Canberra competition a shock to the system for young Yabbies

The 16s were first to experience the high quality of play when they came up against Marist College 1 at Canberra.

According to coach Don Blue the players found the step-up quite challenging.

“Marist College were very very strong, very well disciplined and very well coached,” Blue said.

According to Blue the Marist forwards starved the Yabbies of the ball, dominated every scrum  and were extremely accurate.

“The ball that we did have, our boys looked very good, which was encouraging, just that we’re probably half a second slow to the breakdown and on several occasions let Marist forwards turn the ball over and rob us of any opportunities,” Blue said.

“Ben Davis tackled his heart out, Declan Brebner took some spectacular catches from the kick-offs and Nick Stephens ran well from full back.”

Despite being handed a 62-nil defeat the Yabbies held their heads high and accepted the challenge to better themselves in order to suceed in their new competition.

“The boys were actually not too disheartened - they realised it’d be a big step up into this competition from the Southern Inland Rugby Union (SIRU) competition, but this brought home how much stronger of a competition this is,” Blue said.

“They feel they can make the step up with a bit more time and a bit of extra fitness and definitely a few more extra players - we need a few more numbers to help us get up to this level.”

Don believes the change of competition will open new doors for the Yabbies, and give them the motivation to better themselves as a team.

“This is a very strong and very well organised competition in Canberra and it will certainly improve the boys football out of sight and also give them access to representative sides they wouldn’t normally have access to through the SIRU competition,” he said.

Round 2 will be a home game for the 16s who will go head-to-head with Daramalan College on Saturday at 11.30am.

Don encourages anyone interested in playing for the team to attend training sessions at 5pm on Thursday and Tuesday nights, or bring your boots down to Cranfield on Saturday morning at 10am. 

In the Under 18s game the Marist Brothers got an early lead on the Yabbies after scoring two tries in the first 10 minutes of the game.

But the Yabbies held on for the remaining 60 minutes to put on show an evenly-matched game .

Both teams scored a further two tries to bring the full-time score to 14-25 - a victory for the Brothers.

Coach Wally Everdell was pleased with the 18s’ efforts.

“The boys went very well without some of our speedsters - who are back this week - but obviously we don’t have the preparation like the Marist Brothers who train three times a week and have a pretty professional set-up at that school,” he said.

He paid special mention to Brent Shoard, and to Hayden Rutter who scored a try on debut.

Despite being at an unavoidable disadvantage Everdell has pinpointed areas the boys must improve on if they are to be competitive in the ACT competition.

“We know the things we can work on is our fitness, we need to improve our set pieces - scrums and lineouts - and from there I think we are going to be extremely competitive in that division,” he said. 

“It’s going to be a lot tougher because the teams are fitter, much better drilled and obviously you’re playing each team who has a full 15 plus four or five reserves. 

“Predominantly they’re either Canberra private school teams or Canberra big club teams like Vikings or Royals, so you’re competing with some very high standard rugby.”

But overall Everdell believes the change of competition will do the boys the world of good and has high hopes for the 18s.

“I think over the next six weeks we’ll improve 100 per cent, without a doubt,” he said.

“I think the boys are really looking forward to the challenge and improving their fitness and competing in a much stronger competition.”

The 18s will take on Daramalan College at Cranfield Oval, Young at 12.30pm on Saturday.

“I think we will be a bit stronger this week and I’m anticipating we’ll get a win - the boys are in good form,” Everdell said.

Top and bottom of the table affair for Yabbies

Yabbies First and Second Grades head to Albury this Saturday for what will be a tough trip away. 

Albury’s First Grade is top of the table after three rounds. 

However, their second grade is bottom of the table which possibly indicates a lack of depth within the club. 

This will prove interesting at the business end of the season.

The Yabbies club has had a slow start to the 2015 year, currently sitting at eighth on the ladder. 

They will need to knuckle down for the next two away games, with Wagga City to follow Saturday week. 

Yabbies back rowers Sam Bunny, Aaron Seaman and Irish import Rory Sheard have been the standout players for the club so far this year. 

They will need to lead from the front this Saturday to inspire the first 15 to really compete with the competition front runners.

The club is taking a coach to Albury for the encounter and both players and supporters are welcome to board. 

The coach will depart 9am Saturday from the IGA car park.