#SIRU2017 Finals Round One Preview:
This is the time of year when things start to get serious in the SIRU Competition, you only have to look at the past few pages of this forum to see that there are plenty of punters out there who are interested in the 2017 Final Series, they’re all coming out of the woodwork at the pointy end of the season.
The weatherman is tipping a dreary day of cloud with a chance of rain for Saturday and I don’t envy Reddies and Aggies being the first team to run onto the pitch as it will be pretty fresh early Saturday morning. The conditions shouldn’t put too much of a dampener on what is always a great day on the local rugby calendar, a deadest smorgasbord of rugby on display with something for everyone. A few local rivalries out there, a touch of controversy, an opportunity for redemption but ultimately winners will be grinners and that’s what the aim of the day is all about.
If you’re anywhere near Wagga or the Riverina, get on down to Conolly Park and watch SIRU’s finest run around this weekend, give the steak sangas a burl and enjoy a frothy or two on the hill!
Waratahs v Wagga City – 1st Grade Qualifying Final
3:20pm Kickoff @ CRP #1. Referee – B Reynolds
A fitting final and I’m confident that SIRU will be pretty happy with two Wagga clubs playing in this game, particularly two clubs that have a bit of history and Grand Finalists from 2016 to boot!
Waratahs finished off the season by rolling into 2nd place pretty comfortably, they’re 3 wins clear of City and a significantly greater For and Against in their favour, but as City showed last year, in-season form counts for nought during the finals series and if there’s a club that’s keen to get up over Waratahs, it’s City. Interestingly, while Waratahs have almost 150 points greater points differential, there is only 60 points difference in the Against column towards Waratahs which indicates to me that there is not much difference in each team’s defensive capabilities and if you take out games against a high scoring opposition, they’re probably even closer in this marker (City may even best Waratahs in defence? I can’t be stuffed running the numbers on that though…).
Wagga City appear to be the more settled team at this stage of the season and look like they are putting their best foot forward with a team that is really gelling well at this stage of the season. Let’s put the eligibility issues aside at the moment, there’s no doubt that City are pretty happy with what James Curgenven is producing and he really gives them some strong options in the fullback position. Likewise, Waratahs must be pretty happy to have Dave Armstrong running around, but from what I’ve heard, he’s a little less effective than he has been in years gone by – maybe a symptom of no pre-season?
City have a very strong set-piece and really enjoy using this to their advantage in terms of scrum and lineout. Any penalties within 60m of your try-line will generally result in a maul played off the lineout from about 5-15m out. From here, City really have a lot of options, the ability to generate strong forward momentum from the maul, a backline that is brimming with pace and eager to score – these assets are putting teams in two minds at the moment. Do they defend the maul and sacrifice defensive matchups or do they mark up through the backline and give away ground to the driving maul?
In comparison to City, Waratahs appear to be a little unsettled. My scouts keep telling me that Waratahs look like they have a bit to work on and recent stats could lend some weight to that argument. Waratahs allegedly took only 6 1st Graders to Griffith recently and while I can understand that game probably presented a good opportunity to work on some combinations etc, that’s a worrying sign at this stage of the season. Tahs seem to be slow starters at the moment also and this could be an issue for them if City manage to get out of the blocks early. Griffith led them at half time and Albury were also well within striking distance of the men in blue last weekend, will they fire during the finals series?
I think discipline is going to be important for these teams in preparing for this match. How each club approaches the day knowing they have a second chance is going to be interesting, as will their ability to get past the local derby tag and vocal crowd support for this game. This match is a big game for both clubs and they know each other well so there is likely to be plenty of feeling on the pitch which will make for a great hitout between these two traditional rivals!
Key Matchups:
Keifer Power vs Tim Corcoran in the centres, James Curgenven vs Dan Selmes at fullback and Dave Armstrong vs Monson Tuvale at #8, both tight five matchups will be important also.
Tumut v Ag College – 1st Grade Elimination Final
1:40pm Kickoff @ CRP #1. Referee – S Donelan
Back to the Future for this one, will this be a replay of last week? What have these teams learnt over the past 7 days?
After a horror start from each team last week with at least 10 scrums inside 5mins, Aggies got off to a quick pace and managed to maintain that during the full 80mins. You could see Aggies grow in confidence as time went on during the game and Tumut seemed to get frustrated with their inability to get front foot ball. Aggies played to the fringes and moved the bigger Tumut pack from side to side and ultimately ran them off their feet. Coach Grivas said earlier this week that the Bulls need to play smarter and while there’s some truth in that, remember that the Bulls were also missing a few players who will return this week and will likely have a significant impact on the game.
While Tumut do need to regroup and assess what went wrong last week, they’ll be comfortable that they have the ability to adapt to what Aggies are bringing to the table. The Bull’s strengths have traditionally been that big rolling forward pack and they’ve been able to add some strong ball runners into that mix with Joe Ioane providing a genuine threat close to the line. He wasn’t able to get much ball down the right end of the field last week and if he can get the pill 10-15m out, he’ll be hard to stop.
The outright enthusiasm that Aggies displayed last week was pretty impressive and they’ve been playing “sudden death” rugby for a few weeks now so should be able to approach this game pretty confidently. From what I have seen though, they’re going to be facing an opposition who know what to expect from them now, who probably got caught by surprise a bit at Jarrah Park and should be smarter for that loss. Will Aggies enthusiasm be their downfall? Is there weakness in the break-neck speed they try and play? Should they change this style now that they’re in the finals? Was last week a fluke where everything just clicked? Can they do it again?
I’ll be surprised if both Reynolds brothers aren’t starting this weekend for the Bulls. While one was in the naughty chair, the other was skolling schnapps on the slopes and I think the running options that these two provide will make life a bit more difficult for Aggies this week. Tumut will also be sweating on the fitness of Jo Glamuzina who looked like he was running on 2 cylinders last weekend, maybe they can look to the pace of Brad Gorman to cover here?
It’s difficult to ignore the For and Against of both teams here, Tumut are in the Black by 116 points while Aggies are in the Red to the tune of -193 points having leaked almost 200 more points than the Bulls. There’s no doubt that Uni holidays have had an impact here and that Aggies have done well in recent weeks to bag the wins required to make the Top 5 and I’m not really sure what to make of those stats, but they’re hard to ignore.
Key Matchups:
Joe Ioane vs Duncan Woods in the front row, Harrison Friswell vs Cam Duffy at 5/8 (their decision making in this game is going to be crucial in my view) and Dan Dowson vs Ben Brooke in the backrow.
Waratahs v Leeton – 2nd Grade Qualifying Final
12:10pm Kickoff. Referee – M Harris
The Phantoms have their work cut out for themselves in this one, a quick look at the ladder will show that Waratahs have only lost two games this season to sit in 2nd position whereas Leeton are 50/50 with 7 wins and 7 losses in 3rd place.
Griffith v Tumut – 2nd Grade Elimination Final
11:35am Kickoff @ CRP #2. Referee – S Frost
Well, there’s been a lot of feeling out there in the local rugby community about this game hasn’t there. How will Griffith fair in this game? Will it be the whitewash that has been predicted or will the Bulls put an end to the Blacks season? Definitely the most anticipated match outside of first grade here.
Hay v Wagga City – 3rd Grade Elimination Final
11:05am Kickoff @ CRP #1. Referee – A Gunn
An early start for the Cutters but I’m sure they’ll be keen enough to get up early for this one. Hay have been a dominant force in the McMullen Cup for a while now and City will be need to dig deep in this game.
Waratahs v Tumut – 3rd Grade Elimination Final
10:30am Kickoff @ CRP #2. Referee – T Pietsch
I know the focus on eligibility has been at the higher ranks this year, but one punter told me recently that a certain club has used 60 players this year in this grade. Talk about selection headaches!
CSU v Ag College – 3rd Grade Elimination Final
10:00am Kickoff @ CRP #1. Referee – J Martel
Should be a good start to the day with the young whipper snappers from Ag College keen to pants their older rivals at Reddies. I hope they can handle the wet conditions early, the boys will need to warm up well for this game!
Griffith v Waratahs – Women’s Elimination Final
11:35am Kickoff @ CRP #2. Referee – W Strong
This match should showcase the up and coming talent through the local school systems in the Riverina. There are a number of girls who have taken up the 7’s format who will be out to show what they’re made of in this game.
CSU v Wagga City – Women’s Qualifying Final
2:20pm Kickoff @ CRP #2. Referee – M Wilkinson
An easy pick for MOTR for the Women’s, these two clubs have been pretty well matched in recent seasons with Reddies arguably stepping ahead a little. If you’re into 7’s, have a gander at this match as these teams don’t mind throwing the ball around and are happy to attack from all areas of the field.
