By JON GEDDES

THE grand old North Sydney Oval turned into a field of dreams for young Northern Suburbs winger Seb Cameron during his side’s 34-27 win over Manly in their Shute Shield quarter-final last Saturday.

In a moment he will never forget, the 22-year-old was sent on as a late replacement in what was a real pressure cooker situation, with the scores locked at 27-all and the flow of the game see-sawing.

With his first touch of the ball less than a minute later 30m from the Manly line, Cameron displayed super speed and scintillating footwork to slice through the Marlins’ defence resulting in a spectacular match winning try, putting his side two wins away from a premiership.

After the game a delighted Cameron agreed that it was the best try that he has scored.

But when he first received the ball Cameron didn’t think that he was going to score, let alone in the spectacular manner in which he did.

“I was just thinking ‘get in the right area’,” he said. “Then I saw open grass and thought ‘something is going to go wrong here’. But I got to the tryline and we scored.”  

The man who crossed for the decisive five-pointer was quick to acknowledge the contribution of his teammates.

“It feels good, but it was all the boys work,” he said.

He said it all started with a desperate No.4 Brad Hemopo getting a hand onto a clearing box kick by Manly halfback Matt Lucas.

“There was just good chat from the boys, I had (no.13) Nathan Russell on my right side, I heard him loud and just thought I would go for the line and it paid off,” Cameron said.  

The former Riverview College sprint star came through the Norths’ Colts system and made his first grade debut last season.

“What we are doing now is we are building really good depth with good local boys who are coming through and Seb took his opportunity,” said Norths coach Zak Beer.

TACKLING ADVERSITY

THE significance of the victory by the minor premiers under really challenging circumstances cannot be underestimated.

The team went into the game with five of their key men out – locks Hugh Sinclair and Dave Henway, No.10 Angus Sinclair, winger James Turner and hooker James Margan.

“One of the life members said to me there had never been a time in the club’s history coming into a finals with that amount of adversity,” Beer said.

The subsequent victory is testament to the programs that Beer has put in place and will give Norths players a big confidence boost for the remainder of their finals campaign.

“Obviously it was a big group that were out, but honestly we didn’t flinch,” Beer said.

“The guys who came in stepped up, the group is so laser-focussed on what we need to do and what makes this team great.

“Yes, we scored some brilliant running rugby tries and love the boys to showcase their skills.”

 Beer said ultimately it came down to moments in the game – like Hemopo’s charge down and Cameron’s try after coming off the bench.

“That’s what makes this team special and that’s what I am so proud about today,” Beer said.

Beer described it as the best win his team has had this season.

“We never doubted what we needed to do, we just had to ensure that everyone who came in did that jersey number proud, which they did,” Beer said. 

He knew the game would open up after about 60 minutes and had confidence his side’s fitness would be up for it.      

But the coach was not getting carried away by the performance, as impressive as it may have been.

“The job is far from over, all we have done now is earn a week off,” he said. “And now we are onto the grand final qualifier in two weeks’ time.”

As Cameron explained: “We always say you’ve got to step up and take the mantle and do your best.

“Getting the week off will pay dividends hopefully for the next week.”    

IMAGE: KAREN WATSON PHOTOGRAPHY