THE  highly anticipated day of Premier Rugby didn’t disappoint with Medowie’s local lads doing their town proud with wins galore spread across all grades with Juniors, 19s, Premier 3s, Premier 2s and Premier 1s on the day, as either a Marauders team or Nelson Bay Gropers supplemented with Medowie players.

 

The Juniors, with U8s, 11s, 12s and 15s set a great platform for the day, and as the crowd really started to build, the premier round kicked off with our Colts from Nelson Bay Gropers taking the field, taking their first win of the season 29-20.

Next up was our own Mighty Marauders taking on the Merewether Slime, where the crowd was treated to some tough rugby, that certainly showed the opposition that our standard of Rugby in Medowie is on the rise and improving every week.

We got more of the same tough rugby the Marauders are known for as the boys kept their opposition at arm’s length

and the Marauders came away with a 20-10 win.

Premier 2 saw the Marauder supplemented Gropers take on Waratah.

Without a win this season for the Gropers, and with an overheard comment from a few local Waratah insiders that they would be giving the Gropers a bit of a touch up, the end result was nothing short of impressive.

The Nelson Bay Gropers smashed Waratah in a very comprehensive first win of 50-5.

Premier 1 saw another Marauder Supplemented Gropers versus Waratah match, with the points table showing very little separation between the teams.

With wins across the board for every game adding extra pressure to the Premier 1 team, they dug in and showed exactly what they are made of, taking down Waratah 15-7 and giving a clean sweep for the Groper and Marauder Rugby Day.

Marauders representative, Lisa Cook, told News Of The Area, “We knew as a club that taking on the challenge of Premier rugby this year was going to need us all to step up, and step up we did, everyone including our fantastic committee, volunteers, sponsors, supporters and players showed what rugby is all about and pulled off what some in recent years thought was impossible.”

“The opposition definitely won’t be liking the Gropers and the Marauders banding together and bringing the results we are, but we are doing more to lift the standard of Hunter Rugby Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union and provide sustainable pathways for our juniors than anyone could ever imagine.”

 

By Rachael VAUGHAN