Tallon Smith

The Crookwell Green Devils made it two wins in a row and consolidated their position inside the George Tooke Shield top four with a dominant 66-12 showing against Googong at Crookwell Memorial Oval on Saturday.

Winger Ben Flood picked up a hat-trick of tries alongside doubles to Jayden Eddy and Nicholas Selmes as the Green Devils ran in 13 tries to two in their first outing with a new halves pairing of Cameron Herd and Cameron Picker.

Crookwell coach Brian Gray said that he was pleased with the way his side approached the match against the competition’s bottom side, with attitude being a focus heading into the clash.

“It was pleasing, going in there it was one of those games that was really hard to prepare for, Googong hadn’t won a game so far in the season so they were sitting down the bottom,” he said.

“It’s one of those if you go in [and] take a poor attitude in there they are a side that could challenge you and maybe not beat you but make it a pretty tough afternoon.

“Most of our focus all week was on getting out attitude right, the players responded and it was a pretty solid effort given all the circumstances.”

Although Flood was one of three players to finish with multiple tries, nine different players crossed the line for Crookwell.

Gray said the contributions across the board in a complete team performance was the most impressive part of the victory, whilst also reserving praise for Flood’s stellar showing on the flank.

“That was probably one of the most pleasing things, we are not just now relying on two or three x-factor players to win us the game or put us in situations to win the game, right across the board now everybody is contributing,” he said. 

“For Floody it was his second week of hat-tricks out on the wing and he is a young fella who played a little bit of first grade for us the year we won the comp in 2022.

“He had had a couple of years off, came back in, and he looks like he has picked up a couple of metres of speed as well which is always handy.”

The win follows the Green Devils’ 34-12 win over the Bungendore Tigers, which saw the club move a game clear of the defending premiers after heading into the match tied for third.

“Going into the game they were sitting equal with us on the competition table and it is always good to get the two points at Bungendore,” Gray said. 

“That moved us two points clear of them, but they will be up there towards semi final time.”

Another major change for Crookwell mid-season has been the make-up of the side’s halves, with the previous pairing of Jayden Aramoana and Daniel Selmes making way for Herd and Picker at five-eighth and halfback respectively.

After losing a key playmaker over the off-season, the timely return of the two Camerons in Herd, who starred in a losing side against Harden in his first game back four weeks ago, and Picker, has provided the Green Devils with stronger depth in the playmaking roles and allowed Selmes and Aramoana to return to their preferred positions of centre and back row.

“Charlie McGeechan played halfback for the Devils last year, and he had a shoulder reconstruction so he wasn’t playing and one of the other boys went back to Goulburn, so we were really bereft of a halfback to start the season,” Gray said. 

“We pushed Daniel Selmes in there and he was getting better and better every week, and out of the blue Cameron Picker decided about mid-season that he would play the rest of the season for us, and Cameron Herd also only probably three weeks ago now.

“He [Herd] is a local junior from our [under] 19s in 2022, hadn’t played since, and we convinced him to come back and have a run and he’s just going gangbusters he’s just going better and better, looks more comfortable every week.

“So the two Camerons six and seven, hopefully if they continue playing well they will finish the season as our halves pairing, and Daniel will jump in there when required.”

In other results from round seven of the George Tooke Shield, North Canberra won the ‘Battle of the Bears’ 38-10 over Snowy River, Bungendore bounced back with a 54-6 win over Googong, and Harden took out the local derby 26-20 over Boorowa.

This weekend’s games will see Crookwell face Boorowa, Bungendore tackle North Canberra, Harden host Googong and UC Stars travel to Jindabyne to face the Snowy River Bears.