MEREWETHER Carlton coach Jamie Lind could not have been prouder.
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His group of young tearaway tyros out-enthused and out-gunned arch rivals Wanderers 30-19 to seal the inaugural Adams-Halter ANZAC Shield in front a heaving crowd at Townson Oval on Saturday.
It was Hunter rugby at its best. Two traditional rivals going at each other to mark a special day in Australian history.
The contest - played in front of more than 3000 - lived up to occasion. Big hits. Scintillating tries. Desperate defence. Red cards. Players emptying the tank. Brutal.
"It was old school," Lind said. "If you were here today and watched that - it is community sport. These two clubs have a fantastic rivalry and that is a classic example of what it brings. Merewether hasn't beaten Wanderers for a long time. That is one committed bunch of guys and I couldn't be prouder of them."
Wanderers coach Dan Beckett expressed his frustration at the performance.
"The first half was a non-event. We were out-enthused and what could go wrong did go wrong," he said.
"Our lineout thrower and reserve lineout thrower got hurt. You have to react and we didn't react very well to it. They are things we can fix. We didn't play well, but we know we will get better.
Merewether were quick out of the gates, despite losing fly-half Will Frost in the opening minute to a hamstring injury - the first on a long casualty list for both sides.
Wanderers also lost two players - hooker Ben Christensen and winger Bill Coffey - in the opening exchanges.
On the front-foot courtesy of a heavy penalty account, the Greens threatened on the edges and took a 6-0 lead through two Sam Bright penalties.
Menchen was given a yellow for a ruck infringement.
A minute later Kosta Sykiotis stepped his way through. The Greens added a second try - Thomas Smith diving over in the corner after Sam Bright had chipped across field - to lead 18-0 before Wanderers had their full compliment back.
Luke Simmons slipped through to open Wanderers' account on half-time.
Both sides were reduced to 14 men two minutes after the break when Francis Ieremia and Thomas Newman were given red cards for punching in a melee .
Tom Eymael and Daniel Martine tried to lift he visitors with some bruising hits.
Lachy Miller, Billy Freeman and Lachy Milton returned serve for the Greens.
"They needed to make a difference and those guys in the back-row made a massive difference," Lind said.
Wanderers fought hard, but lacked continuity and struggled at the lineout. Any hope they had of a revival disappeared when Sam Rouse produced an around-the-corner pass for Sykiotis to cross.
Wanderers, after losing Charlie Mortimer to the sin bin for high tackle, were reduced to 13 men when Luke
Luke Corrigan, Lachy Miller (Merewether) and Martine (Wanderers) also spent time in the sinbin as referee Jarryd Logan tried to keep a lid on emotions. Miller received a second in the dying stages.
"There were some bizarre interpretation of things that stopped us and we didn't react that well," Beckett said in reference to a series of reports from the touch judges.
"I felt sorry for the referee because he was getting information from the sideline which didn't hep him."
In the end, the Greens' speed - with and without the ball - and their cohesion won the day.
"That is Merewether's way," Lind said. "We might have forgotten it for 10 years, but that is how we are going to be playing. We will be playing fast footy and trying to tear the arse out of it."
In other games Saturday, premiers Hamilton held on to beat a fast-finishing Maitland 41-35 at Passmore Oval and open new coach Marty Berry's tenure with a win.
A new-look Hawks led 36-7 at half-time but ran out of gas against a determined Maitland, who won the second half 28-5.
"It is early days for us. The stuff we have been working on paid off in the first half. Our attitude and the fact that we ran out of gas counted against us in the second half. Credit to Maitland, they were relentless and kept coming."
At Ernie Calland Oval, Southern Beaches ran in 14 tries in an 86-0 rout of Lake Macquarie.
Nelson Bay had to work hard to topple a plucky University 29-5 at Bernie Curran Oval.
James Gardiner
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
