The Whalers gained ascendancy early in the NZRL Division 2 Championship match and looked to be the more determined of the two sides.
Ill discipline hampered the Lakers’ efforts, and the penalties being duly awarded allowed the Whalers to advance down the field into great attacking positions. Hyrum Martin continued his strong form by scoring the opening try on a shift play on the right side of the field and from then on, Taua Piri’s direction on attack, in combination with captain Vila Apuula, allowed the Whalers to unsettle the opposition. Piri’s astute decision-making saw the Whalers complete sets with real attacking intent, and his last-play kick options were precise. Another spread out to the right resulted in a Jordan Ruatoe special, with a full-length outstretched dive procuring a try in the corner.
The Whalers won the battle in the middle of the park, largely due to the efforts of lock Hagan Free, hooker Sam Johnstone, and second-rower Camrin Brown. Free and Johnstone’s defence was outstanding, with both men racking up an immense number of tackles to keep the opposition at bay.
However, man of the match, and Bay of Plenty export, Camrin Brown had the greatest impact. Brown’s strong ball carries posed an ever-present threat to the Lakers defence and he was able to break the line on multiple occasions with devastating tackle busts. On the back of the platform being laid up front, Otago had built a slight lead heading into the halftime break, with the score sitting at 12-10.
The second half was again marred by ill discipline from the Lakers, which culminated in players being sent off on two occasions. The Whalers were unable to take full advantage of the depleted defence however, and after two disallowed tries, deemed held up, they were beginning to get frustrated. The Lakers then began applying pressure and scored some impressive tries of their own to wrestle the momentum in their favour.
A vocal home crowd buoyed the Lakers and when one of the supporters shouted comments at the Whalers, Hagan Free responded by yelling back at them, which was then deemed to be a send-off offence, with the consequence being 10 minutes in the sin-bin.
The Whalers held out the Lakers attack while they were a man down, and even managed to score another try through Camrin Brown to extend their lead with just 10 minutes left in the game. But the Lakers were not about to give up, and after returning fire with a try in the right corner, they converted the difficult sideline opportunity to bring the scores level at 24-24. Minutes later, a match defining, and ultimately season-ending, penalty was awarded to the Lakers with less than five minutes to play.
The penalty was conceded in the Whalers defensive 20m and just to the left of the posts, so it was no surprise that the Lakers opted to kick, and the two points gained allowed them to complete their heist, winning a game that looked to be the Whalers for most of the match.
Whalers coach Dave Reedy said that he was proud of his side’s efforts and acknowledged that no-one outside of the Whalers team environment had expected them to make it this far.
Reedy is looking to build on the immense progress made this year and believes the platform has been set for Otago Rugby League to continue to improve.
- Ricki Allan
