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Desmond Connor (43)
#SIRU2016 Round Eight Preview:
Another exciting round of rugby this weekend across the region, with Friday night’s fixture at Leeton tipped as Match of the Round. With only two rounds until the Brumbies Provincial Championships in Bateman's Bay, any players interested in playing rep footy only have a couple of weeks to impress the selectors before the tournament.
Leeton (3) v Ag College (4) – Match of the Round
Friday night under lights at Leeton No1 Oval is the venue for this rematch. These two teams played out a draw in Round One of the competition and I reckon this game has potential to be a tightly contested affair this round as well.
Leeton have played some pretty bruising games in recent weeks against Waratahs and Tumut respectively and by all accounts had opportunities to win both games. At home, they will be tough to get past, however I have been hearing some positive words from different sources about Aggies and their continued commitment to each other.
Ag College players like Gabe Brown and Mike “Magic” Van Diggelen will need to step up their game this week against a Phantoms outfit who know how to knock a team about. Leeton have tended towards a physical style in recent matches and I would expect them to use this strategy again tonight.
The Phantoms have a reputation as being very passionate about the game, when they can strike the balance between passion and control, they will be dangerous. There are some handy footballers in the Phantoms lineup, if these guys get the opportunity to run from a solid platform, watch out.
Tumut (2) v Albury (7)
A tough road trip for the Steamers here no doubt. The Bulls will be keen to stamp their authority on the 2015 Premiers at Jarrah Park this weekend and are likely to be back at full-strength for this match.
The Steamers on the other hand are probably doing a bit of soul-searching at this stage of the season but will be keen to show the competition that they can compete with the higher ranked teams.
CSU (8) v Griffith (6)
A number of admirable losses in recent weeks for the Reddies is something that the team are keen to turn around and would love nothing more than to do so in this match.
The Blacks have proven to be a bit of a surprise package since new coach Aled Francis has come on board, I wonder if Aled will be able to bring all the troops to Wagga this week? I was in Griffith recently and the Blacks had enough players in the wings to play an internal 3rd Grade match. They need to transfer this enthusiasm onto the road as well if they are going to make the finals in 2016.
Waratahs (1) v City (5)
Although Wagga City are in 5th position on the ladder, they are only there based on points differential. City actually have more bonus points than Ag College after 7 rounds of the competition and are capable of leap-frogging a few teams on the ladder depending on some results.
Waratahs will come into this match without two strike weapons in Angus Le Lievre and Sam Hobbs, however will blood some new talent at halfback with Tom Hallam having a run this weekend. For those older heads on here, you may remember or have played against Matt Hallam who was a very handy halfback in his day, some good pedigree there for Tom.
Wagga City are on a bit of a roll at the moment and are starting to put some good systems in place which are getting some runs on the board for them. This weekend will be a bigger challenge though than what they’ve faced in recent weeks and their new-found “ball in hand” game plan will be tested in this game. Jesse Uhr has been playing well for the Boiled Lollies recently, with his broken running play a highlight.
Another exciting round of rugby this weekend across the region, with Friday night’s fixture at Leeton tipped as Match of the Round. With only two rounds until the Brumbies Provincial Championships in Bateman's Bay, any players interested in playing rep footy only have a couple of weeks to impress the selectors before the tournament.
Leeton (3) v Ag College (4) – Match of the Round
Friday night under lights at Leeton No1 Oval is the venue for this rematch. These two teams played out a draw in Round One of the competition and I reckon this game has potential to be a tightly contested affair this round as well.
Leeton have played some pretty bruising games in recent weeks against Waratahs and Tumut respectively and by all accounts had opportunities to win both games. At home, they will be tough to get past, however I have been hearing some positive words from different sources about Aggies and their continued commitment to each other.
Ag College players like Gabe Brown and Mike “Magic” Van Diggelen will need to step up their game this week against a Phantoms outfit who know how to knock a team about. Leeton have tended towards a physical style in recent matches and I would expect them to use this strategy again tonight.
The Phantoms have a reputation as being very passionate about the game, when they can strike the balance between passion and control, they will be dangerous. There are some handy footballers in the Phantoms lineup, if these guys get the opportunity to run from a solid platform, watch out.
Tumut (2) v Albury (7)
A tough road trip for the Steamers here no doubt. The Bulls will be keen to stamp their authority on the 2015 Premiers at Jarrah Park this weekend and are likely to be back at full-strength for this match.
The Steamers on the other hand are probably doing a bit of soul-searching at this stage of the season but will be keen to show the competition that they can compete with the higher ranked teams.
CSU (8) v Griffith (6)
A number of admirable losses in recent weeks for the Reddies is something that the team are keen to turn around and would love nothing more than to do so in this match.
The Blacks have proven to be a bit of a surprise package since new coach Aled Francis has come on board, I wonder if Aled will be able to bring all the troops to Wagga this week? I was in Griffith recently and the Blacks had enough players in the wings to play an internal 3rd Grade match. They need to transfer this enthusiasm onto the road as well if they are going to make the finals in 2016.
Waratahs (1) v City (5)
Although Wagga City are in 5th position on the ladder, they are only there based on points differential. City actually have more bonus points than Ag College after 7 rounds of the competition and are capable of leap-frogging a few teams on the ladder depending on some results.
Waratahs will come into this match without two strike weapons in Angus Le Lievre and Sam Hobbs, however will blood some new talent at halfback with Tom Hallam having a run this weekend. For those older heads on here, you may remember or have played against Matt Hallam who was a very handy halfback in his day, some good pedigree there for Tom.
Wagga City are on a bit of a roll at the moment and are starting to put some good systems in place which are getting some runs on the board for them. This weekend will be a bigger challenge though than what they’ve faced in recent weeks and their new-found “ball in hand” game plan will be tested in this game. Jesse Uhr has been playing well for the Boiled Lollies recently, with his broken running play a highlight.
