Chorley all class as he piles on points
WHEN asked about his four try achievement for Teachers West, Daniel Chorley laughed and humbly deflected.
The Bulldog has found his feet in the fullback position with regular whizzes Curtis Rayment and Tyson Morgan on the sidelines, with Chris Peters shifted to fly-half.
However he credits new leaders emerging in the team for his own success.
In Teachers’ 83-5 drubbing of Burdekin, Chorley and his teammates ran rampant with the ball in hand, even with established leaders Josh Fletcher and Lewayne Barrett on the sidelines nursing injuries.
But for the interim No. 15
— who said Rayment had really “taken him under his wing” — that was perhaps the greatest takeaway from the win.
Even with men who have been key figures in the club’s dominant era in the Townsville and District Rugby Union unable to play, Chorley said they always had someone to take the reins.
It was Tom Wells who assumed the captaincy duties for Saturday’s clash at Warrina Park, and Chorley said new combinations and leaders in the side’s ranks did not deter them at all.
Rather it encouraged them to find a whole new dynamic.
“It creates opportunities for others to step up and I’m
enjoying it myself. Just being more vocal and becoming more of a leader within the team,” Chorley said.
“It’s good to see other people step up, being in the 15 is pretty enjoyable at the moment and having a good backline to support you really helps there.
“It’s all about creating versatility in offence I guess, which leads to more plays opening up.
“I guess I was just cherry picking off our backline moves. We had Chris Peters step into the 10 spot and he did really well. He put a fair few boys into holes and sorted me out in the backline.
“I think we’ve proven that in the past couple of games with those players being out that we come away with the wins and the big scorelines because of the depth to our club.”
Chorley said the focus would now immediately switch to yet another grand final rematch with Brothers, who last week ended North Ward’s undefeated start to the 2021 campaign.
The two outfits have enjoyed many enthralling contests throughout the years, and Chorley admitted it was a contest the Bulldogs always strove to find an extra gear for.
While he said the scoreboard against the Canetoads did not reflect the physical nature of the game, it enabled
Teachers to refine their attacking structures in perfect time to hand the Brethren another taste of revenge from last year’s decider.
However mystery still surrounds whether their casualty ward will be emptied in time.
“It’s a bit of an unknown I guess, I think some of our players will be back but some have pretty major injuries,” Chorley said.
“I’m not entirely sure if Fletcher will be back, same with Lewayne, but as we’ve proven it’s a team game. It doesn’t rely on the one or two players. “It gives you the confidence when you’re winning in games like that, there’s a lot of time to build that confidence.”