DEFENCE INTO ATTACK: Hawks muscle up in defence against Bathurst Panthers on Saturday night.
DEFENCE wins big games.
It’s as simple as that.
And while Saturday night’s clash with Bathurst Panthers at Wade Park is probably not the biggest game Orange Hawks will face in season 2012, the two blues showed they have what it takes to muscle up with the big boys in Group 10.
Put simply, defence earned the Hawks their 28-20 win.
“We spoke a lot about that during the week, and we spoke about tightening up the middle. I actually thought Bathurst played quite well up the middle so it was a good test for us and I thought we played alright,” Hawks coach James Wynne said.
“(Defence) is one of our main focuses and then obviously the simple stuff with the footy. To the boys’ credit, they aimed up.”
Saturday night’s win under lights was certainly anything but pretty.
But after just two rounds, that doesn’t concern Wynne.
He said he was focused on the positives, adding the way senior players stood up to be counted when it matter most would benefit Hawks immensely.
“Definitely. I really thought Toddy Barrow stepped up and did a lot of the tough stuff and led the team from the front. He and Bunny (Glen Bunworth), I thought were outstanding. As well as the younger guys and the bench players, they all stepped up,” he said.
“I was happy all-round really.”
Wynne said he was proud of the way his side bounced back against Panthers, just seven days after being hammered 43-6 by Orange CYMS in round one.
But he believes Hawks are still very much a work in progress.
“We’ve got a mile of work to do to tell you the truth,” Wynne revealed.
“We’ve started very basic and we’re looking to improve each week and that’s all we’re worried about at the moment. We’re not worried about playing our best footy yet so, we’ve got a lot of improving to do, a lot of work to do and hopefully bit by bit we’ll get there each week.”
