Unappealing. Tedious. Just plain unnecessary, really.
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I had it in my head the whole way to Mudgee on Saturday.
Why?
Why am I heading to Glen Willow for a game of rugby, really, most of the region had forgotten was on and one that is part of a competition, by and large, the whole of the country still doesn’t have any real attachment too?
I mean, did anyone know there side called the Fijian Drua in the National Rugby Championship? Yep, me either.
And then I bumped into Andrew Blades, the boss of the NSW Country Eagles franchise, and a former NSW Waratahs and Wallabies prop.
Good man. He gets it.
While the Australian Rugby Union is, rightly or wrongly, often battered from pillar to post about its lack of funding and support for community rugby, the couple of days the Eagles spent in Mudgee were about just that – Mudgee.
More specifically, the Wombats. A quintessential grassroots country rugby club.
Wherever the Eagles lob up to play their NRC home games, that community benefits. Big time.
The Wombats banked the gate takings from the game, ran all the canteens and manned the bars. They pocketed every penny, dollars that will then feed into the club’s junior systems and make it both cheaper to play rugby and help the club build on its current pool of resources.
Having a game like this in the country is important to keep country rugby alive.
- Wombats junior rugby coordinator Eric Brown.
Don’t get me wrong, the Wombats haven’t made millions. The crowd was modest, at best.
But if the NSW Country Eagles club doesn’t exist then does Mudgee rugby get any help from the ARU? Does any country rugby club, for that matter?
“We don't come out here to take,” Blades said post game, a match the Eagles were absolutely out-classed throughout by a rampant Melbourne Rising side.
The end score – which was 62-7 to the visitors – wasn’t a factor for those in attendance.
A win would have been nice, but it would only have served as a bonus to what was really going on behind the scenes.
“We come out here to give to the community and leave something behind,” Blades continued.
If that’s their goal every home game, then the NSW Country Eagles would have to be the most successful club in any code in Australia.
The Eagles held junior clinics, even brought up Wallabies legend David Campese to help put the next generation of Wombats, and players from surrounding areas, through their paces.
“There was a good turn out there and calibre of players and development officers there to help was brilliant … there was a lot of praise for the guys that ran it,” Mudgee Wombats junior rugby coordinator Eric Brown said.
“Obviously the NRC is designed to feed into Super Rugby and then International rugby, but having a game like this in the country is important to keep country rugby alive.”
The Eagles don’t do it easy either.
NSW Country’s first four games of the 2018 NRC have been scheduled in the space of just 14 days, and included a trip to Perth and Mudgee before a game on Wednesday in Sydney, and then another road trip to Armidale.
Really, winning any of those games will be a miracle … but you get the feeling, for Blades at least, winning isn’t everything.
Not when the Eagles have, as he says, a chance to leave something behind.
Certainly Mudgee has appreciated it.
“It’s a great initiative by the Eagles, to have these games. It’s a journey for them but we get an opportunity we wouldn’t normally, so a big thank you to those guys and everyone that volunteered to help us out,” Brown said.
WESTERN CHALLENGE
Sunday marks a somewhat historic day for rugby league in the region, with premiers from both Group 10 and Group 11 coming together to play in the NAB Western Premiers Challenge.
It’s both a unique chance to see the two best sides from the 2018 season on the same field at the same time and an opportunity to see a stack of different players in action.
ALSO MAKING HEADLINES: I’d be disappointed not to win: Group 10 chairman backs his title winners
But who’s worth watching?
Here’s a breakdown on who has been leading the way for their sides in 2018.
UNDER 16s
BATHURST ST PAT’S versus WELLINGTON COWBOYS/RED BEND
PLAYERS TO WATCH
ST PAT’S: Ash Cosgrove.
Arguably the best player in Bathurst St Pat’s under 18s side, too, Cosgrove is a phenomenal ball runner that makes bumping off opposition defenders looks way too easy. An absolute weapon.
RED BEND/WELLINGTON: Rylee Blackhall/Jack Hartwig.
With the Group 11 junior competition split between the Lachlan and Macquarie valleys, Wellington and Red Bend will go head-to-head at Peak Hill on Tuesday night for the right to play St Pat’s on Sunday.
Either way, both the Cowboys and the students boast ripper teams, headlined by two very different players.
Rylee Blackhall is a tremendous talent in the halves and was arguably as pivotal for the Western Rams’ champion Andrew Johns’ Cup as Noah Griffiths, a half linked with the Melbourne Storm.
Jack Hartwig is an out-and-out powerhouse in the back-row. Small, but nigh on impossible to tackle one-on-one.
LEAGUE TAG
BATHURST ST PAT’S versus PARKES SPACECATS
PLAYERS TO WATCH
ST PAT’S: Meredith Jones
Quick, smart and a leader – everything good St Pat’s does with the ball often features Jones. Her speed is the key. She turns a half-chance into points, and against a decent tagging side those opportunities are crucial.
SPACECATS: Cass Ward.
I hope I’ve got the right Ward, here. Finds space at will and is one of the best defenders in Group 11. Led a star-studded Spacies to the 2018 title. No reason she can’t do the same on Sunday.
UNDER 18s
BATHURST PANTHERS versus FORBES MAGPIES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
PANTHERS: Brad Fearnley.
All elbows and knees, Fearnley would have to be one of the hardest players to tackle in any grade in Group 10.
Big and rangy, the towering red head gets Panthers going forward which allows a super smart halves pairing to excell.
MAGPIES: Dennis Spathis.
The obvious one here is Charlie Staines. He’s just terrific. On his day the best 18-year-old in bush footy. But Spathis is a pure, unbridled power.
If Spathis winds up then look out – his Samoan sidestep has left countless defenders semi-buried in fields right across Group 11 in 2018.
FIRST GRADE
BATHURST PANTHERS versus FORBES MAGPIES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
PANTHERS: Willie Wright.
Unheard of to start 2018 in Group 10, ended the season as the best goal-kicker in the competition and, arguably, the most influential player in the region.
For a Panthers side that finished fourth, he potted the winning field goal in the prelim and then winning conversion from the sideline in the decider – as cool as ice.
MAGPIES: Farren Lamb.
No player, in either group, came of age more in 2018 than Lamb.
His field goal against the unbeaten Dubbo CYMS in the clutch in the Group 11 grand final’s die stages will live on for as long as footy is kicked at Apex Oval.
Cool, calm and full of confidence. In fact, if you were picking a Western Rams halves pairing tomorrow you’d just about have to pick Lamb and Wright.