RUGBY LEAGUE
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A SCINTILLATING 15 minute period in the first-half from Oberon allowed the Tigers to maintain their unbeaten start to the Group 10 premier league season with a scrappy 42-10 victory over Orange Hawks at Wade Park on Saturday.
After conceding first points, Zac Rowlandson's side turned it on with five tries in 15 minutes to blow the two blues off the park.
Three of Oberon's five tries came from beyond the half-way line, with the best of them a cracking interchange of passes down the Tigers' left-edge between Blake Miller and Trent Rose, finished off in style by Jackson Brien, who enjoyed a stunning first 40 minutes with three line breaks and try assist of his own as the visitors raced to a 30-4 advantage.
The second-half from both sides was poor, with handling errors and ill-discipline turning what was a reasonable spectacle into, at times, a debacle, but Oberon proved too good in eventually winning 42-10, their sixth straight triumph to start the season.
Oberon won no games in 2015 and just four the year before that, and Rowlandson made a point of visiting Hawks' change room after fulltime to reiterate a message injured two blues captain-coach Jason Gangaram has been preaching now since round one.
"He said stick together," Gangaram said of the advice.
"He came in and said 'look fellas, we were in this position a few years ago so stick together'. That's exactly what we need to do.
"I guess they just need to buy in to the idea of how good they are. They're all great players, it's just confidence."
Minus former NRL players George Rose (hamstring) and Jason Ferris (ankle) - Rose is expected back next week while Ferris will return after the June long weekend - Oberon's rise from wooden-spooners to competition leaders is one of the stories of the 2016 Country Rugby League season.
Tries to Abel Faifua-Lefaoseu, Matt Rose, Matt Ballinger, Blake Miller and of course Brien - all of which we converted by the left-foot of Trent Rose - rocketed the Tigers to a match-winning lead after Jake Blimka snuck Hawks the early advantage with a cheeky short-side raid.
Rowlandson opened the scoring in the second half, running off a Benji Marshall-esque flick pass from halfback Anton Wereta to score under the sticks to bump the visitors' lead out to 36-4.
Under-sized and lacking a touch of polish, Hawks never stopped fighting and scored a great try to Blimka, again, nearing the hour mark to restore some faith before the Tigers rounded out the 32-point win with a try to Josh Rivett right on full-time.
The Brien-Miller-Rose trio on Oberon's left were sensational in the win, and Rowlandson said once his side clicks they're hard to stop.
The Tigers were, however, guilty of pushing the pass a touch in the opening 10 minutes.
"If we're patient and set it up it works," he said.
"But if we go to early and don't get in the grind we make mistakes. It hurts us."
Gifted five home games to begin the year before Saturday's first road trip to Wade Park, Oberon now plays Blayney next week in Tigertown looking to stretch their winning run to seven - which is the same amount of games they won all throughout season 2013.
"It's been a good thing," Rowlandson said of his side's draw.
"We've managed to get that early confidence ... the back end of the year will be tougher but we'll be right."
OBERON TIGERS 42 (Abel Faifua-Lefaoseu, Matt Rose, Matt Ballinger, Blake Miller, Jackson Brien, Zac Rowlandson, Josh Rivett tries; Trent Rose 6, Blake Fitzpatrick goals) def ORANGE HAWKS 10 (Jake Blimka 2 tries; Brodie Chritopherson goal).
