4^th Grade
Briars 5 lost Oatley 10

Whilst it was disappointing to register another loss, it was another committed effort from our 4^th Grade side this weekend. The first half was all about defence for the Briars side who seemed to spend the whole half tackling as a result of a mountain of possession for the Oatley side.

In the second half we seemed to even up the possession and capitalised with some positive attacking football. The gutsy team effort was complemented by a number of outstanding individual performance from our new half back Adam, who excelled in both attack and defence and our open side Daniel who was a constant pest to the Oatley side and made about 1000 tackles in the first half alone.

A special thanks to our new and returning players who certainly added plenty to the side.
Points on the day went to: Adam (3), Daniel (2), & Andrew (1)

3^Rd Grade
Briars 19 df Oatley 7 [Burnicle 2, O'Reilly tries; Nichols 2 cons]

Great game boys! We finally started to show a few positive attributes that have been lacking thus far: preparation, willingness, patience and discipline [well, most of the time]. In general we controlled the game through good line-out ball, better field position and a desire to hang on to the ball. It just goes to show what we are capable of and how much effort at training and pre-game contributes to results on the board.

After some early to-ing and fro-ing, the Briars forwards turned over the ball in Oatley's red zone and after a couple of good phases, then some nice linking in the backs, Scotty crashed over in the corner for his first. Matty hit the pigskin nicely to send us 7-0 up. A plethora of scrums late in the first half showed our only weakness on the day and possibly what held us from leading by more at the break. The referee obviously contributed to our scrum issues [as did a couple of massive boys in Oatley's front row], but we have to look internally when things don't go right. We had our best tight five for the year, so I think we just need to do some work there so that all are on the same page, something John Picone will be happy to assist with - provided we all get there to work on it.

After an ordinary start in the 2nd half due to a 'freaky' kick-off and Oatley turning it into an instant 7 points, we really began to show our class. Having pinned the Shire-wannabes in their 22, we again strung together phase-ball and then Birdo [aka JT] popped a lovely short-ball to Scotty at the line and it was 14-7 to us. The Oatley boys were getting stuck into themselves, the Ref and us, which had a few calls go away that might not have in prior weeks. Just goes to show what a bit of added discipline does for our cause. Most of us know, there is still room for improvement. Anyway, off the back of some nice runs from Tedesco, Rubes and Rollsy we found ourselves threatening the opposition again, and a nice hole-hit from Irish saw him carry over a couple of lads for his well deserved try. The Ref ended the game early and at the same time our chance for a bonus point [only club in 3s still not to have earnt one], but I reckon we can take heaps out of this one and set up a trend for the rest of the season.

Big few weeks ahead fellas starting with Barker away this weekend. It's pissing it down as I write this, so it means Thursday's session is going to need to be a big one. So let's all bring the commitment we showed last weekend to training and get our game face on for Saturday. This season is ours for the taking!

Rolls 3, Birdo 2, Freak 1

2^nd Grade
Briars df Oatley 31-12 (Mills, Comino, Forbes, Psaltis tries Psaltis 4/4 C, 1/1 P)

Going into the match, we knew that Oatley would try and out muscle us – they were much bigger than our guys. The warning signals were heard by Briars, after conceding an early try, and the boys managed to reply fairly quickly through Ryan Mills, on debut, after good lead up work by the rest of the forward pack. The team shifted into gear after this. The defence was stronger, our line outs were dominant, our scrums were looking the best had they looked all year, the only thing we needed was to score some points. A penalty goal was added which pushed the score out to 10-5 Briars. However, 2 quick tries towards the end of half time, the first a great team try finished off by Emmanuel Comino and the second saw Ben Forbes weave through some Oatley traffic, made the half time score look 24-5.

The instructions were simple in the second half – don’t fall away in the second half, keep intensity and concentration, get early points and then apply the blow torch. Well, it didn’t quite work that way. The side managed to keep their discipline, their intensity and their concentration, but weren’t really allowed to have much of the ball in the second half. Oatley were camped down in the Briars half for most of the second term, numerous attacking raids were made on the Briars try line. Although Oatley did cross the stripe, our defence had done the job. The boys should be credited for the spirit and determination shown in defence. Although we did manage to score a late try to give us the bonus point, it was a missed opportunity to score some points and have some fun in attack.

We need to work on a few things. We have to be more polished in some aspects of our game, but there is no doubt that this was a good hit out against a larger side. We are aware that this weekend against Barker our game must be perfect. Tougher matches are around the corner, but we are confident if we play to our ability, that we can match it with any side. Looking forward to Barker and a tough game.

Points
3 – Brewer
2 – Batey
1 – Bo
1 –Dave Ananin