Toby Hayden was solid for the Devils on Saturday.
The Harden Red Devils travelled down the Hume Highway before turning off towards Crookwell on Saturday and were embraced by the usual drizzle, sleet and freezing temperatures that are synonymous with the Crookwell home ground.
Most of the players warmed up in warm clothing. They took to the sheds for the pre game rev up only to find that the referee for the match hadn’t arrived at the ground. There were some worried faces in the Devil’s shed until the Crookwell coach said that he would be happy to referee the match if the Devils agreed.
This would have normally caused some conjecture in that the opposition coach was going to referee the match however, the Crookwell coach is currently none other than Bruce Nixon. Bruce is very well respected in rugby circles in the area and is known to be an excellent coach and a former referee. If he hadn’t put his hand up the Harden lads may have been heading back down the highway several hours earlier than normal. Before the match took place, Nixon spelt out to both sides that he hadn’t refereed for several years and would do his best, and asked that the players allow him to ref, although he may be a little slow around the paddock. After some dreadful refereeing performances this year the Devils were happy to have Nixon officiate. He let the little stuff go, allowed the match to flow and was the talk of the devil’s camp after the match who wished he was still in the refereeing ranks.
As fair as Nixon was to both sides he couldn’t help the Devil’s prevent the scoreline from blowing out to a final result of 48 points to Crookwell, Devils zero.
The Devils welcomed back Brent Loader to the side. ‘Backend’ played more minutes than he wanted to after Marcus Ashton suffered a nasty cork. He made some determined runs and is an all round positive influence on the young side with his up beat persona and wealth of Rugby experience.
Toby Hayden showed that he will be a player of the now and the future. The young Second Rower upped the ante on Saturday and threw his body in to contact where ever he could. Jim Honner continues to be everywhere on the field and is always in the points with his fellow players after the match . The new Captain did his usual job around the field and led the side well.
The slippery conditions made for plenty of dropped ball and made the day hard for Half Back, John Ryan and Five Eighth, Kyle Murray. Alex Pirie was good at Inside Centre and had the unenviable task of marking Crookwell’s best player in their Inside Centre. Joe Thompson spent time at Centre, Wing and Fullback and performed well whilst Corey Pearsall did a good job on the Wing taking down an opposite with a nice front on tackle. The Back Row crew of Adam Ceeney, Jim Honner, Fergus Hall and Zak Leitner were busy all day. Chris Young made a move from the Wing this week to the Back Row and did little wrong in his transition. He will be given another opportunity in the Back Row again this week.
Jim Honner gets a nice pass away to Zak Leitner on his way down to the turf.
The Devils had a contingent of 22 players ready for the away match which returned to 20 when 2 players pulled out. The side continues to be competitive against the middle order sides however, have not been able to quite match it with the top 3 sides of Bungendore, Taralga and Crookwell, who have all posted large scorelines against the Devils.
The Devils will be at home to a dangerous Bateman’s Bay side this Saturday who are on the improve. The men from the Bay went down to competition leaders Bungendore 34-19. Their position on the ladder doesn’t reflect where they should be. They sit 2 positions above Harden in 6th place. The Devils will be looking to record their first win after 4 straight losses. Either way it goes, there will be plenty of effort and plenty of entertaining Rugby at Robert’s Park commencing 230pm this Saturday.
