To all our beloved sponsors, parents, friends, supporters, doctor, sports physiotherapist, team psychologist, coach, and whoever parked their Range Rover at Lyne Park on the weekend… WE’RE BACK for the Third Oysters Circular of 2021.

The great Disney Princess Pocahontas once sang “Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon…”.

Well I can tell you now, if a Bondi night walker came across Hugh Bamford Reserve on Thursday night, they would have witnessed 30 rabid Oysties a’Howlin at the moon indeed. We started the week with a training sesh at Bondi basking under the ominous glow of a Pink Supermoon. The phenomenon occurs when a full Moon arrives at the same time the Moon is closest to the earth, as such it appears 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a regular cycle. This was an OMEN. We had a BIG week ahead.

Exhibit A: New Recruit and fan favourite 'Jam Boy' getting through pllllenty of work

There’d been whispers upon whispers that this week the Oysters were up against a team far bigger and far stronger than weeks previous, the Mighty Canterbury Rugby Club. To win this week we needed to run 14% quicker and tackle 30% harder if we had any chance of singing our team song. BUT the power of the Pink Supermoon was behind us and so we welcomed the cosmic powers of this once-in-a-lifetime lunar energy and embraced it within our hearts, our minds and our souls. The result, a screamer of a training session so LOUD, so BOISTEROUS, so RAUCOUS, local Dover Heights residents were calling the RSPCA afraid a pack of Iberian Snow Wolves were running wild along the 4th Green at Bondi Golf Club. In fact it was just us, rising to the occasion. HOWL! HOWL HOWL! The Moon had birthed something inside us!

Exhibit B: The first, tough outing for the Oyster Pack at scrum time (was 7-0 at halftime)

Come Saturday the hairs were still raised on the back of our necks, backs and cracks as we prowled down to Lyne Park for a clash of the ages. The sky was blue, the ocean sparkling and the sweet aroma of Catalina restaurant’s $189 Lunch Banquet (With a Choice of entree) filled the air. Ahhhh it was good to be back! The mere sight of 30 Oysters running warm-ups began to draw the usual crowd of investment bankers, Vaucluse housewives and the odd Catamaran sailor keen to see what would unfold on a field mowed to perfection. It was time to play...

Coach’s Corner

 

Week 3 in the Oysters journey to McLean Cup glory was an important one. After a big performance against Manly the previous week, the buoys were keen to back it up and christen the new home reef of Lyne Park in typical Oyster fashion. Canterbury was the target, and they presented a unique, physical challenge for the team to tackle.

Exhibit C: BIG D(efensive) Energy

We started the game off well enough, dominating possession & field position early in the game. We looked to play with quick tempo and pace in order to run the big Canterbury pack around. Whilst the backs were certainly finding room to move out wide, it was much tougher going for our forwards in tight, who were finding it tough to punch through a very physical Canterbury defence. The buoys were either copping big shots or constantly dodging flying shoulders. Despite this, guys kept getting back up and putting their hand up for carries. Harry Williams in particular was leading from the front, always providing good front foot ball with his carries and was absolutely everywhere in defence.

Finally, after a raid down the left hand side line, Peter Fenwicke got a miracle offload away to keep the ball alive which saw Lyndon Christie cross over for the games first points. We had plenty of other opportunities for points to close out the half but poor execution consistently let us down. This was frustrating us and probably caused us to force too many 50-50 passes rather than remaining patient. We went into halftime with a narrow 7 point lead.

Exhibit D: David Robertson making his Oysters Debut, the man doesn't miss.

The guys came out raring to go and improve in the second half, and were helped by some great injections off the bench. Seamus Frost was showing his versatility, moving into the forwards to play in the backrow. Shane bought some real physicality to our defence and was constantly getting off the line and whacking people. With fitness levels starting to have more impact on the game, we were finding more and more space around the fringes. Jack Remond exploited this, always taking on the line with ball in two hands and often going himself to great success. The ranger was linking up well with his outside backs, and Hamish Lorang showed great finishing ability to score a try in the corner with about 30cm of space and three defenders trying to stop him.

Exhibit E: Another New Recruit Jimmy Manns showing off the textbook Defence The Oysters have been working on

The points started flowing as the game went on and we eventually ran out winners 40-0. The most pleasing fact was definitely the defensive attitude the guys showed in not letting Canterbury score, which was no easy feat. James Manns’ composure at fullback was crucial in this effort. He mopped up some very dangerous line breaks and attacking kicks on multiple occasions and had a great performance all round. Special shout out as well to Tully Borkowski on debut. Following a 7 year hiatus, Tully was welcomed back to the game on his first hit up by the Canterbury 13 who clean smoked him. He shrugged this off immediately and was a constant threat at the breakdown and in defence for the rest of the game.

We look to make it back to back wins at Lyne Park next week against Redfield Old Boys.

Coach Boone

Exhibit F: The 'Oyster Initiation'. 1 Beer + 1 Fresh Oyster... bon appétit?

Exhibit G: Oysters D, remember it... fear it.

ANZAC Day

Quick little horn tooting announcement that somehow slipped by the last Circular (agreed, sloppy). As part of the Bacon & Egg Roll sales at the Fortune Of War last Sunday (25/4/21), The Oysters were able to raise $600.00 to go towards Legacy. We would like to thank the FoW for hosting us and letting us participate in a worthy cause!

On another note we have 120 eggs that were unable to find a customer (Covid foot traffic really stinging here), so any ideas on how we should use this resource please let us know. A giant omelette at this week's game is currently the best idea (logistics pending).

Sponsors

With a new year, we have the chance to bring on some new sponsors as we look to continue building our bonds within the community. We thank you for your commitment to the 2021 season and look forward to seeing you down at our games. We know that 2020 was a tough year for everyone and appreciate the support. There is simply no way we would be able to have the kit, equipment or ground hire without the valued contribution of our sponsors and for that we are grateful.

Note to All Sponsors:

We will be hosting our first Oysters Sponsor Day on 19th June 2021, email invitations will be issued shortly and we hope to see as many of you down there as possible.

Shop

We've also got some special edition Oyster T-Shirts to help out our favourite Oyster Famers down at the Hawkesbury River Oyster Shed. All proceeds are going to Deb and her hardworking Oyster enthusiasts after being decimated by the torrential rain that lashed the East Coast.

https://www.oystersrugby.com/shop

Season Schedule

Exhibit H: Got ‘em

Exhibit I: Salivating at this week's top of the table clash.

Exhibit J: New Season, Old Tricks.

As always, have a fantastic week, go the Oysters, and above all, SHUCK ‘EM!

Sydney Harbour Rugby Club