Hills ill will

Endeavour Hills’ Loni Folau sells a dummy to the Monash University defence on Saturday. 34290 Picture: Luke Plummer

By Stuart Teather
A CHEEKY move from the Endeavour Hills Rugby Union Club has seen the ladder-leading Geelong knocked off for the first time this season.
The Hills, still reeling after their A-team lost their Division Two clash with Geelong two rounds earlier, wanted to get revenge on its cross-town rival in the match between Geelong and the Hills’ B-team, at Frog Hollow Reserve on Saturday.
So the club swapped a number of its A-team players into the B-team, and the move paid dividends, with the Hills winning 33-10.
But the plan almost backfired as the A-team, devoid of its stars, almost fell to middle-of-the-table Monash University, with the Hills just scraping over the line 26-22.
Hills coach Jeff Lemalu said during the week he gave his players the choice to play in either side.
“We had a bit of a chat on Tuesday about who wanted to put their hand up and play against Geelong, trying to make up for last time,” he said.
The big guns stepped up and made up for their disappointing effort in the previous match-up between the two clubs, proving Geelong is not invincible.
But Lemalu conceded Geelong was not too pleased with Endeavour Hills’ pre-game tactics.
“I think (they were) kind of (upset) … (but) Geelong is still the team to beat this year and for us to win we have to step up another level in the second half of the season.”
Order will no doubt be restored this Saturday when the Hills’ A-team heads to Maroondah to take on the third-placed side, while the B-team faces the lowly Melbourne University.