Hamish Pennington prepares to attempt a sideline conversion.
The 2025 Coota Tri Colours season came to an end at Roberts Park on Saturday in what was a do-or-die contest for the red, yellow and blacks.
Coota had a solid year after having to use more than 50 players in a disrupted 2024, and they managed to keep their squad around the 30-player mark, to improve cohesion, strategy and continuity. After trouncing Young at Coota the week before, the Tri Colours brought their usual physical style to the game and the slightly smaller but slightly more agile Harden squad made for great Rugby.
The Times caught up with President Wayne Berkrey, who, for the last few seasons, has been putting together a squad of locals and more recent additions to the community through many of the new workers from Pacific countries.
Without the committees’ efforts, Coota may well have folded, but they didn’t, and it is a credit to them to make it just one game from the big dance against what will no doubt prove to be a classic Grand Final. Berkrey worked with Coach Phil Gay, who had a great year at the helm.
Berkrey said, “Harden just finished strong, and we were a bit gassed, I guess, with so many sin bins. It certainly took its toll. Harden certainly finished with a bit of authority there as they were full of running. The number of yellow cards dished out during the match meant that Coota were down a man for close to 50 minutes.
“I think we had 50 minutes of the game with 14 players, so that certainly didn’t help. “It probably showed where the team was at during that period. I think they just gassed themselves with that one less player. “It was a good effort, but once again the discipline should have been a lot better, and the occasion just got to them a bit, I think, because it was certainly drummed into them all week, no sin bins, no penalties. That’s why the penalty count was 25-8.
“You can put up with a loss, you can get over a loss, but if things had just been a bit smarter and everyone kept their cool a bit better, it probably would have been a different result. “There was that time there where they just kicked and drove down the middle, and from that moment, I thought Harden was gone.”
Berkrey has been around both the League and Union for decades, and his opinion is held highly. Berkrey will no doubt line up again as President in 2026 with a great committee around him.
Coach Phil Gay should return as he did a very good job under difficult circumstances. A shutdown at the Abattoirs during the week meant that he was missing double figures in the playing department for a Saturday game, and he and the side endured and went into battle.
Berkrey said, “It’s disappointing to lose the run to the grand final. It’s a bit of a hard pill to swallow, but good luck to Harden. They came home strong, so they deserve it. Boorowa beat Coota and Harden both times this year, so it will take an excellent 80-minute performance for Harden or Coota to win, regardless of who got there.
“We got beat both times. First time only by a few points (against Boorowa), but the second time at Coota, they put a few points on us. Gee, they were good that day. If they play like that in the grand final, they will take some beating.”
Berkrey highlighted a few of his players for special mention.“Paddy Cameron, back at fullback, always gives 120%. Jack Hogan, for a little bloke, is probably the best defender in the group, and he only weighs about 65kg. “Isaac Mitchell needs a shout-out as he’s given his all for Coota for a few years now.”
Coota has embraced Rugby in a new and exciting fashion. Berkrey maintained that the club will continue to play an exciting style of footy with new guys coming to town and the old rugby players continuing.
“That’ll continue to happen because they will want to play footy, and that is just a bit of an ongoing challenge to get everyone on the same page, because people come from different rugby styles and backgrounds.
“The blokes are pretty well on top of that and play what they are asked to play and not what they just naturally play. A few of those islanders are always excited to have around. There’s never a dull moment while they are playing. The Pacific style of play can be a little more eyes up and sometimes less structured, and Berkrey touched on that.
“They play a lot of eye-up footy too, and it’s a bit less structured, whereas here in Australia, we structure the footy a bit more. When Coota won the comp a few years ago, they were playing that style of Rugby.
“This year, there is a bit of a mixture of everything. Some games, they just go out there in the second half, and I say just go for your life, and other games are very structured.
“The football gets catered towards everyone’s needs throughout the year.The Tri Colours will be holding their Presentation night on September 13 at the Clubhouse.
There will be more details on social media in the coming weeks and in the Coota Times.
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