This game was certainly a step up in class and we prepared with this in mind. Our team of young guns against the more experienced Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College.

As expected, the Tuggerah Lakes Secondary team came out firing early and jumped to a quick 6-0 lead after finding space from some handy offloads. Tuggerah Lakes certainly piled on the chatter, and it took our young team a little while to find their feet. To their credit, they hung in there and we slowly started to get back into the game. Some tough runs from Nate Valamis, Billy Sands, Luther Thomas (who was exceptional on the day) and the work horse Ryder Kasun saw us start to win the field position battle. From there, Josh Brown and Will McClelland kicked and created plenty of opportunities for our team to show their many talents.

Just before half time the momentum started to swing. The team came out from the half time break full of confidence and we scored soon after to level the scores. The game was end-to-end, but we seemed to be winning the battle. With under 10 minutes to go, a momentum shift saw Tuggerah Lakes take full advantage and score two slick tries in quick succession. Nevertheless, the boys did not give up and fought right to the end going down 18-6.

It was a fantastic performance across the board and certainly a learning experience for our young team. Credit to Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College on the win.

The Team

Cooper Jones, Brayden O’Leary, Jay Clarke, Byron Marks, Logan Treble, Josh Brown, Will McClelland, Nate Valamis, Ben Geddes-Brown, Luther Thomas, Noah Best-Minto, Billy Sands, Ryder Kasun, Ben Hoban, Caleb Petersen, Lincoln Markulin, and Archie Hall.