Harden stalwart Luke Brown crossed the white line for 4 tries on Saturday against the Boorowa Rovers. Hawks young gun Nick Stephens is in the background. Brown has played nearly every position on the field during a 14 year senior career. Although he normally find his home in the Back Row, Brown’s time at Hooker in 2017 has proven invaluable for the maroon and whites as they make their charge into the George Tooke final series. Harden will take on Crookwell for a place in the Grand Final today at Crookwell at 2:45pm.
The Harden Hawks will today face the Crookwell Green Devils for a chance to go into the George Tooke Grand Final.
If the Hawks get home today they will set up a successive home Grand Final. The club had all 3 grades appear in last year’s biggest matches at McLean Oval in Harden.
The Hawks are on the improve and are hitting their straps at the right end of the season.
The loss to Crookwell was a long time ago on April 29, where the maroon and whites went down 14-10. It was most likely their worst performance of the season.
The Crookwell side have defended well all season and do this by coming out of the line in numbers, in an up and inward style defence.
The Hawks must counteract this by mixing up their style of attack.
The key for the Hawks today will be in getting a roll on up the middle with their big men. They must bully their smaller opposition and then allow their outside backs to slice through.
Harden Captain Luke Brown is in sublime form, however, he is only as good as the support play behind him. The Hawks must be ready for an offload and support Brown out of dummy half on every occasion.
Good Luck Hawks. Hawks Hawks Hawks!!!
Kick off time is 2:45pm at Crookwell.
Last Week’s Match Report
Considering the 6 all draw between these two Clubs at Boorowa Showground on July 8, this semi-final would be an interesting encounter. On a very cold day at McLean Oval the Hawks ran south in the first half into a moderate breeze. As is often tradition, the club runs towards the pubs in the second half. Play rebounded between the two twenty metre lines until the Hawks worked their way up to the Rover’s line. After 8 minutes a Hawk’s backline movement followed, resulting in a pass from coach Matt McLay finding his winger Jai Coe who scored in the south west corner. The Boorowa Rovers didn’t seem to be getting much traction and robbed of ball, they were beaten by a very slick Hawks’ Luke Brown in the 13th minute, who crossed near the posts for Nathan Schofield to convert for the 10-0 lead. Brown had a stellar day repeating the performance not 3 minutes later virtually untouched to put his side ahead 16-0.
With seven minutes remaining in the half the visitors put up a high bomb and nobody seemed interested in fielding the kick. The ball bounced awkwardly and went towards the home side’s try line. Boorowa went on the offensive and looked likely to score but great defence by Salway and McLay kept them out. The complexion of the game was changing and the Rovers were on the offensive. The Hawks not long after put up a mid-field Bomb. When Boorowa accepted it, they charged downfield and it looked like a try was on. However, the Hawks cover defence was brilliant and they bundled the Rover’s player over the sideline. With half-time not far off, Luke Brown against the run of play, scooted 50 metres for his third try and the Hawks led 20-0. Charging runs by Jonathan Pouono were saving ground for Harden and Luke Snedden got the hosts close enough for Luke Brown to get his third try for the day and a 20-0 lead with only four minutes on the clock.
Nevertheless, the Rovers weren’t done with yet and Josh Burns got his side far enough down the field for Steven Death to score right on half time. The try was converted for the players to go to the sheds with the Hawks ahead 20-6. The Rovers needed to fight back and this they did in fine style from the commencement of the second half. The Hawks received possession from the kickoff. However with the wind at their backs misjudged their kick on the last tackle and booted too deep and dead. From the 20 metre tap the Rovers surged upfield, kicking ahead allowing Joe Anden to score. The conversion was successful and Boorowa’s cheer squad burst into voice as their team was back in contention trailing by only 8 points.12-20.
The game was now becoming a little spiteful and a melee broke out near the Rover’s end. Jonathan Pouono made a game run and scored and it was almost an all-in brawl. The referees separated the teams but the momentum had moved back Harden’s way. Nathan Close was next to score two minutes later and the brawl started again. With Nathan Schofield’s conversion the score went to 30-12. However, the referee sent Close to the bin for 10 minutes with about 14 minutes remaining. In the following play and with the Hawks attacking, the referee sent the Boorowa number 10 to the bin.
It is this writer’s understanding that the Rovers only had eleven men defending and Luke Brown made them pay with an incredible 4th try for the day. The penalties were going strongly Harden’s way and with 9 minutes left, Jai Coe crossed again to widen the lead out to 42-12. As the match wound down Boorowa struck back with a consolation try to Matt Blatt. The full time siren sounded to the tune of HARDEN 42, BOOROWA 16. The Hawks now have the right to play Crookwell next week in the Qualifying Final at Crookwell, while the Rovers meet the Bears who defeated Binalong earlier in the day. It was a fairly comprehensive win for the Hawks which they are going to have to repeat this weeked at Memorial Oval Crookwell. Harden 42: (Tries: L.Brown (4), J.Coe (2), J.Pouno and N.Close, Goals: N.Schofield (5) def Boorowa 16. Referee: Mr.J Gould. Sunday kick-0ff 12.00 noon Youth league. Harden Hawks Vs Crookwell. 2.45pm George Tooke Sheild Harden Hawks Vs Crookwell.
