Riverina Ready for Rams in Round Two

The Riverina Bulls Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup teams both enjoyed Round One victories and are eager to continue their form when they face the Western Rams this Saturday.

Andrew Johns Cup Coach Troy Ryan was impressed with his sides 16-4 win against GSR and believes their defence was a key element in the win but ball control is a must improve in Round Two.

“Our first half line defensive effort and approach to the game was good,” Ryan said.

“But we had too much dropped ball and would have had a lot more scoring opportunities if we controlled the ball better.

“You can’t drop the ball all the time and expect to win games.”

Prop Feata Tauaneai got his team off to the perfect start after barrelling over the line and scoring in the 10th minute of the game and Ryan believes Tauaneai, along with the rest of his forward pack, were massive contributors to the win.

“It was the forwards getting a bit of second phase play, their commitment, working together and wrapping up the ball that won us the game.”

Ryan says his side will have to employ some tougher defence this week against a strong Rams side but affirmed the Round One win instilled some welcome confidence into his players.

“Confidence going into this game is exactly what we needed going up against, as history says, a stiffer opponent.”

Laurie Daley Cup Coach Tim Humphries was pleased with his sides completion rate in defence in Round One but believes they will need to ramp up their defensive effort this week.

“Our defence set the tone for the whole game, we completed about 14 sets, it was really impressive actually,” Humphries said.

“We were lucky enough to get away with the win but I think our defence was the foundation that got them into a position to attack.

“Even though our completion was really good there is still a bit of space there to tighten up our defence but I think that’ll come once the team gels again with a second run this week.

“As we know, defence wins games so that’ll be the message that we’ll try and carry through the competition.”

Humphries praised front rower Rhys Weldon who played 50 minutes against GSR and says the side is looking forward to playing at West Wyalong this weekend.

“It will be good to have a home game, it’ll be a tough gig against Western – they have been a bit of a benchmark in last previous few years but it’ll be good hit out and we’re looking forward to the challenge.

“They’ve had the opportunity to play together and they’ve played well so I’m hoping we just springboard off of that and improve each week.”

The Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup Riverina Bulls v Western Rams matches will take place at Ron Crowe Oval, West Wyalong on Saturday, 23rd February; with matches kicking off at 12:00pm and 1:20pm.

Both matches will be live streamed via the CRL Facebook Page