Luke Brown played his 200th game for the Harden Hawks on Saturday in their 16 all draw against Bungendore.
What was one of the great social events of the entire year took place last Saturday at McLean Oval; with the Harden Hawks hosting four games at their stomping ground, including one played by their cross-code comrades the Harden Red Devils.
Opening the day were the Harden WorHawks who’ve enjoyed much success this season in new coach Paul Lewis’ first year holding the reins.
It was no easy task for our ladies’ tackle side, with the WorHawks facing top-of-the-table Gungahlin Bulls in a feisty game.
Gungahlin struck first before the WorHawks clawed one back in a competitive opening 20 minutes.
As the Bulldogs have done all season though, they battered and bruised through Harden’s middle, and despite a valiant effort from our girls, they were unable to match it against Gungahlin, going down 30-12.
Coach Paul Lewis was happy with the numbers he saw and hopes he sees a similar amount against West Belconnen next week.
“It’s the first time we’ve had enough players to fill the bench all season; I loved that. I thought the girls put in a great, tough effort, we just found them a bit quick down our edges, but overall I thought it was a brave effort,” Paul said.
“We let a few too many mistakes into our game which became our undoing; when you let a side who hasn’t lost a game all season into your half of the field and keep inviting them to run at you, it’s going to be tough.
“Once they play more games together as a core and get to really understand each other’s playing style I think we will start to see us climb up the ladder. I think it’s safe to say we have one of the most talented groups on paper and hopefully soon, we start to see that on the field.”
The WorHawks are set to play another tough fixture this upcoming week; with the ladies playing host to the West Belconnen Warriors. The Warriors sit third on the Katrina Fanning Shield ladder; Lewis expects a tough contest between the two sides.
“Until last week we hadn’t been at home in a while, so to get a couple of games in a row on our turf is a big advantage. These are the games that you want to win and make a statement in, hopefully, we can do that.
“They’ve got some big hitters in the middle of the park, so we’re going to try and play around their wings and use our speed on the outside. We’re a really fit group and if we can keep the game close throughout, we can hopefully run away with it.”
Hawkettes Tame Tigerettes
The Harden Hawkettes class was on full display in front of a packed-out McLean Oval on Saturday, with our Premiership holders dismantling the Tigerettes 46-nil.
Despite the Tigerettes’ peculiar position of 6th on the George Tooke Shield league tag ladder; the visitors showed plenty of resistance to our ladies, giving up the majority of possession but holding a sturdy goal-line defence.
Finally, around the 20-minute mark, Marylouise Minehan would break the deadlock with a lovely bit of play down the right wing sending her over the line.
Upon crossing the line Minehan trotted across to the middle of the park to put the ball down under the post; to goal-kicker Emma James’ pleasure. James added the extras and before long the floodgates had opened for the host.
Georgia Smith would cross for the next two tries before twin sister Clare put her name on the scorer’s sheet, stamping the first half as a Hawkettes masterclass and giving the Tigerettes plenty to think about in the sheds.
As is now expected of the maroon and white taggers, the Hawkettes sprung out of the second-half gates just as they did the first, with Emma James scoring a goal-kickers try in the shadow of the crossbar and continuing her perfect day with the boot.
Georgia Smith; never the content type, secured herself a second-half hat trick and five tries on the day with the Hawkettes scoring 40+ points for the fourth consecutive week. Coach of the side Jason Pollard was pleased with the ladies’ performance.
“It’s clockwork watching them play footy; everything flows perfectly and they’re one of the best teams that you can watch, men or woman,” Pollard said.
“Bungendore were better than expected really, they had some quality taggers and you can’t help but give them a bit of credit. The score ended up being comprehensive, but they gave us a great game.
“We had some massive performances across the park, Abbie Grant and Clare played two full games for both us and the Worhawks and put in big efforts in both.
Georgia was her usual try-scoring self and got her tally up to 24 for the season which is unreal. All of the young ladies played great as well, especially Chloe Muggleton who was our player’s player.”
The Hawkettes will have the bye this week before going to Bungendore to meet the Tigerettes for their second bout in three weeks.
Top of the Table Clash Lives up to the Billing
The clash that everyone had been waiting for was up next, with the first-placed Bungendore Tigers going up against our local brutes the Harden Hawks. Harden came into the game carrying a few knocks to some key forwards.
The undermanned Hawks weren’t looking for excuses though, especially not with captain and Club stalwart Luke Brown running out for his 200th game in the iconic maroon and white.
The Hawks were strong throughout the first half, drawing first blood through a Riley Manwaring try that came off of a delicious offload from his inside back rower Joie Whybrow.
Hawks goal-kicker Lane Gaudie didn’t hit the ball how he wanted it; missing wide and keeping the score at 4-0.
Bungendore didn’t earn their reputation as one of the league juggernauts for rolling over in big games, the Tigers struck back through centre Michael Gordon and the scores were locked, a theme that carried through the game.
Ben Jager added the extras for the Tigers. Despite the gorgeous weather Mother Nature offered up for the two sides, the next 10 minutes after the Bungendore try was sloppy, with errors riddling both sides and emotions clearly playing a major factor in the sudden drop in performance.
Cooler heads prevailed for our local men, as late in the first half Will Hills would burrow his way over from dummy half with the efficiency of a muscle hamster, putting the host back ahead and giving the Hawks a much-needed confidence boost heading into the sheds.
Gaudie added the extras and 10-6 was the score at the break. The teams came out of the sheds and straight away we saw the fire and passion from the first-half carry over into the second period.
Around the 60th minute, Tom McIllhatton scored a brilliant solo try, with the agility of a wild gazelle, McIllhatton put the hosts up two possessions and it was the Hawks game to lose.
Knock, knock, knock. It’s the Tigers and just like a Jehovah’s Witness, they’re straight back on the doorstep looking to come in.
Pat Pryor muscled his way through an undersized Harden pack and scored. It was jubilation from the visitors and a quick conversion from Jager put the Tigers straight back into the game.
Six minutes left, do or die for the Hawkies who were clinging on for dear life; The Hawks had done so up until the two-minute mark where Bungendore reserve Jason Kolber crossed the line, creating a louder silence in the crowd than any cheers that had taken place throughout the day.
The Hawks looked down and out, Jager missed the conversion but still, the side needed to find at least two more points to rescue something from the game. The defence from the Hawks became bone-rattling, crunching the ball in desperation to get the ball in attacking position.
Finally, a miracle; the Tigers lost the ball at their own 40-metre line and suddenly hope for the Hawks began building.
The Hawks strung a few good attacks together but the Tigers were relentless, they weren’t taking anything but no for an answer denying the Hawks on numerous occasions.
30 seconds left in the game and the Tigers had lost the ball again. Led by Will Hills the Hawks scurried to the middle of the park to pack the scrum, whilst the Tigers were slower than a spelling bee full of stutterers.
Too slow for the refs liking, who blew a penalty and gave Gaudie a chance to tie the game and take a draw away from a blood bath of a game.
Buzzer rings, crowd silent, Gaudie begins his run-up, hits her sweetly and right down the hey diddle diddle goes the Steeden.
Just like Tuff did it for Lane, Lane did it for the Hawks faithful who went berserk on the western end.
The Times had the chance to talk to milestone man Luke Brown after the game and get his thoughts on how it went down.
“It was special, I have to thank everyone involved from the club to my friends and family who came down with their tops with my mug on it and made it perfect. The boys were tough and even without our bigger middles, blokes like Tyson Ings and Drew Arabin scared them away from our middle and made them play out wide where we were strong defensively. Obviously, we would’ve loved a win but the draw spoke plenty to our character,” Brown said.
“Definitely pulled up a bit sore afterwards, the beers on Saturday night masked how sore I was, they were some big boys for the opposition and hitting them was like hitting a wall, especially as the game went on.
“Having the Devils there was awesome, hopefully, it’s something the club looks to continue to do, there were plenty of spectators and everyone had a good day.”
Coach of the Hawks Nick Hall thought the boys were brave but always the competitor was disappointed with the draw.
“It’s a tough one, a bit of an emotional see-saw because we had led so long and when we were leading we would’ve hoped to have won but then when you’re losing that late in the game any result but a loss is a good one. We’ve got Boomanulla this week at home so hopefully we can bounce back and get a win.”
Red Devils Enjoy Trip up the Hill
The Harden Red Devils were successful in their game at McLean Oval, defeating the Temora Tuskers 31-14.
The win keeps the men at second on the ladder, seven points below the Young Yabbies who have asserted themselves as the team to beat amongst the competition.
Coach Jack Alcorn was pleased with the men’s efforts.
“We had some standout performers amongst the boys with some great efforts. Pierce Martin at fullback I thought was outstanding and was probably close to being best on ground, Charlie Brown as well I thought played really well,” Alcorn said.
“We’ve got West Wyalong next week who haven’t won a game, but are always really strong at home, it’s a big game the following week against Coota, but if we don’t stay focused on West Wyalong they could definitely surprise us.”
It was a fantastic day out for all the Harden residents in attendance, and with any luck, it will continue to be an annual outing for years to come.
Tully Potts
