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Result : Them 20- 5.
Points to Tim Robinson, 2 to Paul McGettigan, 3 to a second rower whose name escapes me for the time being.
In contrast to the last time we played this lot (when the wind blew like it had come straight from the bottom of Satan himself), the day was fine and clear, and with the going underfoot at the Kingdome good to firm, it was never going to be a grinding war of attrition. True to form, Hurlstone Park showed from the off that putting the ball through the hands was always going to take precedence for them over the whole ruck and maul thing.
Having seen the size of them I wasn’t looking forward to the scrums, but surprisingly when we got to the first one they were basically piss weak. Their lineout wasn’t too flash either but they had an unhappy knack of getting a bounce or a not straight with the upshot that they spent a large part of the game with the ball in hand, theirs, which is precisely where they wanted it. They scored 4 tries, 3 of them in the first 20 minutes, which was a shame really, because as the game went on we got a whole lot better and they didn’t.
McGetts showed exemplary sportsmanship when the referee ruled their third try was held up in goal, which it patently wasn’t, in telling Sir to award the try. Your reward is in heaven. The second half definitely belonged to us, even though it was one try a piece. Theirs was a fairly bizarre decision. Sir had the arm out at right angles, indicating a scrum, when they took a quick tap, (ref raises his arm to 45 degrees) and scored (ref raises arm to perpendicular). Not that I’d ever whinge about refereeing standards or anything.
Our five pointer, on the other hand, was a joy to behold. A dropped ball in open field, swooped upon by Dion Fink, who decided to show a bit of toe. He got round three or four defenders, hared down the line and at the perfect moment passed inside to a flying Sam Harvey who had had the foresight not only to do the support thing but also positioned himself quite beautifully. Once more, one is left to lament what might have been. Whilst as a team we might lack the last ounce sheer natural grace and flair, we show commendable commitment, fight and mongrel, and when all is said and done, I think this season we deserved to win more than we did and everyone can be proud of the teams achievements. Gentlemen, I love my footy and only 24 hours later I’m in deep withdrawal.
by Jon Hayward
On a freezing day at Ambarvale, King’s inspirational captain Paul McGettigan won the toss and elected to run with the wind with the idea that we would build a strong lead through his magical kicking game in the first half, and worry about the rest at half time (we were down three tries to one at half time). From the outset, the front row of Robbo, Wilso and Dietero were dominant, intimidating the opposition into submission (we had uncontested scrums), however the UWS team had the pace out wide, as well as the Referee in their favour and proved too strong.
Kings points came from tries to Brian McKinstry, Scott Rudd and centre Adam, with Paul McGettigan landing a goal (his only decent kick of the day).
By Tim Robinson
This game was a must win for the seconds to make the semi finals with the blueshorts and Macarthur competing for the remaining finals spot. The task was made more formidable in that the game was to be played at Campbelltown which is at a latitude and longitude further then most of us are accustomed to travel and gave the home advantage to Macarthur. What was even more formidable for Doddsy was that the game was played after Friday night. As a result the pre match hype was high, (except for Doddsy who was asking everyone to keep the racket down) and the pre game preparation was serious with forwards conscientiously doing lineouts, practicing rucks & mauls and lineouts with the backs doing whatever backs do.
The game started fast and furious and really set Macarthur on the back foot. In my mind we had them beaten in the first ten minutes. They realised that we were more hungry for the ball and for the win. This was especially true with respect to the breakaways, in Tiva and Bogroll.Tiva was man of the match (in 1sts -ed)and, I think, the unanimous pick for player’s player. He was all over the ball all day. Bogroll again was a contortionist on the field flopping around like a fish out of water for the ball.
The backs made some cutting runs and scored the majority of the points on the day with same great hit ups from Maso & Matty Ivers (get back to your own grade matt – ed) in mid field that made it easy for the forwards to run forward all day. The backs as a whole I thought had a field day with very little that I can remember that went wrong. Diggsy especially made some great runs.
The first scrum did not occur until ten minutes into play, which as the Referee remarked, was unusual and showed the discipline with which we were playing. We quickly showed dominance with the scrums winning several tight heads during the day in crucial spots. Best forward try of the day was by Jeff being powered over the line by a tight pack of forwards from a lineout on their five metre line.
Stu’s throw in the lineout was good with emphasis on keeping it simple working against good opposition. However I suggest that we remove “Fairvale” from our repertoire. It just doesn’t work. Earl did some great spoiling at the back of the lineout coming up with some good ball on their throw. In all, a good win (41-7)which we should build on next week against Hurlstone.
Special commendation to those who played in first grade as well. I think there was five of us who were sacrificed to Nixxy’s win at all costs strategy: Sarge was heard to mutter at the end of first grade; “At this rate, I will have a washboard stomach at the end of the season and will have to spend all summer fending off the chicks.”
by Alex Rhydderch
Dear Alex,
I dreamt that there was a man on my bed. I threw water at him and he got mad. He said my uncle would die, and he did. I have seen him a few times since then and he has made all the boyfriends I have had dump me! I am afraid. Am i psychic, or did I kill my uncle? will I ever find love?
Does Nathan my ex-boyfriend (i dumped him coz i was scared he would be made to dump me) sill love me as much as I love him?
Confused!
Dear Confused,
I’m very sorry to read of your Uncle’s passing. I can tell be the poor quality of your typing, spelling and grammar that you have been greatly effected by this dream. However, have you ever heard the expression “it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all”? I think you should apologise to Nathan for dumping him but I would be surprised if he will accept your apology, it was a pretty silly thing to do!
The man on your bed represents all men and you throwing water at him represents you driving them away. From the dream you have described, it seems you are the type of person who does not want to take responsibility for your actions, then feels guilty, therefore you dream the man is making your boyfriends dump you instead of seeing that only you have the power to do this, don’t be so hard on yourself. You did not kill your Uncle and you have no reason to be afraid. I doubt that you have the psychic ability necessary to wilt a flower, let alone kill someone.
You will find love although in what form I am uncertain, but driving away the ones you love by dumping them will not help. I suppose you would like more reassurance than this but I think this is maybe a case where a close examination of how you REALLY feel about your boyfriends would be more appropriate than worrying about the conflicting emotions of your seemingly adolescent sub-conscious. Don’t be afraid of love and don’t blame yourself if relationships don’t work, falling in and out of love is one of the most wonderous cycles we ever get to experience, it is both good and bad, easy and hard, but the joy true love brings is worth every moment of the bad and hard times. I am sorry I cannot be of more help.
This reminds me of a poem by Ogden Nash,
How courteous is the Japanese;
He always says, “Excuse it, please.”
He climbs into his neighbour’s garden,
And smiles, and says, “I beg your pardon”;
He bows and grins a friendly grin,
And calls his hungry family in;
He grins, and bows a friendly bow;
“So sorry, this my garden now.”
Little known to decent Strayans is a group of Asian political and business leaders plotting to take over Straya by selling us extremely good and affordable cars, generating capital in Straya by buying real estate, destroying the economy from within by building factories and employing people. Luckily the One Nation Party discovered this dastardly plan and are willing to save us by throwing them out. We will soon all be able to once again drive FJ Holdens and marvel at the effectiveness of drum brakes, get jobs classing wool or at the abattoir, once again to thrive exporting primary products, live in water side mansions (once owned exclusively by foreigners) and Strayans will be happy and free again. O THANK YOU Pauline, thank you. Then again maybe instead of being a stagnant backwater we could choose to be a vibrant nation joining and co-operating with the rest of world as we move into the 21st century. We could be enlightened leaders to the rest of the world both on and off the Rugby field, it is just a thought.
The worst thing about writing this is the waste of time it represents. Anyone who cannot see through the odious tissue of One Nation lies will not bother reading this and dismiss me as some sort of café latte drinking inner-city trendy. However tomorrow is Saturday and Saturday is Rugby day, and I will be joining 89 other blokes who have struggled all week trying to make their and their families’ lives better without infringing on the right of anyone else living in this country to do likewise. We will play, watch and talk about rugby. We will represent our combined regions, nationalities and ethnic groups in a sporting manner and never mention that fact. At the end of the day we will have a few beers or drinks together regardless of what team we played for, what country we were born in, our religious beliefs, regardless of whether we like beer. We will laugh and commiserate, we will honour the strong, the skillful and the brave but not forget the weak and defenseless. We will look forward to meeting again, look forward to introducing our wives and our girlfriends so they too can be friends. We will not harbour grudges and blame our problems on someone else. We are all AUSTRALIANS, Rugby players and mates.
by Maso