Multi-talented footballer, Ron Lawrence says representative football could decide which of the rugby codes he pursues fulltime.
Lawrence plays both rugby union and rugby league—union on Saturdays, then backs up for the Cowra Magpies in league on Sundays.
“It’s not too bad, I’m handling it pretty well so far,” Lawrence said.
“It’s tough on the body during the first few weeks of season when I’m still looking for match fitness—but I get used to it quickly.
“I enjoy both codes, and I don’t have a preference yet.”
Playing one football code is tough enough, but to play two in the one weekend—on top of training for both—is
exceptional.
Not that it affects Lawrence on the field.
“I don’t think my league form is affected by playing union the day before—a couple times last year, I backed up in league the next day and played 80 minutes.”
“The training is the most difficult thing. I train almost every night of the week.
“I live in Canowindra, so I travel to Cowra twice a week for league training then to Orange once a week for union
training.”
Both codes understand Lawrence’s importance to their teams.
Last season, Cowra Magpies coach Troy Newcombe said Lawrence was
consistently one of the best players in his team.
“He goes forward really well,” Newcombe said.
“The good thing about him is that he always takes the first or second hit-up in each set of six, which is a very important aspect in a front-rowers game that not many have.
“He can also play 80 minutes, which is unbelievable for a front-rower—not many big guys can run for that long.
Central West under 20s rugby union coach Matt McRobert, said he knew from day one that Lawrence would also be a
success in rugby union.
“I could tell he was going to be good the first day I saw him,” McRobert said.
“He’s a very good all-round rugby front-rower. He has all the skills and his work rate is above what an average front-rower’s is—he tackles all day.
“The good thing about him is that he’s not one-dimensional—he offloads well and has a good catch-pass game which keeps the opposition guessing.”
Lawrence knows he is not going to keep playing both codes at the same time for much longer.
So which one will he quit, so he can fully commit himself to one code only?
Lawrence hinted that representative football—in both codes, could help him make his decision.
“Rep football could dictate which code I choose,” Lawrence said. “The more I succeed at the representative level of a particular code—the more likely I am to stick with one over the other.
“I’ve been picked for the Central West under 20s rugby union team, so I’m going to give that a go and see how far I get with it.
“I’m not sure which code I’ll drop and which one I’ll concentrate on just yet though, it just depends on how representative union goes.
“If I was picked for the Group 10 rugby league rep team, it could sway me to sticking with league instead of union.
“This is the last year I’m eligible for under 20 in the Central West team, so we will just have to wait and see what happens after that.
“It will be a turning point I’d say.”
Newcombe said Lawrence finished the last rugby league season as a better player then the established Group 10 representative props, and knows the value he brings to the Magpies.
“Ron is very important to the Magpies; he was one of our stand-out players last year—defiantly in our top three performers.”
McRobert though, says Lawrence is much more suited to union, and said the game will offer the young Canowindra man more opportunities.
“He probably only needs to work on his scrimmaging, but he has a big future in rugby,” McRobert said.
“The biggest loss to him leaving rugby would be to himself, his body type is much more suited to union then it is league—I think he’s better adapted to union.
“There is more scope in union then league on the international level and he’ll have more opportunities in union.
“You can do and see much more.”
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter