Living up to its namesake, the River Rats took to a field drowned by rainfall, but came out swimmingly with dominant round one wins in both the men’s and women’s draw.
Lining up against Bendigo Senjuns, the men begun proceedings with a 5-0 whitewash over its rivals, before the women’s side suitably followed with an 8-0 annihilation of Bendigo.
Club president and men’s player Adam Thompson said the weekend's results were a fantastic way to start the season.
“To not have played for so long and have our men not play in A grade for three years, to start off with that result is fantastic,” Thompson said.
“Given the conditions were pretty horrible and the pitch was half underwater, it was difficult to play normal hockey.
“But I think our control of the ball was much better (than Bendigo), hitting our passes up using short passes and not hitting it long.”
Men's players Jayden Gulson and Regan More found the back of the net on multiple occasions, with Thompson also full of praise for another two of his teammates.
“Andrew Rogers – he’s come from playing at Melbourne Uni,” Thompson said.
“He’s come in and played really well as an inside forward. And Troy Kenny, off the half-back had a really good game.”
In the women’s clash, the River Rats’ laden attack was spread across its 15-women roster, with Emma Hatton sinking three shots and Kari Gulson, Jenna Park, Anna Ponder, Renee Thompson, and Jorgie Wright all breaking through for a goal each.
With the River Rats joining the ranks of the newly rejuvenated Regional Hockey League, Thompson said the competition was a great way to return to playing hockey, with the Goulburn Valley Hockey Association season also scheduled for later this year.
“Just having a variety of teams, everyone I think is looking forward to not always playing the same side,” Thompson said.
The River Rats will have another test on its hands heading into round two when it hosts the Strathdale Tigers this Sunday.
The Tigers come into the match off of a 5-2 round one win in the men's against Mooroopna, while its women's drew 2-2.
However, Thompson remains confident the River Rats will continue to improve rapidly now play has resumed.
“Being the team hasn’t played together for a while, week by week we’ll get better just generally playing together,” he said.
“But we’ll work on better ball movement and hopefully it's not as bad conditions-wise that we can spread the ball, go wider and attack.”
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