Hawks gave the Harden crowd quite the spectacle on Saturday with a huge 54 – 6 win against Bungendore.
Nick Hall, coach of the Harden Hawks, said, “They looked to be missing a couple of big fellas, and had a few smaller guys. They were missing one or two for sure, and a couple might be coming back. They’ve got plenty to choose from with a large number of registrations.
“They beat us the last few years, and they have been a good side for a long time. We were just bloody good. We played really well.
“We kicked off. We went down there and defended them, got into them off the kick off. It was a pretty physical game. It was a good start. Drew got into one.
“It wasn’t a bad start, and we scored in our first set, so they finished, kicked it.
We went through them and scored right at the end of the set.
“They got their only points late in the game.
“It was nearly done, and they pushed through a tackle from a few metres out. We gave a penalty, and they had some field position; someone fell off a tackle, and it was a pretty soft try.
“We were disappointed to let it in, but to be truthful, by then, I looked around, and I had six or seven starters on the bench next to me, and I had made some changes by then, and the heat was well and truly gone.
“We are three for three. We have had three wins, so we are on top with North Canberra, who have also had three wins. They are a very good side. They have recruited well.
“We have got the best defence as we have only let in 12 points for the year so far. That is pretty good going, I’m pretty happy with that. The other sides are around 40 defensively.
“That was our goal at the start of the year. We had the best defence last year, as in we conceded the least going into the semis. People don’t think about that, but we do.
“We have an expectation this year that we keep the defence tight.
“We are doing more of the same this year. We nearly had the best attack last year; we were unlucky at a few key points last year.
“We have still got to come up against the two best sides, which are North Canberra and Crookwell this year, and we will be playing them in a few weeks.
“Bungendore needs some more work, but we’re feeling good, and the players are all feeling confident. At least we are taking confidence and momentum. They’re all good things to have at this time of year.
“Training hasn’t been great. Needs to be better. Considering how we’re going, I’m pretty happy with the performances. I would say we’ve got more travellers this year. We’ve got four or five blokes coming from Canberra.
“Jacob Lucas is not playing. He is going to miss the season now, he was coming from a long way. Will Manwaring was coming from a long way. It’s not ideal, but you can get away with it in George Tooke.
“Jacob is out for 8-12 weeks with an injury. He was coming from Wollongong.
“He’s going to be available later in the year if he comes back from his injuries.
“Will Manwaring also travel. Will’s one of those fellas who’s deceptively quick and strong. He is a good footballer, a natural footballer. He had a good game. He got a player’s player off the bench. Will just struggles because he never trains. He could never train. He knows footy. If everything goes right, he can get away at lunchtime and try to get back to training.
“This week we have UC Stars at Canberra.
“We will go in pretty similar to this week. A couple of new faces went well, a couple of the new old boys.”
They will play UC Stars on Saturday at 2:30 pm at Raiders Belconnen.
Jack Murray
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