In a new addition to the Daily Liberal's coverage of the RSL-Whitney Cup this season, each week we'll look at some of the major talking points coming out of the first grade competition in the Quick Singles series.
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It might be good, it might be bad, it might just be something we find funny. Either way, it's more of a look at what's happening in one of the bush's strongest club competitions.
Here's what caught our attention on Saturday.
1. Is Brad Cox finally fallible?
How many times have you seen this before in the past? RSL-Colts in a bit of trouble, maybe it's 4/60 or something like and then all of a sudden Brad Cox has grafted his way to an unbeaten 60 and the men in red go past 200. Almost regularly at times in recent seasons.
So often the anchor in which Colts build around, Cox just hasn't been quite his consistent self since midway through last season.
In six of his first 10 innings last season he went past 40 but he finished the campaign going past 20 only once in his last five digs.
The new season has started with 15 in round one and then 4 on the weekend.
By no means are we writing Cox off, he's still one of the best bats going around. But maybe, just maybe, Colts might need a little more help in that middle order.
2. Brothers enduring vastly different starts
How about the start to the season Dan Medway is having? Destructive stuff. After being bowled by part-timer Josh Williams and falling an agonising six runs short of a century in round one, no such mistakes were made on Saturday.
Medway pummelled 136 for Macquarie and while it was not enough for his side to get the win over Newtown, it was still a sensational knock.
The same couldn't be said for his brother, Ricky. Spare a thought for him as he opened the brothers opened the batting, only for Ricky to be out for a duck in the second over of the day.
Dan, meanwhile, had three fours and a six as his first four scoring shots.
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It was only slightly better for Ricky in round one as he made just 13 and watched on as his Dan dominated.
3. Steve continues to get it done
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The age-old saying could work perfectly when discussing Steve Skinner's bowling.
Even he would admit his approach to bowling is pretty simple.
The spinner backs up his seamers, puts it in the right area time and time again, makes slight variations, and waits for the batsmen to make a mistake.
There's no ripping turn, no huge amount of flight and drop, just real control and knowledge of his craft.
And it works, too. Every batsmen in first grade knows what's coming but he continually gets among the wickets, often finishing with a real bag full.
Saturday was a perfect example of that as Macquarie was cruising at one stage at Lady Cutler 2, sitting at 2/136 chasing Newtown's 8/266.
But Skinner entered the attack, knocked over captain Ed Haylock for 11 and after Tom Masonwells removed the dominant Dan Medway it was all about Newtown's experienced all-rounder.
He finished with 5/47 from 19, going at under 2.5 runs an over, knocking over key man Jason Green without scoring and then tearing through the tail.
Barry Hildebrandt Medal tally
Every season the Daily Liberal's sports team awards a three, two, one each round in first grade. We'll give updates each round until Christmas, when voting goes behind closed doors.
Here's how this campaign's race is shaping up:
- 5: Dan Medway (Macquarie), Bailey Edmunds (CYMS).
- 3: Marty Jeffrey (Colts), Brock Larance (CYMS), Steve Skinner (Newtown), Jacob Hill (Rugby).
- 2: Ben Semmler (Colts), Lachlan Strachan (CYMS), Luke Carman (Macquarie), Roland O'Connor (Rugby).
- 1: Angus Norton (Souths), Lee Price (Newtown), Aidan Bennewith (Rugby), Lochie Endacott (Souths), Mat Skinner (Newtown), Charlie Kempston (Colts).