After two contrasting wins in the opening two rounds of the Country Championships, Western Rams under-18s coach Cameron Greenhalgh is hoping his side can put it all together in next weekend’s clash with the Bidgee Bulls.
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After blitzing the Greater Southern Stingrays in round one, the Rams were made to work at Camden on Sunday before running out 30-18 winners over the Greater Southern Redbacks.
“I thought the first week the boys played the brand of footy we need to play and really executed it and this weekend they showed defence and an ability to claw their way back and never give up and that was really pleasing,” Greenhalgh said.
“That’s what I took out of it so now we’re looking to combine those two a bit. The attacking brilliance and getting in the grind and coming out the other side.
This weekend they showed defence and an ability to claw their way back and never give up...
- Cameron Greenhalgh
“If we can combine both of those we should go alright.”
The Redbacks, who had been convincingly beaten in round one, came out a much improved side in hot conditions at Camden on Saturday afternoon.
They were far the better team early on and shot out to a 12-0 lead.
But the Rams slowly worked into the game and things were all square at half time before leading second-rowers Darby Medlyn and Dubbo Macquarie’s Luke Gale pushed the side on in the second half.
Forbes fullback Charlie Staines was also a standout as the Rams ran in three tries to one in the second stanza.
“The Redbacks were full of running and had a fair share of the ball early but the boys didn’t panic, they knew they had to regroup,” Greenhalgh said. “They did just that and that was really pleasing.”
Greenhlagh again praised the effort of Dubbo CYMS halves duo Matt Burton and Bayden Searle, both scored tries again, while Fishies teammate Jackson Bonham-Phair and Gale also crossed in the win.
“We scored some good tries to get back in the match and we knew once we got on top we had to stay there so it was good to see them do that,” Greenhalgh said.
With Bidgee being beaten by the Stingrays on Saturday, a win for the Rams at Parkes this weekend would secure a place in the Country Championships final.