A four-goal haul from Murrumbateman’s Cameron Evans lifted the Eagles to a 7-point victory against the Woden Blues on Saturday.
With scores tied at both the main and final breaks, the Eagles kicked 2.7 in the last term and were lucky their poor goal-kicking didn’t result in costing them victory.
The Eagles move to 3-0 and are now the only team to play 3 matches, yet to lose.
Coach Brent Fraser was extremely pleased with his side’s effort to start the season and felt this win against Woden was the toughest of the lot.
“It was a real grind from both sides, neck and neck all the way through!”
“We were very excited to come away with a win,” he said.
Brent said the unavailability of regular players provided the perfect opportunity for others to step up, resulting in a more all-round team performance and perhaps less reliance on the usual suspects.
“We had a couple of guys out, and that gave an opportunity for the other guys to have a crack.”
“We had a consistent group on the weekend; it was good to see the guys play together.”
When asked what impressed him about the performance most, Brent had a simple response.
“The determination and endeavour!”
“The guys knew we were under the pump, and they just played for each other, which was really good to see,” he said.
The Eagles are back at home against the Southern Cats next weekend, in what promises to be their biggest test yet.
The Yass Roos were left with plenty to ponder after a disappointing 33-point loss to last year’s premiers and the likely greatest threat to their premiership aspirations this year, the ANU Griffins.
ANU very boldly unfurled their 2020 premiership flag pre-match, the flag for the premiership they defeated the Roos for only a few months prior.
The contrasting styles of both teams were on full display in the first half, with ANU enjoying the ball on the outside to suit their kick-mark running game, whilst the Roos gained their own ascendancy at the heart of the contest.
The Griffins took a 5-point lead into the major break, with the Roos feeling confident they could take their momentum building finish to the quarter into the second half.
The break in play brought the Roos momentum to a halt, with the Griffins coming out to kick the first three goals of the second half and never looking back from there.
Scores finished ANU Griffins 9.15-69 defeating the Yass Roos 4.12-36.
The final scoreline perhaps flattered the Roos in the end, with ANU missing three quite basic shots on goal as legs tired in the final term.
However, the Roos will undoubtedly know in the back of their mind that they still have a few of their better players to return and will be more than happy to lose to ANU throughout the year if the tradeoff is beating them when it matters.
Max O’Driscoll
