WINNING ugly isn’t something most teams aspire to, but good sides have an uncanny knack of doing just that. Really good sides turn it into an art-form.
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It’s a skill a young Wests outfit is still developing according to Devils halfback Justin Rodrigues, a week after being on the wrong end of a 31-0 pasting from arch-rivals Dapto last week.
The scoreline did not tell the story of a keenly contested first 40 minutes, in which Dapto led just 6-0 at the 31-minute mark before piling on the points in the second stanza.
It was the Devils first blowout loss of the season – with three previous defeats all coming against top four rivals by eight points or less – and Rodrigues said the late fade-out was hard to swallow.
“I felt like we were in the grind for 60 of the 80 minutes,” Rodrigues said.
“We had a few chances and just didn’t make the most of them. They had their chances and made the most of them.
“It probably came off them building confidence after defending a few sets of ours and we probably got a bit frustrated that we hadn’t made the most of our chances in the first half.
“The most disappointing thing for us was probably the last 20 minutes. We pretty much folded and threw in the towel and that’s not at all what we’re about.
“We pride ourselves on playing to the final siren but on the weekend we didn’t quite do that.”
Rodrigues has been one of the Devils best this season and, in the absence of the injured Jye Mullane, has formed a relatively young spine alongside the likes of Josh Daley, Zac Greene and Kurt Field.
He’s confident more time on the paddock together can help them find top gear.
“We’ve got a pretty young spine. In our one, six, seven and nine we probably average 21-22 years old,” Rodrigues said.
“It seems like we’re doing all the right things, getting to tackle five, putting the ball in the corner and getting through our sets with not much reward at the moment.
“We’re still learning that game management. We’ll get better that but it’s just one of those things that’s going to come with experience.
“Hopefully through the back end of the season those combinations can gel a bit more and we can start putting it together.”
The Devils will be looking to bounce back at home on Saturday against a Berkeley outfit coming off their first win of the season against Corrimal last week.
Rodrigues is expecting to face a totally different side to the one the Devils accounted for 38-14 in round two.
“With Berkeley it’s always a danger game,” he said.
“You know they’re going to throw the ball around and they’re always strong through that middle.
“When we played them in round three, it was 12-all to about the 50th minute and we ran away with it so the scoreline wasn’t an honest reflection that day.
“They’re going to come out all guns blazing so we’ve got to be on the ball from the start or we could end up chasing a few points.”
Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
