Club: Mounties
Finished: 5th
Record: 14-10 (+157)
Players Used in 2014: 42
Season Highlight: Their four game winning streak to start the season which saw them out score opponents 154-54
Season Lowlight: Three consecutive home losses between rounds 13-15 to Wenty, Wyong and Illawarra
Summary: There was no hotter side in the VB NSW Cup over the opening six weeks than Mounties. Sitting atop of the competition ladder with a 5-1 record with their lone loss coming at the hands of the eventual premiers Penrith.
But as it does too many sides, injuries and NRL call ups started to wear on the side’s ability to string consistent performances together and as a result Mounties fell back into the clutches of the chasing pack.
Two wins in their last three clashes was not enough to see them secure a top four finish as they missed out on fourth spot to the Cutters by virtue of for and against by just three miserly points.
Despite a week one finals loss to the Warriors, there was plenty to like about their season with a number of players garnering plenty of opportunities at both VB NSW Cup and NRL level.
Matt Allwood, Mitch Cornish and Jeremy Hawkins all debuted for the Raiders in 2014 while a number of other Mounties regulars also spent plenty of time in the top grade at differing times. A number of other young talents continued to hone their skills as well with players like Jack Ahearn, Mosese Pangai and Tevita Pangai Jnr all playing some stellar football at times in the VB NSW Cup.
The club prides itself on bringing its non-Raiders affiliated players through the grades as required and given that both their Sydney Shield and Ron Massey Cup sides contested Grand Finals in 2014, there is obviously plenty of talent on the books at the club.
Players like Dave Cahalane, Matt Place, Kurt Horton and Adam Tangata all mixed time between the Ron Massey Cup and VB NSW Cup and never looked out of place when they stepped up to the higher grade.
Some individual achievements worth noting was the league leading 20 tries scored by Sami Sauiluma for the club while Mark Nicholls, Jake Foster, Mitch Cornish and Jack Ahearn all represented the VB NSW Cup Representative side up at Suncorp Stadium earlier in the year. Both Sami Sauiluma and Jake Foster were also named in the 2014 VB NSW Cup Team of the Year.
In what must be viewed as good news for Mounties moving forward, it was announced recently that the Raiders would be discontinuing their association with Souths Logan in the Intrust Super Cup meaning that as of this moment Mounties would be their sole feeder club in 2015.
Moving forward, expect Mounties to be there or thereabouts once again next season particularly in light of the news mentioned above which could see them get up to an additional four or five Raiders contracted players each and every week.
Conclusion: A pretty good season but fell off the pace late in the piece and ultimately that cost them a top four finish and resulted in a week one finals loss to the Warriors
Score: 7.5/10
