An unexpected cameo from retired Workies stalwart Jono Van-Veen at Tony Luchetti Sportsground on Saturday could not prevent a ruthless flogging by last year’s Group 10 premiers Orange CYMS.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Coach Graeme Osborne said the historic rivalry between the two clubs did not manage to inspire his players to perform at their best.
“I think it was just that the boys, mentally, didn’t turn up to play on the day, there was just a lack of effort.
“Playing last year’s premiers I think there might have been an attitude of, ‘we’ve already lost this,’ before leaving the shed.
“The majority of our players didn’t go out there with a winning attitude.”
The fact the club has been riddled with injuries has made it harder to lift the premier team’s standing from the second-last team on the table, Osborne said.
“It’s the worst injury toll I’ve seen at the club over a number of years.
“Last week we had 28 grade players for two sides, which was lucky because we had twenty on the sideline. It is making it a bit hard.”
Saturday’s match saw CYMS control the contest from the outset.
Workies ended the first half on a 28 point deficit, only managing to get on the scoreboard in the final half.
CYMS boosted their rank on the Group 10 table with a final lead of 32 points.
While there was plenty of push-and-shove, and a couple of sin-binnings, historic rivals Jono Van-Veen and Michael Sullivan ended the match on an amicable note.
“Jono was still deciding whether he had made the right decision to retire. And it suited that weekend to have a run,” Osborne said.
“Jono is acquainted with Sullivan, there is that rivalry there.
“There was respect shown between both players at the end of the game, acknowledging that they’ll probably never play each other again.”
Osborne said Workies fans shouldn’t expect to see Van-Veen back on the field anytime soon.
“He realised he’d made the right decision.”
With no chance of entering the semi-finals, Osborne said it was the team’s job to challenge their opponents by putting on a good show at the next three home games.
“We can be a real threat to some of those other sides entering into the semis,” he said.
This Sunday’s match will be a case in point.
So far Workies is the only team to have beaten Orange Hawks this season. They are currently the competition forerunners.
“They’ve only lost one game all year and we are the side that inflicted that loss on them.
“So we’ll give them another one this weekend.”
