Bears Looking On Bright Side
By DAVID
ROWLANDS
NORTH SHORE TIMES - 2/6/2004
To contend that a 30-point beating is a step in the right direction
would, under normal circumstances, be considered the height of
absurdity.
However in the context of North Sydney’s past month in the NSWRL
Premier League, Sunday’s 42-12 humbling at the hands of the Sydney
Roosters at Aussie Stadium wasn’t the foot- balling version of The Day
After Tomorrow.
“It was a massive improvement, for sure,” claimed Bears’ captain Ben
Black, when asked to compare it with their diabolical display on the
same parched turf seven days earlier, when they were smacked 52-6 by
South Sydney.
The most recent visit to Moore Park has to be seen as progress, however
small, simply due to the greater class of last Sunday’s opponents. And
on this occasion, they at least had the consolation of being able to
say that they “won” the second half (12-10), even without one of their
best players in centre Scott McLean, who was heavily concussed just
before halftime.
“We could’ve turned it up and copped a flogging, but we dug deep in the
second half and showed what we could do when we play to our pattern and
hang onto the ball,” added Black.
But while a modicum of pride and satisfaction may have been salvaged,
the players stifi won’t be allowed to forget the fact that for the
third straight week, they have given themselves little hope of being
competitive thanks to dreadful starts.
After going to the break with deficits of 26 and 22 in the past
fortnight, the Bears found them selves confronting a massacre when they
trailed the Tricolours 32-0 at the same stage. A simple handling error
in their opening stage of possession triggered a chain of scoring that
saw them fly out to 26 points in just under even time.
“Our first half let us down again,” rued coach Gary Larson. However,
the club’s under 20s outfit almost ended League’s only unbeaten record
on Friday night at North Sydney Oval.
The young Bears led the hot shot Roosters 12-8 at halftime and had the
verdict there for the taking at 20-20 heading into the closing 10
minutes, only to make a critical mistake from the kick off that
provided Sydney with the ammunition to score a con verted try and field
goal for 27-20.
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