Richard Manion has been around the Goldies for more years than most. Soon to be 41, father time is yet to catch up with the youthful play-maker who will lead the Goldies against the victors of the Harden v Coota match, set down for Robert’s Park this Saturday afternoon in Murrumburrah.
Manion is a veteran of the game and has studied its finer points. He was a Fullback at school, half a generation ago, before playing higher up Rugby at 12. He has been at 10 for some time now and was part of the 2009 side which defeated Bungendore at the Boorowa Showground, the last time the Goldies won the big dance.
Leadership team member and big bad bustling Front Rower, Keagan Size, spoke highly of Manion and his skill-set and calmness. One feels that if the ‘piggies’ do their job next Saturday, led by Size, Manion will be able to keep cool heads in the backline and he can fill in by dropping back to Fullback or sliding left to cover a gap in the defence.
Good Props are like hen’s teeth and calm and controlling Five-Eights are much the same. If you have a good general it can all flow from there and that’s where it will need to flow for the piggies once they get a roll on.
“It was the last premiership for Boorowa, 16 years ago. I was 24 back then and still running around now at nearly 41. It’s pretty exciting. It’s exciting for the town to get a home grand final there again.
“It’s nice for myself to be running around again, but it’s more probably from a team perspective, I think that’s a bit cliche, but it’s quite nice to get the team in Boorowa running back around, and obviously this is very different from when I was 25, I sort of feel like I was and I am starting now, but I sort of just came in to help out and come off the bench and fill a few holes. It’s exciting, but we’ve got one more step to make, otherwise it doesn’t mean a whole lot, really.”
At Manion’s age, he didn’t think he would be playing such an integral role, but that is how the chips have fallen.
“Like I said, I got a little bit fit last year and coming into this year and thought, oh well, that’s probably my last chance, so I thought I’d have a go, but I just thought I could roll off the bench a little bit for them. So no, I didn’t think that maybe my experience and maturity might be of assistance, but I didn’t think I’d be starting and definitely not playing full games like I did last weekend.”
Having been there and done that Manion knows it comes down to what happens on the day. “Like Boorowa, we’ve said it all season, they just have to focus on their own game. I think if they play their potential, they’re going to be very difficult to beat. It’s more about us than anyone else. I think Coota and Harden are slightly different. I don’t think it matters who we play. It’s about Boorowa turning up and playing to their potential and then the result should look after itself. But grand finals, I’ve been lucky enough to play a fair few grand finals and no matter how dominant you are during the season, they’re always very tightly thought things because the underdog has nothing to lose. We saw it last weekend, like Harden threw everything at us and showed that they could be competitive, so it’ll be no different in the final.”
Make sure you get to Harden around 3:00pm to watch the fairly evenly matched high flying Harden Red Devils coached by Big Red, Jack Alcorn, take on the controlled aggression of the Coota Tri Colours, who have come a long way under coach Phil Gay. The winner will take on the Goldies the following week. Many are saying it’s the Goldies’ year.
The next two weeks will tell. Go Rugby!
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