Feltscheer scored one of the tries of the competition against NSW Country Eagles in round three
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

by Paul Cook –

Sydney will host it’s second NRC derby match this afternoon when the North Harbour Rays take on the Greater Sydney Rams at Brookvale Oval. With the NSW Country Eagles representing the state as a whole, the Rays, Rams and Sydney Stars provide a three-way city rivalry that is unique to the competition and bragging rights are keenly sought.

“We really want to be the dominant team in the Sydney area and they are our first real local rival that we play before we face the Stars in the last round,” Rays fullback, Dave Feltscheer, explains to Rugby News. “They have some serious attacking weapons and they can light up the park as well so it’s going to be a really interesting battle.”

The Rams gave the Stars a touch-up in the first Sydney derby in round three and come into this one a point ahead of the Rays on the ladder while having played one more game. A win for either side will launch them into a top four finals spot with only three rounds remaining and with Melbourne Rising already virtually assured of a Minor Premiership, the last three spots will be keenly contested so a win here is paramount.

But the chance to get one over players you play against – and in this case, even with – every week in Sydney club rugby, is proving to be a powerful motivating factor. With the Rays made up of representatives from Shute Shield sides Manly, Warringah, Gordon and Northern Suburbs, the inclusion of a couple of Marlins in the Rams set-up, Mark Swanepoel and Dane Chisholm, certainly stirs some extra spice into the mix.

“It definitely adds a lot to it,” Feltscheer admits. “There’s a few Manly boys in the Rams set-up now, a few of whom even started training with the Rays before they went over to the Rams so there’s a nice bit of rivalry there before a ball’s even been kicked.

“We haven’t yet come across many players that we play week in, week out in the Shute Shield but we know most of them and we would have had a game plan against them before at club level and certainly, game plans for them individually and it’s a challenge to really look forward to.”

The game promises to be an entertaining affair with both sides chock-full of game breakers but while the Rays on paper have one of the most exciting backlines in the competition, it has been their forwards that have garnered most of the plaudits thus far.

Hat-trick Hero: Rays no.8 Sam Ward slides in for the second of his three tries against Perth Spirit
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

Their last hit-out against Perth Spirit, a narrow 32-29 win, saw the pack take control of proceedings while the backs again struggled to click. Big no.8 Sam Ward plundered a hat-trick in the match with his first try one of two to come from what is proving to be a potent driving maul. But while Feltscheer agreed that the victory was down to the boys up front, he was simply happy to chalk up another valuable win in what is a short competition.

“It was a game that could have gone either way, it was a see-sawing affair and if it wasn’t for the dominance of our forwards, we could have had plenty put on us that night,” he says. “Our rolling maul was extremely effective and just getting our forwards around the corner makes it an entirely different game playing behind a pack that is doing that consistently.”

“I think all teams have got to try and play to their strengths and the backs haven’t been able to execute as we would have liked so far and because of that, we’ve had to resort to the rolling maul as a weapon. That’s not a bad thing given that we’ve been so dominant with it and we’ve scored multiple tries over the first five weeks from it and off those pick and drives and short, little passes from the halves to the forwards. Whatever works we’ll use it.”

The gelling of combinations has been a test for all the NRC sides, particularly those with no Super Rugby affiliations, but Feltscheer feels the Rays have had enough time together now to be on the same wavelength. For him, patience is the key to success.

“I don’t think we can use the excuse of lack of combinations anymore. The majority of the backline have played together at Warringah and we’ve had enough time together now to know what each other is doing,” he says. “I think it’s more maybe the mental part of the game that has let us down along with our ball handling and our passing.

“We are pushing the pass a bit, particularly in the attacking zone, where, if we hold it for another one or two phases you’re probably going to score anyway. It’s an area where I feel we’re going to click very soon and when we do, behind that forward pack, we’re a chance of putting on a frightening score against someone.”

Flying Fullback: Feltscheer is keen to show his best form in the hope of higher recognition and admits the NRC has been a steep learning curve
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

Feltscheer himself produced one of the best tries of the competition against NSW Country Eagles in round three, running home from halfway past a succession of bedazzled defenders, and his trademark insurgencies from deep have certainly not been absent from the Rays game, just perhaps not as prevalent as he would have liked. After swapping between fullback and wing with Cam Crawford in the early rounds, he is back at 15, a position he freely admits to feeling more comfortable with.

“I love being at fullback, I feel like I have a lot more freedom and can inject myself when and where I want from there,” he says. “I don’t feel as comfortable on the wing, mainly because I haven’t played there for three or four years and I think to master it I probably need to play there a bit more to be able to read those situations a bit better. I’m obviously happy to play anywhere but ideally, I’d like to continue playing at 15.”

With the unfortunate Crawford now ruled out for the remainder of the NRC to enable him to recover from a troublesome shoulder ahead of his move to the Melbourne Rebels, Feltscheer has a free run at the fullback jersey and a chance to show potential suitors his skill set in full. The main concept of the NRC is to help players like Feltscheer step up to the next level and see what they’re made of and hopefully, put themselves in the shop window for a professional contract. Whilst he admits it is a challenge the like of which he has never encountered, it is one he has gladly embraced.

“I’m finding that there’s a lot less holes to run into and there’s a lot less lazy defenders too and also, you can’t go half-arsed into a breakdown because you’re going to get found out very quickly,” he explains. “There’s no hiding place at the next level and if you’re not careful, you can walk off the field thinking that you’ve played a good game but come the review session on Monday night, you watch the video and think ‘There were four or five breakdowns there where I could have done something different or I probably shouldn’t have thrown that pass’ so that extra level of professionalism brings you back down to earth as well.

“I’ve never worked so hard on my breakdown work since I’ve been with the Rays because I know that if I don’t, I’m going to get 34 blokes looking at me on Monday night and thinking ‘What were you doing?’! It’s pretty unforgiving out there and the players you come across, particularly as a unit, are that much higher in quality so you’ve got to be pretty good do be able to dominate in the NRC.

“I think it’s extremely important to have a third tier in Australian rugby to give a chance for individuals to, not only show what they can do to prospective Super Rugby sides, but also to tell themselves that they can make that jump as well,” he continues. “It’s been a massive step in the past going from Shute Shield to Super Rugby and a lot of players don’t make it or don’t last that long but I think having this next step in professionalism really instils a bit of confidence into players that ‘Hey, I can do this against these players and this is something I want to do’, which is also important.”

Check out Feltscheer’s fantastic try against NSW Country Eagles: http://www.frequency.com/video/dave-feltscheers-amazing-individual-try/191780687

Whilst a Super Rugby contract is the obvious crock of gold at the end of Feltscheer’s personal rainbow, helping the Rays achieve finals footy at the very least is his immediate concern. Having lost their opening two matches, they have gone back-to-back since and with three of their last four games in Sydney, they are in prime position to strike for home and snag one of those all important top four berths. Feltscheer firmly believes it is within their grasp and promises that the best is yet to come.

“I think the second half of this competition is going to be a lot more to do with player management given that a lot of the players have now played 25 games in 24 weeks,” he says. “We still have a lot more to come as a squad but a lot of it is going to be down to how we strategically manage our fatigue.

“The first two games, it turned out that we lost to the top two teams in Melbourne Rising and the NSW Country Eagles. We didn’t know that then but there’s a chance that they will still end up as the top two teams. We’ve had two wins in a row since, I still feel like we’re in third or fourth gear and I don’t think we’re far off clicking as a squad.”

Watch this space…

NORTH HARBOUR RAYS vs GREATER SYDNEY RAMS, Brookvake Oval, 3pm

NORTH HARBOUR RAYS: 1. Mitch Lewis (Manly); 2. Luke Holmes (vc) (Warringah); 3. Tobias Gukibau (Gordon); 4. Ryan Melrose (Manly); 5. Greg Peterson © (Manly)’ 6. Jack Dempsey (Gordon)’ 7. Kotoni Ale (Manly); 8. Sam Ward (Warringah); 9. Matt Lucas (Manly); 10. Scott Daruda (Manly); 11. Sireli Tagicakibau (Warringah); 12. Tom Matthews (Gordon); 13. Mali Hingano (Manly); 14. Josh Holmes (Warringah); 15. David Feltscheer (Warringah)

RESERVES: 16. Dave Porecki (Manly); 17. Dane Maraki (Manly); 18. Nick Fraser (Gordon); 19. Ed Gower (Manly); 20. James Cunningham (Northern Suburbs); 21. Hamish Angus (Warringah); 22. Brian Sefanaia (Manly); 23. Harry Jones (Manly)

GREATER SYDNEY RAMS: 1. Jed Gillespie (Eastwood); 2. Hugh Roach (Eastwood); 3. Guy Millar (Eastwood); 4. Jared Barry (Eastwood); 5. Jed Holloway © (Southern Districts); 6. Steve Mafi (Parramatta); 7. Chris Alcock (Eastwood); 8. Hugh Perrett (Eastwood); 9. Mark Swanepoel (Manly); 10. Ben Volavola (Southern Districts); 11. Dane Chisholm (Manly); 12. Michael McDougall (Eastwood); 13. Lalakai Foketi (Manly); 14. Jarome McKenzie (Penrith); 15. Ben Batger (Eastwood)

RESERVES: 16. Maile Nguamo (Southern Districts); 17. Peni Ravai; 18. Dave Lolohea (West Harbour); 19. Michael Kovacic (Eastwood); 20. Pat Sio (Eastwood); 21. Vasa Falaelii (Newcastle); 22. Jai Ayoub (Eastwood); 23. Henry Seavula (West Harbour)