It seemed to be a case of déjà vu for the Burrangong Bears as they took on the Condobolin Rams in Round 13 of the Woodbridge Cup on Sunday.
The Bears took to the paddock against fourth-placed Condobolin severely undermanned and facing impactful changes to accommodate the absence of players.
For what they were up against they did well, Condo are a good side, but we were pretty much outnumbered.
- Peter Campbell
It seemed as if the odds were stacked against the Bears in what was always going to be a challenging round.
The Rams were quick to put a lead on Young in what eventuated to be an outcome almost identical to that of their Round 4 encounter in May when Condo took a 64-6 win over the Bears.
According to club person Peter Campbell the Bears didn’t have their flashest game of the season, but put in a gallant effort considering.
“We didn’t play very well unfortunately but had about six players out which didn’t help,” he said.
“We had a lot of blokes out of position [to accommodate for the absence of] Jirrah Freeman-Rasu, Hank Levett and Josh Fogg.
“For what they were up against they did well – Condo are a good side, but we were pretty much outnumbered.”
Tom Grace scored one of Burrangong’s two tries which saw the eventual outcome of 60-10 to Condo.
Players player went to Matt Dwyer who put in his typical 100 per cent effort.
“He never stops trying, he defends well, runs it up and was deserving of the award.”
In League Tag Campbell described Burrangong’s efforts as “sensational” as they held Condobolin to a 28-nil victory.
Condo – who Campbell said boasts a number of representative players – popped two tries on the Bears in first half.
He said the Bears ran out of steam in second half but continued to give their all to limit the visitors to three more tries.
“They beat us about 50-nil last time we played, so we’re getting better every week,” he said.
“We just need to get more numbers to training.”
Players player this week went to Trudy Summerfield who seemed to feel at home in a new position.
“I moved her this weekend, moved her in closer to the action and she seemed to thrive on it,” Campbell said.
“She defended well, made a couple of little breaks, and she saw a lot more ball, she did very well.”
Sarah Foley earned three points.
With five games left of the ordinary season the Bears find themselves at the bottom of the ladder in First Grade just short of Binalong on for and against.
First Grade have a challenging few rounds ahead of them as they come up against two teams within top three of the Woodbridge Cup ladder.
They take on equally-placed Binalong in their charity match round this Saturday, followed by four more against Trundle (first), Peak Hill (eighth), Manildra (third) and Eugowra (seventh).
