Round 3 - 24.04.25
Men’s First Grade VS LISMORE CITY
Rebels President, James Boysons, is a surprise candidate for Pope after pulling off the miracle of a fine day for the first-grade game on Thursday night. Despite a forecast of up to 75mm of rain, there were passing showers only over Bangalow, and Shultz Oval was all lit up and looking at its sparkling best for the clash between the Byron Shire Rebels and Lismore City.
The off-field team at the Rebels had done an outstanding job to prepare for the evening game and there was a solid crowd despite the threatening weather. The tents were up, the drinks were cold and the barbecue was sizzling. No other club has a chefs-hatted restauranteur as the game-day caterer!
It was great to see plenty of junior Rebels in the crowd. The sight of the youngest Rebels joining hands with the first-grade men to run through the tunnel was a real highlight before the game had even started.
Lismore has a new look team this year, with some young talent and quality imports, so the match was set to be an important test of the progress for both sides in building their new combinations.
There were some nervous moments early when the Rebels were a bit too anxious in defence and were caught off-side, gifting Lismore an attacking opportunity, but that was quickly snuffed out by Byron Shire’s solid defence and dominant scrum, which is clearly one of this team’s most potent weapons. Then the Rebels got into their work with a series of crashing runs from big Will Aisake and slick passing from the backs leading to the first try of the night for Rob ‘The Hornet’ Taylor. It was the first of two tries to the Hornet, who had an absolute blinder of a game.
Lismore pushed back hard in response, helped by some handling errors and slip-ups in the lineout by the Rebels (the ball was very slippery to be fair) but after Craig Wallace scored at the back of a push-over scrum in the 18th minute the momentum was all with the Rebels. Sam Valpy crossed the line again seven minutes later and all three tries were converted by Jay Manson to take the score to 21 – zip at half-time.
After the break the Rebels were relentless. There were still a few handling errors but there were also some passages of champagne rugby, with the team showing impressive improvement in cohesion, structure and discipline compared with the first game against Wollongbar. The second half saw tries to Rob Taylor, Ben Mitchell, Sam Valpy, Joel Little, and two to captain Benji Clarke. Nine tries, seven conversions, 59 – nil when the final whistle blew.
There were plenty of highlights, including the excellent performance of Jude Eastwell in his first-grade debut, the high-quality work of the 9/10 combination of Sam Valpy and Jay Manson, and the return of Joe(l) ‘Typo’ Little in the centres. Coach Mick Muir would have been particularly pleased with the team’s discipline which had been a bit of problem in the previous game - there wasn’t a single card issued all night.
Overall, it was another excellent event for the club and a valuable confidence-booster for the first-grade squad leading into the next very big challenge of playing top-of-the-table Ballina in Bangalow on May 3.
Written by David Phillips
