A CHANGE in identity did little to stop Port City Breakers momentum in this year’s Group 3 competition.
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On a day where the club celebrated its heritage and swapped their well-known colours for those of their traditional colours, the Breakers were never in danger during a 26-4 defeat of Wingham.
The Tigers went into the match missing a handful of experienced players including Kurt Lewis and centre Tim Bridge.
They rarely challenged the undefeated Breakers who continued their perfect season.
Centre Jarrod Robbins starred for the home side, scoring two tries in his best performance of the season.
Coach Dan Kemp was impressed with his effort after doubting he would play this season following a serious blood infection earlier in the season.
“It put him out for eight weeks and we weren’t sure if he’d be back,” Kemp said.
“It effected him a lot and he’s a big boy and lost a lot of weight because of it, but he’s back now and played well.
“It took him a little bit to come back to form after the injury but that was definitely his best game for us this year.”
On a day more suited to the forwards, the Breakers changed their free-wheeling attacking style of play for a more safer, mistake-free approach.
“We couldn’t play our usual way, we didn’t shift too much, we didn’t use shape, we just played really old school,” Kemp said.
“We banged it up through the middle and kicked to the corner.
“It was probably their most impressive win in terms of sticking to the script.
“We wanted to play that safe wet weather footy, but with that you don’t create too many opportunities so the score doesn’t become too flattering.
“We played a really good wet weather brand of footy.”
Five-eighth and captain Ben Stewart led the side around with his kicking game and Kemp was even afforded the luxury of giving his playmaker an early mark.
“Benny Stewart controlled things for us and we were fortunate enough to let him have some time off, the old fella,” he said.
“He got an early shower with about 30 minutes to go. He’s getting old.”
Kemp conceded his side would face their toughest challenge this season when they clash with Port Macquarie Sharks next weekend.
The coach still believes they pose the greatest threat to the Breakers’ quest of claiming back-to-back premierships.
“They are a strong club and I don’t think anyone ever thought they wouldn’t be there,” he said.
“They just had that unlucky run at the start with injuries, but they’ve been there and done that as a club, so I’ve got no doubt they’ll be there.
“But we don’t get caught up in thinking about the other mob too much, we just worry about trying to reach our expectations of ourselves and getting to the level we think we can.”