The Harden Hawks commenced the 2020 season with a victorious trial match against the Southern Highlands Storm at Robert’s Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon, 24-18. The wind blew hard and caused both sides havoc throughout the match which commenced with Harden’s Chris James receiving the ball from the kick-off.

  Chris made a beeline straight back at the Storm defence and skittled 2 players before being brought down.

Jordan Menz drags the Storm Fullback into touch on the western side of the ground.

    Ryan Daley converts a Jakob Halls try. Chris Salway on the charge. Hamish Bradford gets a kick away. Rory Bolger shapes to pass and Nic Schiller takes on the Storm Five Eight.

This run set the tone for the match in a see sawing affair which saw Harden score first at the southern end in a bruising encounter.

   Coach Luke Brown spent some time on the bench which is uncharacteristic for the Harden stalwart, however, this allowed him time to watch a number of players in a number of different positions.

  He said, “Jamesy went well, Josh and Hamish Bradford and Pirie. Everyone across the park went well for their first hit out. Brad Walsh was good.”

Nick Schiller runs into a hole.

  The Hawks have been back training once a week  for the last month and although they were a little rusty, that is expected in trial matches.

   Luke said, “We trialed a few fellas where they wanted to have a run and we blew a few cobwebs out.”

Andrew Jones had a strong game. The newly returned Hawk went looking for work and took a number of great hit-ups. His experience will be valuable this season.

Nick Schiller played a great game before he suffered a head knock late in the match, which saw him finish on the sideline.

The Hawks will be a mixture of youth and experience in 2020 with players in their late teens lining up alongside some players in their mid to late 30s. 

Coach Luke Brown splits the defence before improving the position of the ball to under the posts.

    The Hawks will continue to prepare for the 2020 season however, their will be more information coming to hand regarding the Corona Virus which at this stage will see NRL sides play in front of empty crowds.

Ben Davis pulled off what the referee described as a perfectly timed tackle and he went on to hit this hole in perfect timing.

   A joint fundraiser for the Salway and Ainsworth families raised a large amount of money with the final figure coming to hand soon.

HMRLFC President Jason Pollard said all proceeds will be shared the families.

Patrick Smith had a good day and also found himself at Fullback at one stage during the match. Smith went on to win Mudcrab of the year at the Mudcrab cricket presentation later that night.

He said, “It was a successful day with plenty of people there to help raise money. It was very well supported  and it was great at the ground  and at the pub.“ 

Zac Pirie had a strong game with a number of hard runs.

Pollard said, “We don’t know yet about the Corona Virus. We have received some emails about personal hygiene. There are some rumours that the season will be pushed back but we don’t know at the moment. 

Ryan Daley doing what he does best.

The Hawks will at  this stage take part in the Boorowa Rovers Gala Days down for Saturday April 4. $1000 will be up for grabs.

Brad Giddings was hard to handle for the Storm defence.

Round one of the competitions is currently scheduled for Saturday, April 18 where Harden will face the Gunning Roos at Gunning at 2pm.