GRAFTON Redmen’s second grade side’s season is suddenly looking brighter than it did six weeks ago. In fact, Gervase Bertus’s chargers have improved markedly and now find themselves featuring in a minor semi against Bowraville Goannas at Kempsey on Sunday.
Grafton have continued their amazing winning run and in doing so have continued to gain credibility.
Staring down the barrel of finishing close to last on the ladder became a stark reality for Grafton after winning only one game after five rounds.
“Originally we were disappointed we were not winning those initial few games but when we look back, we only lost by small margins,” Bertus said during the week.
“We were lucky enough to pick a few losing bonus points, if we didn’t, we would not be playing final’s football.
“I always thought we weren’t playing to our potential, there were at least three games we should have won.”
Bowraville have been hot and cold this season but have plenty of fire-power up front to worry the Redmen.
“Bowraville are a very physical side and have some former league players who are more than handy,” Bertus said.
“When we played them down there, they came away with the points, but again, I thought it was a game we could have won.
“We beat them well in Grafton when they were short a few players. On Sunday we are expecting a very physical and aggressive game.
“They have a strong leader at number-eight and if we can match aggression with aggression, I think we can beat them out wide with our speed.”
The Redmen have been blessed with an influx of Fijian players to boost their playing ranks this season. And if their tight-five can provide plenty of clean ball, the backline, with a touch of Fijian magic, could test the Goannas defensive line.
“It has been an ongoing thing to work on our structure to allow us to play controlled rugby, then attack on the edges. When the exciting stuff doesn’t work, we know to return to our structure,” Bertus said.
