ST JOSEPHS COLLEGE GREGORY TERRACE VS ST JOSEPHS COLLEGE NUDGEE.

ADDED SUNDAY 18/05/2008

Nudgee were lucky to get away with this one but I say that as a Terrace old boy who was hoping for a win.  

Nudgee 22 (Nicky Price 2, Sean Dwyer, Cayden Matehaere tries, Cayden Matehaere Con) d Terrace 16 (Charles Freney try, Matt Lucas con 3 pens)

A big crowd gathered for this traditional rivalry between these two great rugby nurseries. Terrace, coming off the back of a loss to BBC last week, came out very fired up looking to put a dint in the title hopes of the highly fancied team from Nudgee. After some sustained pressure Terrace hooker Charles Freney, whose father Michael was a Wallaby and great uncle Charles Wilson was a Wallaby captain, found some space and crossed for a try that was converted by the diminutive Matt Lucas. Terrace ahead 7-0. A while later Lucas stepped up to kick a penalty for Terrace to lead 10-0 and an upset was on the cards. Nudgee came back with tries to Sean Dwyer and Cayden Matehaere, cousin of Aust U20 player Richard Kingi I was told, who took and intercept and was to quick for the defence. Lucas kicked another penalty as well to have Terrace ahead 13-10 at half time. Terrace had the better of the first half there were a few nervous Nudgee old boys in front of me who were hoping for a big win from their team. 

The second half started and Nudgee scored straight away with Nicky Price scoring and Matehaere converted (I think). The second half saw Nudgee step up the intensity but it was still close the whole game Lucas kicked another penalty and Price crossed for his second try to take it to 22-16 Nudgee. Terrace looked like they scored next to the posts when a player reached over after being tackled close to the line and with bodies falling on top of him but the referee penalised the Terrace player for not releasing the ball. The Ref was in great position so he had the best position to see exactly what happened but I think it deflated the boys in red and black.

For the last 10 mins Terrace had a bit of possession but didn’t ask too many questions of the Nudgee defence with some one dimensional play, 12 crashed it up about 5 times. 

From my opinion the best players on the field were Charles Freney and Matt Lucas. Freney was everywhere on the field and had some great runs with the ball. Lucas is small but that doesn’t affect the way he plays. He tackled like a demon and thwarted quite a few chances that Nudgee had. He even took the line on a couple of times himself against much bigger opposition. There is some talent coming out of the Lucas house at the moment. 

The boys from Nudgee were quite quiet with the pace of their wingers and an intercept try getting them out of trouble. I am sure that they will lift their game in the coming weeks and be glad that they escaped with the points. 

I watched a bit of the Under 15 A's with Nudgee breaking a 3 year undefeated run by Terrace. Stephen Hunt, Stephano's younger brother looks like a future star. He has great skills and is very strong.

I also heard that Terrace were huge at the breakdown,  and to complete the name dropping in this article,  that nick Buchanan,  son of recent Aussie and Qld cricket coach John Buchanan had a massive game for Terrace.

I have some photos to go up too,  thanks to some very kind people,  really really good ones too,  like bought ones.

And another view just in on the old email:

In the best traditions of Tenneyson game days this correspondent (the very thought of which made me stay home and go to a touch match) fought through the traffic and parking hassles. Watched the 15A's and 14A's on adjacent fields - high standard of rugby but NC too strong in both ages. 
 
Then to the big one. Nudgee started poorly and gave away five penalties (all justified) in quick succession plus turnovers from poor clearing kicks. GT was good enough to convert the possession into 10 points with a well engineered try to No.2 Freney and a penalty.
 
Once NC settled down they were able to build pressure and were dangerous whenever the ball was moved wide. Elih Baille was strong on his return to outside centre and both wingers benefited. Whilst never really threatening the line, GT through 5/8 Lucas kicked enough penalties to keep the pressure on the scoreboard.
 
In the second half NC controlled the game but both sides were continually being penalised at the breakdown. The NC forwards were fitter than GT and it was starting to show.  The final 10 minutes was like the start of the game - NC giving away possession via penalties and soft turnovers but this time GT could not capitalise. The NC defence was too well organised and very strong.  
 
In the forwards battle neither team gained any ascendancy at the breakdown. Neither team was able to dominate or gain an advantage from the scrums. NC enjoyed a steady supply of quality ball from the middle of the lineout from Postal and Colvin, and Postal was able to steal several GT throws. The selected NC player of the match was the Nudgee No.2 Mafi who covered a lot of ground to feature in several breakdown situations.
 
The battle of the halves was even but as NC wore down the GT pack Lucas had lesser quality ball to work with and wasn't as prominent as during the first half. He declined a very kickable penalty early in the second half and I wonder if he had been injured earlier. The NC outside backs were given far too much latitude and this ended up accounting for the 3 tries to 1 difference.
 
Looking forward GT have little option but to stick to a 10 Man-Rugby game plan if it wants to win games. Whilst NC came off a very physical and exhausting game against BSHS the week before - cutting out silly penalties and soft turnovers will always make it easier to win games.

Return Home

WE DON'T STOP PLAYING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD,  WE GROW OLD BECAUSE WE STOP PLAYING.