Ormeau’s finals hopes gather steam as Rogers delivers clutch
FRESH off piecing together one of the finest individual performances of the season, Ormeau five-eighth ghth Jack Rogers will need to keep their quest for a shock k finals berth running with- out the man who has freed d up his game play.
Rogers, the son of duallcode legend Mat, has clearly arly picked up a thing or two from his famous namesake when hen it comes to his boot — a final minute field goal causing a 29-28 upset triumph over Mudgeeraba.
In addition to his last gasp clutch play, Rogers scored two tries himself while continuing his goal kicking exploits that have him 19 points clear of Tugun halfback Michael Burgess as this season’s leading point scorer (85).
However, Shearers coach Stuart Wilkins has revealed halfback Connor Toia will miss Sunday’s clash with Currumbin, as his side seek to win three games on the trot and put themselves just one point out of the top five.
He said the loss of his number seven has a cruel blow, given how he and Rogers had begun to gel as a pairing, but he was full of confidence that the next man in would take the reigns.
“It’s that cohesion of having not played with anybody before, Connor Toia came in at the last minute and the synergy between Connor and Jack is starting to form,” Wilkins said.
“Jack’s improved out of sight in the last couple of weeks; with 15 minutes to go he was taking hit ups and making 20m making the hard carries.
“Connor will be out just for the weekend, and we’ve got almost ready made replacements and people who have played there when he wasn’t there.
“He’s been fantastic for us, but we didn’t blink an eyelid — someone will take his place.”
In what is Ormeau’s first season back in the competition, Wilkins is not necessarily plotting a premiership victory straight out of the gates. But suddenly they have emerged as genuine finals dark horses, and remaining in the fight is exactly what he wants to see.
“We’ve got an opportunity to potentially make the semi-finals, we have to beat sides in front of us but I think we can do that if things go our way,” Wilkins said.
“We’ll certainly be in the fight. It’s what Ormeau need and want to be: in the fight. If they’re in the discussion for the finals that’s a really good position be in.”