With three Orange District Junior Cricket Association premierships, two Orange District Cricket Association minor titles and the club championship under its belt so far, it’s fair to say Orange City’s 50th anniversary season has been pretty successful.
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The job’s not done though, that’s the message Orange City’s top grade skipper Craig Rogan delivered to his clubmates in the lead-up to this weekend’s senior grand finals.
The Warriors still have the chance to add the 2017-18 first grade, second grade and third grade premierships to their already-bulging trophy case, a title treble that Rogan says would be the icing on the cake for his club.
“There’s a good vibe around the club at the moment, considering we’ve got three of our four senior teams in grand finals and have had such great success in junior cricket too,” Rogan said.
“To have already won quite a few trophies shows the strength of our club as a whole, we’re kicking goals in senior cricket but even more so at the junior level I think, because these are the guys that should push through into the senior ranks later.
“To be in this position in the year we’re celebrating 50 years of Orange City Cricket Club is great. There’s definitely a bit more passion this season I think. I mean, we’re always a club that plays with a lot of passion but it’d be fantastic to back up the great success we’ve already had in junior cricket by claiming some senior silverware too.
“But we know the job’s not done and we won’t be taking the foot off the gas, there’ll be some serious unfinished business if we don’t win, because we’re all very hungry to do that.”
The Warriors’ under-12, under-13 and under-16 sides all won their grand finals a fortnight ago and the greens’ first and second XIs – officially – secured their respective minor titles on the same day, a result that sealed the McCarthy Cup for the senior club championship too.
It’s the fourth time in the last six seasons the Warriors have won the latter.
While Orange City’s top two sides won straight through the club’s third XI finished second, defeating CYMS in last weekend’s preliminary final to progress to the big dance.
A grand final win, let alone three, never comes easy though and Rogan knows that.
“Definitely, premierships are really tough things to win, I don’t think the week off [has] been a bad thing either,” he said.
“I think all three sides winning is still very realistic. If I was to put money on any team right now though, it’d be third grade, they have absolutely steamrolled for the last six or seven weeks.
“There’s been some huge outright wins and some great individual performances, they’ve got a really complete side and they’ve been together basically since Christmas.
“Their bowling attack is spectacular, so good luck facing them, I wouldn’t want to.”
Orange City faces Cavaliers in first and second grade, and Waratahs in third grade. Centrals-Wanderers play Spring Hill in fourth grade, while CYMS play Kinross in Centenary Cup.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
