20yr old Jock Merriman has the task of guiding the Students around the park against Easts – Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Paul Cook –

Sydney University will be looking to bounce back from their defeat at the hands of Eastwood last week, when they take on Eastern Suburbs in the ABC match of round three. The Students were well in the game at half-time last Saturday but a devastating attacking display from the Woods took them away on the scoreboard to a 34-13 victory.

Having put 40pts on a dangerous Parramatta the week before, the result was an early setback for Uni as they try to integrate the next wave of 1st graders into the team alongside the older heads of Messrs Carter, Davidson and Trist. However, as new head coach Chris Malone explains, it isn’t a time for panic.

“It’s early in the season and we’ve got some young guys in key positions that we just need to keep developing,” he says. “It’s going to be a gradual process but I’m certainly not getting too carried away with it.”

One of the young tyros he’s put his faith in is Jock Merriman, traditionally a scrum-half but converted to the no.10 jersey so far this season and making a pretty good fist of it. So good in fact, that he was named in the Australian under 20’s squad during the week that will travel to Paris in June to contest the IRB Junior World Championships.

The 20yr old is loving his time amongst the big boys but is realistic about the challenge posed by a posse of wounded Beasts at Woollahra Oval. “Hopefully I can help the team come away with a deserved win, although it won’t be easy. We broke down the mistakes we made last week and have looked at where we can focus our attention to target certain areas in the Easts’ defensive line.”

With wet weather predicted across the weekend, conditions will be a leveller but despite the Students having come unstuck on a couple of occasions at Woollahra Oval in recent years, Merriman doesn’t see that as an excuse for a poor performance. “It doesn’t matter what the conditions are,” he explained, “it comes down to who can use them to their advantage. Yes it will be wet but it will be wet for both teams, Easts have some big forwards but hopefully we can tire them out and find holes to exploit”.

A former Brumbies, Force & Waratahs lock, Richard Stanford offers an imposing 6ft 5in & 110kg presence for Easts
Photo: seiserphotography.com

Standing in their way are an Easts team yet to taste victory this season but one that should come in with a fair degree of confidence, having pushed last year’s losing Grand Finalists, Southern Districts, to the wire at Forshaw Park last week.

Coaching staff and players will tell you that they simply didn’t turn up in round one against Norths and that the performance against Souths was much more in the vein of what they expect from this season. After absorbing a Rebels onslaught early on, they gradually got on top through the forwards, with Richard Stanford a constant physical presence and grew in confidence with ball in hand as the game wore on.

A brace of tries for replacement Kuki Ma’afu has been rewarded with a start this week and keep an eye out for promising utility back Charlie Clifton on the wing and experienced clubman Tom Azar in the centres. Club skipper Pauli Taumoepeau misses the chance to face off against his former side as he continues his recovery from an injury sustained in the trials and while his influence will be sorely missed, the Beasts showed enough mongrel last week to suggest that they can get in there and match it with the likes of Davidson, Liam Winton and Ollie Atkins at the breakdown.

Coach Mark Bakewell is wary of a Uni backlash from the Eastwood loss, he knows from past experiences that any Students side is competitive, no matter the age or experience of those on the team sheet or their recent form. “They are the most well prepared club in Australia,” he explains “and they have an infrastructure which is the envy of all the districts clubs. We know they will play for eighty minutes, so we have to concentrate to ensure we execute with precision.”

He issued a final rallying call. “One thing is certain, passion will be high and the Beasts love a challenge so bring it on!”

TEAM LISTS

Eastern Suburbs v Sydney University @ Woollahra Oval (3pm live on ABC TV)

Eastern Suburbs: 1 Sione Kolo, 2 Alex Walker (c), 3 Rob McMickan, 4 Keliti Vaingalo, 5 Richard Stanford, 6 James Graham, 7 Ryan Hodson, 8 Andrew Shaw, 9 Luke Irwin, 10 Henry Hudson, 11 Charlie Clifton, 12 Tom Azar, 13 Kuki Ma’afu, 14 Anton Lavin, 15 Will Fay.

Sydney University: 1 Jeremy Tilse, 2  Matthew Mafi, 3 Sam Talakai, 4  Oliver Atkins, 5 Will Skelton/TBC, 6 Liam Winton, 7 Benn Melrose, 8 Tim Davidson (c), 9 Jake Gordon, 10 Jock Merriman, 11 Greg Jeloudev, 12 Tom Carter, 13 Michael Hodge, 14 Levi Dodd, 15 Nathan Trist

Referee: Rohan Hoffman

Warringah v Southern Districts @ Pittwater Rugby Park (3pm)

Warringah: 1 Ben Ryan, 2 Luke Holmes, 3 Wayne Borsak, 4 Vincent Wright, 5 Ben Adams, 6 Sam Ward, 7 Mark Porpiglia, 8 Boyd Killingworth, 9 Joshua Holmes (c), 10 David Harvey, 11 Michael Dalton, 12 Nathan Daly, 13 Michael Adams, 14 Conrad Gillingham, 15 David Feltscheer

Southern Districts: 1 Duncan Chubb, 2 Andrew Sulter, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Andrew Leota, 5 Jed Holloway, 6 Mick Kauter, 7 Jono Hayes (c), 8 Lopeti Timani, 9 Grayson Hart, 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Alex Gibbon, 12 Apo Latunipulu, 13 Denny Godinet, 14 Oleni Ngungutau, 15 Paul Asquith

Referee: Edward Martin

Penrith v Northern Suburbs @ Nepean Rugby Park (3pm)

Penrith: 1 Peter Niumata (c), 2 Ethan Robinson-Mate, 3 Sione Matangi, 4 Willie Tooala, 5 Sione Pusi Fifita, 6 Pita Tupou, 7 Owen Crozier, 8 Leo Burgess, 9 George Magalogo, 10 Fokolulu Taumalolo, 11 Kome Leoliifano, 12 John Maumau, 13 Paueli Halafihi, 14 James Umu, 15 Paula Katoa

Northern Suburbs: 1 Nic Curtis, 2 Will Weeks, 3 Cruze Ah Nau, 4 Ben Matwijow, 5 Chris Thompson, 6 Sam Figg, 7 AJ Gilbert (c), 8 Pat Sio, 9 Tim Duchesne, 10 Liam Windon, 11 Corey Brown, 12 Lachlan Porteous, 13 Bill Meakes, 14 Blake Murray, 15 Sam Myers

Referee: Michael Hogan

Gordon v West Harbour @ Chatswood Oval (3pm)

Gordon: 1 Tobias Gukibau, 2 Ron Hobden (c), 3 Willy Maumalanga, 4 Lex Fairley, 5 Seb Murphy, 6 Lex Fairley, 7 Gordon Broome, 8 Luke Rissman, 9 Terry Preston, 10 Mitch Walton, 11 Vesi Tokalaulevu, 12 Tom Matthews, 13 Lucas Simkin, 14 Richie Williams, 15 Will Shirvington

West Harbour: 1 David Lolohea, 2 Reg De Jager, 3 Vaughan Lomax, 4 Chris Simons, 5 Tom Games (c), 6 Aisea Namoa, 7 Cohen Masson, 8 Matt Coles, 9 David Osofua, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 11 Tito Mua, 12 Winston Wilson, 13 Alofa Alofa, 14 Dylan Taikato-Simpson, 15 Shaun Treweek

Referee: Angus Gardner

Eastwood v Randwick @ T.G Millner Field (3pm)

Eastwood: 1 Marty Plokstys, 2 Todd Pearce, 3 Dylan Brass, 4 Steve Cummins, 5 Mitch Lees, 6 Sione Tau, 7 Hugh Perrett (c), 8 Jared Barry, 9 Shanin Proctor, 10 Jimmy Hilgendorf, 11 Nick Batger, 12 Tyler Spitz, 13 Michael McDougall, 14 Nick Reily, 15 Ben Batger

Randwick: 1 Steve Noriega, 2 Nio Halangahu, 3 Richard Aho, 4 Junior Taavili, 5 Bryce Speechley, 6 Tom Bennet, 7 Seilala Lam (c), 8 Nathan Paila, 9 Harrison Boileau, 10 Toby Browne, 11 Finau Makamaka, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 13 Tim Wright, 14 Rennie Lautolo, 15 Ethan Ford

Referee: William Houston

Parramatta v Manly @ Merrylands RSL Rugby Park (4.30pm)

Manly: 1 Eddie Aholelei, 2 Pat Leofa, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 4 Ed Gower (c), 5 Dylan Sigg, 6 Harry Bergelin, 7 Kotoni Ale, 8 Andrew Davis, 9 Adam Crerar, 10 Sam Lane, 11   Richard Hooper, 12 Peter Gilmore, 13 Brian Sefanaia, 14 Will Helu, 15 BJ Hartmann

Parramatta: 1 Nick Blacklock, 2 Myles Hunkin, 3 Chris Seuteni, 4 Charlie Leaeno, 5 Adam Coleman, 6 Evan Olmstead, 7 Rodney Ma’a, 8 Andrew Cox (c), 9 Troy Lobendahn, 10 Tom Woods, 11 Dan Yakopo, 12 Tukia Muli, 13 Damien Fakafanua, 14 Tui Fa’asisila, 15 Dan Rawaqa

Referee: Anthony Moyes