Collegians have produced a stunning return to form, leading 20-0 at halftime and closing the show on a 22-16 win over Wests in the Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup Match of the Round on Saturday.
The reigning premiers shrugged off an indifferent run of form over the last month with a four-try first-half blitz that shocked the Devils
Having dropped back to back games in their previous two outings against top four opposition, coach Nathan Fien said it was a timely lift in his side’s game.
“We needed to win today and that was the main thing for us in terms of where we’re at in our season,” Fien said.
“We came up against a really good side that’s going to be there when the finals roll around. For us it was about understanding that our performances over the last few weeks haven’t been Collies footy and haven’t been up to scratch by our standards.
“That was the big challenge today and obviously moving into the back end of the season, you need to get yourself up and try and see where we’re at.
“That’s the challenge for me as a coach and it was really pleasing from a coaching point of view to see them get the result. We were able to play really well today but there’s still a lot of footy to be played.”
Undermanned
It came despite twice losing fullback Alec Reid to the sin-bin, though Fien will have some mid-week headaches after key forwards Blake Dowel and Liam Cassidy were placed on report.
With skipper Blake Phillips already sidelined until the finals through suspension, the Dogs could be undermanned heading into their final-round clash with Helensburgh.
“The first half was really clinical,” Fien said.
“We controlled things really well in terms of our game plan and the grit and movement and energy the boys showed when we were down to 12 men a couple of times shows what we can do as a team when we buy in and everyone’s pulling in the same direction
“If we do that at the back end of the year we’re going to be a hard team to beat. We got one today against a quality team in Wests and the challenge now is next week against Helensburgh.”
Collies make quick start
Centre Ben Rumble set the onslaught in motion when he dashed 70 metres courtesy of Reid, who produced a brilliant running take of a Wests bomb to turn defence into attack.
Reid put Ben Lavender across in the corner on the Dogs next trip up the park, with Fletcher Winning crossing on the opposite flank soon after as the lead ballooned to 14.
Jason Gillard got across four minutes before the break after Devils No. 1 Brad Scott spilled a kick from Zeik Foster 20 metres out from his own line.
At 20-0 down, Wests used halftime to their advantage, responding with their first try through Isaiah Kennedy seven minutes after the resumption.
Despite a glut of possession and field position it took the Devils another 23 minutes to grab their second through Jordan Karakousis.
Mitch Porter gave his side a chance when he followed up with four minutes left but the comeback ultimately fell short.
Concerning trend
Coach Pete McLeod said his side left itself too much to do with a sluggish start, a concerning trend emerging over the latter part of the season.
“The last couple of big games we’ve played we’ve let teams get leads on us in the first half and run out of time in the second so it’s something we’ve got to address,” McLeod said.
“They had two tries off kicks and they skinned us on the outside a couple of times, but we just didn’t get ourselves in the game early. The effort’s always there but the execution wasn’t.
“We just wanted to play the second half in stages. We’re going to face adversity between now and the end of the year and we had some today.
“The boys responded reasonably well, we just didn’t get enough points to get back and get the win at the end of the day.
“Hopefully we learn from that. We’re still in a strong position in the competition, but we need to play better in the finals to get the result.”
Finals bound
It puts a top-two finish in jeopardy heading into a final round clash with De La Salle, but McLeod is just focused on taking good form into the post-season.
“It was a tougher game than any we’ve played over the last month, we didn’t play overly well and there was still only four points in it,” he said.
“The reality of it is one of the two teams that played today are going to finish third so saying third and fourth or first and second matters… it really doesn’t because either of those two sides that played today can trouble anybody.
“Hopefully we get back to Parrish Park next week, which would be number two for the year, and the boys will be looking forward to getting out there and trying to fix the start.”
Elsewhere De La Salle ended Helensburgh’s finals push with a 36-22 victory at Captain Cook Oval on Friday night, while Corrimal and Dapto fought out a 28-all draw at Ziems Park.
Mitch Jennings’ article courtesy of Illawarra Mercury
Picture: Robert Peet
