. When the boys took the field in the second half things started to happen with the boys implementing patient rugby and returning to some sought of a plan. We opened our account to put us up 15 to 7 giving us an 8-point buffer. The scoring pretty much went a try a piece for much of the rest of the game with us eventually taking the win. We showed great strength and discipline and where getting better as the game went on. We can draw plenty of positives from the game.
JCU Mariners 29 (Ebia Galelle, Dion Pryor, Oscar Fasavalu and Brian Tauafao Tries and Dion Pryor 1 pen and 3 Conversions) Defeated Brothers 21 (3 Tries and 3 Conversions).
3,2,1’s 3 Brian Tauafao, 2 Oscar Fasavalu and 1 Lee Boylan. Players Player Brian Tauafao and Jordan Massey Managers Mug.