The Devils front Row from Saturday’s match started with Clint Stevens, Ethan Bates and Marcus Ashton. Also pictured is Jim Honner, Jack Thurkettle and Adam Ceeney in the Back Row.
The Harden Red Devils went down to competition front runners the Bungendore Mud Chooks on Saturday, 56-7. The old adage the scoreline didn’t reflect the game and it certainly was the case when Bungendore’s oldest supporter came over and shook as many Devil’s hands as possible, stating such after the match. The Devils started with plenty of fire and plenty of tackling ability in the first few minutes. Bungendore scored early on, but not until they had encountered the Devil’s defence. The try went unconverted. In a complete shock to the Mudchooks, Harden scored next to the posts a couple of minutes later when Kyle Murray showed the ball twice to his inside backs and darted through to score under the posts. Young Gun Jesse Redmond put the conversion over to make it Harden 7 Mudchooks 5.
Bungendore brought a large and mobile side to Robert’s Park many of which must have been having a year off from top level football. The Second Rower for Bungendore looked like he should be playing Super 15 such was his physique, however, that didn’t stop Harden Prop Marcus Ashton from sorting him out on several occasions. The Bungendore big fella ended up leaving the field and changing clothes. The game continued to be played at a frenetic pace with Joe Thompson starring on the wing in a new look back line. Thompson has played five eight and inside centre so far this year, however, it was his defence that stood out. He missed only one tackle all day and saved what looked like 6 or 7 certain tries.
The Referee decided to put his mark on what was looking to be a close scoreline and a great match when he sent two Harden players to the bin before the half time break. It looked like this was the only way Bungendore would be able to extend their lead and they did. Kyle Murray went first, unable to roll out of a ruck and was quickly followed by Jack Thurkettle who gave an opposition player a nudge in the back during a contest for the ball at the next kick off. Both cards left the crowd scratching their heads. Down to 13 men the Devils did their best until half time but couldn’t beat the ref on this occasion. The referee may yet have a complaint made to Brumbies headquarters this week. Spectators and Devil’s players and committee members were left gobsmacked at some of the decisions handed out to the men in red. Hopefully they won’t get him again anytime soon. Congratulations to Captain Clint Stevens for keeping his head in difficult circumstances. The Devils stood up across the park and were led from the front by Marcus Ashton and Ethan Bates. Bates was strong at the breakdown and is becoming a formidable tackler and clean out merchant at the Ruck. Ben Brady played his usual solid game and was assisted in the back row by Fergus Hall, Adam Ceeney, Sam Thurkettle and Jim Honner who continues to play out of his skin each week.
John Manchester directed the Devils around the park well, while Five Eight Kyle Murray made good use of his outside backs of Zac Allen and Graham Murray. Matt Schofield showed his experience by cleaning up several chooks down his edge and Jesse Redmond backed himself on several occasions putting pressure on the opposition. Jack Thurketle was very good in the line outs and around the park and the Devils less experienced players can learn a lot form him. Danny Flanery made a brief appearance in the red jumper on the weekend and gave John Manchester a rest towards the end of the game. Players can also learn a lot from Danny who played plenty of seasons for the NSW Country Cockatoos in his younger days.
Overall the match was an improvement on last week’s loss to Yass and the side will have this week off in the form of a bye to sort out niggling injuries before they head to Crookwell on May 28. Rugby is now well and truly alive and well in the Twin Towns with about 32 players either training each week or looking to make a return to the squad after injuries or farming commitments. One thing is for sure 32 can’t fit in to 22 which is an excellent problem to have from a coaching point of view but a difficult problem to have for players who all want a run. Some players will have to sit out each week so that the entire squad gets a run over the remainder of the season.
This year isn’t about trying to win the Grand Final although the Devils may make the top four and give it a shake. If they do get to the big one they will definitely make a contest of it. This year is about getting young men interested in Rugby in the Harden area and rebuilding the club so that it can go forward next year and continue to be a success. There is no I in team and players will have to do what is best by the team and the club for the rest of the year. The season will continue as follows. 28th May Crookwell v Harden. June 4 Bateman’s Bay V Harden. June 11 Bye (Long weekend). June 18 Harden v Broulee. June 25 Bye. July 2 Harden v Milton. July 9 Jindabyne v Harden. July 16 Tralaga v Harden. The last round on July 23 shows Harden at home to Broulee. Club President Ged Davis received a phone call from Brumbies headquarters last week stating that their were a couple of mistakes in the draw. This translates to Harden either playing Broulee at Broulee in one of the matches this season or risk having to go to Broulee twice next year.
