Jack Alcorn bursts through the Yabbies defensive line.
The Harden Red Devils have shaken up the South West rugby competition with a Strong 33–7 win over the reigning premiers, the Young Yabbies, in front of a vocal home crowd on Saturday. With finals looming, the victory cements Harden’s top-four credentials.
From the outset, Harden brought intensity and physicality that the Yabbies, who are chasing a fourth straight premiership struggled to match. Led by a fired-up forward pack and some brutal defence, the Red Devils suffocated Young’s attacking options and set the tone for what would become one of their most complete performances of the season.
“We have Boorowa this weekend so it was important to put up a strong performance to build towards Boorowa and Finals time” said Harden head coach Jack Alcorn.
“Young has been the benchmark for years, and we wanted to show with our form and style of rugby that we are ready for the premiership this year.” Alcorn praised his side’s commitment and execution, especially in defence. “I thought our line speed was relentless. We won the contact zone, we made our tackles stick, and we played with real intent.”
The Red Devils didn’t just out-muscle the Yabbies they outplayed them tactically. Exploiting penalties and dominating territory early, Harden surged to a commanding lead before halftime, with clinical execution in set pieces and clever kicking behind the line. A late try from Young did little to alter the result.
“They were under pressure from the first whistle, and we just kept the foot down,” said Alcorn. “That’s the standard we’ve been building toward.”
Tempers flared late in the match, with a scuffle between players halting play before the final whistle. While some might see it as a blight on an other-wise impressive showing, Alcorn took a pragmatic view. “You’ve got two proud clubs fighting for their season things boil over,” he said. “But I was proud of how our boys held their discipline for most of the game. We kept our heads when it mattered.”
For the Yabbies, the loss pushes them outside the top four with just one round left a stark departure from their years of dominance. For Harden, it marks a turning point in their season. “We’ve been building slowly, sticking to our systems,” Alcorn added.
With finals just around the corner, the Red Devils are now shaping as a serious dark horse. “We’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” said Alcorn. “But if we keep playing like that if we bring that hunger and discipline we’re going to be a hard team to beat come finals.”
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.