Group 20 rugby league
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THEY were brilliant in patches and "disgraceful" in others.
But while they might be driving coach Roy Romeo mad with their inconsistency, the Yenda Blueheelers brought home the most important thing from Narrandera Sportsground yesterday - the two premiership points.
The heartstopping 30-29 victory over the Bidgee Hurricanes wasn't one for the purists, but it was enough for the Dogs to record their second win of the season.
Yet after watching his side storm back from 28-8 down with 20 minutes to go,
Romeo is under no illusions as to what kind of form his side is in at the moment.
“We were ordinary,” he said.
“For the first 60 minutes we were very ordinary.
“We just made mistake after mistake, our defence on the edges was pretty soft and our structure went out the window.
“We’re going to have to bring it together against those quality sides, we’re going to get beat, and beat easy, too.
“That’s no disrespect to Bidgee – it was a good effort to come back but we don’t want to be doing that week in, week out.”
It’s a worrying trend for a Yenda side that –while packed with quality – has proven unable to put away lesser teams the way they should.
The Hurricanes had it all their way early on, fuelled by the inclusions of Garry Ingram, who started at lock, and Gregg Staines, who ran off the bench.
They also had plenty of motivation with ex-Yenda forwards Anfo Leao-Seve, Ronnie Bamblett and Soni Vuadreu all playing a part.
But not even Romeo could figure out why the Blueheelers were able to flick the switch as they did late on.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“We hit the edges where Tom Sellars and Josh Bryant were, and they seemed to make some easy metres and just finished off.
“But a good side that’s up 28-8 should close the game, really. They more or less handed it to us.
“They’re a solid side but our boys got a sniff and we were lucky to bring it home.”
Bryant was key, playing his best game for Yenda since leaving the DPC Roosters with three tries, while Steve Richards, Sellars and Kyle Charles were among Yenda’s best.
Kenny Tata also did well off the bench, scoring two tries and staking his claim for a permanent first-grade spot. But Romeo said he has grown tired of comeback wins.
“We’ve got to get it right sooner or later – we can’t keep talking about it, we’ve got to do it,” he said.
“We’ve just got to go back to training, that’s all we can do.
“They’ve got to want it - it’s all attitude, you can’t expect to just show up on the day.”