BLUE Lake Knights brought rugby league to the Limestone Coast for the first time in the 2017-18 season in style, with a solid victory over Horsham Panthers on Saturday.
It was the first home game of the short Limestone Coast Rugby League season, with fans treated to a double-header on the day, with Naracoorte Jets also victorious over their opponent in Warrnambool Raiders in the opening match.
But all focus was on the Knights, who controlled the game from the outset to emerge 38-18 victors.
After a tough opening two rounds of the competition for the Knights, coach Todd Lillecrapp was rightly pleased with the outcome.
“I was very impressed – the boys were fantastic,” he said.
“After a few struggling weeks it was nice to get the first win on the board.”
With just nine rounds in the home-and-away season, Saturday’s result was a must-win for the Knights and they rose to the occasion, running in seven tries and converting five off the boot of Nick Steen.
Conor Flanagan was impressive, with two tries, while Stuart Campbell, Matthew Duncan, William Trench, Chris Driver and Jak Ryan all contributed singles.
After missing a few conversions in the opening two rounds, Steen was on target, which Lillecrapp said was impressive.
“To kick five was a great effort from Nick Steen,” he said.
“It is the best he has kicked all season.”
Lillecrapp said his team dominated the game, leading by two tries at the half-time break.
“I am super proud of their efforts,” he said.
“It was a full-game performance.
“Everybody on the field worked really hard for each other, which is what you really need to do in this sport.
“We felt we had control of the game, but did let a late try in, which probably flattered their score a bit.”
The result pushed the Knights up to third place on the ladder.
The top three are a chance to play off for the grand final, but there are plenty of games still remaining.
Lillecrapp said after the slow start to the season the team was finally coming together, in a code many on the roster are not familiar with.
“The first half of our first game was shocking – they were finding it difficult to find their feet,” he said.
“It came together in the second half of that game and the second game they worked really hard, but we ran out of numbers on the bench.
“This week though was an amazing effort from everyone.”
The tough encounter saw both sides moving the ball well, with the Knights running wide to find the try line on a regular basis.
Big hits were a feature of the contest, with the Knights not backing down an inch.
That came from a team predominantly made up of Australian Rules players, who simply want to try something different or who have a passion for rugby league, something not lost on the rookie coach.
“The most impressive thing is we have a squad that comes from everywhere,” Lillecrapp said.
“We have three boys from Casterton who come over to train and we have a boy from up near Horsham.
“To hobble a team together from all over the place is an amazing effort from the fellows.
“That’s what I’m most impressed with.”
Lillecrapp said it was a positive result, which would have a major bearing on the remainder of the season.
“The positivity from the fellows after the game … I think they could see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
“All these drills and skills we’ve been working on week after week just came to fruition.
“All of them are more keen to train harder this week because they realise there is an end result.
“They were feeling it was a bit futile at first, but after Saturday they were on top of the world.
“It was good to see – to take some guys who are talented Aussie Rules players and to transition that into rugby league is amazing.
“It took a couple of weeks, but they are starting to find their feet.
“I can see some good things coming for the rest of the season.”
Lillecrapp said defensively the side was solid, not allowing any easy runs for the Panthers.
He said Campbell – who stepped into the captain’s role for the injured Lloyd Pearce-Raisin – led by example.
“The defence just got better as the game went on,” he said.
“Stuart is a machine when it comes to tackling.
“Everyone else was trying to step up and emulate that and they were all doing well.”
Lillecrapp’s own experience dates back to playing mostly rugby union in Brisbane and Sydney in his younger years, with this being his first coaching job.
He described himself simply as a “passionate rugby league person”, who was learning as much as his team.
While he knows the game well, he said it was pleasing to see members of the general public attend and walk away impressed with what they saw.
“For a few people down there, it was probably their first look at rugby close up,” he said.
“I think they were impressed with it.
“They were probably not sure what they were going to get.
“We got a lot of feedback and they were really surprised at the quality of the games and how enjoyable it was to watch.
“It had them on the edge of their seat.”
Looking ahead Lillecrapp said this weekend’s clash against the Raiders at Warrnambool was equally important for the Knights’ finals aspirations.
“We really have to turn up with our A Game and hit the field running,” he said.
“They got around our edges too easily last time we played them.
“We didn’t mark up anywhere near well enough.
“We will be doing a lot of work on that this week and making sure we are on top from the get go, to ensure we get another ‘W’ on the board.”
