As the dust settles on an action packed weekend it seems as if the 2 PRIDE events went well and that is just as important as the rugby.
Saturday was a tough day at the office for the squad which was a mix between our merit league and development team players consisting of no less than 8 development squad players building confidence and experience as their journey progresses.
With the game lined up to be 4 x 20 minute quarters, due to some early injuries the original plan of playing set teams in each quarter soon went out the window.
With the early kick off to allow the players to attend MK pride it was a tough start with MK able to find 3 or 4 quick tries in the first quarter which set the tone of the afternoons score pattern. Despite MK getting across the Outlaws whitewash it was not all plain sailing for the team who had recruited many of their first team players, they did not want to be the first 'scalp' of the Outlaws new regime. Unfortunately in the 1st 10 minutes early injuries to Hoare and Caceres meant disruption and unforseen positional changes.
Even through the first quarter had lots of strong runs by the pack, especially from Burgess and Peterson-Stocks, MK were able to have a high percentage of the ball and worked it to score out wide with far too much ease and ran in their scores.
However after the 1st quarter the Outlaws were able to start to make some inroads into the play with more strong forward play from the likes of Burgess who then was forced from the field with a dislocated finger.
The play for the remainder of the match followed a similar pattern with the attack from MK and the rugged structured and scrambled defence from the Outlaws. There were however many good phases of play and lots of positive attack phases despite not having more than 30 % possession.
The Outlaws were not able to cross the whitewash and MK were able to run in tries out wide when they managed to break away from the strong willed Outlaws defence.
Positives were:
That we found Parity with a First team Front row after a few early hiccups.
The defense was good for the majority of the game and although the score line shows a 1 sided game that clearly wasn't the game that was played and watched by the Outlaws faithful
The forwards really fronted up.
Everyone gave 110% .
3 Areas to work on:
1 on 1 tackles when covering wider runs
Slowing opponents quick ball down
Our Ball rention, we need to keep hold of the ball beyond 2 phases
This next week is one of the biggest in our 10 year history, and being entered into the Lewis shield is one that everyone who has pulled a shirt on for the club should be proud, the club has got the ability to compete. I urge everyone who is not involved as we can only pick a fixed squad to come and support the club on Saturday afternoon.
Outlaw of the day for yesterday: Tom Davies
See you all Tuesday Coach Dunks
Hey folks.
Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone for your efforts at the two Pride events this weekend. Well done to anyone who had a conversation with a new person about the Outlaws, handed out a leaflet, got someone's details or just got involved in one way or another.
You all did the Outlaws proud & I can confirm we got 54 people's details over the weekend on top of the leaflets dished out.
Expect to see new faces at training over the next few weeks & make everyone feel welcome when they come down, just like we always have & will continue to do
Biggest thanks goes out to Darren & Steve for setting up both days & for staffing the stalls for the bulk of the time.
Proud of everyone of you.
Let's make our 10th year the biggest & best ever!!!
Chappers
By Mark Dunkley and Simon Chapman
Edited by Nic Peterson-Stocks