The Tri-Colours took to the paddock for round one of the rugby season on Friday under lights at Temora where the Tuskers gored Coota 36 – 17.
After Friday’s team announcement, the town was buzzing. The biggest question on everyone’s mind – ‘who was actually going to be wearing the tricolours that evening?’
With an interrupted preseason, the coaching staff didn’t know what to expect. All they knew was that the young Temora playing group would be hungry.
The first 10 minutes saw a new look tricolours side weathering some heavy goal line defence, proving to the spectators they came to play.
A sneaky move down the blindside off a scrum saw halfback Jack Hogan get the Tri Colours’ new speed demon, Ryan ‘Jorgensen’ Holt away in open space. Good cover defence from Temora saw him pulled up agonisingly close to the line. Quick thinking from the backline saw a shift from sideline to sideline with Frank Gabi scoring the first points of the game.
Temora fired back with some good forward work, scoring 3 unanswered tries.
On the brink of halftime, Isaac Mitchell – a man that needs no introduction – carried it off a penalty and strolled over the line virtually untouched.
Halftime saw the score 10-20 Temora’s way.
The second half started with some solid defence from both sides. A few heated moments didn’t get in the way of a good game of rugby.
After a handful of previous attempts, Hamish Pennington finally got himself a pilfer, giving Coota the ball 10m from Temora’s line. A few strong carries saw the line open up and the new pocket rocket, Ryley Kennedy, showed his fast feet and scored under the posts.
Unfortunately, that’s where the good footy for Coota ends. Fatigue set in quickly, and the boys lost the arm wrestle, with Temora running in 3 more tries before the end of the game.
The coaches were extremely pleased with the attitude and effort from the players throughout the game and only asked that they try to commit to training to improve their fitness.
Awards were as follows
Players player – Moekoko Ioane
3 points – Michael Cronin
2 points – Isaac Mitchell
1 point – Jack Caldwell
Halfback Jack Hogan said the score doesn’t reflect the game.
“We’ve had a disruptive season with numbers and a bit of uncertainty on the paddock, but it was a win from the club regardless of the score,” he said.
“We have Condobolin Rams this week and are looking forward to a home turf game. Hopefully, we can come away with the win.
“Our trainings are at 6:30 pm on Thursdays and if anybody is keen, numbers are still low, and anyone sitting on the fence or thinking about playing is more than welcome to come along.”
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