SOUTHERN Beaches coach Johan Lourens has never had this type of strike power at his disposal.
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The Delore brothers – Michael, Adrian, Andrew and Martin – are among the best play-makers and finishers in the competition.
All are capable of winning games – and have – on their own.
Fly-half Michael collected the Anderson Medal last season and is again one of the leading contenders for the player of the year.
Fullback Adrian, a former Australian sevens development squad member, has scored 12 tries in 13 games.
Since the club’s promotion, the four siblings have provided much of Beaches’ attacking spark.
They remain integral, but now they have some helpers.
Powerhouse outside centre James Vaka made two massive plays in Beaches’ 28-19 triumph over Lake Macquarie at Walkers Park on Saturday.
Against the run of play, Vaka darted down the short side, used brilliant footwork to bamboozle two defenders and then slipped an inside ball for Adrian Delore to race 50 metres untouched and put the visitors ahead 7-0 after 22 minutes in which they had little possession.
Then, with 20 minutes remaining and Beaches up 21-19, Vaka produced a solo effort from a scrum. He received the ball on the outside shoulder of opposite Caileb Gerrard, produced a fend and then skipped out of the tackle before beating the cover in a 40-metre dash to the tryline.
“This is probably the best backline the club has had from a strike power point of view,” Lourens said. “Everybody adds something different. James is going from strength to strength.”
Vaka joined Beaches to “play with family” after two seasons at Newcastle Rugby League club Lakes United, highlighted by a premiership in 2015.
A NSW Schoolboys rugby union representative in 2011, he had spent three years at NRL club Manly, playing in the under-20s, before joining Lakes.
”I enjoyed rugby league and playing with Lakes,” he said. “I decided to make the switch to union to play with family. Tim Poese and Filis (Pauta) are my cousins. I’m definitely not moving from here. The club got me a job and have been good to me.”
Beaches’ win ended a five-game winning streak for Lake Macquarie and gave them a 12-point hold on third spot from the Roos.
They are away to the Waratahs next and then meet heavy-hitters Wanderers (home) and Hamilton (a).
“We are still about 30 per cent away from where we want to be,” Lourens said. “The next couple of weeks is very important for us to chip away.”
Lake Macquarie gave as good as they got for much of the contest. Fly-half Brendan Holliday was class and their rough-and-tumble forward pack constantly got over the advantage line.
However, they were let down by execution, especially in the first half when they dominated possession.
“We are not that far off competing with the top teams,” coach Tim Chidgey. “We just lack patience. We left a dozen points out there in the first half. We wanted to score off every phase. You are not going to beat the good teams doing that. We have some good footballer here, we just have to put it together.”