by Brendan Bradford –

Rule Changes: The Good –

‘How quick is it?!?’

That was the common refrain amoung players, coaches and fans alike after every game this weekend. Even the water runners were spent. The Rugby Shorts bumped into North Harbour assistant Damien ‘Turtle’ Cummins after the Rays went down to the Rising in a high-scoring encounter. The long-time Manly Marlin was just sitting on the floor and looked knackered after his near non-stop shuttle-run between the sideline and the pitch.

With 238 points and 35 tries in a high-tempo, action-packed opening round, there aren’t many complaints.

While Melbourne Rising halfback Nic Stirzaker joked he was keen to see his stats on the GPS, Rays scrummie Matt Lucas said the collective decision to shun penalty attempts in favour of lineouts was just one rule change that sped the game up.

“The conversions are taken so quickly now,” he said of the restricted time to add the extras.

“The boys were only just getting back to our own half and the kicker’s already running back for kick-off. It was good fun.”

Rays coach Geoff Townsend highlighted a few other things to think about.

“There was a lot of footy played and with the new law interpretations I think you’ll find anything up to eight extra minutes,” he said.

“That’s a lot and it does fatigue players at the end of games so use of the bench needs to be really judicious.”

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Rule Changes: The Bad (sort of) –

If Saturday’s match between the Eagles and Rams taught us anything, it’s that no matter what rule changes you enforce in an attempt to engender a more attacking style of play and a happier audience, rugby will always revolve around a couple of key tenets. Especially when it’s wet.

Possession isn’t always a good thing. Kicking well is crucial. It starts with the forwards. And territory still matters.

Both sides tried to throw the ball around a bit in the first half but handling errors on the wet Coogee Oval turf meant there were more scrums packed than points scored by halftime. In the second spell, after the Eagles got a rev up in the sheds and started to kick high and chase well, the tries started to come.

“Everyone loves to watch free flowing rugby, but first and foremost you want to win and in these conditions it was kick high and chase hard,” said Country coach Darren Coleman.

“You’d love to play running rugby, but today just wasn’t the day for it.”

Sometimes change can’t be engineered by officials and referees. Sometimes games are low-scoring slog-fests. People need to get used to that.

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Wait, isn’t that? –

How bout that bloke, uh, number 24 for NSW Country? He’s killing it. Looks familiar but I can’t pick him.

It’s Ita Vaea?? Really?!

Yep. Until recently, a life threatening heart condition which caused blood clots in Vaea’s calf had kept the former Brumbies hit-man on the sidelines. Working as a labourer, Vaea returned to training a few months ago, and although he’s carrying a few extra pounds, still gave the Eagles plenty of front-foot ball with bustling, barging runs.

“He was colossal coming off the bench with some of his ball carries,” said Country coach Darren Coleman.

“He’s still short of a run and carrying a bit extra, but he’ll take some pulling down.”

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The Stars so far –

The NRC is about maturing the next crop of club and junior talent and preparing them for the rigours and pace of Super Rugby. That’s why this competition is so desperately needed, and a couple of players are already staking their claim.

James Dargaville, the Sydney University and Stars flyer was his bullying, gliding, hard-running best on Thursday. The Shute Shield’s second highest try-scorer, Catchpole Medal finalist and Rugby News ‘Team of the Year’ winger sparked the linebreak and threw the final pass for his wing partner Henry Clunies-Ross to score the first try, then set off on a mazy 30-metre run for a five-pointer of his own.

Not to be outdone, Brisbane City’s Samu Kerevi could’ve filled a highlights reel of his own in the same match. He’s already had a wowser of a Super Rugby debut and even higher honours could await. Yeah, yeah, early call I know.

Will Miller was a beast in Sydney on Saturday. The rain and mud of Coogee was perfectly suited to the Country Eagle flanker’s rough and tumble style. He’s straight out of the Michael Hooper mould, with a ton of Sevens experience and scored a try to boot.

“I didn’t have to run too far for it, but I was cramping up in the end there and looking for a pass inside but I had Matty (Carraro) telling me to score myself,” said Miller, who also revealed the Country side’s victory song.

“I think it might be ‘Eagle Rock’ – that’s what the boys went with. I was looking for ‘Boys from the Bush’ but no one else wanted it.”

Two players really stood out for the North Harbour Rays on Sunday. Replacement hooker Dave Porecki got an early call when Luke Holmes went off with concussion and the Manly Marlin didn’t miss a beat. He made metres, hit rucks and even scored a try. Northern Suburbs backrower Michael Wells was everywhere for the Rays. He made a few big hits and carried well, but his best involvement was a try-saving tackle on Nic Stirzaker just metres out from the tryline.

Melbourne Rising backs Telusi Veainu and Sefanaia Naivalu scored two tries apiece in a mesmerising display of running rugby, while former Waratah and Southern Districts forward Lopeti Timani has only increased in physicality in his time in Melbourne.