Having decided to watch Knox versus Marist Canberra, I thought I would add to the vibe of the day by walking from Wahroonga station to Cliff Oval. A pleasant enough task, though I did get waylaid a couple of times by turning down streets only to discover I was meandering down the driveways of splendid and marvelous mansions. The creeping high density living construction has yet to intrude into the reaches of this part of Wahroonga, so instead of the sterile architecture blandness of Meriton apartments that litter the Pacific Highway, I was treated to the sights of resplendent homes and gardens. Inhabited by the wealthy, fortunate and blessed. Or perhaps by swathes of high ranking union officials. It was also 'blood and bone' and leaf-blower season. Walking down streets with fine old trees creating a luxurious green canopy, whilst various inhabitants armed with a leaf-blower, dutifully blow the leaves from their property to the next one. This having been done, they disappear and the process of blowing leaf litter restarts and a growing tide of leaf litter gets blown the street. This begs obvious questions; where does this tsunami of leaves go? Do the leave blowers get bigger, to cope with the larger amounts of matter, as the street numbers go up?
Anyway, I found my way to Cliff Oval and to my first live game of rugby for 2013. The set-up at the oval was quite good. Set in rolling green bushland (or perhaps normal suburbia, covered by the tonnes of leaf litter blown down from central Wahroonga), the two ovals were pleasantly grassed and the club house offered good viewing to both the grounds, There was also an enthusiastic set of helpers manning the canteen offering various and much needed refreshments. Though alas, there was no alcohol on sale.
I saw the end of a junior game, U16's I guess, and the standard looked a little scrappy. Both sides were willing, but there was not a lot of structure. It was obvious that this was the first game for both sides. When I was there both sides scored a try. The Marist was due to some solid runs and Knox players falling off tackles. The Knox try due to either a brilliant move by the 5/8 or the referee missing an obstruction that put the 5/8 into space. In the time I was there, the game was marked by frequent stoppages and didn't flow. The Marist pack looked to be bigger (or they had a couple of large lads), but their scrum was getting dominated. However the fine Sydney day was probably not ideal for Rugby, it was quite hot and would have made the task of running around quite hard.
Then to the 2nds , the Marist side probably had the largest lads on the field, but were not the bigger side. (This could probably be said of the 1sts as well). The rise in the tempo of the game relative to the U16's was quite apparent. Especially by the Knox side. They looked quite well drilled and seemed to be tight and cohesive. I don't think there were any obvious stand outs, but they did play as a team. The score steadily build and it was soon in the 20's: four or five tries to nil. By half time it was a bit one way traffic. The Knox side were starting to build and show greater long distance scoring ability. They initially were scoring from close range forward play, but had started opening things up and were utilising their backs to effect. In all of the games I didn't keep score, but at half time Knox were well in control. They were handling the heat better than Marist and looked to be the fitter side. The second half would have been quite open, but unfortunately due to an injury the game never re-started after oranges. Hopefully the Marist boy's injury was not that serious and he can look forward to playing again some time this season.
The 1sts game started off with even greater intensity. Knox used their forwards , kept control of the ball and soon it was two tries to nil. Similar to the 2nds, they seem a well drilled unit and played at pace with precision. The game slow a little and Marist scored a penalty, but were kept out of the game. It looked as though Marist used their 12 as a lynch pin in their attack, but even when they did breach the initial Knox defence, they were easily caught in defence. Marist used the line out quite well with some imaginative moves, but the Knox scrum was stronger and the disparity would only grow during the game. I think by half time it was 4 or 5 tries to Knox. (At least that many.) Regardless of the number, there were some quite good tries and I think the watching punters would have got good value. Like in the seconds, the second half promised to be an open affair and with Marist looking a little dispirited by the end of the first half,it was looking a little ominous for them. It wasn't as if they didn't play excessively poorly, but were just not allowed to do what they wanted.
However, the half time break saw a change in the game. Marist came out with an increased vigour and Knox looked to have eased. For the first 15 minutes of the second half Marist had the majority of both possession and territory. Though they didn't score they built momentum and phases. One promising attack in the Knox 22 saw the ball move slickly through the back line and then intercepted by the Knox winger. Using speed and a good swerve he scored and that was probably that. One could say that Knox at that point teed off. I don't know how many tries Knox scored from that point, but they did score quite a few. Including a few from kick-offs. However the game was soon at an end and that was that.
Marist seemed to be a little unfit, and lacked structure and creativity that is typical of a first outing. With their enthusiasm and the obvious skill with some of their players they will improve markedly. Knox look a competent and well drilled side. They showed a ruthlessness about them which has been missing in other Knox sides. This, together with their combination, skill set and imagination, presumably augers well. I believe they still have some players to return to the side as well. Their back row was annoyingly disruptive, the 5/8 and centre combination were incisive and they have some speed on the wings. Their tight 5 toiled strongly all day and were enthusiastic and effective. I thought it was an impressive display by Knox.
But it was the first game of the season for both sides, it was a hot day which made playing more difficult than it should have, but conversely watching a delight, so reading too much into it about this hit out may be unwarranted.
