Suburbs Scorpions

Some pics from the tough game against the Waitakere team at Trusts on Saturday. There was some great tries scored guys.

This week against the champion Waitemate Black team was always going to be a huge challenge especially after our first encounter resulting in a 64-Nil loss to them less than two months ago. With our growing confidence and the boys beginning to master their moves the boys began really strong holding the opposition to just 15-nil at half time. Again the boys dominated in the forwards reinforcing their growing reputation in the Auckland competion for tough uncompromising forward play. All our forwards are strong with ball in hand particularly on the drive and lethal on pick and go especially Daniel, Harrison, John, Villi and George. The boys simply ground there opposition down. Ezi has just grown leaps and bounds and his play would put him as one of the best props in the grade. Our body positions in rucks and mauls were for most part text book. Scrums were again a strong facit of our game especially against another strong scrummaging team. Our better technique and lower stance from our tight five however spolied the opposition ball. Our split commitment to rucks stretched our opposition causing confusion. Our strong counter rucking and defensive play from William and Harrison is always impressive to watch. The best of the best today without doubt went to Findlay who destroyed every player he tackled. His speed around the field was superb frequently in support of running backs. A real joy to watch him play out of his skin today. A very proud display in front of a very proud mum, coaches, players and supporters. Well done Findlay - We knew you had it in you! No excuses now! Our back play hinged around Flynn setting the strong platform in midfield allowing the forwards to run off and subsequent ball to move along the backline for our outside backs. both strong on defence and attack Flynn caused havoc in the midfield opposition all day. Bailey and Finn continue to develop better understanding which has flowed on to better quality ball for our mid field in Flynn and Ronny. A confident display of kicking from Finn allowed us to put pressure on the position at key times. Strong running from Nico and Riki when chasing allowed us to gain critical territory. Jamiel has certainly found his preferred position in the backline and continues to make strong attacking probes. William Ralph had without doubt is best game this season running with confidence and determination. Well done Will. Ronnie had another strong game with decisive running and good recycling of tackled ball. Again the final score didn't reflect the level playing field but the boys won a moral victory in conceding only half the points from last time we played. the confidence is growing and a win for the boys isn't far away. Well done from a very proud couple of coaches. A very good step in our teams development! Great job! Andrew

Photos by Kirsten Weir Nikon D300 70-200mm

The match vs College Rifles Bullets was always going to be a good rematch after our first round loss of 38-5. It was also a great opportunity to measure how much we had improved as a team or not as the case maybe. And it lived up to everyone's expectations. With the sniff of a potential win all the boys raised their urgency and commitment and without doubt played the best game of the season so far. The boys started a little slow in the first half missing a couple of critical tackles to allow the opposition to cross the line. However there was without doubt an air of growing confidence as the game progressed and at half time the boys were only behind 12-7 after Ronny made a decisive run to the line from good ball distribution from the forwards through Bailey, Finn and Flynn. A tough conversion from 15 metres from the sideline nailed by Flynn. The forwards look confident with several strong and confident pick and goes creating havoc for College Rifles. Scrummaging was brilliant again and the opposition struggled to counter the solid technique and strength the forwards exerted. Many balls were won against the head which allowed the boys to run several counter attacks. Set plays from rucks and scrums were the best we've seen all year. Bailey took control from the start this week making quick decisions and passing well to Finn who offloaded well allowing Flynn to dominate the mid field once again. His numerous crash balls well over the advantage line generated a great platform for our forwards to run off and as a result we continuously stretched the opposition. With such dominance at the breakdown our backs were able to run all our set plays with great effect allowing the backs to run in another try shortly after half time to bring the score to 12 a piece with growing dominance. Flynn was unable to convert the try kicking into a difficult cross wind barely missing by hitting the post. The boys however rallied again and Ronny was able to secure his third try. This time Flynn slotted the extra points to take the boys ahead by 7. Unfortunately a period of intense pressure from College R and the over eager referee to award penalties against both sides and send people off upset our flow and after a string of penalties and some lack of discipline by the boys the boys found themselves the victim of a pressure try to College Rifles. 19-17 to Suburbs. The conversion to come the boys charged and the ball went wide. Unfortunately the referee deemed that the charge was illegal and allowed College Rifles a second chance which they took and slotted the extra 2 to tie everything up at 19 all.
A tremendous effort by our boys who were by far the better team today. They destroyed the opposition in many aspects of the game. A huge game from Ronny who scored three tries and ran hard and fast when ever he had the ball. A worthy player of the day achievement. Great attacking from Flynn who often took three or four to bring him down setting up great ruck ball. Finn distributed brilliantly while also making several strong runs. He also kicked well on defence. Bailey controlled the backs and forwards, communicated brilliantly and dictated the speed of the game with great affect. A step up even from his player of the day game last week. Jamiel and Riki played brilliantly on our wings this week. With Nico sick, Jamiel stepped up and played his heart out with unbeatable defence and great hands on attack. His strong running and body position allowed the forwards to recycle the ball on very occasion. Riki as always looked strong on attack and with Jamiel both chased kicks hard putting constant pressure on our opposition. William R was effective on attack allowing time for our forwards to arrive to recycle the ball. Our tight five of Ezi, Daniel, John, Harrison, William and Findlay set the best platform of scrums, rucks and line outs so far this year. With an enormous effort from George, Josh and Villi in the loose are now possibly one of the most dominate forward packs in the grade. Very week they dominate their opposition in most aspects of the game. Their improved confidence, work rate, skills and superior technique will only grow as the season continues. This season will continue to prepare our boys for what is without doubt going to be more competitive run in the second round of the competition not to mention the cohesion being banked for next year as the boys learn how each other play. Well done lads and while some of you may be disappointed about the result today the bigger picture is without doubt the progress you have made as individual players and as a team. Well done to each and every one of you! Ron, myself and your parents are extremely proud of the momentum you're making and the team you're developing into. Go the Scorpions! Andrew

Our game against the grades top team Carlton this week was always going to a solid challenge for the boys. But the boys turned up and played with lots of heart. The forwards provided plenty of good ball for the backs much of it coming from second phase pick and go. As usual our scrums were very strong and dominated our oppositions. This gave us a solid platform to work from. Another great performance from Daniel who has simply found his groove with some brilliant pick and goes with perfect body position. Strong scrummaging and great lineout support. Another strong game from Ezi and John who moved around the field much quicker today. Josh as usual was strong with ball in hand and a menace at the breakdown to our opposition. Great to have Harrison back from injury. Together with William, Findlay and always improving Jamiel continued to further dominate there often taller opponents. Some stand out lineout takes from William with the aid of the best lineout throwing we've seen from any ho**er so far this season. Well done Josh. Some strong tackling from Harrison. A couple of great runs from Jamiel. A well deserved try from Findlay who drive to the line late in the game and fought his way across the line with his best performance all season. Our backs were well lead by Bailey who passed well under pressure. He played with growing confidence throughout the game in a position that's relatively new to him. William Ralph provided the team respite when deep on defence. Unfamiliarity between William and Flynn caused some confusion at times turning ball over to the opposition who never hesitated to capitalise on our mistakes. Flynn made some solid gains in midfield allowing the boys to recycle the ball for pick and go. Solid running outside Carlton backs created havoc and with several soft tackles and frequent overlaps created allowed them to score almost at will. A courageous effort from Finn and Sam against much bigger and aggressive counterparts. Difficult day for outside backs who were pinned down constantly and struggled to break out. Great to have Jerry back in the fold. A difficult day to slot back in the team after a couple of weeks off with injury. Some inconsistent tackling by the boys didn't make it easy but a courageous effort where for many aspects of the game we dominated but unfortunately the boys simply let our guard down at critical times. Another great game from Ronny who showed his versatility by running at centre for most of the game. He always looked dangerous and as the season continues must be getting closer to a player of the day performance. But today Bailey showed out as a great contributor, balanced and considered direction, and improved communication and instruction to both forwards and backs. Well done Bailey. A good result overall in the development off this team. As they say you often learn more from losing. However really the effort shown by the boys wasn't truly reflected by the final score. This is what builds character and resilience for later in the season and next year. Chins up always. Andrew