Meat in the sandwich ...
hooker Vaugh Dawes is
brought to a halt by the
Orara defence.
Coffs Coast Advocate
ORARA Valley coach
Darryl Fisher is a mild
mannered individual 99
per cent of the time.
But if there's one thing that's going to turn him from Dr David Banner into an angry green eyed Incredible Hulk, it's
dropped ball and incomplete sets.
The Axemen did enough at BCU International Stadium against Coffs Harbour yesterday to grab the two points but it
certainly wasn't a performance good enough to please Fisher.
“I said that I wanted to replicate last week's performance under a bit more pressure and we didn't, we didn't even get
close to it,” he said.
A litany of errors throughout from both sides meant that the first battle for the Ken Orr Memorial Shield failed to reach
dizzying heights.
While Comets' coach Mick Hales was philosophical of the errors saying that his attack still needs more time to gel,
Fisher was fuming.
But in true mild mannered form, he could still see the cloud's silver lining.
“As in the first round, despite giving a lot of territory away and a lot of ball away, we defended our goal line very well,”
he admitted.
“The boys were very courageous, they worked hard for each other and they can take a lot out of that but as you know
I expect a higher level of discipline than that.”
While the Comets are still winless in 2009, there were some encouraging signs yesterday.
Trailing only 6-4 at the break, Coffs Harbour were in the contest right up to their ears thanks to the appearance of
Brett Davis at halfback giving the Comets a much more organised appearance in attack with a lot more territory due to
his kicking game.
Hales said at the half time break that the opening try of the second half was vital but unfortunately for him it was Orara
via Sam Gilchrist who crossed the line first to give the reigning premiers the important break.
“I thought how we reacted to that was important and it was good that none of the players dropped their heads,” Hales
said.
While three losses to start the season is far from ideal, The Comets' coach still holds a lot of hope that the tide will
turn soon.
“The effort was good and this will be a totally different side after a few weeks of football together,” he predicted.
