The Border Cup might have eluded their NSW Country side in Goondwindi on Saturday but the experience of playing for the Cockatoos was still a very enjoyable one for Walcha’s Ed Cordingley and Pirates’ Andrew Collins.
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For both it was their first campaign with the representative side.
They finished with a win and a loss after going down to their Queensland Country rivals 20-12 on Saturday.
“It was a great thing,” Cordingley said.
“Obviously it was disappointing to have lost. (But) I learnt a lot and enjoyed it.”
“It’s a bit disappointing it was only the two games and it’s wrapped up now.”
It has been for Collins an aspiration since he moved back to Tamworth.
“It was good. The coaching staff and managers were good to work with and all the players were great,” he said.
He started at prop while Cordingley, after coming off the bench on the wing in the Cockatoos 32-24 win over ACT Provincial a fortnight ago, started on the wing.
“My early days of rugby I played wing but not very much since open grade,” the Rams centre said.
He enjoyed it though and got to see plenty of ball.
It was a game that slipped away from the Cockatoos.
After fighting back from 12-nil down after 20 minutes to level at 12-all they conceded a late try to trail 17-12 at half-time.
Despite a few discipline issues in the second half, which culminated in them losing a player for 10 minutes, they put the Heelers “under a fair bit of pressure” but they couldn’t convert it into anything.
“We just could not quite hold onto anything at the end,” Cordingley said.
“We created plenty of opportunities.”
The Heelers were coming off a three-game tour of New Zealand and were a tough proposition up front.
“It was definitely a lot tougher than the last game,” Collins said.
“They had a good forward pack. It was a good challenge.”
He coincidentally roomed with Cordingley.
There would have been some interesting banter flying between the two on Saturday night with their respective club sides enjoying mixed fortunes, and set to clash this Saturday.
Both are looking forward to it.
“Obviously this is the one that you want to get up for,” Cordingley said.
Similar to the corresponding game last season they will be wanting to prove they are a better side than they showed in the first round.
“The first game it sort of got away from us. It wasn’t reflective of how the game went,” he said.
“The biggest thing that killed us last time was penalties.”
Collins can’t wait to get back in there and rip in for Pirates, especially after Saturday’s hiccup against Moree.
“We’ve got a couple of good games coming up,” he said with Gunnedah the following week.
