It was a tough afternoon at Crosby Park for our Premier Men and Colts 1 sides as they came up against the reigning premiers. Both sides gave away early leads to the highly fancied Brothers outfits and despite strong finishes, ran out of time to chase down the margin.
For our Premier Women it was business as usual as they steamrolled their way to a huge win to remain undefeated after six rounds.
Bull Sharks v Brothers at Crosby Park.
Premier Women
Bull Sharks won 52-7
Where it was won:
The front row pairing of Shelley Fox and returning Wallaroo Madi Schuck gave us dominance up front at scrum time. In a scrappy game with plenty of mistakes we were able make a lot of gains there.
The highlight:
Replacement Lock Paris Mohr running a beautiful line and scoring her first try for the Bull Sharks.
What made you happy:
It was a scrappy game for us. We tried to implement a few new things into our game and at times we lost our direction. However, it was still pleasing to come away with a decent win in the end.
Bull Sharks Football:
The work to do:
This week will be our toughest challenge yet, coming up against a very powerful and talented Easts team who are bouncing back from a tough loss. Our improvement will need to be in our defence. We were too passive against Brothers, and we let in a soft try through the middle. That will be our main focus against a strong ball carrying side like the Tigers.
Trademark Player:
Leticia Medeiros is a member of the Brazilian national team who joined us at the beginning of the year. She has been a great inclusion to the team who brings a lot of energy and physicality to our edge and gets through a mountain of work on defence. The language barrier has not phased her, or her teammates and she is thriving in our Bond family despite not having a clue what I am saying. It is brilliant, and the girls love having her here.
With Shannon Symon.
Premier Men
Bull Sharks lost 38-27
Where it was won:
We lost the game in the first half when we conceded four tries, three directly through driving mauls. I was very disappointed with the lack of discipline to give Brothers those opportunities, and then also our inability to defend on our try line.
What made you happy:
We showed some fight in the second half but ultimately, we left ourselves too big a task.
The highlight:
We scored some wonderful tries. Hamish Roberts scored three, Rhian Stowers scored one and so did Lukas Ripley. When your outside backs score all of your tries it is a fair indication that you have some ability out wide. When we laid a decent platform in the second half, we were able to express ourselves. Hamish uncharacteristically converted only one from five, although they were all from out wide, while the Brothers’ kicker slotted six from six.
Bull Sharks Footy:
The boys never stopped trying. We came back from 28-5 down to make it 28-22 and then 31-27 and had all the momentum but unfortunately came up with a late error which then gave Brothers an opening to score a late try.
The work to do:
Clearly our discipline and maul defence let us down – we conceded 24 points directly from those areas. Looking ahead to this week Easts will look to take advantage of this if we don’t learn quickly.
Trademark player:
Rhian Stowers never stopped trying. He was chasing kicks, making tackles, kicking us out of trouble and was a constant threat in attack.
With Mick Heenan.
Second Grade
Bull Sharks lost 50-12
Third Grade
Bull Sharks lost 42-5
Colts 1
Bull Sharks lost 22-19
Where it was won:
Brothers were better in the lineout and maul area and that was the difference. We finished the game well with a couple of tries to earn a bonus point.
The highlight:
The boys showed a great attitude to finish the game strongly.
What made you happy:
The effort was much better. We asked for a response from the previous week, and we got it.
Bull Sharks Football:
Long range tries and the attacking attitude from Blake Raymond who transitioned to 15 from 13. And great finish from Ieuan Cornelius.
The work to do:
The lineout is a continuous work on, and we also have to improve our physicality at the break down.
Trademark player:
Ieuan Cornelius in the backs and Robson Reidy who works hard all game.
With Rico Gear.
Colts 2
Bull Sharks won 32-30