A sense of urgency surrounds St. Albert’s first 15 on the eve of today’s home opener against the Druids.
Labelled as the team that can’t win the big game, the Alberta Cup provincial finalists the last two years are anxious to put their past failures behind them.
“We need to perform. We’ve had two seasons where we’ve shown that we can be the best in the province but we haven’t come away with any hardware. It’s essential we work towards that goal this year,” said a stern-looking Brian Pendlebury, the men’s club captain, prior to Thursday’s training session at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club (SARFC). “We don’t want to be known as the team that never did anything. We need to prove it to this club and our dedicated fans that we can bring home some hardware for them.”
Back-to-back Alberta Cup pennants while posting overall records of 13-1 last year and 13-3-1 in 2008 aren’t good enough for the premier men.
“We need to prove to ourselves that we can get the job done. That’s what we’re working towards, starting on Saturday,” Pendlebury said.
The 3 p.m. kickoff caps off the tripleheader against the Sherwood Park-based club at the Leading Edge Physiotherapy Fields. The Edmonton Rugby Union’s (ERU) third division contest starts at 12:30 p.m. and the Alberta premier women’s tilt scrums down at 1 p.m.
“We’re excited to get things going. There should be a lot of fans out.”
Next Saturday the first, second and third 15s battle the rival Clansmen at SARFC. The firsts close out the May fixtures with a grudge match against the Hornets in Calgary during rodeo weekend. The Hornets stung the firsts 24-22 in the provincial final in front of a pro-St. Albert crowd at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
“For the first month we won’t have any of the imports so it will be a good time for some of the Canadian players to show their stuff.”
British eight-man Byron Elliott, the team’s MVP and scoring star with 22 tries, and New Zealand hooker Callum Wilson — key players with the firsts — will not be back.
Led by standout flanker Kyle Gilmour, the ERU’s MVP in 2009, the main core remains intact that limited teams to 10 or fewer points six times while posting two shutouts during 13 straight wins. They also exploded for 50 or more points in five wins.
The only question mark is the kicking game, specifically converting penalties. The lack of consistency booting the ball through the posts against the Hornets was a major sore spot in an otherwise solid effort by the firsts in a losing cause.
“So far the team is looking great. There have been a couple of changes but not many. We should be in good shape,” said Pendlebury.
In his second season in St. Albert, the lanky second row was recognized as the most improved player on the first 15.
“It meant a lot to me, especially as one of the Canadian players on our team because it’s often really tough getting a spot. There are also so many athletic guys on the team and any spot on this team has to be deserved. It’s not something that can be taken for granted.”
Pendlebury, 27, has assumed a bigger leadership role by taking over the captaincy reins from veteran prop Graham Noren, one of the handful of players remaining from the 18-1 Lor-Ann Cup province second division championship team in 2007.
“It’s just a matter of contribution. I figure this club has done a lot for me so it’s about time I give back,” said Pendlebury, who helped spearhead a spring clean-up fundraising drive by the men’s program to cover three bus trips to Calgary for league fixtures and hopefully the provincial final in September.
The Ottawa product, who played beer league rugby in Seoul, South Korea before moving to Alberta in 2007, has embraced the pride and passion that is synonymous with SARFC.
“It’s pretty apparent that it’s all about community in St. Albert. It starts right inside this clubhouse where we’re all in this together, from the fans to the players. We put on a really exciting type of rugby game that people want to come watch and then when we finish our game we get to meet everyone’s family and friends,” said the social studies teacher at Hillcrest junior high school. “We have such a community built around here that no one wants to let each other down. We’re all so competitive that we depend on each other and we look to each other for every game we have on the weekend.”
