HAMILTON coach Scott Hamilton stressed that the job was only half done after the Hawks added the Hawthorne Cup to the Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union minor premiership.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wanderers had been the only team to ruffle the Hawks' feathers, beating them 24-12 in round four, but the second-placed Two Blues were no match for a rampant Hamilton at Passmore Oval, going down 40-29, in the final round on Saturday.
The Hawks, who led 35-10 early in the second half, finished the regular season 11 points clear at the top and etched their name on the Hawthorne Cup for a consecutive year.
It seems the greatest danger to a record fifth straight premiership is themselves.
"We are minor premiers in all grades for first time in the club's history, we have the club championship and now the Hawthorne Cup," Coleman said. "But, as I said to the players at full-time, the job is half done. Now we need to rip into it. The core of the squad has been together for some time. The senior guys will ensure there is no complacency."
Hamilton, who played direct and capitalised on front-foot ball, took control of the game early on Saturday.
Fiso Vasegote ran a great inside line from a scrum, winger Hamish McKie dived over from close range and then split the Wanderers defence from first phase as the Hawks jumped to a 21-3 lead after 30 minutes.
Wanderers replied with try to teenage winger Liam Dalibozek to close to 21-10.
But tries either side of the break to Sireli Bainivalu and Jason Hill took the game away from the visitors.
"Our first 60 minutes was enormous," Coleman said.
Wanderers entered the round with the best defensive record but made a number of poor reads and missed one-on-one tackles.
"We are a dangerous team and know we have points in us," coach Dan Beckett said. "To concede 40 points is embarrassing. We pride ourselves on being able to keep teams under 20 points. We have done it all year. When you miss tackles like that it is an indication that the connections and communication is not on. We are disappointed that on a big stage we were far from our best. Credit to Hamilton, they out-played us."
Wanderers tackle meet Maitland, who will be fresh from a bye, in the qualifying semi-final next Saturday.
"From a group point of view, we haven't been challenged for a long time," Beckett said. "We were challenged today and are in the learning pit. We have to learn from it."
Merewether will take momentum into the elimination semi-final against Lake Macquarie on Sunday after cruising to a 62-0 win over University at Bernie Curran.
Winger Hayden Pedersen scored two brilliant solo efforts to help steer Lake Macquarie to a 32-23 win over Nelson Bay at Bill Strong Oval.
Centre Peter Madden scored a double as Southern Beaches recorded their first win of the season, beating Singleton 29-22 at Ernie Calland Oval.
