LOSING in the first round wasn’t the result Orange CYMS wanted from the West Wyalong Knockout last weekend, but green and golds second rower Riley Law is confident the loss is the start of something positive for his side.
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Law starred in the second row for CYMS alongside new recruit Tim Mortimer, and said despite the 12-10 loss to Group 9 side Wagga Kangaroos the green and golds will take plenty from the hit out.
“We had a lot of injuries, which was no secret,” Law said.
“And to be fair we were pretty poor at times but I think Sully (coach Mick Sullivan) will be pretty happy for the hit out.
“There was plenty of new faces, and I think our performance showed that. We struggled at times in attack more than anything, which comes from not playing together before as a group.”
Wagga shot to an early 12-0 lead before CYMS pegged the deficit back in the late stages of the game through tries to off-season signing Matt Rose, and club stalwart Scott Sullivan.
Unfortunately, hooker Sam Hill could only kick one of the two conversions, which proved costly for CYMS, losing out by two points to the young Roos side, which was eventually defeated in the semi-final.
“(Mick) Sullivan, Matty (Rose) and Robbie (Mortimer) really turned it on for us in those late stages, and got us back in it,” Law said.
“Unfortunately it was a little bit too late, the game was probably gone by the time we got on the board really.
“We showed glimpses of what we can do, which is encouraging, and with more time together as a group I think we’ll be very strong this year.
“That was really the problem, we’ve never played together before, and once the group gels a bit more through hard work together we’ll be fine, especially considering guys like Ben McAlpine, Kyran Bubb and Dom Maley need to come back into the side.”
After being the most active club in terms of player recruitment during the off season, Law said CYMS’ off-season signings justified the club’s interest, starring in their first appearance in green and gold for 2015.
“Robbie and Tim Mortimer were particularly good,” Law said.
“But Matty Rose played some really good footy as well. They’re all fitting in very well.”