Harden’s Gus Shea goes close to scoring in a previous rain soaked match at Country Club Oval at Coota. Shea’s year may be over after a nasty knee injury against Temora on Saturday where Harden won 40-5.
The Harden Red Devils went to Temora on Saturday to take on the Tuskers which resulted in a good 45-0 win in preparation for a Tri-Colours rematch this week. The return of Heath Kirk, who made his debut in the early 90s bolstered the front row stocks and gave the rugby historians a match to remember.
Harden lost Gus Shea to injury during the match further compounding the problems up front. By all reports, Kirk pulled up a little sore in the hamstrings, however, brought his usual mix of experience and calmness to the pack, although rucking for the ball with your feet isn’t used as much these days, which used to be one of Kirk’s finest skills.
Tom Lenehan also made a valiant return after his injury but the team was still missing a few players including Jack O’Connor. The wet conditions were a bit of a worry but all nervousness dissipated when Ben Lenehan put the first try down for the game followed by another from Justin Stewart to stun the Tuskers.
Beefa Richens helped Kirk out in the front row and played himself to a stand still notching up a full game. It was tries-galore for Charlie Fairfield-Smith, Jim Honner and Ben Lenehan that continued stacking the points on for Harden while Temora found themselves scrambling for a glimpse of the try line. Four conversions from Ben Lenehan gave the boys in red some stats to give them some inspiration in preparation for their rematch against the undefeated Cootamundra Tri-Colours.
Senior player Jack Alcorn wanted the team to focus on the structure of this game in preparation for the tough battles ahead this season. “We had to play tight which was a good thing. That’s sort of what we’re doing anyway. The wet conditions obviously made it a bit slippery out there,” he said. “It didn’t seem like 45-0 blow out. They are a really strong team there.”
The Devils should have a squad close to full strength this Sunday with the exception of Gus Shea (injury). The conditions are predicted to be wet which means Harden will need to play a tight game if they want to defeat the undefeated. “We’re going to focus on ruck work this week. Coota as a team has great work around the ruck. We will focus on things like that.” “The set pieces are all coming together well.” The Devils and the Tri-Colours square off this coming Saturday at the Cootamundra Rugby Club.
Kick-off is at 3:15.
Jack Murray
