Article courtesy of by John A. Lewis, Burlington County Times reporter. Photos courtesy of Dennis McDonald Burlington County Times, and Marvin Dangerfield Photography.
The days second match pitted the USA All-Stars against the Auckland Metropolitan Police forces Rugby League team, The Fencibles, who were completing a three-match tour of the United States.
It was supposed to be four matches, Fencibles coach Tony Feasey said, but unfortunately, the Warriors reached the final. Well, fortunately for them. But we are here to support them as a sister club. The New Zealand squad was 3-0 on its tour, but Feasey, who was with the team on a swing through the states in 2006, said he has seen a lot of improvement in the level of play in the last two years. There is a huge difference in the standard of football, Feasey said. Between David Niu (the Bulls chief executive officer, who played for the U.S. All-Stars) and the mix of Australian boys, and the Kiwi boys they have got around him in the clubs, the standard is just raised. More Americans have taken to the game. We have just come from Jacksonville, and the ordinary public was just loving the football there, because the standard has just raised. It hasnt raised to a level the Fencibles cant handle, though. They built an 18-4 lead on the All-Stars in the first half and went on to post a 46-12 victory. The Allstars featured a number of returning players from retirement to honor the development of Rugby League in America with Jeff Preston, Shayne Mains, Ryan McGough, Ben Kelly and a host of other club stalwarts taking on a much younger Police team. They opened the game with the haka dance, a tradition of the Maori people of New Zealand. It is a series of postures, and then gestures, with shouted accompaniment. They repeated the dance on behalf of their sister squad prior to the championship game. After that, the New Zealand squad and the U.S. All-Stars adjourned to their spots along the pitch and partook of some beer and camaraderie. This was the 11th Cup Final in league history. All of them have involved the Bulls, who have won six national championships. It was the first hosted by Fort Dix, but you might see the event return in the near future. It is not as big a crowd as we hoped, but its the first year here, and we are fighting against great weather, so people want to do other things, said Bob Vogt, the bases Community Recreation director. But you are seeing some great rugby here. And if they want to come back, we will have it back. Vogt said the details had come together over the last eight months. We had a professional wrestling show in January, he said. And one of the security guards was Chris Cole. He said how would you like to have a rugby exhibition here? And we didn't have an exhibition; we ended up with the national championship. We do things big, here. In addition to being an introduction for servicemen and residents of Fort Dix to the sport, the event was a farewell to some of the older players on the U.S. All-Star squad. Ryan McGough, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., fits into that category. But when the ball came out to the wing in the closing minutes, he grabbed a pitch and bolted the last 40 meters for the final try of the game. It felt great, he said. Marty O'Donoghue got the ball and he sucked two guys in far enough away from me, and I was able to get it in. It was good to be out here with the guys I started in the league with, and do it one more time with them, but I was definitely hoping for a better result. McGough, the Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Fight Rugby League Club, said he would leave the fight to the younger players from now on. It was great to play again, but I am definitely too old to be out there mixing it up with guys that do this for a living anymore.
