By Tom Cullen

Rams Ladies go down in thriller

The Rams Ladies suffered a narrow loss on Saturday going down to the Bourke Ewes by one try scored on the bell in Brewarrina.

It was painful to watch as both sides were dead locked on 4 tries going into the final quarter with neither side not giving an inch. But a few Rams mistakes crept in, and they were punished with 30 seconds remaining with a try to Bourke in the corner.

The match couldn’t have started any worse for the Rams with a knock on off the kick-off. After shaking off the early jitters and defending their line a long range try to Tahnee Cullen put the Rams on the board.

Tahnee cut through the Bourke defence like they were stationary, and no one got near her. Not long after Cullen made another break to run half the length of the field down the sideline to score yet again and put the Rams in a commanding position.

Bourke eventually found their attacking flair and showed the Rams this was to be no walkover. They scored four tries in the first half stamping their dominance on the game and at half time the Rams seemed to be falling away. Half-time score 4-2.

Then came the third quarter. For every game this season, the Rams turn it on in the third, and they did on Saturday getting on the board early with a great team try scored by Jacinta Murray.

The Rams were able to spread it wide close to Bourke’s line showing great skill and were rewarded for doing so. Jacinta like she was all game was at the right place at the right time.

Not long after Maddie Strudwick decided to take on the hosts herself with a great kick ahead and regather, scoring to lock the score at 4 apiece. The Ram’s defence was also as solid as you could ask for not allowing Bourke anywhere near their try line.

ABOVE: Coonamble's Tahnee Cullen gets ready to offload the ball before a Bourke defender could tag her. Image: Helen Rackham.

Unfortunately, though the Rams couldn’t keep up their good form and Bourke had the last say right on the bell scoring to win the game 5-4. The Rams were devastated with the result as they let themselves down in the final quarter with too many errors and paid the price.

Although an improvement on last weeks performance the Rams in the end need to carry their form for longer periods of the game.

Tahnee Cullen was the Rams best with two tries and rewarded with women of the match. Xanthe Van Lubeck didn’t need any time to settle back in after being unavailable last week. She was solid in attack and controlled the middle well.

Captain Jacinta Murray was also a standout and kept very busy in attack and lead from the front.

After a tough bout on the road with three away games the Rams will have a rest with three byes. The next game will be against Walgett on 18th June giving the Rams plenty of time to bounce back against the old enemy. 

Bourke/Bre too good for Rams men

Moving on to the main game of the day, the Coonamble Rams were no match for a stronger, faster and harder Brewarrina/Bourke combined side going down 52-12.

In the end it was hard to watch as the Rams allowed the hosts to pile on the points in the final 20 minutes. They were no match to a bigger more structured forward pack and a faster and physical backline.

The match started in perfect fashion for the Rams as Brewarrina’s half back passed to his five eighth who seemed to be on another planet with the ball sailing into the open.

Tristan Crowley pouncing on the loose ball running away to score with Rams drawing first blood. Paddy Keady scored soon after with a fantastic individual try. Keady ran from five eighth weaving through the Bre/Bourke defence to score under the posts. This was looking like Coonamble’s afternoon.

ABOVE: Coonamble's Paddy Keady was a difficult player to catch for many Bourek/Bre defenders over the weekend. Image: Noel Fisher, Western Herald.

Slowly but surely though the hosts were able to take control of the game and minute by minute wore down the visitors. By half-time Bre/Bourke were leading 24-12 and the Rams were just in the game.

However, as the game wore on in the second half it became scrappy, playing right into the hands of the hosts. Brewarrina and Bourke traditionally sides with fast and slick backs who love broken play, and the adlib style were able to score from anywhere on the field.

The Rams, to their credit, held their own in the forwards with strong carries from Brenton Williams, Toby Stratton and Drew Inman. Inman, in particular, worked tirelessly all game and put it to Bre/Bourke’s forwards.

The Rams, with this front foot ball, found opportunities out wide and newcomers Kane Wiggins and Preston Smith both found space and made crucial meters.

Tristan Crowley also had his strongest game this season and seems to have found his preferred position in the centres.

Unfortunately for the new look backline though, cohesion and experience let them down as mistakes crept in not allowing the Rams to build phases. Defence was also an issue particularly out wide where Bre/Bourke were able to score most of their points.

ABOVE: Rams newcomer Blake Pennell tries to make his way through Bourke/Bre with several teammates getting ready to assist.

Coach Charlie Milthorpe was disappointed with the result but was proud of his players as they gave it everything they could. Everything was left on the field and in the end inexperience and cohesion let them down.

But as the quote goes ‘if you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail’. The Rams once again having to name a vastly different team to the week before as regular players were unavailable giving players only one training session together before the game.

Brothers Paddy and Harvey Keady came to the rescue for the Rams, like the Keadys have so many times over recent years, to combine well at half back and five eighth.

Kane Wiggins signed up to the Rams on Tuesday night and was given the fullback jersey straight up. Wiggins had an outstanding game beating the first defender on nearly every occasion and worked the ball wide to his outside backs with great effect.

In other games, Walgett defeated Cobar 48-14, Nyngan beat Gular 26-0 and Warren had the bye.

The Rams will need to do some soul searching after this heavy defeat and will need more commitment from the playing group if they are to have any chance of bouncing back this weekend against Nyngan at Nyngan.