COMMITMENT, concentration and consistency.
They will be three key words Cootamundra Tricolours coach Kristian Bodycott will entrench into his players’ heads prior to them taking the field for tomorrow.
The Tricolours face RARC in the Southern Inland Rugby Union First Division major semi final at the Conolly Rugby Complex, with the winner to advance directly to the grand final.
Put simply, the team that
executes, adapts and excels for 80 minutes will be one step closer to the ultimate goal of premiership victory.
The Tricolours have been the form team of the Romano’s Cup, having beaten every rival since the main competition was split in two.
Prior to the division, the Tricolours were languishing near the bottom of the ladder, but the belief was always there that their potential was far greater than what their results may have shown.
The past six weeks have seen the Tricolours grow, both in stature and self belief culminating in securing the First Division minor
premiership last weekend against Temora.
However Bodycott will be quick to annul any contentment that minor title may have brought.
“The real season begins now,” Bodycott said this week.
“Semi final football is a different ball game with an increased level of intensity in all areas.”
The first-year coach believes his team played their best passages of football in last week’s 33-10 win over Temora, but stressed it was the consistency of their performance that must improve.
“It was our best start to a game all year,” he said.
“The first 10 minutes were
excellent, we controlled possession and did all the right things with it, while the bounce of the ball also seemed to go our way.
“We lost our structure a bit after that, but you could put that down, in part, to over enthusiasm.”
The Tricolours have named a strong squad for tomorrow, however will be without experienced hooker Lachlan Bassingthwaighte who has a prior commitment.
“We always knew Lachie
wouldn’t be available for this
weekend,” Bodycott said.
“Mitch Boyd has done an
excellent job at hooker when he’s filled in and works hard around the ground so he’ll slot in there again.”
The Tricolours will be boosted by the inclusion of dynamic breakaway Bill Scott who, along with Andrew Glover and Luke Joseph, give the Tricolours an energetic and mobile back three that will be crucial to their team’s chances.
Scott’s inclusion will force Andrew Sheridan back to the bench and while he’d be disappointed to miss a place in the starting XV, Sheridan is bound to make an impact when he is injected into the fray.
“Sherro could be our ‘X-factor’,” Bodycott said.
“He’ll lift the side when he comes on, he has the ability to bust through the defence and his talk is excellent.”
The Tricolours could field the most experienced bench of the four sides remaining, with 2006 premiership
player Simon Brabin, last year’s coach Rob Ramsay and Pommy import Alex Woodhouse all expected to be named as fresh reserves.
“Alex is a bit unlucky not to be in the starting side as well,” Bodycott said, “but this will be his last game before he goes home so it’s probably better to go with the guys who will be there for the next match.”
In Woodhouse’s absence, Welshman Andrew Collins will take over the goal kicking duties, with Bodycott set to instruct his team to take the three points from penalty kicks when they are on offer.
“I made a decision when the competition split to grab the points when they are available,” he said.
“If you kick a couple of early penalty goals and then pinch a try, suddenly you have skipped away and the opposition has to play catch up.
“In saying that we have the ability to score tries from anywhere on the field so I certainly won’t be trying to curtail that attacking flair.”
How the Tricolours will line up
1 Phil Carter
2 Mitch Boyd
3 Craig Friend
4 Chris Friend
5 James Burge (c)
6 Andrew Glover
7 Bill Scott
8 Luke Joseph
9 Andrew Hillam
10 Andrew Collins
11 Scott Carter
12 Ben Brown
13 Phil Gay
14 Barclay Hardie
15 Graeme Hardie
16 Andrew Sheridan
17 Simon Brabin
18 Alex Woodhouse
19 Rob Ramsay
Game commences at 2.45pm
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