With three Bears teams on the road to Canberra last weekend it would be fair to say that it was the red & black doing the raiding. With mixed results across the teams, our Tarsha Gale Cup side came home strong with new recruit and local junior, Ruby Watterson, getting a double and Chloe Jackson securing the draw in the last few minutes. SG Ball were in for a hard game against top of the table Raiders and the green machine lived up to their reputation with a solid win over the Bears.

Our NSW Cup boys got off the bus to a wall of heat in Belconnen and spent some time adjusting before getting into warmups. Going up against a solid Raiders side that was peppered with NRL full-timers we knew the game was going to be physical. Raiders got off to a good start running in two easy tries from Bears mistakes and the red & black were chasing their tale at 14 – 0 down, post a penalty goal in front of the posts. With ten Bears players playing their second ever game for the Red & Black and one who made his debut on Sunday, the team is still finding its feet, mistakes are going to happen but the team bond is really starting to develop and was evident on the field that day. The cry from the players on the field was “keep showing up boys” and that was exactly what they did, the team lifted and pushed on, keeping the green machine scoreless from the 30th minute until the 75th minute. Jesse Marschke got the Bears on the board from a nice pop-up offload from winger Junior Pauga and converted himself to give the Bears 6 points. Only five minutes later, Bears were again attacking the line at great speed moving the ball to the wing and Pauga leapt over the line with a dramatic try. Boys went to the sheds down 14 – 10.

A big second half was required from the team, and that’s what they did. The defensive line was almost impenetrable, the two & three men tackles were top class and the strength displayed by the players was a thing of beauty to watch. Not long into the second half the Marschke boys played hot potato as they sped towards the try line with Ben Marschke grounding the ball under the posts and brother Jesse converted to take the lead. Ten minutes later and the Bears were in again, after another swift sideline spread that ended in Tui Katoa’s hands and again Jesse converted. A penalty goal in the 63rd minute pushed the Bears to a ten-point lead. Raiders made one last attempt to regain control, but the game ended with Bears taking the win 24 – 18. Kurt De Luis had a big game and was named in NSW Cup player performances of the week with 15 runs, 145 run metres, 66 post-contact and 36 tackles! Watch the game tries HERE