It’s hard to say whether Ben Wood or his second-row mentor and Maitland Blacks captain Mick Howell was more excited when the 19-year-old scored in his first grade debut on Saturday against Southern Beaches.
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Howell raced across the field to hug Wood in celebration as the youngster opened the score for Maitland soon after making a crunching tackle.
“I reckon I was more excited than young Woody when he got that try. I raced across to congratulate him, the whole team was so wrapped for him,” Howell said.
“He is a quieter sort of bloke. He is one of those guys who rips in and get the job done but doesn’t make any fuss about it.
“He trained the house down over summer and he deserved his debut when Trav (Travis Brooke) wasn’t able to start.
“Woody has been like a sponge, he listens to all the suggestions Trav and I have passed his way and is always keen to ask how he can go about things.”
Wood said it was a thrill to be selected for his first grade debut, along with Jock Barry, and to score a try was incredible.
“I think it made it a bit easier having Jock play his first game as well,” he said of the hooker who has retained his place after a strong game.
“I was wrapped to score the try. I think the way all the boys came across to congratulate me was the best part of it all.
I reckon I was more excited than young Woody when he got that try.
- Michael Howell
“It was great to start with someone like Mick beside you. I have been learning so much from him and Trav at training but to be able to follow his lead on the field gave me so much more confidence that I could do the job.”
Thankfully, Wood is a quick learner as he found himself without his mentor five minutes into the second-half when Howell went down in agony with an ankle injury.
The news on Howell is good with the former NSW Country representative likely to only be sidelined for two weeks, a month at worst, with the ankle injury and slight hamstring trouble.
“We were all pretty shocked when Mick went down. He has had no luck with injury and we all felt for him. I also knew that I was going to be thrust into a much bigger role,” Wood said.
“Thankfully I had that first half playing beside him. When he went off I just decided to knuckle down and do what he did.”
Howell could not have been prouder of Wood’s performance.
“In the dressing rooms before the game I said to him ‘to just concentrate on his role, not to feel pressured into having to prove himself and to make a statement early in the game with a tackle or something like that against your opposite number’, “ Howell said.
“Just before he scored the try he nailed an opponent with a big tackle. You saw him lift and he just calmly crossed when presented with the opportunity to score.”
Howell said the Blacks come-from-behind win playing with 14 men against Southern Beaches on Saturday would give the club an enormous confidence going into the season.
The Blacks were reduced to 14-men when left-flanker Alastair Fraser was red-carded for a spear-tackle 10 minutes before half-time.
“The difference between us this year and last was that we would have probably folded last year going down to 14-men and then striking injuries. We would have probably lost by 30 points rather than coming from behind and winning,” Howell said.
“The whole group stood up and Carl Manu and Willy Soe were fantastic in their on-field leadership. Willy and James Robinson both played 80-minutes in the front row it was a fantastic effort and Ryan (McCormack) steered the ship really well.
“Carl and Willy are going to be huge assets this year. If Carl can win the Anderson Medal coaching a team and trying to keep it afloat on top of playing, imagine what he can do if he only has to play.”
Fraser copped a two-week ban after taking an early guilty plea for a spear tackle.
“Alastair is the last person who would do anything like that deliberately. He just got caught in one of those situations where he had lifted the player and momentum took over,” Howell said..
The Blacks have received some good news on the injury front, with hugely talented No.9 Max Stafford back in the line-up this week and Brooke training.
On the downside fullback and co-captain Chris Logan is unavailable for this week’s home game against Wanderers.
The experienced Jono Wotton comes into the second-row beside Wood and former Anderson Medal winner Nick Davidson replaces Fraser at left-flank
Meanwhile, it will be a huge day at Marcellin Park with the first game on the resurfaced No.1 ground.
The Blacks poured in more than $30,000 in ground improvements over the summer and a team led by Dan Leadley spent countless hours to ensure it flourished.
