Waratah Tigers 20
Yenda Blueheelers 0
THE Waratah Tigers have fired the first shot in what will once again be one of the great rivalries in Group 20 this season, when they easily defeated the Yenda Blueheelers by 20 points in the opening round of the Paul Kelly Memorial Shield yesterday.
The grand final combatants for the last two years squared off again with both sides looking for an early season psychological blow.
But it was all the Waratahs as they dominated possession and rode their luck at times to never give the Blueheelers a sniff on their home ground.
Yenda coach Andrew Lavaka did not pull any punches when asked why his side looked out of sorts, saying the Waratahs simply "showed up to play".
"Waratahs came out pretty hard and full credit to them because they came out and showed they wanted it more, we weren't really ready and all of the defending really hurt us," Lavaka said.
"That's the main thing that cost us today, mistakes and penalties as well as the defending, because it was a pretty hot day and you know if you're defending all of the time then you can't do much when you do get the ball."
But the first-round clash of the competition heavyweights was all Waratahs, as they jumped out to an early lead and never surrendered it, despite the Blueheelers throwing everything they had at the Tigers' defensive line just after the break.
Last year's runners-up were given a gift straight off the kick-off when a 50-50 call of if the ball went out on the full went the way of the men in orange to give them a good attacking platform.
Another controversial call led to the Tigers first try, when winger Samuel Gilbert was ruled to have knocked a pass down not forward, allowing him to race 60m for the first points.
With a stiff breeze in their faces and the petrol tank starting to run dry, Yenda were never able to seriously pressure the Waratahs' try line.
A horrible mistake at the back by Blueheelers' Viliami Ngu led to the next successful Tigers raid, when a floating chip kick by Jarred Williams was left to bounce up for a very thankful Williams for a 12-0 lead.
Dwayne Simpson close to the ruck and Graham Levu running wide caused some carnage for the Tigers with Levu crashing over for the first of a double in the shadows of half-time for 16-0.
Yenda needed to score first in the second half, but their ball handling problems and Waratahs' second-phase play continued to cause headaches for Blueheelers' fans.
Levu rounded out his double with 10 minutes left, before the big crowd was treated to a version of the Olympic 100m final, when Tigers speedster Ben Jeffrey nearly raced the length of the field after a intercept pass, only to be just ankle-tapped by Nui George.
Despite showing the lack of spark that took them to an undefeated season last year, Yenda showed later in the day they still knew their way to the try line after they thumped Tullibigeal Lakes United 32-8.
Lavaka said that game was important to lift the spirits of his side that were left deflated after their first-round loss to the Waratahs.
"It was good to get a win after that loss, the boys really dug deep and showed what we can do when we get a bit of the ball, we went pretty well against Lakes," he said.
Email a friend