Jets and Dirty Reds write a new page in rugby league history
Historywas made at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon when the Glebe Dirty Reds hostedthe Newtown Jets in a pre-season trial match. This was in fact the first meetingof these two 1908 foundation rugby league clubs in 91 years, made possible bythe re-establishment of the Glebe club in 2015.
TheGlebe Dirty Reds now play in the Ron Massey Cup and the Newtown Jets are thereigning premiers of the Canterbury Cup NSW competition.
Bothclubs were trialling several new signings, with Newtown having recruitedseveral former Cronulla Sharks and Victorian Thunderbolts under 20s players,while Glebe had secured the prized signature of long-serving NRL player andKiwi international Greg Eastwood.
Aspecial trophy was instituted for this match – the Alex Bolewski Cup,commemorating the great rugby league pioneer who played with both the Glebe andNewtown clubs, as well as representing NSW. Alex Bolewski also served in WorldWar I for two years.
Thematch was played in mild weather conditions and it had been agreed that thistrial would be played in three segments of twenty minutes each. It was alsoagreed that there would be no conversion attempts taken for the purposes ofthis game.
Newtowndominated possession and field position in the opening twenty minutes and led12-0 at the first break, with the three try-scorers being second-rowers MattStimson and Tom Caughlan, as well as burly front-rower Brandon Luamanu.
Fijiantrialist Keresi Maya and former Canterbury Bulldogs centre John Olive addedtries in the second session. Glebe gained a bigger share of possession andtightened up their defence in what was a try-less third twenty-minutes segment.
WhileNewtown might have run out winners by 20-0, both coaches had plenty ofpositives to take away from this match in terms of their teams’ performances inthis opening trial game.
Newtown20:
MattStimson, Brandon Luamanu, Tom Caughlan, Keresi Maya, John Olive tries
defeated
Glebe0.
TheNewtown Jets used these players:
EdwardAiono, Henry Patterson, John Olive, Joshua Delailoa, Jayden Millard, TrentToelau, Brandon Luamanu, Zac Woolford, Sione Afomiu, Matt Stimson, TomCaughlan, Jackson Stewart, Harry McLellan, Jake Olam, Tyla Tamou, IsaacThomson, Keresi Maya, Brandon Finnegan, Sevuloni Lutu, Lachlan Scarpelli.
Andthe following players turned out for the Glebe Dirty Reds:
Troy Hanita-Paki, Brandt Quinn, Nicholas Okladnikov, Latrell Robinson, Anthony Overton, Jordan Chong-Sun, Nikau Williams, Jackson Garlick, Greg Eastwood, Mason McCarthy, Ethan Natoli, Lachlan Stein, Kieran Wyld, Isaac Rabuatoka, Santana Teinaki, Kem Seru, Eddie Faalua, Daniel Arahu, Myles Fowler, Ben Pointer, Ben Jackson, Joshua Natoli.
Newtown's next trial match details:
Saturday, 22nd February 2020
Henson Park
Newtown v Canterbury-Bankstown
Kick-Off: 5.00pm.
Curtain-Raisers at Henson Park on Saturday, 22nd February:
The Cronulla Sharks play Canterbury Bulldogs in a Jersey Flegg trial match at 3.00pm, and there is a full round of Sydney Roosters junior representative games (Harold Matthews, SG Ball & Tarsha Gale) prior to that.