Junior Reps Find Going Tough

Round 1 matches in the 2013 NSWRL Junior Representative competitions were played on Saturday 9 February, and all four Dragons teams faced stiff opposition in their respective games.

The St George Harold Matthews (U16’s) Cup team was defeated 10-28 by Balmain in the WIN Jubilee Oval clash, leading Coach Graeme Wynn to say “We dropped too much ball to give ourselves any chance of winning today. We’re better than that and will be looking for an improvement in next Saturday’s match v Canterbury”.

The Ben Hornby coached SG Ball (U18’s) Cup team were also defeated 18-38 by the 2012 SG Ball Premiers, Balmain. Hornby summed up the match when he said “We dropped the ball early, and Balmain capitalized and scored three quick tries. It then became an arm wrestle until an intercept try in the second half let them get away again. We will need to concede far less penalties and make less errors before we give ourselves a real chance of competing for the full match”.

The Illawarra Steelers Harold Matthews Cup, on the back of an outstanding match from captain Blake Lawrie, defeated Manly 20-12 at WIN Stadium, Wollongong. Co-Coach Michael Stone said “Blocker (Lawrie) was outstanding today. He was well supported by his teammates who had to dig deep to overcome a talented and gutsy opposition”.

The result of the SG Ball match was influenced by the first half send off of Steelers centre Euan Aitken. Leading Manly 18-0 at the time, momentum swung away from the Steelers and they couldn’t hold out their Manly counterparts, who eventually won 18-28. Coach Dean Young was proud of the efforts of his players under trying circumstances, and knows that with continued application victory is not too far away for his young team.

Round 2 matches will be played on Saturday 16 February when St George take on the strong Canterbury Bulldogs Junior Reps at Belmore Sports Ground at 10.00am and 11.30am, and the Illawarra Steelers are at home to the Sydney Roosters at 9.30am and 11.00am.