Winger is Brothers’ hero
LIVEWIRE Brothers winger Sam Warner shapes as the Xfactor who could give favourites Teachers West some headaches in next week’s TDRU grand final, after he tore North Ward to shreds in Saturday’s 48- 22 preliminary final win.
The lightning- quick 18year- old, part of the Australian schools sevens program, scored three tries to help Brothers book a spot in this Saturday’s decider at Mike Carney Toyota Park.
“( We tell him) just do what he wants, he’s got some wheels,” Brothers coach Shane Laskey said.
“Obviously in defence he has to make sure he’s in position, but otherwise back yourself and have a run.”
But Laskey is under no illu- sions they will need to improve dramatically to topple the unbeaten minor premiers.
Although Teachers West and Brothers have dominated the competition, Teachers West have won all four of their clashes this year.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but they’re sometimes the hardest games, there’s pressure to get into the grand final,” Laskey said.
“Everyone generally tightens up, yesterday we floated in and out of the game.
“We scored some really good tries, but errors and discipline let them back into it.
No disrespect to North Ward, but if they put 22 on us, Teachers West will run in 50 if we don’t fix everything up.
“It’s that error rate and discipline, you can’t give them the ball and repeat sets.”
North Ward coach Chris Caleo said they matched Brothers in the middle third, but their class out wide eventually told.
“I was pleased with the per- formance the boys put in, we matched them in the forwards through the middle,” Caleo said.
“What made the difference was their super- fast winger, he’s just magic to watch and a classy little player.
“For most of this season the talk has been it’s a two- team comp, and then there’s the rest.
“I think over the last few weeks it’s shown maybe that’s not quite the case.
“Teachers and Brothers have the depth to be able to cope with injuries, but when sides like us get our players on the field, it’s a much more even competition.”