ROUND 2 - 12.04.25
BRIGHT START TO REBELS SEASON!
Despite the forecasts for heavy rain, the sun was shining for the Rebels first games of 2025. The field was ready at last, the supporters were out in force, and the rugby was on! The preseason period was marred by a cyclone, sodden and unusable grounds, cancelled trial games and disrupted training. The scheduled first round of games had been washed out. So our teams were desperate to finally get the season under way, with all three senior teams playing at home in Byron.
Women’s 10s vs KYOGLE
First out of the sheds was the Rebels women’s side in their game against new competition entrants, the Kyogle Cockies. There are plenty of new faces in the Rebels women’s squad, including some who have never played rugby before, so no one was quite sure how they were going to come together on the field. But from the moment they ran on through a long tunnel of cheering supporters, there was no doubt that this was a team of winners!
With hair braided and tinted steel-blue, our girls were ready to rumble. Right from the kick-off they dominated possession and field territory, playing a skilful, up-tempo game matched with solid defence and some smart work at the breakdown. Handling errors let the pressure off Kyogle on occasions, but they were pinned in their own half for much of the first quarter.
The first breakthrough came when Faith ‘Who Needs Two Hands’ Taylor stripped the ball and split open the Kyogle defence, sprinting 50 metres to the try line right under the posts. It would have been the perfect opening try except for the minor matter of the knock on when placing the ball… No matter, it was only moments later that Keeley Arnold completed another attacking surge by the Rebels, pushing over the try line from close range. Kyogle hit back quickly with an unconverted try to take the score to 5 all at half-time.
The Cockies looked like they might take the momentum back early in the second half with a long range try that was converted to give them a 12-5 lead, but the Rebels responded immediately with a multi-phase team effort that put Keeley in under the posts for her second try of the day. The crowd were on their feet again shortly after when Kari Massey found space down the far touch line and went over for the Rebels’ third. Kari converted her own try to take the final score to Byron Shire 17, Kyogle 12.
Men’s Second Grade VS WOLLONGBAR
The men’s teams were up against last year’s premiers, Wollongbar Alstonville Rugby (WAR). Given our disrupted preseason and the absence of several key players, we knew that this would be a real challenge.
But our second grade team didn’t seem to get the message that they were the underdogs. They played with a degree of confidence and cohesion that no one expected. The Rebels 2s are everything a second grade country rugby team should be. On Saturday, the players’ ages ranged from 19 to 47. There was a father and son playing together (Dave and Jude Eastwell). There were club legends from both Byron and Bangalow. And there was even one player, Jeremy Capt, playing on the right wing in his first ever game of rugby.
After some excellent ball movement across the field Jeremy found himself with the pill, just inside the touch line and thirty metres out with two defenders in front of him. His American football experience showed as he bumped off both tacklers and crossed for his first ever rugby try to put the Rebels on the board after just nine minutes. That’s bound to be one of the highlights of the season!
Both sides found opportunities to attack for the remainder of the first half with one try apiece, including one for Rebels warhorse Jock Craigie. 12-5 to the Rebels at half-time. The arm wrestle continued in the second half, with a try to WAR then one to the Rebels through Dan Hill. Myles Maclagan, who was outstanding throughout the game, crossed the line but was tackled and lost the ball as he was running it around under the posts.
The game wasn’t sealed until the 65 th minute when Jude Eastwell managed to push over for a try after a period of sustained pressure from the Rebels. WAR scored once more after that, but they couldn’t catch Byron Shire who ran out deserved winners 31 -24.
Men’s First Grade VS WOLLONGBAR
The toughest test of all was always going to be in first grade against the settled WAR team that has won 99 out of the last 100 grand finals, or something like that.
Missed tackles and some lack of connection in defence by Byron Shire let WAR in for two early tries but the Rebels came back strongly, especially through our very dominant scrum. Unfortunately, errors and ill-discipline prevented us from building enough consistent momentum to score until Ben Mitchell managed to scramble over in the corner in the 28th minute.
Ill-discipline hurt the Rebels when Will Aisake was yellow-carded as a result of repeated infringements by the team. With a one-man advantage, WAR was eventually able to find a gap in some solid Rebels defence to score just before half-time.
In the second half some excellent work by the Rebels forwards had WAR under serious pressure defending their try line. In the same phase of play they infringed by collapsing a maul and deliberately knocking forward to prevent a certain Rebels try. Two yellow cards to WAR and a penalty try to the Rebels and the men in blue were definitely back in the match.
But they couldn’t make the most of the opportunity and as the game wore on both sides were increasingly guilty of handling and defensive mistakes as fatigue set in. As they often are, WAR were very quick to capitalise on errors and ran in two late tries to finish ahead 31-12.
In the end it was not the result we wanted, but there were plenty of positives there to build on as this new team starts to gel in future matches.
Overall
Overall, the day was a great success. Rebels President, James Boysons said, “I was so proud of the Club at the weekend. The performances on the field and the turnout off it. There was a real buzz around the ground and it was great to see sponsors, old boys/girls and many of the juniors’ families supporting the seniors.” A very bright start to the season!
Match reports written by David Phillips
Photography by Amelia Davies (@ameliadaviesphotography)
