Group 10, this is Willie Heta.
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The new Orange Hawks captain-coach was electric in his side’s 58-16 thrashing of the Bears at Blayney on Sunday, scoring a try, laying on seven others and booting nine goals from 10 attempts in the victory.
The one goal he did miss was from the sideline, and even then it hit the left upright.
Heta’s work at five-eighth was instrumental in Hawks racing to a 40-6 half-time lead, a seven-try rampage that left the Blayney faithful at King George Oval gobsmacked.
The kiwi born pivot threw the key pass for five of his side’s tries, one towering torpedo bomb that left the Blayney back three clutching at thin air resulting in another four-pointer while zippy fullback Ethan Harris latched on to a Heta chip kick to score as well.
Heta looked relieved more than anything at full-time but threw down the challenge to his teammates after they collectively sent an ominous message courtesy of the 10 tries rout – let’s maintain it.
“That’s right, we’ve got to maintain it now,” he said.
“I knew they were itching to get out there, it was just a matter of keeping their heads or they’d get too excited and throw the ball around.
“I’m really happy with the way we came out in that first half, it set it up for us.”
Young winger Jordan Baker kicked off the procession of points, scoring in the third minute before tries to Sione Tongia, Heta, Jedd Kennedy, Harris and a first half double to Caleb Lewis capped a stunning opening 40 minutes.
The avalanche didn’t end there, Brett Morgan, Kennedy again and Lewis, for his treble, all crossing in the final term.
Pride to recapture, the Bears finished much better than they started, Dylan Battersby’s first-half try added to thanks to four-pointers from Josh William and then Rakai Tuheke adding consolation to the 58-16 scoreline.
Well-drilled and fit are two traits that come to mind following the opening round win for Hawks, but Blayney skipper William Ingram added some perspective.
“When you keep dropping the ball and you’ve got to tackle for 80 per cent of the half, it’s going to end up like that,” Ingram said of his side’s first half.
“We’ve just got to stay positive. Poor decision making hurt us, and if we can turn that around we’ll be better as a unit and go a lot better.”
Heta finished the game with 22 points, indicating last year’s leading point-scorer in the Newcastle Rugby League competition will take some running down in Group 10 in 2017.
“I think no practice is helping me out a bit,” he laughed referring to his goal-kicking.
He added the squad Hawks has assembled this season is gelling well, early.
“It was a matter of getting the right players with the structure I was running and that’s coming together slowly,” Heta said.
“We can’t take too much from the result.
“We've been running around a bit. Right through, conditioning was going to play a big part for the club. I hope it’s paying off.”
ORANGE HAWKS 58 (Caleb Lewis 3, Jedd Kennedy 2, Jordan Baker, Willie Heta, Sione Tongia, Brett Morgan, Ethan Harris tries; Willie Heta 9 goals) def BLAYNEY BEARS 16 (Josh William, Dylan Battersby, Rakai Tuheke tries; Josh Rainbow 2 goals)