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Brumbies too good at Home!

Round 4 of Gippsland Rugby League was played at Paynesville last Sunday, and in front of a vocal home crowd, the East Gippsland Brumbies outclassed the Morwell Miners in an epic battle

By Mark Strini - 22nd May 2001 - Back to News

Round 4 of Gippsland Rugby League was played at Paynesville last Sunday and the host team in the East Gippsland Brumbies were out to avenge there Round 1 loss to Morwell. Playing in front of a very vocal home crowd from the East, the Miners were out to quieten the crowd early and put on some early points but very poor ball retention kept them from putting together any sort of attacking platform, and it was the Brumbies who were applying the early pressure. In a tough encounter, both forward packs were looking for early dominance, and whilst the honours appeared even, it was the Miners who spent most of the time defending, as it was not long before the hosts opened the account with the first try.

The Miners answered soon after, with some great work up the middle, but after that, the Brumbies took the match by the throat. The Miners continued to take it up to the Brumbies but the pressure defence continually forced errors by the Miners, particularly early in the count which gave the Brumbies plenty of possession and quite often in excellent field position. Constant defending against a rampant attack took its toll on the Miners, and the tries came in at regular intervals for the Brumbies. The Miners replied late in the half to trail by only 8 points at the break, but that scoreline was flattering to the visitors, given East Gippsland’s dominance.

The Miners needed early points in the second half to get into the match, but they continued to try and push the impossible pass among other silly unforced errors, and the hosts capitalised. There forwards continued to make huge yardage out wide, and the dynamic backs finished off the goodwork with tries. Leading 28 – 10, the match was all but over for Morwell. A few uncharacteristic mistakes from the hosts, and some completed sets by the Miners saw the tide turn. For the first time in the match, the Brumbies were on the back foot and when Morwell scored its second try on end, the 10 point buffer appeared to be achievable with momentum on there side. The Brumbies however had other ideas. The stepped up the intensity in defence, again forcing the Miner turnovers, and finished the match full of running. They racked up another 2 tries in the remaining minutes to the delight of their adoring fans, and ran out comfortable winners 36 – 18 in a commanding display of pressure Rugby.

The late game between the Panthers and the Gladiators, both teams were down on what would regard, as they’re best 13. The Panthers had no less than 6 Representative quality players not making the journey down East, whilst the Gladiators were also missing at least 5 from last weeks line up. Never the less, the Panthers still boasted an experienced line up compared to Churchills Rookie list, and whilst the Gladiators showed all the heart, the Panthers displayed the talent. The Panthers treated the Gladiators with contempt during the first half and racked up 50 points. Churchill never waved the flag however and 10 first half points of there own showed that with ball in hand, they were not intimidated by the reigning Premiers.

In what was expected to be an absolute blowout, the second half began not dissimilar to the first with the Panthers in control. Again the young Gladiators continued the push, and with nothing to lose, continued to pressure Traralgon’s line with the confidence and gallantry of any team running around at the minute. With all the heart they showed however, the Panthers had the answers and whilst Traralgon took there total to 90 points for the match, the young Churchill side could certainly hold there heads high, racking up 28 points of there own. A point strongly noticed by onlookers.

The ladder after Round 4 sees the Panthers 2 games clear already, with the Brumbies and the Miners battling for second place, separated only by percentage.

Win Loss Draw Pnts For Pts Agnst Percent Points
Traralgon 4 0 0 214 84 254.76 8
East Gipps 2 2 0 150 108 138.89 4
Morwell 2 2 0 148 136 108.82 4
Churchill 0 4 0 62 246 25.20 -2

Next weeks Round, which is to hosted by the Gippsland Junior Rugby, was scheduled to be played under lights at Mobil Park this Saturday night, but the success of the Eastern Pride Youth Team, has earned them the right to host the Grand Final at Mobil Park on that very night.

This has therefore pushed this weekends matches to Sunday, but Mobil Park will still be the venue.

The 1pm game will be between the in form Brumbies and Churchill. Churchill are steadily improving as there array of new players gain much valued experience from every run. The Brumbies however will be keen to cement second spot. The late game at 3pm sees Traralgon and Morwell slug it out, with Morwell looking for a big turn around in form if they are to trouble the Panthers. Entry on the day is $5.00 for spectators with all funds going to the Gippsland Junior Rugby League.

Yours in Rugby League - Mark Strini - President.


Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: grl@gippslander.com



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