Vaiuta Faavae and Endeavour Hills are without a win through the first two rounds of the Victorian Rugby Union Premier One season.By Marc McGowan
A LACK of team play contributed to Endeavour Hills’ 41-7 thrashing at the hands of Northern at C.T. Barling Reserve on Saturday, according to coach Jeff Lemalu.
Lemalu was disgusted with his side’s Victorian Rugby Union (VRU) Premier One performance, labelling it the worst he had witnessed in five years.
It followed a 34-7 loss in the opening round the previous weekend.
“It wasn’t one of the best ones I’ve been involved in. The boys definitely didn’t turn up to play on Saturday,” he said.
“I think some of my boys need to grow out of the attitudes they have at the moment.
“They can’t expect to have all the teams fall over and let us over the try line.”
Northern racked up 21 unanswered points against the hapless Hills in the first half before going on with the job after the main break.
There was one cause for celebration for Endeavour Hills in the form of lock Luke Packman’s second-half score, but there were few other positives.
“The boys didn’t follow the game plan we set. We wanted them to try to run around them, but the boys ended up trying to go through them,” Lemalu said.
“We’ve got the speed to match any team, but because we have one of the smallest packs in the VRU, we need to play a bit smarter.”
Lemalu did laud the displays of number-eight Charles Palupe and hooker Susesetu Felise, but saved his most praise for debutant lock Roy Faamausili.
“It’s the first time Roy has ever played rugby. He’s been around the club, but is usually a basketball player and has never played rugby,” he said.
“On Saturday, he was one of the best on ground.”
The Hills players will spend the week improving their communication towards one another as they look toward Saturday’s contest against Boroondara.
The fixture begins at 3.15pm at Frog Hollow Reserve and Endeavour Hills will seek its first win of the season.
