Mudmen aim for perfection on playoff pitch
A and B division Mudmen squads in Nova Scotia men’s rugby playoff action this weekend
The rivalry continues for the Hunter’s Ale House P.E.I. Mudmen when the rugby club hosts the Halifax Tars in Nova Scotia Senior Men’s Rugby League playoff action Saturday in Charlottetown.
P.E.I. (7-0) and the Tars face off in an A division semifinal at noon at Co-op Field.
Since the Mudmen moved up into the top division, Halifax has been its bugaboo, defeating P.E.I. in three finals and a semifinal.
So the Mudmen’s Kyle Robertson is treating Saturday’s game as more than a playoff game.
“As far as I’m concerned this is our championship game,” said Robertson, who spent three years at the University of Calgary and returned to P.E.I this season. “(With other returning players) this might be the Mudmen’s best team in three years.”
Tars has handled the Mudmen in the post-season, but its’s not a fluke. For Robertson, though, he sees a place where the Mudman can exploit one of its strengths.
“They have experienced guys that play for Team Canada, the N.S. Keltics, we’re kind of a rag tag group that grew up together, but our cohesion we can exploit that. We know what the other (guy) is going to do,” said Robertson. “We had a mindset we wanted to be professional team ever since we moved up to Division 1. Play to win and everyone’s on the same page for that.”
On Sunday, the B division Mudmen (6-1) face the Pictou County A side in a B division semi in New Glasgow, N.S. Game time is 1 p.m. Pictou was one the four lowest finishing teams in the A division and moved down to the B division playoffs.
But Mudmen second row and eight man Jon Murphy knows Pictou County won’t be a pushover.
“Last time we played them they were pretty tired. And finally have some depth so hopefully we can punch through. It comes down to good tackling and good defence in the end,” said Murphy.