MOUNT Gambier’s Blue Lake Knights suffered their second loss of the Limestone Coast Rugby League season, going down to Warrnambool Raiders on the weekend.
The Knights travelled to Horsham for Round 3 of the competition, with just one win and one loss to that stage.
But with a few players missing the Knights struggled after sticking with the Raiders in the opening half.
The 10-4 scoreline at the break gave the Knights some hope of a victory, with two tries to one making up the total.
However, with injuries and players missing the bench was soon reduced, with the Knights tiring towards the end, which allowed the Raiders to run away with the game.
The final score was a disappointment for club president Brenton Hodge, who said the game was closer throughout.
“We ran out of our bench, then our boys just tired and they did not,” he said.
“Once our bench broke down, our big boys could not get the rotations through they needed.
“It looked like we were flogged all game, but we were not.
“They ran over the top of us at the end – it was the last 10 minutes of the game where they really piled it on.”
Despite the result Hodge said the game started in a positive manner, with the Knights’ roster coming together.
“I thought we started to gel really well this week, especially in the first half when we were fighting fit and keen to get going,” he said.
“We were missing key players so we just had to pull together.
“The first half I thought we did that really well.
“In rugby league it is all about defence and we kept a good defensive line and held them out well in the first half.”
The Raiders have continued on from last season where they were runners-up to Naracoorte Jets, going down by just two points in the grand final.
Hodge said he had hoped for a better start to the season, but there was no panic at this stage.
“Ideally you would want to be two and one after game three, not one and two,” he said of the win/loss ratio.
“We tried to run the game out on Saturday, right to the end, but we just ran out of legs.
“We are still trying to get in there, so it is not panic stations yet, but we do have to fix a few things and get our defensive structure right.”
There will be no time for complacency either, with the Knights up against the reigning premiers this weekend.
The Knights head across to Warrnambool to face the Jets in what will be another tough encounter.
“That will be a big test for us,” Hodge said.
“They were premiers last year so we will just have to see how we get on.
“We have boys coming back for this week and we will see how our injuries go, but we will certainly go into the game stronger.”
