SCOTT Blanch might be hoping some of the winning ways of his former French club Limoux might rub off on him and his Greater Northern Tigers in Dubbo today.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 25-year-old farmer, who had stints with Manly and then Limoux after leading Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School to a University Shield, runs out at five-eighth for the Tigers in this morning’s Tier 2 AAMI Country Championship semi-final against the Greater Southern Stars on Apex Oval in Dubbo.
The 11am kickoff presents a huge hurdle for Blanch and his Tigers.
However he’s hoping the success his former French “Grizzlies” club had at the weekend when they won the French Championship is a positive pointer to this weekend.
He recalls those days playing with Limoux with great fondness even though his side was beaten in their French Championship Final.
“We were down five points,” he recalled this week.
“Our halfback had kicked a field goal for some reason but I made a break and scored in the corner close to fulltime.
“Our goalkicker, who hadn’t missed a goal all game, hit the post from the sideline.”
Returning to Australia after that gallic gallivanting, he settled back in on the family farm north of Tamworth and helped North Tamworth to a Group 4 premiership last year.
This year Blanch, who was the understudy to Brett Stewart at Manly Warringah for a few seasons before his French exploration, is back at the Bears and playing outstanding football at hooker.
He’s also the skipper and doing an outstanding job, reckons Bear coach Brad McManus.
“He was our best by far today,” he said of Blanch’s two-try performance in Sunday’s 42-14 win over Gunnedah.
“He just kept finding holes from dummy half. And he kept them all together.”
The Bears copped a huge penalty count, had two players sin-binned for dissent and one of those sin-binners, Ky Ruru, later sent off for instigating a scuffle.
So keeping a lid on volatility took some calm and thoughtful maintenance from Scott and some of his teammates.
The Bears did have a Sunday clash with Armidale Rams at home to play this weekend but the Rams have forfeited first grade which means Blanch and fellow Bears James Duchatel, Richard Clegg (18th man), Kieran Fisher and Shane Wadwell can concentrate on today’s Tier 2 AAMI Country Championship semi- final against the Greater Southern Stars.
The Peter Stevens-coached side headed to Dubbo yesterday with a training run last night.
Last year Blanch shared the hooking duties with Inverell’s Guy Mepham.
This season he is the starting five-eighth but might take over at hooker from Mepham later in the first half.
It’s a move the versatile footballer, who can play one, six, seven or nine with equal aplomb.
“Our coach (Peter Stevens) has a bit of a plan,” he said.
“Mep will come off at the back end of the first half and I will go into hooker to give Mep a rest,” he said.
“That will give me a bit more of an opportunity to run the ball.
“It means I will play the full 80, a bit different to last year when I was coming off the bench.”
He said the return of halfback Joey Griffiths is a bonus.
“He’s played plenty of football at a high level.”
With Griffiths playing a ball-playing role it enables Blanch to run more, whether at five-eighth or at dummy half.
And that’s what he loves best, ball in hand, jinking and stepping.
“I don’t have to play as a specialist five-eighth,” Blanch said.
“I can play my normal running game.”
If he can do that then it might just set the Tigers on the path to a win and a June 4 Tier 2 Final.
