Woden Valley Rams [5] v West Belconnen Warriors [8] on Saturday at 5:00pm at Raiders Belconnen
The Woden Valley Rams 34-30 defeat of TTM Canberra Raiders Cup powerhouses the Queanbeyan Blues announced their standing as a serious contender for this year’s title however Coach Cameron Hardy believes that the victory will be rendered meaningless unless they back it up this round against the West Belconnen Warriors.
West Belconnen are yet to win in this year’s competition and are subsequently sitting at the bottom of the ladder but Hardy, who has coached and played with the Warriors, is adamant that they will not be taking them lightly.
Last week the Warriors led last year’s Grand Finalists the Queanbeyan Kangaroos 16-10 at half-time until the Kangaroos scored 28 unanswered points to beat them 38-16.
“You can never underestimate West Belconnen,” said Hardy. “I’m a West Belconnen boy myself so I know the club quite well.
“They haven’t had the best start to the year but we can’t take them lightly at all because they’ve definitely got some talented players in their ranks.
“We can’t go into the game complacent and it would be disrespectful of us to do so. Germ [Simon Woolford] put it nicely last week when he talked about respecting your opponents. The Blues probably didn’t respect us as much as they should’ve last week and they paid the price for it.
“In saying that though I felt we earned the victory last week. Our defensive effort was really impressive as were our completions and discipline. If we don’t win this week last week’s win doesn’t mean anything though.”
Hardy has been thoroughly impressed with the development of the younger players in his side many of which have come up from the Under 18s as well as some other handy recruits.
“The development of the younger players has been fantastic. We look to give the talented young fellas coming through at the club opportunities and they have never let us down so far this year.
“Pat Prior in the front row, David Hicks in the back-row and Jake Wheeler at fullback have been particularly impressive.
“Our edges have been working well and we’ve identified our strengths and we’re playing to them.”
Mitch Vincent was terrific for the Rams in last week’s win over the Blues scoring two scintillating long range tries however Woden will be without his services this weekend as Vincent will be attending a wedding in Queensland.
The Warriors will also be without the services of a handy backline player with five-eighth Joe Cramp ruled out with a medial ligament strain in his knee.
Source: Raiders Press Release
Topic: Canberra Raiders Cup Round 4 Preview: Woden V West Belconnen
