RHINOS nightmare of a rugby season came to a relieved end when they managed to draw 5-5 to Newcastle and remain in the premier league for the 2015 season, proving that the light at the end of the tunnel was not an oncoming train, .
Rhinos 1 took on the determined Newcastle Highlanders 1 outfit on Friday evening at Mick Kelly Park in a promotion/relegation match, which saw the Rhinos scrum Newcastle to pieces, but scratch and fumble in all other areas of play.
The message set by Rhinos was clear in the first 10 minutes of the game, when they came out firing, dominating every aspect of the game, but failed to finish.
The home side then went onto playing their own individual game plan, which resulted in a disgusting display littered with schoolboy errors and set-piece malfunctions, which allowed Newcastle back into the game.
Unfortunately both kickers left their kicking boots at home, therefore there were a few missed opportunities to get onto the scoreboard.
Eighth man Shawn Booth busted over for the Rhinos in the 35th minute to the crowds’ relief and team’s delight to hand his side a narrow 5-0 lead.
The home side went into the shed with that narrow lead, after letting numerous opportunities go begging.
The second half was just as dismal, with the local brutes piling on the pressure, but failing to capitalise.
It took 60 minutes for the visitors to get onto the board, which came through a soft try in the corner from the huge front rower Drikus Fourie.
Rhinos were caught sleeping, a quick line-out was taken, and the enormous prop forward ran 20 metres untouched in slow motion to dot down in the corner.
With the conversion missed, the game was tied up at 5 apiece.
This was not the result wanted by the Rhinos coach or players, as they were aiming at winning the game by a dominating total.
But once again this result shows that player depth, commitment and discipline are major issues in the club, which needs to be sorted out come the new season.
Men of the match were Warren Graff (forwards) and Jaco Campher (backline).
