THE Criterion Hotel Singleton Greyhounds will travel to Denman this Sunday for the preliminary final games of Group 21 for the 2012 season. The Greyhounds will only be involved in reserve grade, meeting Scone, after both the first grade and Under 18 sides qualified for next Sunday’s grand finals at ResCo Park. Reserve Grade kick off is 12:15pm.
The COR Cooling reserve grade side has suffered in the last month leading into the semi finals with very little game time due to the competition structure. Last Sunday they looked underdone for the clash with Denman and they will need to pick up the pace very early against a formidable Scone side.
Singleton has a strong pack of forwards led by John Boyle and captain coach Ben Deaves. They will be keen to put the Thoroughbreds on the back foot early to allow Jake Hardy and Jake Smith to control the match. Daniel Robins will be a key player, he has been able to pull a big game out in recent years on the big days and if he is at his best Singleton will win. Throw into the mix the hard working games of Nic Cox and Max Willis as well as the attacking prowess of Zac Howlett from the fullback spot and Singleton has a strong outfit capable of securing a grand final berth.
Like all finals matches it will be a case of the winner being the side that makes the most of its chances and it will be critical for the Greyhounds to not waste any of their chances against a side that is full of players who would normally hold down first grade spots at Scone.
Look for some impact from the bench from Matt Carroll and Taison Morgan as the Scone side tires.
The COR squad for Sunday is Zac Howlett, Jimmy Bonnar, Brewer Williams, Daniel Robins, Lewyn Rapana, Jake Hardy, Jake Smith, Max Willis, Nick Cox, John Boyle, Scott Matthews, Ben Deaves, Andrew Winsor, Cliff Newling, Matt Brock, Eliot Langdon, Taison Morgan, Justin Black, Matt Carroll.
The Better Get Pumped third grade side will play the Kotara Bears at ResCo Park on Saturday at 2:30pm. The ‘Thirsty Thirds’ were defeated at Gloucester last weekend by 34-20 going down by six tries to four. Gloucester sat a couple of spots below the Greyhounds on the table and back to back losses could be very costly in the final game before the finals series begin. Singleton are currently in fourth spot on the table.
Major raffle for 2012 winner was Max Willis, winning NRL tickets to Rabbitohs v Knights. Presentation night tickets are now available for the big night at Club Singleton on Saturday 6th October.
Please contact Katrina Solman for tickets.