THE sleeping giant has awoken – Wyndham City Rhinos have consigned to the memory bank a dismal start to the season by charging up the Victorian Rugby Union second division ladder.
The Rhinos made it three wins on the trot and five in six games when they bullied top-of-the-ladder Northern Thunder into submission in a bonus-point 29-20 win at Mossfield Reserve on Saturday.
Click on the image below for our gallery of the big game.
Rhinos coaching director Darren Taylor said his side’s dramatic turnaround could provide the impetus for a rise to the summit.
“The boys are pumped and ready to take the next step.
“We’re going to be very dangerous when we get everything together all at the one time.
“From where we’ve been to where we are now who knows if we could even finish on top?”
The best part for the Rhinos is that they are far from finished.
The rebuilt team is still learning to play together and awaiting the return of a number of first team regulars from injury, with line-outs continuing to be an issue.
Even in victory Taylor was picking the bones out of the performance.
“It wasn’t the perfect game for us. There are still areas we need to improve on. They’re still a young team,” he said.
One area of which no one could be critical was the Rhinos’ resilience in defence.
The Thunder has the biggest forward pack in the competition and the Rhinos never backed down.
“They’ve got a very big forward pack and our guys contained them well,” Taylor said.
“When you play a team like Northern, you’ve got to be at your best for 80 minutes.
“It was a pretty physical game.”
After keeping the Thunder at bay for 25 minutes and leading 3-0 via a penalty goal, cracks began to appear in the visitors’ defence.
They could not keep up with the speedy Rhinos backs and it soon turned into points advantage.
The Rhinos led 8-7 at half-time after No.8 Tommy Leau found the try line.
After the break it was full steam ahead for the Rhinos with tries to captain George Waru, centre Filisione Pouta and the bonus point from winger Clarke Ngaau.
“The bonus points are always important,” Taylor said. “It can be one of the best things for you over the course of the year.”
AB Grant was one of the standouts for the Rhinos, the flanker hurting Thunder’s defence via punishing, line-breaking runs.
“He kept punching it up the middle for us,” Taylor said.
The Rhinos will visit neighbour Melton on Saturday.
