Orange CYMS remain unbeaten and on top of the Group 10 competition following a 50-12 thrashing of Oberon.
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The hosts ran in nine tries against a Tigers outfit sitting third on the ladder prior to Sunday’s game, but one now scrambling for the drawing board after having the cleaners put through them at Wade Park.
Up 22-6 at the break thanks to an early double from Tom Satterthwaite, CYMS raced to a 50-6 scoreline thanks to second-half tries to Lachy Munro, Joe Lasagavibau, Ryan Griffin’s second, Adam Stanford and Kurt Beahan, his off a ridiculous Ben McAlpine banana kick that curved out to the rangy right winger on the full for the try.
Swift ball movement and impressive ball control, if that CYMS side runs out every week until mid-September the club’s old boys will have plenty to cheer about in their Mark Hughes Foundation beanies.
CYMS’ hooker, Griffin was particularly sharp off the back of the work from props Cam Jones and Chris Bamford.
The lightning quick No.9 says the team isn’t getting too carried away with its current form, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun.
“This is my third year in first grade and the bond between everyone seems to be closer than ever,” Griffin said.
“The first round’s not over yet, we’ll see how we’re going at the turning point … hopefully we’re there at the end of the year.”
Griffin’s first try was CYMS’ last of the first half and it summed up Oberon’s day to a tee.
Attempting a short drop-out, the Tigers went high to give Jackson Brien a contest at the ball, but the Western Rams centre missed the pill, ended up on the ground and Griffin beat four would-be Tigers tackles to score a great try.
Poor one-on-one defence and a lack of possession cruelled Luke Branighan’s side.
The bond between everyone seems to be closer than ever.
- CYMS hooker Ryan Griffin
“It was interesting,” Griffin said referring to his first try.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting to get there. I was just hoping to hold on to the ball.
“We expected it to be a bit grittier through the middle all game, but we completed our sets and when we kept the ball in hand we rolled through them.”
Branighan looked despondent following the game, and said it was up to each player in black and gold to stump up a better showing than Sunday’s effort against CYMS.
“We just weren’t at the races. To say I’m disappointed would be a massive understatement,” the experienced mentor said.
“We’ll regroup, there’s plenty of quality there we just need to jump on board.
“The players need to have a good look at themselves, we’ll be back. There’ no dramas about that.”
“We’re not here to make up the numbers. The club has been very good to myself and the players, there’s no excuse to put in a performance like that.”
CYMS started the better of the two sides, scoring ominously easily after Satterthwaite picked up a Luke Petrie grubber on the 20 metre line to touch down after three minutes.
Brock McGarity then crossed with similar ease at the six-minute mark, leaping above Josh Rivett to pluck a Mick Sullivan bomb out of the air.
McAlpine’s radar was on, and it was 12-0.
But the Tigers then worked themselves into the game, Trent Rose appearing on a one-man mission to rattle the entire CYMS pack.
It worked, to a degree, a tiny scuffle 20 minutes in shook the competition leaders a touch, but the settling influence of Sullivan helped right CYMS’ ship.
He put Petrie through a gap on the half-way line, before the young five-eighth linked up with Satterthwaite for his second and an 18-0 lead.
Oberon scored next through Tyler Hughes, but virtually all the good work the Tigers produced to net points unravelled when Griffin scored off that botched short drop-out.
“To be fair I thought we could have been beaten by a lot more,” Branighan said.
“I’m really disappointed. We had a few out, but there’s no excuses. Physically we got dominated , our pack was dominated and our positional play was exposed out wide.”
Oberon unleashed new recruit Tui Oloapu, the young centre scoring in the final plays of the game to make the score 50-12. Wade Judd didn’t play.
“I thought with the side we had, I thought we could have played a nice physical match and ground out a win but we were given an absolute lesson today.”