I should have tweaked that something was amiss when two not one, of our league players hurt their ankles after just 15 minutes in the caravan park. Follow that with an urgent trip to Dubbo hospital for X-rays, a phone call at 9pm from the Country Rugby League to confirm a change of venue from Apex Oval to a smaller council ground, together with a change of opponent from that who we prepared, should have set some alarm bells ringing.
However, surely a team makes their own luck on game day with a positive attitude and self confidence. Well u would think so wouldn't you?
Well this day we certainly didn't have the rub of the green. Already two players down before the game started and playing in a bog heap that would have any farm pig rolling in heaven, our boys readied themselves to receive the ball from the kick off. Oberon kicked off with the aid of a stiff breeze. A miss kick from Oberon hopefully meant our boys would started the game in a positive position, but wait for it...the ball bounced not forward or sideways but backwards directly into the hands of a trailing Oberon player who made an extraordinary catch, scooping the ball up at his toes. Oberon has the possession of the ball 10 metres from our line. Two tackles later the 'unbiased' referee somehow saw a problem with Braidwood's defensive line and awarded a penalty to Oberon. From the ensuing restart, Oberon ran a deceptive play that caught out the lads and scored out wide. The conversion missed, Oberon lead 4-0 after only 35 seconds. It was our turn now to restart the game, but this time when Braidwood miss kicked the ball, it went out on the full. This meant a penalty to Oberon on halfway. From the penalty restart Oberon had possession deep in our half again, a few quick passes caught Braidwood's defence napping and Oberon scored out wide again.
Oberon led 8-0 after 3 minutes. So began a tale of woe that continued for the next 27 minutes. The combination of not having consistent possession, or when we had the ball, having to ruck it out uphill in a boggy mud heap, coupled with some very ordinary refereeing decisions and opportunistic opposition play, had our Braidwood boys shell-shocked for the rest of the half. The halftime siren couldn't come quick enough. Oberon led 24-0 at halftime.
There wasn't much I could say during the halftime break. Not one ounce of luck went our way, the team was trying their best in atrocious circumstances and conditions. No team scored any points in the previous two games when working out from that end field in the first half either. Our mission became about restoring pride. Restoring pride in our team, and restoring the pride of our hardy supporters who made the trip to watch Braidwood Central play.
The second half began in a more positive fashion. Pressure and great defence from the kickoff led to an Oberon mistake that saw Braidwood Central get possession early. Some classy interchanging of passing saw Pat Pryor capitalise from a great inside ball from Brendan Clarke to score out wide. Braidwood had pulled four points back. So began our second half redemption. Players Brendan Clarke, Pat Pryor, Joel Pearce, Andrew Crisp, Pat Martin, Ricky McCurley, Mark Hare and Billy Hatzis worked themselves to a standstill in the freezing muddy conditions. Every boy put their hand up for work and gave their personal best. Year 9 players like Justin Brownbill, Luke Turner, Joel Britten, Andy Harris, Cameron Bradley and Joe Walden stood tall and made some spectacular tackles and smart plays in attack. Year 8 boys Jesse McAllister, Lachlan Ashworth and Brayden McKay also played their part in our solid second half display. To Bryce and Clay who didn't make it out of the caravan park, thanks also. Braidwood Central went close on several occasions to scoring in the second half but could not crack the Oberon line any further. In the second half, our forwards dominated the ruck, with powerful tackling and committed running in attack especially from our captain Pat Pryor who belted the much more fancied Oberon forwards from pillar to post. After the opposition jagged two late tries, the final score was Oberon 34 - 4.
The Oberon team play together every weekend in local competition and have done so since they were seven, many of the Oberon boys play representative league (two Oberon players have NRL scholarships). Our sixteen Braidwood Central players gave great account of themselves, playing with pride and passion. However, if our boys wish to succeed at this elite level of schoolboy rugby league I sincerely recommend that each lad pursue the game in organised weekend competition. This will aid each player with essential skills, resilience and the fitness to compete with the bigger schools that they are likely to play if they progress to this level. Opportunities like this are limited but having junior teams in Bungendore is a godsend for any potential player.
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