Orange Emus have kicked off their 2020 Blowes Clothing Cup season with a trifecta of victories after the men in green made light work of City in their home opener on Saturday, putting the Lions to the sword on their way to a 50-10 win.
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A Charlie Henley hat-trick put the finishing touches on what was a dominant forwards display from Emus, the hosts dominating possession on the back of a 20-7 penalty count.
It wasn't all smooth sailing for Bromley's men early on as an instinctive kick from Joe Lasagavibau saw the ball bounce onto the chest of Eman Rodriguez before a looming Steven Widders supported for the game's opening try in the fifth minute.
Weight of possession and penalties saw Henley bag the first of his three meat pies before Khalfan missed a kick from out wide.
The ensuing five minutes were much of the same, with Emus continuing to knock on the door before an Archie Hall clean break saw Carter Hirini scoop up a loose ball, crashing over the line for an unconverted try in the 24th minute.
Scotty McLean was the next Emus' forward to benefit from field position as the 2018 premiers camped themselves down the enemies' end of the field for not only the bulk of the first half, but the majority of the game. After the number eight scored, Khalfan would finally get the radar working as he slotted the conversion from out wide, giving his men a 17-7 buffer.
A Keegan Harding penalty goal gave City a breath of life at 17-10 but once the second stanza got underway, Archie Hall crashed over for a cracker of a try, opening up the floodgates for the victors.
Hat-trick hero, Henley was stoked post-match, attributing his stats to the effort put in by his forward pack.
"Two of those were off the back of mauls where I did nothing so I can't take credit for them," Henley said.
"It was built off our forwards for our whole game. We knew that we were going to win the game in the forwards.
"We've got the bigger pack and more experienced pack. We love to play wide and expansive but knew this game had to be forwards."
It's three from three for Emus in 2020, a feat Henley can't complain with.
"Today showed the hard work we put in through that break," he said.
"Today we used 20 players and five of those haven't played first grade before so we're in a good spot moving forward."
An optimistic Viv Paasi emerged from the City dressing sheds post-match, the Lions leader a proud figure but one accepting his side was simply outplayed by a classy outfit.
"We wanted to go to another level in the second half," Paasi said.
"Unfortunately we didn't do that and Emus did. They're the benchmark team for a reason. They're able to bring guys off the bench who give them a really big impact."
The mammoth 20-7 penalty count was staggering but not one Paasi was prepared to complain about, instead commending Emus' big men.
"You can give away two or three penalties with Emus... we gave away 20," he said.
"There were a few from the scrum. They would have the best scrum in the competition. Also, our defensive line was a little too keen at times.
"We should have learned our lesson from all those penalties. There's plenty to work.
"I don't question our effort, though. I was really proud of where they were at in the first half, we just needed to go to another level."
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