Sport
1 May, 2021
Bad day for Rivers against the Snakes
On Saturday 24th April the Stanley River Wolves took on the Caboolture Snakes on a day where the Anzacs were remembered and honoured. Both Kilcoy and Woodford RSL’s were involved in the day with the Wolves wearing commemorative jerseys. Special ANZAC jerseys were sold or auctioned with proceeds going to the Woodford and Kilcoy RSL’s. Replica Jerseys were presented to each RSL. The club would like to thank both RSLs for their support and involvement on the day.
However, it was not to be the Wolves day on the field. In the A Grade only 9 minutes into the game the Snakes were on half way and kicked on the last tackle. The ball appeared to be kicked into their own player and rebounded to another Caboolture player. The ruling was 6 to go. From there the Snakes moved the ball downfield and towards the end of that set scored in the right corner to lead 6 nil. The rest of the first half featured some good defence, errors and poor attack from both sides.
They went to the break with Caboolture leading 6 nil.
The second half started well for Caboolture. Two minutes in, the Wolves were penalised for holding a player down and this provided good field position to the Snakes who were able to move the ball down field and score from a grubber kick. Caboolture then led 12 nil. Shortly after, the Wolves managed to get a penalty and get into an attacking position. The ball went right and ended up in the hands of fullback Corey Parker, caught a few metres out. From the play the ball right winger Nathan Saliamungo, one of Rivers best on the day, scooted from dummy half to score. Brett Doherty converted from wide out and Caboolture led 12 to 6.
From there the Wolves could just not put it together. They had trouble controlling the ball and when they were able to complete sets their attack was just not threatening the Caboolture defence. A number of penalties were also given away by Rivers which just increased the problems they faced. Sixteen minutes into the second half the Wolves were on the attack 30 m out from the Caboolture line only to drop the ball. Caboolture accepted possession and were able to make easy metres downfield and on the 5th tackle scored. Caboolture led 16 to 6. Rivers then once again found themselves on their own line defending when what appeared to be a legitimate strong tackle was penalised apparently as lifting. The Snakes took the penalty kick and led 18 to 6. The Wolves made every attempt to get back into the game but just did not seem to have the firepower to get them to where they needed to be. Then with 1 minute to go the Snakes sealed the win with one final try and a comprehensive victory 22 to 6. There is a lot of work for the Wolves to do before they host Noosa in two weeks.
In the Reserve Grade Rivers took on a Caboolture side that had only lost one game this year. They knew this would be a challenge. However, the start from Rivers was poor. A number of mistakes and penalties by the Wolves led to Caboolture having the majority of possession and scoring 3 unanswered tries to lead 16 nil with 8 minutes to go in the first half. The Wolves hit back courtesy of a big hit by Daniel Brooks and Ricky Shaxton which resulted in a dropped ball by Caboolture. This possession followed by a penalty to the Wolves allowed Darren Pereira to get the ball 10 m out and through a typical barging run secure Rivers first try which was converted by Travis Ellis. Rivers trailed 16 to 6. However immediately following this try the Wolves dropped the ball from the kick-off and Caboolture scored in the next set to go to half time leading 20 to 6. Ground announcer and stats man Marto reported that Rivers had completed 11 from 17 sets and Caboolture 16 from 18. That was a fair reflection of how things had gone in the first half. There was good effort from the Wolves but ball control was ordinary.
Early in the second half Caboolture scored off a grubber which came off legs and bounced fortuitously for a Snakes player to score and Caboolture led 26 to 6. Then midway through the half the ball came to Ashley Sleeman about 30 m out and he was able to step his way through the middle and score as he was hit in a high tackle. Travis converted and the Wolves trailed 26 to 12 with 20 mins to go. However from there, Caboolture managed to finish the stronger scoring 2 more unanswered tries and running out winners 36 to 12. It was a tough day for the Wolves but there were certainly some good periods of play. One stand out was hooker Eddie Draper playing well in his first game of the year.
On Saturday 8th May, Rivers host Noosa at Woodford. Reserve Grade kick off at 4:00 pm and A grade at 5:30. See you there to support the Wolves.
