HAWKESBURY Ag College had a big win in NSW Suburban Rugby Union, while Hawkesbury Valley was on the wrong end of a big score.
After a week’s break of the competition to allow for a wet weather weekend, both Hawkesbury rugby teams returned to action in the division three competition on Saturday afternoon.
Hawkesbury Ag College’s first side had a 76-0 victory over Brothers at College Oval, while the second grade team had a mammoth 134-0 victory.
Ag College coach Mick West said the team let themselves down with errors at times, but it was hard to be too critical after such a big scoreline in the first grade.
“We get stuck throwing the ball around too much, and we get away from our structure,” he said.
“We get a bit carried away in those games, and the score could have been a bit bigger. We made a lot of mistakes.”
West said Ag College was the beneficiary of the Penrith Emu’s much publicised exit from the Shute Shield competition, picking up three forwards from the former team.
West said he thought the former Penrith players were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the suburban rugby competition.
“We had a few new players into the team and they got a bit of a feel for the squad,” he said.
“They are former Shute Shield players and I think they were surprised how good the footy was in Subbies Rugby.”
West said they fitted in nicely with the team, and added some more depth to the club.
West added that PJ Cartwright played his first game of the season for the first grade team.
Cartwright had picked up a rib cartilage injury, and was named the team’s best on the weekend while playing open side flanker.
West said the week off did not do too much, however, to help the team’s injury problems. One player picked up an injury during the week, while a number of others are still a few weeks away from returning.
“I’ll have a few tough decisions about who to include in the weeks coming up that’s for sure,” he said.
Things did not all go Ag College’s way on the weekend, as the Colts team went down.
Meanwhile, Hawkesbury Valley had a tough day against Barker Old Boys.
Barker Old Boys are in second place in first grade and defeated Valley 57-8.
It was a similar scoreline in the seconds, with Barker winning 52-10, while third grade and the Colts also lost.
In round six, Ag College will play St Ives at College Oval and Valley will host Old Ignatians at McQuade Park.