On Saturday afternoon, the Yass Roos took on Ainslie in a dreary clash which was doused by rain and fought in the mud.
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The Ainslie side, which currently languishes in last place on the ladder, stood little chance against the Roos to begin with.
However, the constant rain and aggression of the home side reduced their chances to zero within minutes of the first bounce.
Before long, Ainslie were down 48-0 at the end of the first quarter and, though they managed to pull the carnage back somewhat, were still handed a 17.19.121 to 2.1.13 shellacking.
Roos coach Sam Campbell said that the key for Yass was their ability to thrive in wet and unwelcoming weather.
“I think it suits us,” he said.
“Sometimes when it does rain, I’m looking forward to it. I definitely think some of the boys thrive in the wet weather football.
“[It’s] just the contested football, we have a couple of really hard nuts in the middle and they drive us forward.
“It’s always a scrap in a wet weather game, and we have those scrappy types.”
The win against Ainslie will be followed by a much tougher match against the Southern Cats in Cooma next weekend.
The Cats are in second position, behind Yass, and have only lost one of their seven games to a powerful Woden Blues outfit.
Campbell is wary of the threat posed by the Cats, and knows that his team will have to pull off something special to upset their opponents at their home ground.
“We haven’t come up against them [yet],” Campbell said.
“I think this is gonna be a really good test … they’re a lot like us, they’re really tough to beat on their home ground
“They haven’t lost at their home ground I don’t think … so yeah it’s definitely gonna be a tough match, we’re looking forward to it.”
The challenge that will face the Roos on Saturday is the strength of the Cats’ defence.
“We have a bit of an idea [what to expect],” Campbell said.
“They’re really strong off the half-back line, they like to run and carry the ball and they have a couple of good forwards they deliver to.
“So we’re gonna have to try and negate that.”
However, the strength of the Roos’ midfield should help them negotiate what will be a tricky path into their offensive fifty.
“We’re definitely gonna have to have a plan to work that way,” Campbell said.
“A lot of our midfielders work back, so they’re gonna have to work extra hard this weekend.”
