Well that was a big let down…
Thanks to the torrential rain Sydney saw on Friday, all games were cancelled, each game was called a draw and each team received 1 championship point. However, the rain was not going to stop the hungry dedicated players…
Northern Sydney Rebels vs UTS Gators/Northwestern Predators – James Morgan Reserve 2:30pm Saturday September 3rd
After all the games were cancelled, a select few representatives from the Rebels, Gators and Predators organised their own scrimmage to take place on the opening Saturday of the round. The Predators had a small showing so they were joined up with the Gators (although you would never see me dead in those awful teal jerseys again HAHA! – Sorry Matt Wilson :P), while the Rebels mixed their Division 1 team up with their newly formed Colts team. The game was a defensive outing with the only points of the game going to the UTS Predators (hmm doesn’t sound the same) when rookie DE Jake Strachan of the Preds, and veteran Australian Rep LB Tim Clulow from UTS were able to sack the Rebels QB Roger Hardwicke in his own end-zone, ending in a safety in the first quarter. The rest of the game was very defensively matched, with each team going 3 and out many times, until the final quarter. In the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, the Rebels were able to put together a strong offensive drive which ended in a TD… only for it to be called back for an illegal block in the back on Northwestern Gators (meh, not bad) CB Andre Fernandes; a highly controversial call by interim referee (and UTS Head Coach) Rocco Bosco. The Rebels attempted a 45 yard field goal which was unsuccessful and was recovered by yours truly 😉 and with that, the final whistle blew.
Final Score: REB 0 – UTS/NWP 2
On behalf of the Preds, I’d like to personally thank the guys at North Sydney and UTS for putting on the scrimmage. Even though it wasn’t a proper game, it was still great to get back into the pads after 8 months off. Rebels, we’ll see you boys next week!
