Johno Davis is pictured here packing down in the Blindside Flanker position during the warmup. Johno was injured early in the match , however he was given the all clear by medical staff at Canberra hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Two codes working together shows what you can do for the fans of Football in the twin towns when Harden took on sides in Rugby Union and Rugby League at Roberts Park in Murrumburrah. The Harden Red Devils kicked off the afternoon with a tidy 25-12 win against the Jindabyne Bush Pigs, before The Harden Hawks sent Gunning packing in the next match 44 points to 20. Our Hawkettes also showed they will be competitive this year when they beat their opposition 10-0. The Youth League side came from behind in a hard fought win over Yass at Walker Park when they disposed of the Magpies 24-22. Players, supporters and committee members of both clubs had tongues wagging on Saturday night at both the Harden Country Club and The Light Horse Hotel regarding the success of the afternoon and the hope that it can be repeated either at Robert’s Park or at McLean Oval.
As an avid supporter and player of both codes in the town over the last decade or so it can work and should happen again in 2016. There are a couple of differences between Rugby and League. Rugby do not charge an entry fee and League do. Simple, League get all the gate takings and Rugby doesn’t get any taking as they would if they were playing at home anyway. This should boost the number of supporters through the gate who are there to watch both codes in the one place. A split of bbq and beverage takings should then occur and everyone’s a winner. Common sense should prevail with this idea and if both committees can get together and work it out everyone wins. The old saying goes, ‘You can judge the way a town is going by how their football teams are going.’ The way Rugby Union and League look to be heading this year, the twin towns aren’t in too bad shape.
Devils Defeat Bushpigs The Harden Red Devils have recorded a hard fought win in their first competition match for 2016. They were confronted by a very well drilled yet understrength Jindabyne Bushpigs side on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Park. The Bushpigs have claimed 5 Premierships in the last decade and the Devils made sure they got the points on the board, against a very dangerous side. The Harden lads got off to a quick start and posted the first points through some excellent work by Fergus Hall down the right hand side of the field. Hall managed to get a beautiful left-handed pass away as he was tackled, to fellow Devil Chris Young, who sprinted the remaining 20 metres to score near the corner post. Jonny Ryan kicked a nice goal from wide out to make it 7-0.
Fergus Hall the ‘Miracle’ man gets a pass to Chris Young, who posted the first points of the year in the right hand corner of the field.
Things went down hill from there for the Devils with young gun Johno Davis injuring his neck at the bottom of a ruck only ten minutes in to the match. Davis was in quite a lot of discomfort and suffered from some numbness. An ambulance was called which had to come from Boorowa to treat Davis, who was taken to Canberra Hospital for tests. He was given the all clear and allowed to return home after midnight. The match was held up and when time was started again there was 30 minutes of play left for the Devils to hold on to their slender lead. The locals had 23 players for the home game against Jindabyne with plenty of former players turning up with the majority getting a run during the shortened game.
Veterans of previous Devils’ campaigns, Heath Kirk and Marcus Ashton, had an instant effect on the game when they took to the paddock in the Front Row. After the resumption of play, John Ryan crossed for a try, with Jermaine Perenara bumping off Bushpigs in a barnstorming 30 metre run for a try.
Jermaine Perenara was congratulated by a swarm of Devils, after a barnstorming run which resulted in a try to him, down the left hand side of the field in the second half.
He was joined on the score board by Adam Ceeney. Points went to Clint Stevens 3, Zac Allen 2 and Toby Hayden 1. Plenty of effort was shown and it made up for the fact that the Devils will need to communicate better on the field with each other and work on their set pieces. Both aspects will improve their game dramatically if players turn up to training, especially on a Thursday night. The team song was sung fairly poorly due to a lack of knowledge of the lyrics, but it didn’t matter and it won’t if the team can win against Boorowa this Saturday at Boorowa. The Light Horse welcomed the players back after the match.
Marcus Ashton & Heath Kirk were welcome editions to a new look Devils side.
Johnny Ryan and Zac Allen get ready to celebrate the first win.
Hawks knock off Gunning The forward thinking HARDEN HAWKS, as it were, went back in history last Saturday for a TRIAL match against GUNNING ROOS, newcomers to the George Tooke Shield in 2016. As the green grass becomes ready for play on McLEAN OVAL, this encounter was played at Murrumburrah’s ROBERTS PARK. It’s great that our Twin Towns share the two Grounds. Actually Roberts Park was officially opened on the 27th of December, 1931, by the then Mayor Mr. R.D. Heggerton. Last weekend, anyone who had heard of this could have been expected the match would be a CRICKET score, because back then DON BRADMAN, Stan McCabe and Bert Oldfield were in attendance. Magnificent picture postcard Autumn weather was the order of the afternoon, and a huge crowd of spectators were in attendance. People were there from Canberra, Gunning, Young, Jugiong, McMahons Reef, Galong, Jindabyne. Two Queensland Number Plates were spotted. There was also one chap originally from Harden- Kim Johnson- from Daylesford in Victoria. When asked what was the reason for his visit, he said “My wife Jill some years ago taught those two Snedden Brothers playing today for the Harden Hawks.”
Kicking off in brilliant sunshine, following a Rugby match just prior, HARDEN HAWKS booted the ball towards their opponents—GUNNING ROOS, with the Roos jumping into a gap in the Hawks defence, after tackle No 3 and bounding over for a try in the first minute, between the posts. The simple conversion missed, but Gunning led 4-0. Harden’s reply was swift and sure, when their skipper Luke Brown returned serve, this time posting 6 points and a 6-4 lead. The next few minutes of play see-sawed, until Hawks centre Justin Stewart dived over in the entrance gate corner for Harden’s second try. A bullocking charge from forward Simon Snedden put our locals in a prominent position, from which Luke Brown scored his second try. This time the score had jumped to Harden 16, Roos 4. Shortly before the half-time whistle, Brown completed his HAT-TRICK, touching down for his third try.
‘Return of the Jedi’ Tyson Astill is welcomed back to Rugby League in Harden by Hat-Trick Hero Luke Brown.
Mick Alcorn gives the opposition a big cuddle here which resulted in the Gunning player ending up flat on his back.
The match was a TRIAL for both teams and on the resumption of the second half quite a few replacements were made. Gunning capitalised on this well, crossing for three tries and creating a scoreline of HARDEN 22, GUNNING 20. The Hawks gave away a couple of silly penalties, but then steadied, to send Michael Alcorn crossing over in the Railway Line corner 28-20. Harden were benefitting from the return of the forward they call “FUI FUI“, who was not suffering the effects of any jet-lag having just flown from a visit to Thailand. Harden towards the concluding stages scored two further tries. Both the result of HARBOUR BRIDGE passes by Nathan Schofield and Simon Snedden to Jayson Smith and Andrew Jones, respectively. Incidentally the award for the flashiest pair of Football boots went to Smithy…DUCK-EGG-YELLOW! The HARDEN HAWKS put up quite a good display, winning 36-20. We have a bye in Round One on April 9, then play North Canberra Bears on SUNDAY April 17, at KALEEN ACT.
According to Andrew Jones a spectator yelled from the crowd “Who is kicking?” Andrew replied with a quick wave “That’s me” as he slotted this shot at goal over the black dot.
League Tag Girls Triumph Over Gunning The Harden-Murrumburrah League Tag Girls took on Gunning in their first trial match of the year ON Saturday at Roberts Park, coming away with a win despite missing a few of their regular players. The girls defeated Gunning 10 points to nil, with the Player of the Match Award going to Emily Quinn. “Jess Doolan and Emma James were some of our best players, as usual,” Harden Murrumburrah Hawks Rugby League Club President, Jason Pollard. “Maryanne Fitzgerald also played well.” “A few of our girls didn’t play because of uni, and a we have a few new players,” he added. The girls now take on the Crookwell She Devils this Sunday. “They won’t be easy to beat in Crookwell, but we are hopeful for a win,” said Jason. Kick-off is at 1:30pm at the Crookwell Memorial Oval.
Emma James hits the line hard.
Maryanne Fitzgerald will be a steadying influence on the Hawkettes. She is widely regarded as one of the twin town’s best athletes and will bring experience to the young side.
