Gudday Cobbers,
I hope this missive finds you all primed, pumped and brimming with excitement for the impending kick-off of the Big Bill. It’s time to put aside the ruminations, the scheming, the plotting, the tea-leaf analysis of the nuances of half-muttered remarks at airport press conferences, and to lock-in to a month and a half of sleepless nights, empty rum bottles, early starts, Arnott’s Shapes, late finishes, Macca’s brekkys, and the pastel and hazy-edged timelessness of sleep-deprived tournament footy. It’s time to ignore rhyme, rhythm and reason and back your team (the Wobbs), and your 2nd team (Fiji or Georgia), blindly, with total parochial force and fervour as they struggle, strive, dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge in pursuit of that Big Gold Cup.
It’s here. It’s big. It’s time.
The Wobblies chances…
I don’t have much to say about the Wobbly squad or any other squad anymore to be frank. I think EJ’s plan is to have the Wobbly squad supported by the orbiting AussieA/Barbarians squad and a whole host of other Wobbly fringe players scattered about Europe on ‘injury cover’ deals. This is no isolated group of 30 odd guys. This is a larger group where any of about 45-50 players can be brought in/out as needs and ‘injury’ require. And to be fair, it’s the smart way to do it.
The other thing I think is important to recognise is that, provided the Wobbs make it out of the pools to at least the quarter f Eddie is more focussed on what is to come rather than this particular Bill. Don’t over-react to my statement here, I’m not saying he doesn’t care. And I’m not making excuses. EJ and his gang have and will put everything they’ve got into this campaign I’m sure. And certainly the players are only focussed on the job right in front of their nose. And I think they may surprise a few with just how well they will do.
But the larger game here – what EJ was really hired to do – is focussed on leveraging every drop out of experience and value from this Bill to the fullest extent in the set up of a squad focussed towards the home World Cup and BIL tour to come. That’s the main prize for RA, they are the pay-days to be squared away, and so it is for EJ.
Nutta’s Tip: Semi Finals loss. We’re Australians. We are the nation of Steve Bradbury. We will stay in the fight, get lucky and ‘jag’ our way through the quarters. But we don’t have the smarts in critical positions to challenge for more.
Anyway, here it is. So let’s get it on.
Word around the campfires:
Finals time continues and let’s have a whip around the provincials to see what’s a-cooking in your neighbourhood:
Down in the ACT John Dent last week, 1st Grade saw Gungahlin Eagles break their 20 year drought and defeat Tuggeranong Vikings by 33-22 in-front of a raucous and jubilant crowd, while in Women’s Premier, Tuggers faced off again, this time against Uni Owls. And it was the Owls who stole the choccies with a try after the hooter to defeat the ViQueens 30-26.
In the Ressies/2nd Grade (Spence Cup) Tuggers Vikings got the win by 19-12 over a gallant Royals, while in Colts, Queanbeyan Whites were too strong for the Tuggers Vikings, taking home an emphatic 53-33 win.
Across in ‘1st Division 1st Grade ‘ (effectively 3rd grade) Goulburn Dirty Reds took on Uni Owls and it was the Owls who grabbed their 1st ever men’s premiership with a 21-7 win. While in ‘1st Division 2nd Grade ‘ (effectively 4th grade) Gungahlin Eagles knocked over Royals 34-17.
On the weekend just gone, over in the West Australia Premier competition, Palmyra won their first WA Premier Grade Big Dance in over 30 years (since 1991 to be exact) as they downed Wests Scarborough 25-23. It was after full time when Palmyra sub Fionn McCabe (no21) slotted the conversion to bring the house down. If you have the time, go watch it on Stan. It was a cracker.
In the Women’s Fortescue Premier Grade, Kalamunda defeated Wanneroo by 15-10 and in 4th grade, Kalamunda got up again by 62-0 over Nedlands. Seconds saw Cottesloe go up against Wests with Wests getting the gong by 39-35. And in Thirsty Thirds, Palmyra also pipped Cottesloe 21-19.
Back in Sydney Town we saw the grand finals of the Sydney Suburban Division 1 play out over the weekend at the newly refurbished Concord Stadium. 5th Grade was contested Friday night between Waverley and Mosman with Waverley carrying the evening by 18-12. On Saturday-proper, 4th Grade saw Mosman (undefeated minor premiers) again confronting Waverley and again it was the Waverley Waves who carried the day 8-10. In 3rd Grade, Waverley again took the field once more to contest this time with Colleagues and yet again it was a 22-7 win to Waverley. The Colts saw Forest do over Colleagues 17-15 in an absolute thriller. While in 2nd grade, Drummoyne scored 3 tries to 2, but still lost 18-15 again to the Woollahra Colleagues.
However the Big Show was in 1st Grade where the relatively recently promoted Blue Mountains Goats took the field for their first ever Kentwell Cup grand final against the minor premiers, Hunters Hill. From the kick-off, Blueys had the early dominance and looked to have proceedings in-hand with the scoreline at oranges reading 27-12. And the Goats dominance continued after the break. But late in the match, the Hunters lads came roaring back, assisted by two late-game yellow cards reducing the Mountain Goats to 13 men at one stage. The closing 10min of the match were nothing if not intense. But ultimately, the clock ran out and the Blue Goats held on to win 44-40. Being the Blueys first ever Kentwell Cup Premiership, the scenes after full time were somewhere between unbridled and pandemonium and I can tell you first hand that as late as after-dark on Sunday evening, the various Mountain haunts were still fairly shaking. If you have access to ClutchTV, go watch a riveting match.
And over in the Big Dance for the NSW Mid North Coast competition, it was the Wauchope Thunder who travelled to Taree to take on the might of the Manning River Ratz. The last time these sides met it had been a 21-18 win to the Ratz in Wauchope, so anticipation was high for another tight fight. However it was Wauchope who skipped away and stole the day with an emphatic 29-7 win. And it just wasn’t to be the Ratz day as the Gloucester Cockies also did them over when they took the Women’s Big Dance by 17-10.
Well that’s enough from me for this week. Play hard Cobbers. Run straight, tackle brave, put your favourite doona on the couch, check the batteries in the alarm clock and make sure the pantry is chock-full of Pizza Shapes and Tim Tams as we lock ourselves in for the Festival of the Bill.
Leave your thoughts below…
