Mate against Mate: Jared Prosser, Ben Dyball, Jonah Potts, Will Manwaring, Chris Fredericks, Jack and Mick Hinds and Lane Gaudie after the Young Cherry Pickers hosted the Cootamundra Bulldogs at Alfred Oval in Young on Saturday.
When you love your chosen sport you will do anything to play it. Distance, time and effort must be achieved in small towns. The lads pictured above love Rugby League and have done for most of their lives. These young men play the game hard and play the game with their mates and against their mates to achieve their passion.
Jared Prosser, Chris Fredericks and Lane Gaudie from Harden along with Jack and Mick Hinds of Boorowa chose Cootamundra as the team they wanted to play for in 2015. Ben Dyball of Binalong along with Jonah Potts and Will Manwaring of Harden chose the ‘Pickers’ in Young. These young men are all talented footballers and proved it on Saturday. Cootamundra turned up with 13 players and were up against Young who had a full bench to take on the Bulldogs. Two played three on the ladder and the game was reminiscent of days gone by with plenty of mud, some ‘cheap’ shots and plenty of trash talk.
You could feel the hate boiling between the towns and the teams. This was partly due to the level of skill on display on the field. Both sides knew that if they gave an inch the other would take the advantage and run away with the game. Cootamundra were down to eleven men at one stage and Young lost their Captain to the Sin Bin along with Cootamundra’s as the referee persisted with his attempt at controlling the young men, with several scuffles breaking out. Playing outside of the twin towns for former rival clubs of the Harden Hawks means that these young men do not often get the recognition they deserve for their efforts, however, I can tell you that although they play the game hard they are all still mates afterwards.
Some of the boys have played football together since they were youngsters. Coach of the Cootamundra team Darren Prosser says, “The boys play so hard and always turn up for training. Even though they are often short of players, they have big hearts and lots of talent. I’m hoping they will make the top 5. Come the semis I hope Justin Stewart will be back. We have probably played 50 percent of our games with 12 players.” Darren went on to say, “Young had a stronger pack of forwards on the day and deserved their win. Jonah Potts and Will Manwaring are steaming ahead with Young. I feel for Zac Pirie who turns up each week to watch his mates run on without him. Zac fractured his collarbone in game one when playing for Cootamundra, He is just champing at the bit to get back on the field.” He said, ” All the kids give of their best and play hard against each other but when they come off the field they are just good mates again, the game finished up 42-16 in Young’s favour.” “When they played Under 16’s these kids won the competition, then they branched off, some of them went to Young, some to Coota and a couple to Yass. The future senior ranks of The Harden Hawks looks positive with these young men furthering their skills in the game. We wish all of the players the best for the future and will keep our readers up to date with how the two sides are faring towards the Semi Finals. If you would like to view some action shots, head to The Twin Town Times Facebook page and scroll down.
