Sat 12 Feb 2022
The maxim 'possession is 9/10th of the law' never rang truer than yesterday's visit to Old Cents. The hosts provided an object lesson in how to play into the breeze and prevent a chasing team from using the conditions to gain the obvious benefit of the slope and wind. Despite the reverse, against Weston the previous week, the squad travelled up buoyed by a generally good display and few small details which prevented the game from going our way.
This week the focus was on getting our details in early - by that we mean getting correct numbers to breakdowns, body positions at the right height for the collision area of the game, kick-offs received cleanly - so that we could settle into our patterns. The second key focus was on increasing the flow of the game, when we were on top, and stemming the flow when the opposition were having their momentum periods. Opting to play up the hill, into the breeze, the CABs started off brilliantly. A set of solid defence sets, a spilled ball and the ball moved away from the area into Jon Dawe's and Daniel Pearce's hands for a rapid 7 point lead. It was then a case of dealing with the obvious condition advantages that Old Cents had & by and large we succeeded. A couple of pick & gos/close line play enabled Old Cents to catch up & take the lead. This was interspersed with again some searing breaks down the left flank; the unfortunate aspect was that a few old habits of throwing unnecessary offloads, when in behind, meant that the CABs didn't really capitalise on these moments and despite a late easy penalty, from Daniel Pearce, the CABs went in 22-10 down.
The half-time discussion was to continue with getting the details right; particularly body height in contact and treasure the pill. By doing that, pressure and conditions will bring the scoreboard back to us - however, it was not a given as Old Cents now had something to fight for. The start of the second half was almost a carbon copy of the first; this time old Cents benefitted from a big hole in the CABs midfield and the game suddenly went from 12 point to a 17 point gap. Some good close quarter work and scrum power from the CABs pack enabled Brandon Rowley and Adam Collings to close it to 5. However, for large chunks of the half, Old Cents played a very simple, effective game of just hitting runners up off 9 and the breakdown and retaining possession. This resulted in the clock ticking away and opportunities for the CABs to pin the home side down in their 22 to be somewhat limited. It was a super lesson from an experienced home side of how to play their ground and the conditions and not try and force the game unnecessarily.
We return to Polson next weekend and host the current league leaders, Old Reds. It promises to be a super contest and combined with Farmers' Day, at the Club, I'm sure the Polson crowd will add that little bit extra to the players.
