Boom cross-code recruit hopeful Blayney can play finals, but consistency still the Bears’ necessity

“When I came back to Blayney, I had my eyes set on semi-finals for sure,” Hirini said.

“Obviously it will be tough now with three losses in a row, we were hoping to get a win in at least one of those first three home games. But we’re still a chance I think, there’s been periods where we’ve been keeping up with, if not better than our opposite team. We just need to figure out how to do that for 80 minutes.

“(Blayney captain-coach) Tim (Mortimer) has plans in place, it’s just taking a little longer than we expected to come together. If we can put it together sooner rather than later, I still think we can have a crack at the semi-finals.”

Hirini’s hoping that starts on Sunday in the Bears’ first road trip of 2018, to Cowra, which will be his fourth game since returning to Blayney after a stint with the club in 2016.

He went back to the 15-man code last year, starring in Orange Emus’ run to the Blowes Clothing Cup grand final, although the greens ultimately lost that decider to Forbes.

He predominantly played centre in his last stint at King George Oval, but says he’s relishing the chance to play fullback this year, especially considering another former Emu in Mitch Evers is in the Bears’ halfback jersey.

“Knowing Mitch was going to Blayney was actually a really big drawcard for me to come back to the club and have another crack. He knows my style of play and vice-versa, even though it’s a different game, and we’ve been linking pretty well. That combination will just get better too I think,” Hirini said.

“Every week I’m discovering more and more how different it really playing fullback in league is compared to rugby.

“I’ve played a lot of fullback in rugby, but it’s really different and it’s really helpful that Tim’s played a lot there himself so he’s been giving me a lot of individual help, tips, tricks and I feel like that’s helping me improve every week.

“The vibe’s a bit different this time around. I always loved the club, but the team itself was a bit different last time. I’m not disparaging the guys who were in charge then, it’s just a different culture and it’s been an easier fit for me this time around.

“I love the challenge, I sort of saw what was happening with the changing of the guard out here. I had a chat with Tim before I signed and he seemed really switched on and I liked his style, liked what he wanted to do with the club and I wanted to be a part of that.

“Honestly, I wasn’t too keen on the new six-team [Blowes Clothing Cup] competition either. I love Emus, but I played in four, five and six-team competitions back home in New Zealand and didn’t really enjoy it."

Hirini says clipping the Magpies’ wings won’t be easy this weekend, especially at Cowra’s Sid Kallas Oval, he pointed to the fact Orange Hawks did just that in round two as a positive sign for his side.

Hawks edged out Blayney 26-18 last weekend in a game that, Hirini says, the Bears could quite easily have won after leading for all but a couple of minutes in the first half.

“We got hidings from Mudgee and St Pat’s in the first two rounds, but we matched it with them for periods and I thought we were the better side for a lot of last weekend’s game against Hawks,” Hirini said.

“We’ve been getting better every week though so we’re hoping that continue and it’s mainly about working on what we’re doing well and trying to do that for much larger periods of the game.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t go over to Cowra and win, but we need to keep working for that consistent performance.”

Kick-off at Cowra’s Sid Kallas Oval is at 2pm.