EVERY Autumn, a bush rugby union coach says a silent prayer that a big, two-metre tall country lad will darken his clubhouse doorway, the bigger and uglier the better.
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Miraculously, the Forster-Tuncurry Dolphins’ coach, Ron McCarthy, had his prayer answered in March when not one but two two-metre tall strangers entered the Dolphins’ Tuncurry clubhouse side by side, 20-year-old local lads who had played sport all their lives, the oddity being that they were soccer players.
Lo and behold, a month later, the almost identical twins, Daniel and Nick Murray, arrived for training at Peter Barclay Field with an older brother, 22-year-old, Brad, a mere six-footer, but quicker and with splendid natural ball skills, hand and foot.
There was no escape for the husky twins. Limited rugby experience though they had enjoyed, coach McCarthy immediately pencilled in their names as his new second row pairing for the scrum with the Dolphins striving to claim their third successive
premiership in the Brokenwood wines-sponsored Lower Mid Coast rugby competition. With new players sprinkled through their ranks, the Dolphins have begun the season impressively, running in 10 tries in both games, winning 61-23 against the competition newcomers, the Wauchope Thunder, and then 66-0 against the Old Bar Clams.
Disappointingly for Daniel Murray, he sustained a knee injury in the first game, missed the second match and then aggravated the injury when training lightly last week.
But, for all their inexperience in rugby union, Nick is already proving a powerful scrummager while Brad is tackling impressively at training though, being soccer players, handling the ball is proving a skill they have yet to master.
The brothers are the sons of Great Lakes local, Bernie Murray, a winger-cum-fullback from Eastwood rugby club in Sydney from the time of the Woods’ former Test champions, centre Brett Papworth and No 8, Steve ‘Bird’ Tuynman.
It was at Bernie’s prompting that his sons knocked on the Dolphins’ door.
From the club’s point of view, the brothers are not simply players of much potential.
They are friendly and sociable and fraternise easily with teammates, a delight to have at the club.
But other newcomers have strengthened the club, conspicuously hooker Scott Bradbrook while veteran flanker Rob Avard is playing the best football of his career and last year’s reserves, Jesse Logan and Dylan Barrett, are blossoming pleasingly.
There was no rugby union over the Anzac Day weekend and the Mid North Coast’s representative teams, the Axemen and Axemen’s Colts, will represent the zone next Friday and Saturday in the NSW Country championships at Bowral.
Round three of the Lower MNC comp will be played on Saturday May 9: Old Bar v Wauchope at Trad Fields; Gloucester v Forster at Gloucester; Myall Coast v Manning River at Hawks Nest. Bye: Wallamba.