“IT is a long season, we can’t afford to get ahead of ourselves.”
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Andrew Logan played down Orange Emus’ 2014 Blowes Clothing Cup contender status, despite the greens’ remarkable turnaround from last season.
The greens currently sit third, with five wins from seven starts, just two points off the pace behind competition leaders Dubbo Kangaroos and second-placed Orange City Lions.
“I’d like to think we are a more consistent team than last year [when Emus secured the wooden spoon], which was always a rebuilding season” Logan said.
“A lot of that can be put down to my fellow coaches. [First grade assistants] Paul Ringland, Graydon Staniforth and [second grade mentor] Mitch Dansey don’t get the credit they deserve, they’ve got great rugby brains and work well as an ensemble. It’s a group effort.
“But we’re not even halfway through the season, and it’s a very flat competition. There is results every week that leave you shaking your head, so I wouldn’t consider us more of a contender than any other team in the competition.
“Anyone could fall off, or regain, the pace pretty quickly.”
Despite Logan’s modesty, the contrast between Emus in 2013 compared to this season is undeniable.
Emus, statistically, are the Blowes Clothing Cup’s best attacking side having scored 258 points in the opening rounds - 51 more than any other team. Tellingly, the greens are also now the best defensive side in the competition, conceding a miserly 108 points so far.
Compare this to 2013 - after seven rounds last season Emus were dead last, with just one win and a points difference of minus 37. The greens had scored just 145 points, and conceded 182.
“There’s no secret defence wins you games,” Logan said.
“But there’s a few teams within a point or two of us so we won’t read into that defensive stat.
“Our goal is still just to consolidate, and hopefully play a bigger part at the business end of the season.”
Along with a bulging points difference, Emus also boast five of the top 10 Blowes Clothing Cup try-scorers in skipper Nigel Staniforth (10), wingers Tom Green (6) and Carter Hirini (4), hooker Keith Howarth (4) and centre Tim Alison (4), proving Logan’s long-serving claim Emus’ point-scoring ability is unquestionable.
nick.mcgrath@fairfaxmedia.com.au
