Last Saturday the Waverley Women took what they learned from Crescent Head sevens to take a stronger and more experienced squad for Sevens by the Sea, held at Porter’s Reserve near Newport.
As one of the “local†teams, Waverley was first on the field against the more realistically local team, Warringah. We knew what to expect in this game, and the Rats didn’t disappoint. We made life hard for ourselves by arriving late to Newport, so running on feeling a bit disorganised and with no real game plan. However, we put up a good fight, and stopped a great number of tries. Final score of 41 to nil is pretty respectable against a team led by the Australian captain.
During the hour until our second game guest coach Frosty was scribbling madly trying to get a handle on who all these new girls were, and trying to remember the names of those of us he did coach in 2008. Names have never been his strong point!
Sadly the best laid plans were somewhat screwed up by an mis-communication between Karin and Vicki which resulted in some very red-faced girls coming off at half time wondering why nobody had been subbed on for them after 4 minutes. Suck it up girls – now you know what Crescent Head felt like!
The second half of this game (against Hunter) was much better as the girls finally found some cohesion and began playing as a team. Sadly the scores at the end were again nil to Waverley, but this time only 24 to the opposition.
Our first game after lunch was against Sydney Uni, an opposition that raises a lot of passion amongst the Waverley girls. Having lost a couple of players to them this year, we have a point to prove. Sadly this wasn’t the day to do it, and the beat us 32 points to nil.
However, in this game Waverley’s previously hidden talents were really beginning to shine through. Secret weapon Gen shows she has the speed to chase the Sydney Uni girls, and the confidence to put in a few big tackles – not bad for a girl who’s only played touch and oz-tag before. Bree also showed some good chasing skills, and Tash’s tackling was noted as “awesome†by those watching.
Our final game of the day had us meeting the unknown Redfern Legends, a team mostly comprising the indigenous girls from the Sydney area who are heading to the Ella Seven’s this weekend. However, there was at least one familiar face on the team, as Velesha decided to play with them rather than us, on the grounds that they had less girls than us, and she is playing with them this weekend. Don’t worry V, we don’t hold it against you (much), just drag some of them down to Waverley soon.
This game finally saw some Waverley points on the board! A commanding run from Amanda set Sarah up for the first try of her rugby career, and in all probability her last as a Waverley girl. Sarah – are you sure we can’t send Andy to Noosa and keep you here?
Final score 5 to Waverley, 12 to Redfern.
It was now time to sit back for the rest of the afternoon and enjoy watching the semis and finals. The highlight of the day…watching Warringah finally lose a game AND be kept scoreless in the final against ACT…proof that even the best teams make mistakes and have off days!
All in all the day went well, despite not chalking up a win. The girls gained some valuable experience and with the exciting additions to the team, it’s looking really positive for the season ahead.
That would be a good point to end this report, apart from some excitement on Newport beach before the drive home…
Spuddy was just having a cooling dip in the ocean when her legs started to cramp up. Nurse Cat has little patience (maybe too many complaining patients on a daily basis) and told her to “just stretch them outâ€, but luckily Bree was close enough to help her, and ensured that our #1 prop didn’t end up as fish-food.
Alls well that ends well. See you all at training during the week.
The day started bright and early for all teams as the blessing of the ground by a local Aboriginal Elder followed by the Powhiri to welcome all teams. The draw was then done and the first game was Waverley V North lakes.
A tight game full of emotion took place but Waverley got home 6 – 0 thanks to two penalty goals from Lloyd Atkin a heated exchange near the end of the game was what the crowed was waiting for and they go it. But in true Taki Toa spirit both teams huddled together after the final whistle and thanked each other.
Although Waverley didn’t get the result they wanted it was still a great campaign that started over 6 weeks ago. Their fitness was a true testament to all the hard work put in by coach Deon & trainer Bill. All of this worked showed in the way Waverley defended its line with not one team getting over all day.
Deon and staff would like to thank all involved with getting the team on the field on the day such as Rob Stenberg from GT – EX Global Transport and Rob Proyer for his support. Karl & Kane for getting the great Taki Toa T’shirts together , Patrick for the Moko ( Maori design ) for the playing strip and Scott at ISC sports for his time in producing the Waverley strip. Also to Tiv and the Waverley Rugby club a big thank you for your support.
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