By MARK CASHMAN

There’s an old saying in rugby that you are only as good as your last game and on that account Warringah flyhalf Dean Blore could be pretty happy with how his journey in the 15-man game is going.

In bleak and windy conditions under lights at North Sydney Oval against Shute Shield heavyweights Northern Suburbs, Blore put on a clinic on how to manage a game of footy against pretty handy opposition.

The game was the Rats first outing after their big win the Battle of the Beaches derby against Manly the week before, made even more significant with their skipper Ben Marr gone for the season with a shoulder injury.

Armed with a good wet weather game plan, Blore kicked for wide open spaces when deep in the Rats’ half and also came up with some nice dabs with the Norths defence coming at them hard.

The end result was a 20-18 victory over the Shoremen and set up good run of games that could have dragged them into the top four until the current COVID-19 lockdown hit.

Blore told Rugby News that he would have preferred some more of the week-to-week footy at this stage of the season.

“I’m definitely getting a gist of how this game is played now and to be honest it was a bit annoying that the lockdown came along when it did,” he said.

“I thought it was going to be pretty cruisey playing rugby, but it’s totally different to league.

“In the last couple of game I felt that I was finally starting to get an idea about how the game works and to be honest it would have been great to be still out there working on that, but it is what it is.”

Blore played his first game of rugby last year when the former Penrith and Junior Kiwi rep star followed some mates from the Hills Sports High down to Nepean Rugby Park and the Emus for a bit of a run around.

“Yeah I never played any rugby until last year at Penrith – I played league all through juniors and school and it was only last year when COVID canned the NSW Cup competition that rugby became on option,” Blore added.

“I’m really enjoying the rugby but I think I’m still a leaguie at heart and probably always will be, but it’s been great to come to a club like Warringah.

“The club and the people there have been great and they have made my transition pretty easy. There have been some good guys at the club and it has been a lot of fun.”

Rats coach Mike Ruthven, himself a Warringah first grade flyhalf, is a big fan of Blore’s talents and openness to new skills and ideas

“Dean is a quality human and has fitted in really well at our club,” Ruthven said.

“He is well respected amongst the playing group and has a keen interest to better himself as a rugby player.

“His range of talents speak for themselves, a very gifted footy player. He continues to find more and more comfort in the game management side of the game.

“I said at the beginning of his time with us that once he found his feet in that part of the game he would have a really big impact.”

The big beaches derby was something that didn’t disappoint Blore.

“That was one of the coolest experiences I have had in footy,” Blore added.

“It was awesome. There was a lot of hype in and around the game and the boys were telling me how awesome the week of training id and how many people come to watch.

“And it lived up to all those expectations.”

In the meantime Blore is hunkered down at the folks home in western Sydney, trying to fend off his mum’s offers of extra helpings at dinner time and working as a support teacher.

Doing the extras to make sure that when things get underway he’s ready to take the next step.

IMAGE: KAREN WATSON