Saturday August 22, 2015

All four senior teams made their way to Lithgow for the first finals games in the Group 10 junior competition.

Three sides now remain in the competition with the under 16s just falling short in their elimination final.

Our presentation night for the Cowra Group 10 sides is on Saturday, September 19 at the Cowra Services Club.

All players are encouraged to attend with former Cowra Junior Rugby League player and current Canberra Raiders front man Shannon Boyd our Guest Speaker.

Time will be 6pm for 6.30pm.

Tickets are available at Jolly Roger and are:

$35/adult.

$10/player.

$10/child under 10 for a kid's meal-nuggets etc.

All players MUST wear long pants and a collared shirt.

All players must be accompanied by an adult.

Under 13

Cowra Magpies 24 defeated Oberon Tigers 14

Cowra kept their hopes alive in the Group 10 Premiership with a 24-14 victory over Oberon in the elimination final on Saturday.

With the loser bowing out of the 2015 race, the Magpies dug deep to remain in contention recording a good win.

Although the match didn't go completely to script, Cowra coach Rod Eastwood was pleased with the performance saying the game was mostly positive.

"They [Oberon] have a big pack and certainly gave us a scare in the second half," he said.

"With the wind at their backs, the Tigers clawed their way back into the contest to be on even terms at one stage. The boys showed resilience, held strong and were able to turn the momentum of the match around. It wasn't our prettiest win of the season, but maybe it was our best in that it should give the players the belief that they are a squad of good footballers who deserve to be here.

"We face Bloomfield, who we defeated earlier this year, on the weekend. The boys must have faith in their ability and trust that if everyone plays as well as I know they can, we will make a great account of ourselves and keep the title hopes alive."

Dylan Whitty crossed for a hat-trick and was named player of the match.

Max Coady showed the value of persistence in a kick chase that earned a four pointer and Josh Pokoney sliced through for the other major in Cowra's points.

Under 14

Cowra Magpies 24 defeated Orange CYMS 14

The boys travelled to Lithgow to take on the mighty CYMS in the major semi-final on Saturday.

After losing at home to them the week before and losing Jack and Andy to injury, we trained all week about having a real dig and working for your mate, and that's just what they did.

After some early dropped ball and nerves we settled into the grind after CYMS jumped out to 10 nil lead but before half time we scored to make it 10 to 6 down at the break.

We spoke at half time about keeping our composure, kicking smartly with the wind and competing at every tackle.

With Jared Burns making inroads and running off some nice passes from Josh and Noah running hard we were still just behind.

But as Tommy Thuaux found his mojo and Sam Frazer tackling hard, we started to find our rhythm.

Josh Cannard's brilliant chase down of Josh Piper began the tide turning and this is when Matty Wilko started to gain his old dummy half form scoring a try and setting one up for the strong Sam Coady.

This was followed by Jared scoring his second with his weaving runs and, combined with a leather perfect Noah Ryan, we ended up running out winners 24 to 14.

Every player played the best game of the year and stood up for each other.

We now come up against the mighty undefeated Panthers this weekend.

With Jack returning to the fold we will stiffen up the bench but we must still be at our best.

Great effort and a big thanks to the under 13 boys Dylan Whitty and Josh Pokoney who sat on the bench although not used thank you , I would also like to thank the boys that are playing different positions and doing a good job.

The experience at this age will only help your development in later years. See you at training.

Under 15

Cowra Magpies 20 defeated Lithgow Storm 16

The boys put in one of their better performances of the season on Saturday. Everyone tried hard, especially Matt Booker.

He is not very big and has been playing second row and been running the ball up like he is 100 kilograms and busting the line nearly every run.

Good work Matt, keep it up.

Jake Roberts, Nathan Collett, Cameron Roberts, Luke Doolan, Angus Fisher, Joe Coady and Arthur Simpson all had big games.

I am all very proud of all the boys because it is hard to go to Lithgow and win especially in a semi-final on their home turf.

Let's hope everyone trains this week as there is no reason why we can't beat Bloomfield this weekend if we train properly.

Well done boys, let's try and keep it going this weekend.

Under 16

Lithgow Storm 34 defeated Cowra Magpies 30

They say "all good things must come to an end" and so it was on Saturday for our under 16s Magpies.

Nine teams entered the under 16s competition for 2015 and after the general season drew to a close, the Cowra boys had finished fourth on the ladder. This meant that they would head to Lithgow for a sudden death semi-final.

Sadly for us, playing the fifth placed Storm on their home ground proved just a little too difficult a hurdle to overcome, with the Lithgow boys putting the ball over the line as the siren sounded to win 34-30.

So our season draws to a close, more abruptly than we had hoped, but that's football for you.

Everyone contributed to the loss through some poor errors which riddled our game.

But there were more positives than negatives to come out of the season with this group of young men.

In fact, the township of Cowra should be proud of how this team has represented them over the last two years of Group 10 competition.

This team has been the centre of many 'nice' stories that most know nothing about.

One from the weekend arose as the full time hooter rang.

The Storm water runner went to our boys in the in-goal area straight after the match and commented to them what a pleasure it had been to play against them these past two years.

He said that all games played by these two teams were always played hard, fair and in good sportsmanship and that Lithgow looked forward to competing against us.

Further to that, Martin Power, the Group 10 President, asked the same water runner from Lithgow earlier in the day who would win that afternoon's match between the two teams.

He replied that it didn't really matter as they would be happy to lose against Cowra because they are a nice bunch of boys. Nice to hear.

Which brings me to my next point - Barry "Supercoach" Craig.

This Cowra Junior Rugby League Life Member stepped up just over two years ago when asked would he consider coaching the boys.

He didn't have a child in the team, but as we came to notice, he ended up having 19 boys in the team.

He has been a well-respected coach by this team and a leader of "young men."

Barry is a busy man, but yet, he would turn up to train these boys twice a week and then back up on match day Saturday, even travelling on the team bus to away games.

A lot of players owe a lot to Barry, a real father-figure to many.

Barry "Gibson" Craig is a humble sort of bloke who probably doesn't even realise the affect he has had on this group.

The parents of the boys also thank you Barry for your time, efforts and guidance.

At seasons end, many thank you notices must be handed out. Some of these boys have played Junior Rugby League for the Cowra Magpies for 12 years, whilst others have joined us this year.

Together, they have been a great bunch of kids and even better team mates. Thanks boys for representing your town and families so well, as well as continuing to play weekend sport in a time where team sport numbers are declining.

Thanks to our parents, friends and supporters.

Driving us to training, matches, giving others lifts, etc, as well as the great cost that goes along with this, is greatly appreciated.

To our many sponsors, a big thank you. Whether it be a major jumper or shorts sponsor like Boyd Metal Works, Cowra Health Club, Cowra Services Club and Allan Gray and Co, or our Player of the Match awards, given out by Subway.

Our presentation night for the Cowra Group 10 sides is on Saturday 19th September. All players are asked to attend with this being their last "Junior" Rugby League commitment. Shannon Boyd, current Canberra Raiders first grade player and former Cowra Junior Rugby League player, will be in attendance as our Guest Speaker.

So what does the future of these "young men" hold? Well, the opportunity arises for these boys to step up to the Senior Rugby League ranks next year as Under 18 players. The choice is there for each player to ponder.

Keep the team together I reckon! Barry, that includes you!

Team players this year were: Mark Williams - Fullback; Jayden Randall, David Cutmore, Brandon Budden - Wingers; Jai Doolan, Hamish Starr, Jack Thurtell - Centres; Kurt Johnstone - Five-eight; Jesse Murray - Halfback; Tom Statham, Jackson Vallely, Harrison Wallace, Logan McKinney - Props; Kyle Bohanna - Hooker; Anthony Day, Dean Kacarovski, Max Browne-Freebairn, Toby Pollard - Second Rowers; Toby Apps - Lock.

Thanks everyone for a great couple of seasons.

Round 14 Saturday 29th August, 2015-

Mini Field-

9am U8 Kangaroos v Wallabies (Ref: TBA).

9.40am U8 Bears v Colts (Ref: TBA).

10.20am U6 Bears v Colts (Ref: TBA).

Mod Field-

10am U10 Preliminary Final (Ref: S Shorten).

Main Field-

9am U12 Preliminary Final (Ref: R Hughes).

Draw for Major Semi Finals at Wade Park Orange-

U14 - 12.45pm Panthers v Cowra.

Draw for Minor Semi Finals at Norton Park Orange-

U13 - 11.45am Bloomfield v Cowra.

U15 - 1.45pm Bloomfield v Cowra.