We’re not far off our best

Hello everyone, welcome to the 18th ‘Churchie’s Comment’ for the year in your favourite rugby league newspaper — The National.
The SP Hunters travelled up the highway to Brisbane to take on the second-placed Norths Devils at Bishop Park.
The Devils have been one of the form teams of the competition, with eight wins heading into our round-10 clash. Norths started the game stronger than the Hunters and ran in a couple of quick tries to lead 12-0.
As they pressed up field for another set, they rolled in a kick on the last tackle into our in-goal area. The kick was fielded by Brandon Nima, who spun to his outside and passed the ball inside his in goal area. Solo Wane collected the pass in space and set off on a 105m run that saw him score under the posts.
Having wrestled momentum back from Norths with that length of the field try. The Hunters were playing on the front foot when Norman Brown crossed the try line from a move we had identified and practised during the week.
Unfortunately, the officials rule an obstruction on the play and we were denied what looked to be a fair try. Potentially, the score should have been 12 all, instead the turn over in ball resulted in a penalty and Norths scoring at the other end to lead 16-6.
In a similar moment in the second half, Ase Boas put in a kick which saw Sylvester Namo win the race to put it down under the posts. This was also disallowed because one of the chasers, who had no effect on the play, was offside and inside the 10m.
Norths found touch down field and on the last play of that set put in a kick to score in the corner.
The momentum of the game swings so much under the new rules. Two passages of play that have a potential 12-point turnaround each can blow a game wide apart. You add 12 to our score and minus 12 off theirs and its a different result.
Ultimately, the Hunters have to be more resilient on either side of the ball. We staunchly defended our line for almost 20 minutes to start the second half.
We just weren’t resilient enough to hold onto the ball and get it down the other end to put the pressure on Norths.
We finished the game controlling the ball well at 77 per cent completion rate. We, however, only had 40 per cent of overall possession of the ball for the match.
The Hunters have to be better in the transitional moments, the moments when the game swings in momentum. If we can be more resilient through those times, it doesn’t take long to change the game. As we witnessed with Wane’s length of the field try, the game can change in around 11 seconds.
I’m really proud of this group, they continue to work hard on and off the field. The staff and players are leaving nothing to chance during the week to improve and get better. While results haven’t gone our way recently, we are not far away. As long as we stay resilient, it will turn in our favour and we will be rewarded for all of our efforts.
The Norths players joined in with our players huddle at the end of the match. Jordan Riki on behalf of Norths, spoke to the group and thanked them for their sacrifice to keep the Intrust Super Cup season going. He said that the competition just wouldn’t be the same without the Hunters in there. I certainly agree with his sentiments, I thanked him for his kind words and the respect he showed our people.
Until next week, stay safe, play safe and let’s all respect and be kind to each other.

Cheers,
Matt