The combined Harden/Boorowa Ceeney’s 5 Star under 7’s played two games and proved popular with the spectators watching many of these players playing their first of what is hoped many games of junior league.

The Harden Tyre Service under 8’s combined Harden/Boorowa side combined well to put on a try scoring spree to run out convincing winners 30 points to 4. A huge thanks go to Jacob Atallah who has volunteered to train the under 7’s and 8’s on Thursday’s. To the parents of these players Jacob has unselfishly given up his time to teach your children the basics of junior league and the club urges you to make yourself known to Jacob and give him your full support and assistance at training.

The Madden’s Transport under 9’s kicked off their first competition game with a close win over the Gundagai/Adelong Tigers. As usual the Junior Hawks had a slow start allowing their opponents to put the first points on the board before a brilliant solo effort from Nathan McCarthy, who pulled out a textbook “in and away”, showed his lightning speed to streak away and score under the uprights. Conversion was unsuccessful. A couple of lapses in concentration allowed G/A to score again. An arm wrestle from one end of the field to the other followed with neither team scoring. Until another solo effort by Jake Arabin put the Hawks within four points, with his strong run from the middle of the field and dive over the line. Patrick Smith must be practising his goal kicking, when his successful conversion had to be retrieved from down near the pool. Patrick and Travis worked tirelessly in the middle of the ruck with some outstanding defence. One of the new kids on the block, Chris O’Connor, showed he has a good football mind with many solid runs and reading play well. Samantha Cross and Arabella Tobin got involved and made the most of their limited opportunities. Joe Stewart and Blake McGrath had quieter games than we are accustomed to, but still put their hands up with plenty of defensive work (maybe they stayed up too late watching NRL on the tellie?!) Will Quinn played his best game yet, running hard and charging into the opposition and showed us some of the potential that we all know he has. With only seconds remaining on the clock, Jake caught the defence napping with a quick-thinking run from dummy half, darting across the line. The conversion from Blake McGrath brought the full time score to 16-12 to the Hawks. There will be no training this Thursday, but the coach wants everyone to make the effort to come to training on Thursday 24th. Due to people away for the holidays, the Under 9’s will not be travelling to the Tumbarumba carnival, so next game will be at Tumut on April 26th.

The Delta Agribusiness under 10’s proved they will be one of the most feared sides in their first year of competitive football when they ran in eight unanswered tries and kicked seven from eight goals whilst keeping the Tigers scoreless.

The Harden/Boorowa Jack Elkins under 11’s gave their coach, Andrew Jones plenty to work on at training after they were soundly defeated by Gundagai/Adelong. With an abundance of players this season Andrew is sure to bring out the best in the players and they will be on the other side of the ledger before too long.

The Peisley Livestock Transport Harden/Boorowa under 12’s gave Bluey something to smile about when they easily accounted for the opposition to the tune of 32 points to 4.

Harden/Boorowa’s Mid Town Autos under 13’s side kicked off their 2008 season with a heartbreaking 32 points to 26 loss. A chip kick by Gundagai found their halfback, and he raced away to score as the siren was sounding. Despite the loss the boys showed glimpses of the potential they have. Riley Manwaring showed there is no substitute for speed running in three very impressive tries on his debut for the Hawks. Alex Stewart, Jacob Prosser and Bernie McGrath were others to stand out. Some lapses in defence proved costly for the home side. Murray Smith, another first timer also had a good all round game. Harden/Boorowa looked as though they may have snatched the game, when Riley was held up with only minutes left on the clock, only for the Tigers to race away and snatch victory. All in all it was a good team effort and the team will only improve more with some more game time. The next game being against Tumut at Tumut on Saturday, April 26, with all needed at training on Thursday, April 24.

Parents are asked to check with their child’s coach in regards to training during the school holidays. All teams will be training next Thursday and all players are urged to attend as times for the games to be played at Tumut on Saturday, April 26, will be given out.

A huge thanks to the men for manning the barbecue again this year for the Junior League, not only do they cook up a great feed they are more than willing to have a chat and share some of their thoughts on the game. The club is very fortunate to have this group of men who are more than happy to help out in any way they can.

There has been a delay in the dispatch of the Hawks shorts and socks and it is hoped they will be available for players to collect next Thursday at training.

This weeks SafePlay Code ruling is; lifting a player in a tackle is not permitted.