Illawarriors To Focus On Better Control Of Ball
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday June 9, 2007
VIKINGS Rugby club celebrates its 50th year with a gala reunion dinner tonight and 13 Blueys turn out for the Illawarriors in tomorrow's Shute Shield clash against Manly at WIN Stadium.
Vikings have been great supporters of the Illawarriors in 2007, providing players for the under 19s Colts and senior squad. The senior Illawarriors remain win-less and though they've tried hard in every game, they have generally been overrun by bigger, more experienced opponents. Playing at home Illawarra will be hoping to be competitive against the ninth-placed Manly (3-4), who are coming off a painful one point loss to derby rivals Warringah last weekend. Illawarriors coach Christian Burden said the focus would be on ball control."We really need to concentrate on maintaining possession," he said. "In our earlier matches we have turned over too much ball and this has put pressure on our defensive line-up. "When we are up against bigger, stronger and more experienced teams we can't allow one side of the play to be under too much pressure, so we need to work on maintaining consistency, accuracy and ball possession."Burden said despite the losses the team had been buoyed by some strong individual performances, led by Bowral half-back Tim Small."Tim has had some great matches and been consistently one of our star performers. He's attracted interest from the coach of the Sydney Fleet club in the ARC (Australian Rugby Championship)."This is really a foundation year for our club and it's about giving our talented players the opportunity to play at an elite level and gain exposure to Sydney clubs." Meantime, the Illawarriors Colts' clash against Manly should be tight with both teams having won three games. The Colts kick-off is 1.45pm, with seniors from 3pm.
© 2007 Illawarra Mercury