Dave Porecki scores for the North Harbour Rays against the Melbourne Rising on Sunday
Photo: Cam Inniss Photography

by Brendan Bradford –

North Harbour Rays front-rowers Dave Porecki and Nick Lah represent the opposite ends of the playing spectrum in the newly minted NRC competition which kicked-off on the weekend.

This competition’s goal is to facilitate the progression from club to Super Rugby for the new-breed of players like 21-year-old Porecki, who is fresh off an impressive sophomore season with Shute Shield side Manly.

Meanwhile 33-year-old Lah is the ever-dependable veteran prop who answered a last minute plea for help when the Rays’ bookend stocks took a preseason hit.

Both were influential off the bench in the Rays’ 55-34 loss to the Melbourne Rising on Sunday.

Porecki began the journey from park footy to the professional ranks earlier than expected – just 20-odd minutes in – when Rats hooker Luke Holmes went down for the count following a nasty head-knock in a collision with the Rising’s Lopeti Timani. The Marlins rake threw a lineout before he’d even stepped onto the field of play. No pressure.

“I was happy with what I did, I could’ve probably tightened up a few throws but I just tried to bring the energy and keep the running going,” said Porecki, who, despite having ice strapped to both shoulders and a knee in the changing-room after the match, said he enjoyed the first hit-out.

Norths stalwart Nick Lah.
Photo: Jock Cameron.

“The physicality was awesome, and it was a lot of fun really. Obviously it’s disappointing having a loss, but for me, in the first game of a highly anticipated match and getting to test myself against some pretty big boys, I enjoyed it.”

By Rays coach Geoff Townsend’s own admission, his side’s scrum had struggled to gain parity for most of the game, especially when defending the feed against a bigger and more experienced Melbourne pack. But with the expert Lah on his shoulder, Porecki noticed a difference from the very first set-piece.

“The scrums are a lot different at this level, they’re a lot lower and tighter and it’s a real weight battle, but when Lah came on I felt really good. He knows what he’s doing and he’s very experienced,” Porecki explained.

After being held up over the line, Lah’s influence at scrumtime laid the platform for another attacking raid which was again thwarted in goal. The Rays held their own with a second five-metre scrum and Porecki capitalised a couple of phases later with a bit of footwork and a lot of strength to dive over for a try.

“I suppose it’s just the experience there, I knew where to hit them and was lucky enough to have some good weight behind me,” said Lah of the set-piece lead-up to Porecki’s five-pointer.

“It’s good to have Greg Peterson’s big rig with some weight behind you, so I just transferred that and I think we improved as the second half wore on which was pleasing. It’s just a bit of timing and getting the combinations together and it takes a bit of getting used to the hooker and your two-row. But this scrum is proven and will be dominant over the next weeks once they train together.”

While the set-piece evened out, both young and old front rower said the pace and physicality of the game was a step up from club footy.

“It was another level physicality-wise, there was a lot of running and you had to put a lot more effort into everything,” said Porecki.

“You just had to do everything quicker, more efficiently and be more effective. There were a lot more gang-tackles and a lot more trying to hit through the breakdown and get through the crash-zone because they were always searching for the ball. But we used that to our advantage too with little tip-ons to find holes or a little bit of footwork at the line but, yeah, it was tiring and very quick.”

Scrum time in Melbourne – Photo: Cam Inniss Photography

The pace of the game was exacerbated for Lah by a month of inactivity after the Shoremen failed to make the Shute Shield Finals.

“Last time I touched a ball was about four or five weeks ago, and that was last time I ran at all really, I hadn’t done anything since, so the lungs were definitely burning,” he said.

“I just got the call up at about half-past nine on Thursday night asking what I was doing on Sunday and the rest is history. They had a few guys fall over with injury, so they got the old man in to hold up the scrum. I’ve never had that much lactic acid burning. It was a lot faster, but you expect that against the best up-and-comers.”

The Rays have a bye this weekend before hosting NSW Country in a televised match at Brookvale Oval on September 4. Porecki could be in line for a run-on debut if Luke Holmes can’t recover from his concussion, while Townsend left the door open for a longer stint at the franchise for Lah who won the ARC with the Central Coast Rays seven years ago.

“He did a great job for us and if we don’t get our Fijian prop, Leeroy Atalifo, in this week, he’ll probably be in consideration to stay in the squad,” said Townsend.

“He did a great job for us and the tighthead situation is crucial.”