‘Trying’ day for Hills

Keelan Poi was among Endeavour Hills’ best in the big win against Melton on Saturday. 31581 Picture: Stewart Chambers

By Stuart Teather
THE Endeavour Hills juggernaut continued its rampage on Saturday, knocking off Melton 42-3 in their Victorian Rugby Union clash at Monash University.
The boys from Frog Hollow Reserve were in fine form against the middle-of-the-table Melton side, although the club started slowly in the slippery conditions.
The Hills worked their way into the game and by the 20-minute mark were in control, racking up tries at will.
Hills’ coach Jeff Lemalu said while the win was good, there were aspects of the game that did not please him.
“The way we were playing on Saturday, we were just throwing the ball around and still scoring from everywhere,” he said.
“As a coach, that’s not very good.”
The coach pointed to Jeremy Nelson, Keelan Poi and captain Presley Naea as the side’s standouts, although he gave special mention to the four B-team players who played in both games on Saturday.
Lemalu said his side’s biggest challenge was not getting too far ahead of itself, with the finals still two months away.
“It’s a bit of a challenge at the moment for the team and myself to make sure we keep cool heads.”
The A-team takes on bottom-of-the-ladder Warrnambool on Saturday in what could be another whitewash, before facing ladder leader Geelong the following week.
Geelong is the only side to defeat the Hills this season and Lemalu said that game would be make-or-break for his team.
“I’m just trying to keep a lid on it for everyone’s sake, we’ve got Geelong in two weeks, that’s going to be an important game for us and tell us where everyone is,” he said.
Meanwhile the B-team went down to Monash University 32-20 on Saturday, in a close game, with the result up in the air until the dying seconds when Monash secured a late try.
The B-team faces Melton on Saturday at Melton, with the A-team’s clash with Warrnambool to follow at the same ground.