by Paul Cook –

A creditable 7th place finish in 2014 looked to have established a solid platform for progress at Parramatta under head coach Gerrard Fasavalu. But the loss of several key contributors to that campaign in the off-season, left the Two Blues putting their faith in a batch of relatively untried and untested youngsters.

The side took time to gel as a result and struggled through the first half of the season, with only a win over bottom side Penrith to show for their troubles as points in particular proved hard to come by. The second half of the year saw plenty of improvement, with only a last-minute penalty try to Sydney University depriving them of a famous victory at Uni Oval No.1. But despite losing five of their 18 games by less than 5pts, and racking up an impressive 15 bonus points in the process, a disappointing draw at home to Penrith provided their only other weekend without defeat, and they ended the year in 11th place.

A mid-season review of the coaching structures and how they were funded led to the departure of Fasavalu after the completion of round 16, with assistant coach Paul Hardwick stepping into the breach. Hardwick has since assumed the head coaching role for 2016 and while he plans ahead for next season, Rugby News spoke to him recently to reflect on what was a transitional year for the Granville based club.

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Give us a brief overview of the season from your perspective?

“We certainly didn’t perform as well as we had hoped to or up to the expectations that we had going into the season, expectations that were built from the fact that we were going in off the back of a relatively successful previous year, where we scored 41pts and just missed out on the semi-finals. So there was an air of excitement about the season and after playing the Waratahs in the three-way pre-season trial alongside Randwick and Sydney Uni, we thought that we were looking pretty good to at least do as well as, if not better, what the club had done the previous season.”

Seven wins in 2014, one win and a draw in 2015. Is it fair to say that this year was a bit of a backward step for the Two Blues?

“Absolutely, no two ways about it. We lost a fairly significant number of players in the off-season and unfortunately, it was probably a case of more established Shute Shield talent going out the door than was coming back in. I think the only positive that we can take out of it was that we scored the most bonus points in the competition, 10 of those being through four-try bonuses, the rest for losing within seven points and certainly, the second half of the season was much more successful in terms of scoring points.

“In the first half of the season we averaged 11pts per game and that went up to over 28pts per game in the second half of the year, so that was a big improvement. Clearly, our defence is still an issue and is something we will be working on a lot ahead of the 2016 season.”

Before a ball was kicked, Gerrard Fasavalu told Rugby News that Parra had “a very young first grade team but they’re willing to learn, absorb and better themselves…it’s just up to us as coaches, to make sure we educate them up to the standard where we need them to be.” Given the average age, was 2015 always going to be a year of learning for this group ahead of better times?

“Yes, they’re a very young side and with the loss of some of those key players, guys like Myles Hunkin, Sakaria Noa, Alex Samoa and Lani Tiatia for example, the blokes that came in and replaced them were even younger and maybe this year was about absorbing what it is that we are asking them to do. We changed our structures halfway through the year, which is evident when you look at the difference in our points-scoring ability, and so we were either not engaging them or their own abilities enough in that first half of the season or we were making assumptions that the players could just go out and execute as we wanted.”

Parra lost five games by less than 5pts – this could have been a very different story?

“Very much so. I look at the game against Gordon – where we gave up a 20pt lead with about 15 minutes to go – and I look at the game against Sydney Uni, where we led 24-7 and went down 28-24 with a penalty try against the scrum. So, the players we had during the season certainly played above themselves, however, given the steep learning curve for some, we were probably a bit too ambitious at times.”

The team were pretty slow out of the blocks, perhaps understandably given the raft of personnel changes, and it wasn’t until round nine that you got your first – and only – win against Penrith. Was that slow start down to player turnover only, or was a pretty unforgiving draw or an inability to turn pressure and performances into results also contributing factors?

“You can’t say the draw because you’ve got to play any team you’re up against and these guys are Shute Shield footballers. But what we didn’t have was the ability of the Manly’s or the Eastwood’s to strangle a team. We didn’t convert territory into points and we were very poor with our execution – if we didn’t see something that was positive after the first two phases, we were poor with our decision making after that and as a result, depending on the decision, our set-piece also suffered in certain areas of the field.”

There was a 3pt loss to Norths in round three, the weather-enforced 4pt loss to West Harbour in round six and another 3pt loss to Gordon in round eight. A couple of wins in that first half of the season could well have lifted the belief and confidence amongst the squad, which may have resulted in an even better second half of the year?

“You’re 100% right and at the time of those close losses, we certainly thought they were all winnable games. In that game at Concord (torrential rain and electrical storms led to the match being abandoned after 50 minutes with West Harbour’s 18-14 advantage standing), we ran into a howling gale in the first half before those atrocious conditions in the second brought an early end to proceedings, just as we were starting to really play.

“The Norths game was very disappointing and I think around that time we played Warringah at home as well (round seven) and that was a game we were really up for but performed quite poorly, so we had a run of games where we believed we could win, didn’t and that really knocked us around confidence-wise.”

Round 11 – Sydney University 28 Parramatta 24. The team led for most of that game before conceding a late, late penalty try. But while a valiant effort ultimately fell just short of a memorable achievement, the game was played against the backdrop of the terrible events witnessed in 2nd grade, when Two Blues player Andrew Vatuvei received life-saving treatment on the pitch after suffering a punctured lung in a tackle. It must have been a hugely emotional day for all concerned at the club?

“It was an incredibly emotional day and what [Sydney Uni] Dr Katherine Rae did was just amazing. It was one of those days where you loved being a part of the rugby community because the people at Uni were fantastic and their care for Andrew was terrific. The incident certainly knocked our boys around but having said that, they knew they still had to go out and play rugby and while we knew what was happening to Andrew, no-one said “Let’s play for him,” or anything like that.

“Afterwards, we reflected on the loss and how close we had come to a memorable win but the most important thing was that one of our members was in hospital and hopefully on the road to recovery. We got a new lease of life at training in the week after that game but given the concerns over Andrew, who was still in hospital, it was a very draining few days for the players.”

Pushing a side like Uni so close on their home turf must have provided a huge fillip for the team?

“Some of the things that we tried to put in place against the West Harbours, the Gordons and the Norths etc, all clicked that day. But it was one of those days where I suppose you need something to go your way on a football field and up until the last few minutes it was but then we had one of our locks sin-binned and the referee awarded the penalty try. It was heartbreaking.”

I think anyone connected with Parramatta rugby were the only ones not celebrating Penrith’s first – and only – points of the season in a 34-all derby draw in round 16. Not a highlight of the year I’m guessing?

“No, that certainly wasn’t a highlight for us! We took them too lightly to be honest, we expected them to roll over but that was their Grand Final. To their credit, they had a new no.10 that came out and kicked 19pts – he was potting penalty goals from halfway – and we thought pretty early on that we were in for a tough day.

“But it did highlight the fact that if our players didn’t put in the hard work, regardless of who we were playing, you can come unstuck pretty easily. There is an attitude amongst some of the players who have been around the club for a long time that the Penrith game is almost ‘a given’ and that certainly hurt us on the day.”

Across the club – 2nd grade missed out on a finals spot by 4pts and the 1st grade colts by 3pts. You’d obviously like that to be the case in all grades but promising signs nonetheless out at Granville?

“We’ve been able to retain a lot of players across the grades this year and we’ve been able to attract some players into the club that have played footy in the West in the past, either as a Parra junior or a Western Sydney junior, so we’re very happy about that. When [assistant coach] Greg Michell and myself came to the club we said that we could bring a lot of 2nd grade players, or that kind of standard, over with us and that has played a role in how well 2nd grade did this year. Having said that, we can’t keep on missing out on semi-finals. We need a point of difference and our players’ engagement and attitude has to be rewarded with results.”

Debutant flanker Daniel Tamone was one of the big improvers for the Two Blues across the season – Photo: Brett Kenna

Best/most rewarding performance of the year?

“I’d have to say the Sydney Uni game. Playing them at Uni is special in itself but to push them to the last minute was a tribute to how hard the boys had worked through a long season.”

Worst/most frustrating performance of the year?

“Gordon in round eight. To give up 20-odd points the way we did was inexcusable.”

Player/s of the Year?

“Larry Hermens was sensational, Evan Olmstead went on to play for Canada at the World Cup and Seva Rokobaro, who had to leave us due to work commitments early in the year, was outstanding too. Nick Blacklock was outstanding on and off the park, he’s a great clubman.”

Rookie/s of the Year?

“I would have said prop Nigel Vaifale but he’d already got some 1st grade experience under his belt with Penrith but Daniel Tamone played above his weight all year at no.7. Also, Luke Casey. It was his first year up from colts and he was the leading try scorer in grade and was rewarded with a few first grade games.”

Most Improved Player of the Year?

“Probably Daniel Tamone again. He’s not the biggest no.7 going around but he tackles hard and people underestimate him.”

Players who have gone on to be recognised at the next level?

“Evan Olmstead with Canada and Larry Hermens and Kaleb Rech got some game time with the Greater Sydney Rams in the NRC. Larry also represented the Australian Barbarians in their two-match tour of New Zealand.”