UNIVERSITY coach Sam Berry wishes the Hunter Rugby Union had an extra two rounds.
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A resurgent Students out-muscled, out-hustled and out-played Nelson Bay 37-12 at Bernie Curran Oval on Saturday.
It was a second big scalp in succession and followed a 27-15 triumph over Maitland.
The six-tries-to-two romp kept the Students' faint finals hopes alive and put a big dint in the Gropers' top-four aspirations.
University are in sixth place on 21 points, seven adrift of fourth-placed Wanderers, who have a game in hand.
Next for the Students are strugglers Southern Beaches, then Merewether, Wanderers (catch-up), bye and Singleton.
To leapfrog Wanderers into fourth, they would almost certainly need to win every game and rely on the Two Blues stumbling. Wanderers meet Hamilton, Singleton, University, Nelson Bay and Southern Beaches.
Nelson Bay (26 points) are not totally out of the equation. They have a bye next round then meet Maitland, Wanderers and Hamilton.
"It is going to be hard to run those teams at the top down, but we will keep trying," Berry said.
University recorded just one win - thrashing Singleton 82-7 - in the opening five rounds.
However, the arrival of experienced fly-half Dane Sherratt in round six and more recently the input of Carl Manu has turned their fortunes around.
"It is handy having a couple of the older guys to help give us that belief," Berry said. "You can say I believe we can win, but until you start winning, it doesn't fully register.
"Our last 10 minutes in defence was unreal. Even though we were up a bit, we had a bit of pride and did not want to concede. That is what you want to see.
"We probably got a few lucky bounces. When you are playing well, you get that.
"It was old boys day and we had a stack here so it was nice to put on a bit of a show.
"We have had a couple of good wins in a row. We may have left our run a bit short, but if we can win all our games, who knows?
"We took the Hawthorne Cup (challenge trophy) off the Bay. We haven't had hold of that for seven years."
Sherratt was again key.
The South African playmaker, who resumed playing in May after a two-year break, produced a deft chip to set up the opening try for Murray Sutherland. latched on to an intercept to score a try of his own and landed five from seven with the boot.
Winger Bay Wallace crossed for his first hat-trick and outside centre Marcus Boyle was equally dangerous.
The Students led 14-5 at half-time and blew the game open with a Sherratt penalty and intercept try.
The University forward pack did their share.
They had the Nelson Bay scrum on roller skates, dominated the lineout and made inroads through carries by Joe Kingham and Dylan Heins.
"We dominated the first 15 minutes, but couldn't get the tries. We made silly mistakes close to the line," Berry said. "We said at half-time, keep plying like that and points will come. It clicked in the second half. We knew their scrum was a bit weak, so we targeted that and also disrupted a lot of lineouts.
"Joe Kingham was enormous and Dane was very good."
The only downside for the Students were injuries to halfback Sutherland (knee), Brady Maher (hamstring) and Heins (groin)
Maitland's roller coaster season hit a new high with a resounding 41-15 triumph over Hamilton at Marcellin Park.
At Ernie Calland Oval, Merewether were too slick for the home side, running in seven tries in 47-14 win over Southern Beaches.
James Gardiner
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
