While the major focus is the Premier League this season, there has been a rags to riches story in 1st division that have entranced people’s hearts and minds. Tonight’s match between the Tassie Devils and Tamworth City Titans has had a lot hype surrounding it…asking questions such as Will Tassie go one step closer to a fairytale end? Will Tamworth’s Scott Sattler, whom is retiring at the end of the season, get his fairytale ending grand final? At a packed Telstra Stadium, these questions will be answered.
The Tassie Devils Tamworth City Titans
1 Cameron Way 1 Steve Turner
2 Clyde Rathbone 2 Wendell Sailor
3 David Fifi'iaha 3 Joseph Goldstein
4 Yaccine Dekkiche 4 Graeme Frame
5 Jeremy Tickle 5 Anthony Farrah
6 Brett Seymour 6 Greg Davidson
7 Varasiko Tokarei 7 Kurt Gidley
8 Richard Moore 8 Clint Newton
9 Simon Woolford © 9 Eron Bates
10 Mark Shipway 10 Jerry Seu Seu
11 Shannon Hegarty 11 Stephen Kearney
12 Paul Mellor 12 Tyler Durden
13 Marty Holah 13 Scott Sattler ©
++Interchange
14 Kieran Whatuira 14 Robbie Paul
15 Bradley Mika 15 Scott Logan
16 Tristan Law 16 Anthony Farrell
17 Todd Bates 17 Ben Pomeroy
Tamworth undertook proceeds through the ever reliable boot of Greg Davidson, kicking off deep in the left hand corner of Telstra stadium to be caught by Marty Holah, only to be smashed by three Tamworth defenders instantly. The brunt of the tackle from Newton, Seu Seu and Durden left Holah needing treatment, and it was very clear that Tamworth had come to Telstra with an agenda. For the rest of that set, Tassie made a grand total of 7 metres, leaving five-eight Brett Seymour with plenty of work to find open pastures with a kick, which was only to be caught by winger Anthony Farrah, who brushed past chasing defenders Jeremy Tickle and Shannon Hegarty. It looked as though Farrah was destined to score the first try of the half, but Tassie star Cameron Way managed to chop Farrah down 35 out from the Devils Goal-line.
The game looked to be steadily easing out until after the 5th minute, Devils prop Mark Shipway lost control of the ball 13 metres out from the Tassie Devils goal-line. Appeals from Captain Simon Woolford to look at the replay to see that the ball was in fact stripped in the tackle by Stephen Kearney fell on deaf ears, and Tamworth was gifted an early opportunity. Off the scrum base Tassie defended gallantly. On the 6th tackle, Kurt Gidley Fained left to kick, however flicked it out the back to Greg Davidson who spread it with a long ball to the right to Frame who popped a little grubber into the in-goal for Sattler who, to the delight to Titans fans, was able to regather and score the try in the corner. Tamworth 4 – 0 with a kick to come. Davidson converted and after 5 minutes, Tamworth were in the lead 6-0.
There was continuous pressure on the Devils, who looked rattled early in the game and didn’t look in it at all. Tamworth were fired up and had only one thing on their mind, to stop the devil spinning. The 9th minute saw another opportunity for the Titans when Kurt Gidley noticed that Devil winger Jeremy Tickle was down in back play receiving treatment. Off the 20 metre tap Gidley fired the pass out to Greg Davidson who managed to put Graham Frame into the yawning gap. Clyde Rathbone was chasing frame in a titanic battle to the line. Rathebone managed to magnificently take rathbone but couldn’t put him into touch, on the ensuing play the ball, the Titans were in under the posts for a 10-0 advantage and the Devils heads went down. The 20,000 strong Devil contingent were stone cold silent at seeing their team with such a large deficit to overcome. Davidson added the extras to make it 12-0 and the Titans looked good things to put a cricket score on the Devils.
When Keiran Whaitura came on for Marty Holah in the 11th minute, he brought a message from his coach “Pain Heals, Chicks dig scars…Glory lasts forever”. This seemed to inspire the Tassie forward pack who were starting to gain some ascendancy over the tiring Titans forwards. The 14th minute presented the first real possession for the Devils and bravely spread the ball wide inside their own red zone to find a flying David Fifi’iaha who managed to break the tackle of Wendall Sailer. The 107kg second rower, playing in the centres was away down the left flank with only Titans fullback Steve Turner to beat, Turner decided to take on Fifi’iaha head on, which proved to be a mistake as Turner got absolutely crunched and run over by Fifi’iah to post Tassie’s first points of the evening, completing a brilliant 82 metre set, and leaving Steve Turner with a few things to think about. Cameron Way added the extra’s and suddenly the situation didn’t seem so bleak, trailing 12-6
A poor option from Titans saw the Kurt Gidley run the ball on the last tackle trying to find open space down the left, however Wendall Sailer fumbled and got tackled, presenting the Devils with a great opportunity starting from 30 out from their own line. Cameron Way playing acting first receiver managed to brilliantly see Clyde Rathbone free on the right and fired the pass out to him, Rathbone shrugged off a pathetic tackle from Wendall Sailor and was away, with Todd Bates in support. Turner again was left with the task of halting this huge winger, and elected to go for the intercept which he nearly pulled off, however, the pass found Bates and all of a sudden, Tassie were on top, and the 20,000 strong bumpkins in the ground were on their feet and kissing their sisters. Cameron Way added the extra’s to make the score 12-all mid way through the first half.
The 21st minute saw another great opportunity for Tassie when they spread the ball wide on the 3rd tackle to Jeremy Tickle who streaked down the left flank, with Anthony Farrah in chase, Tickle passed it on the inside, only for Varisiko Tokarei to knock the ball on close to the line. After sustained pressure from Tassie, Tamworth were starved for field position, however a penalty for Tamworth piggy backed them up the other end of the ground after Cameron Way clocked Greg Davidson across the chin and the tackle was placed on report. From the ensuing penalty Scott Sattler ran off Jerry Seu Seu to run 30 metres and put the ball down for his second try of the afternoon. Davidson converted to put Tamworth back in front 18-12. Their jubilation was short lived however, when in the 27th minute, Mark Shipway crossed for the Devils, after another great forward set, gaining 75 metres. Way converted and it was 18-all.
This game had it all, tries scored, try saving tackles, and it was only to get better. In the 31st minute, saw another opportunity for Tassie, after Anthony Farrah, who had been having a steller night, knocked it on close to his line. However, some brutal defence and poor passing cost Tassie as Yaccine Dekkiche knocked on, allowing Tamworth and Farrah to breathe a sigh of relief.
There was drama in the 34th minute after Greg Davidson, who made a great break was brought down by Tassie Five-eight Brett Seymour. The referee ruled that Seymour held the player down too long and in turn send Seymour to the sin-bin, despite the pleadings of Tassie captain Simon Woolford to reconsider. From the next set, the Titans played smart percentage football and utilised the hole in the defensive line to thread Anthony Farrah through a gap to score in the corner. Greg Davidson who has been kicking beautifully all afternoon, made no mistake and the Titans led 24-18, only a matter of minutes out from half time.
Scott Sattler turned from Hero to villain soon after as he gifted Tassie a chance to draw level after a mistake on his 40 metres line only two minutes out from the break. Off the back of the scrum Holah drew in Davidson and popped a ball out to Yaccine Dekkiche to score the equaliser, must to the dismay of Titans fans, who felt their team deserved more playing against a 12 man team without a key playmaker.
Tassie had another chance with thirty seconds remaining, with Bradley Mika, who was returning from injury, made a great break, but his kick was too deep and went dead in goal and the score remained unchanged at half time. A 24-all halftime score with a game that is so topsy turfy you just don’t know who’ll come out on top.
***HALF TIME***
The Tassie Devils 24 Tamworth City Titans 24
The second half got underway from the boot of Cameron Way, with Tassie reeling with Brett Seymour still in the Sin Bin. However, the gaps in the defence showed in the first set of six, with Titans fullback Steve Turner bouncing off a Shipway tackle to sprint downfield, with Cameron Way pulling off an ala “Scott Sattler” tackle onto 15 out from the Tassie goal line. Greg Davidson then made a crucial error on the last and the devils were off the hook. The devils notorious counterattacking ability was again on show when Clyde Rathbone made a great break, shrugging off another lacklustre tackle from Wendall Sailor to only be pulled down in a great tackle by Anthony Farrah which saved a certain try.
Clyde Rathbone managed to turn from hero to villain within 15 seconds in the 49th minute when he made a great break down the sideline only to drop the ball cold while hitting his knee on the follow through. Tamworth took full advantage of the mistake and Kurt Gidley put a lovely bomb up to be tapped back by Farrah into the safe arms of Scott Sattler who went in to score his third try of the afternoon and you couldn’t get the smile off his face. Davidson converted to take Tamworth to the lead once again 30-24.
The jubilation was short lived however, when the Devils were given a penalty on their 50 metres line on the last tackle for Tamworth creeping up offside. The kick from Seymour landed on the Tamworth 5 metres line and from the ensuing play, Clyde Rathbone strolled over to tie it up at 30-all
It was a battle of attrition for the next 15 minutes, until the 65th minute when the Devils scored through Clyde Rathbone off some great backline work. Way failed to convert and the Titans were still within the grasp of winning this match. The Titans however, seemed to lack intensity for the last 15 minutes and made crucial errors at critical times. When Anthony Farrah knocked the ball on in the 68th minute 12 metres out from his own line, you could see the Titans heads go down instantly, while the Devils eyes lit up. Off the scrum, a smart backline movement led by Brett Seymour who fired a long cut out ball to Clyde Rathbone who easily brushed past Wendall Sailor to score. Way failed to convert and the score remained 38 – 30 and it appeared the Titans were done.
With five minutes remaining in the match the Titans had one last throw of the dice, however it was all to noavail as another sloppy error, left the supporters with no doubt who was to win this match. Fan’s started leaving the stadium only to see another mistake by Wendall Sailor on his own goal-line which gifted another opportunity to Tassie. Yaccine Dakkiche made a great break and popped a magnificent ball up to Simon Woolford to score a try in the dying seconds. Way Failed to convert yet again and the siren sounded and the Devils were victorious 44-30.
While it wasn’t the great send off for veteran Scott Sattler, he can be satisfied that he played his heart out and oosed class scoring a hat-trick of tries in the match, however, his efforts were not enough to inspire the rest of the team. For Tassie however, they live to fight another day and have written another chapter in their fairytale. It is not known whether they will have a happy ending and get promoted, but one thing is for sure, that the Peter Sterling Division Champions will not go silent into the night and they will fight for their right to promotion.
*** FULL TIME ***
The Tassie Devils 44 Tamworth City Titans 30
Stats:
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The Tassie Devils
Tries -
Clyde Rathbone x 3
David Fifi'iaha
Yaccine Dekkiche
Todd Bates
Simon Woolford
Mark Shipway
Goals -
Cameron Way 6 ( 8 )
Tamworth City Titans
Tries -
Anthony Farrah
Scott Sattler x 3
Tyler Durden
Goals -
Greg Davidson 5 ( 6 )
Player of the Match Awards
3 points : Anthony Farrah
2 points : Clyde Rathbone
1 point : Cameron Way
Good stuff, Mick. Always good when somebody takes in and shoulders some of the burden, but especially when the work is of such quality.
Good luck in the major semis
Scouting the game from a luxury box at Telstra Stadium, Wagga Badgers' owner, Dame Judi Dench, shook her head. "Whomever wins our game (between East Coast and Wagga) may be at a disadvantage," she noted, "the way Tassie played tonight."
About the relative performances of Devils versus Badgers when they played Titans, she noted, "Tassie pulled away in the second half, where we didn't. But - and this could be a very big "if" - Tassie allowed five tries to the Titans, whereas Wagga allowed just three, including extra time. The fact that Tassie could survive such an effort by Scott Sattler (three tries) makes the Devils a far more dangerous opponent than Fairfield or Newcastle would be, based only on current form."
Having said that, Dame Judi concluded, "We've got the film of this game to hand, and we're going to be ready for whomever we have to play. If, however, it's Tassie, I think we're going to be in better shape than a lot of people would think..."
