The Tri Colours held their auction on Saturday night to become the Number 1 Membership holder for season 2022.
Local Cootamundra doctor Jacques Scholtz had the winning bid for the night to claim the number 1 member badge. Pictured is the best BBQ Cooker Roger Miller, Club Captain Angus Forster, best supporter Angus Pennington, Number 1 membership holder Jacques and President Wayne Berkrey.
The Cootamundra Tri-Colours are still undefeated to start the 2022 South West Fuels Cup as they ran out convincing 50-7 winners against the Grenfell Panthers on Saturday afternoon at Cootamundra Rugby Club Oval.
The reigning first-grade premiers were dominant in their first home game of the season, showing another impressive defensive effort backing up from their shutout victory last weekend against Temora.
The win puts Cootamundra in first position on the South West Fuels Cup ladder after two rounds, with a menacing points differential of +104. Lui and Helt scored two each for the hosts on their way to victory, whilst Forster, Bragg and Hogan all crossing the line as well to register on the scorer’s sheet.
Pennington converted five of the Tri-Colours eight tries in a strong kicking display. Played on a wet and soggy ground due to the overnight rain, the conditions didn’t faze Cootamundra as they produced some of the flair from last season’s premiership year.
The Tri-Colours pack dominated the scrum, which allowed them to score a pair of push over tries and saw the hosts take a 24-0 lead into half-time. Grenfell started the second half with some fight and after some early possession and field position the Panthers crossed the line to register their first points of the day.
The Tri-Colours regathered their nerve and withheld the early onslaught from the Panthers, turning a considerable amount of possession into points with some outstanding team play. Cootamundra went on to pile on the pressure in the second half to record a comfortable 50-7 win. Player’s Player on the day for the Tri-Colours was awarded to captain Angus Forster and Fergus Bragg. Three points for best on ground went to Jason Cronin, Matt Berkrey collected two, while the one point was split by a pair of Tri-Colours players.
The Cootamundra coaches, Cam Stanley and Mitch Wakeford were pleased with their team’s performance, but they admitted there is still a lot of work to do to improve. “It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.
There was plenty of pleasing aspects; our scrum, line out and again our defence. We will definitely have to sharpen up our attack before we play our next game against Harden though,” Stanley said.
The Tri-Colours have a bye in round three next weekend as Condobolin were unable to field a side in 2022, leaving a hole in the fixture. However, in round four Cootamundra will face fierce rivals Harden Red Devils in a top-of-the-table clash, in what was meant to be last season’s blockbuster grand final clash, before the decider was cancelled due to COVID.
After the game, the Tri-Colours held their annual auction to become the Number One Membership Holder for 2022 on Saturday night. Local Cootamundra Doctor Jacques Scholtz registered the winning bid in what was a well-supported event for the Club. The Cootamundra Tri-Colours offer memberships for $10 a season which includes notifications of upcoming games and events, as well as a receiving a stubby holder.
Tim Warren
