|
It took four and a half games, but the Bay of Plenty Steamers finally brought the crowd to life in a stirring fightback which almost brought our first win. Our usual failings at the line-out and some errant goal-kicking ensured we chalked up our fifth defeat – although we did rise from last place above the woeful Counties-Manukau.
I had a nostalgic feeling on Sunday morning waking up pony* from encouraging the team and abusing the referee. For the people who believe that “referees have a hard job, they are doing their best”, please note that abuse of the ref is not dependent on how well he does his job. My abuse was due to a suspicion that he was being Captain Hook*.
Keith Roberts is no longer responsible for player fitness with the Steamers, and we are struggling in this area, particularly towards the end of a game. In the last 10 minutes, Otago was turning over our ruck ball at will merely by weight of numbers while our forwards stood and waited for the ball to come back. During a televised game, this fan shows more urgency racing from couch to fridge to fetch a beer during an injury break.
When Kelly Haimona was introduced in the second half, it was noticeable that our back line suddenly acquired subtlety with Delany and Haimona appearing to swap between first and second five. The passing was crisper and decisions were being made based on the defensive line, culminating in the beautiful try to Charlie Baxter, the Bay try of the season so far. Haimona certainly didn’t look out of place at this level and his size will stand him in good stead. Toby Arnold also made a tidy debut, tracking across well to prevent a certain Otago try when they had a 5 man overlap.
It looked like Colin Bourke was roaming very wide in this game, even before he was moved into the backs. His size, pace and eye for the pass stood out with the extra space. In the forward battle, he seems to lack the outright power needed to be a top class number eight.
I propose a law change to prevent big hairy blindside flankers running at little Mike Delany. The big hairy flanker was Adam Thompson who was a scary sight with ball in hand. Looks like Otago have uncovered a gem with this lad, unless he starts to suffer from Matua Parkinson syndrome*.
We can still make the top eight with a little mathematical invention but a win against Tasman this weekend is required. Lose and even Mr Einstein may give us up as a bad job.
* pony – a little hoarse
* Captain Hook – one-eyed
* Matua Parkinson syndrome – loose forward with big hair penalised more often due to being easy to spot.
|
