AT THE END OF THE DAY | Consistency of killer Emus the key for new-look Lions

Despite the 2020 Blowes Clothing Cup campaign being a shortened season, there's still plenty of rugby to be played in the central west before we go crowning any champion teams.

And that adage still applies even now: no one has won anything yet, even if we're nearing the end of July.

But week by week, rapidly in 2020 given we're just eight weeks from finals now, the cream will rise and, right now, Orange Emus is the side rocketing to the top.

Really, should we be surprised? This is what they've done for the last seven years.

And maybe that's the shocking part. Just how regularly they've been this good.

Consistency is so hard to find in sport.

Professionals athletes, who design their working week around rosters, routines and regimes in a bid to master the art, battle to find consistency.

So to see a side like Emus, basically a team of amateur footballers, trot out in round one and take just 40 minutes to hit their straps, after all the will-we-or-won't-we we endured around sport throughout the coronavirus pandemic, is a real warning shot to the four other clubs aiming to be crown the best in the west this winter.

Catch us, if you can.

Forbes tried, and with Emus leading 14-8 at the break at Grinsted Oval, they looked capable.

But Pete Bromley's men ran rampant in the second 40 minutes and produced 30 unanswered points to hammer the Platypi.

Coles, Hall, Hammond, French (coaches Lavaka and Prior), and a few of the Magpies' best not playing Group 11, in other words a more than formidable Platypi line-up, Forbes still had no answers in the second 40 minutes.

Staniforth, Hughes-Clapp, Harris, Marchinton, Hirini, Badgery, McLean; these Emus boys have been at the top of their game now for seven years, making the last six CWRU top tier grand finals in succession.

It's clear if any side it to stand-up and stake a claim on this year's title, it's Emus they will have to beat.

An Emus side you can safely assume will only get better too.

The Greens have been drawn just one bye in 2020, which could be deemed unfair given sides on a bye win the maximum five points.

But that extra game time is invaluable, and will almost certainly give Emus the upper hand as teams continue to search for consistency, and any level of continuity they can find in just eight regular season games.

A side on the hunt for that cohesion is Emus' cross-city rivals the Lions.

Orange City sat back with a bye in round one and host Roos in their opener at Pride Park this Saturday.

On the back of a horrible two year period, the Lions are this season's big unknowns after linking with a few of Hawks' league boys like Rakai Tuheke and Steven Widders.

The promise is there, but just what we see - other than an abundance of ticker - from Viv Passi's young Lions is anyone's guess come kick-off on Saturday.

And while how the Lions will line-up remains a mystery, how they need to perform is crystal clear.

Consistency will be key.