Banishing the mid-season Blues

The home turf comfort was on clear display for the Blues, who beat the visitors 28-10 in an exciting offensive spree that resulted in six tries to the opposition’s two.

Despite a self-described “mid-season slump”, captain Tyler Stevens says he is pleased with the squad’s progress and recovery leading into finals.

“It was an important win for us,” he said.

“We had a bit of a mid-season slump and we’re not using it as an excuse but there are plenty of reasons behind that in regards to key players being injured, players playing out of position and then we could never get that continuity amongst the team.

“But I’m pretty happy with the timing of it, because we still have five weeks left of footy and we’re coming off two wins so even though we’re sitting third, I’m pretty happy with where we are at and hopefully we can keep building each game now that we have a full team back for the first time.”

The Blues began the season spectacularly, posting a string of strong victories and avoiding a loss until round 7 when they came up against the West Belconnen Warriors. The game proved costly to Queanbeyan, resulting in their winger’s leg being broken, the loss of their key half, and Stevens himself missing out on a fortnight’s worth of matches due to a knee issue.

“We started off really well in the season, but since that period - due to injuries - we have lost that momentum,” Stevens said.

“I think it is within our own selves to get that momentum back and that’s just by grinding out these wins, like we just have.

“We pretty much have all home games leading into the finals from now, so I think we will make a pretty strong run home for the finals to be honest.”

AT A GLANCE

Queanbeyan Blues 28 (L Branighan, M Cullen, J Martin, T Stevens, A Tulolo, J Ulrick tries; E Malu 2 goals) beat Belconnen United 10 (K Sione, S Tupuola tries; D Eason goal)