Wakelams adjust to challenge with young Barbarians

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This article was published 10/07/2022 (1325 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Haley and Avery Wakelam face a completely new challenge on the rugby pitch.

The sisters from Rivers were key pieces of the Minnedosa Chancellors dynasty, which captured three straight provincial titles from 2017 to 2019 and haven’t done much losing.

Now they’re among the more experienced players on a young Brandon Barbarians women’s side that played its first Rugby Manitoba regular-season home game on Saturday.

The Barbs lost 69-5 to the Wanderers, dropping to 0-2 after a 62-22 defeat to the Wasps in Winnipeg in the season opener.

“It’s definitely tough, especially coming from three years of winning every game,” said Haley Wakelam, who plays scrum-half. “It’s more about getting people out to practice, learning more about the game and working together because that’s how we won.

“… We were really close. A lot of us Rivers girls came together and decided to go for it. We were a close team, we practised a lot, played a lot together, knew a lot of things about each other.”

Avery echoes her sister’s thoughts. The five-foot-two inside centre graduated a year after Haley in 2020, so COVID-19 dashed her chance to string four consecutive provincial crowns. Avery said the family feeling coaches Kathleen Muirhead, Cody Pollon and Matt Pentecost established with the Chancellors is part of why she’s still playing today.

“You keep growing with these people and even new people, you bring them under your wing and it’s a whole family vibe,” Avery said, adding her sister naturally instils that.

“She does so much good. A lot of bringing people together, making sure people know what they’re doing and she’s very understanding of people. She’s not going to yell at you because you’re being bad, she’s going to talk you through it and help you through, especially the younger kids.”

Kerri Nerbas scored Brandon’s lone try.

The Barbs’ return to the women’s league is significant in itself as they hadn’t played a regular-season game since 2018. They took 2019 off, then COVID hit and their numbers were down as a generally older squad stepped away. Coach Bryce Colquhoun said the focus has been on recruiting high school players and Brandon University club players and reestablishing youth teams to set themselves up for future seasons.

Brandon’s fielding two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old against some veteran-laden squads.

“The biggest thing for right now is getting everybody out to practice,” Colquhoun said. “We’re getting amazing numbers out to games but in practice, we’re getting about 13, and it’s just tough to get that cohesion as a unit, which we saw a lot of (Saturday).

“We’re trying to get passes, trying to get things going, then with the heat today, as soon as players started getting injured or needing to come out, suddenly I’m putting players in positions they’ve never played before and that’s tough.”

Colquhoun’s leaning on the Wakelams and Bobcats Mary Hughes and Kaedynce Tuttosi to help develop the group around them.

“Those four, they’re always at practice, they’ve played together for a long time on different teams and they’re able to work really well together,” he said. “That’s part of why we’ve put them as our 8, 9, 10, 12, debatably four of the most important positions on the field all working together.”

The schedule doesn’t get much easier in the near future with a road game against the Assassins — who are 1-2 but have outscored opponents 102-42 — this Saturday, then a rematch at home on July 23.

The easier contests don’t come until later, but Avery Wakelam is maintaining perspective with her developing team.

“Personally, me, I’m not worried about winning,” she said. “I’m more worried about myself keeping my team, not beating people down, bringing people up. I hope our whole team, yeah we want to win but we also want to do things good because if there’s only one strong person, we’re not a strong team altogether.

“I love this team. I love the vibe, even after the game. We’re not playing together but we’re still together. There’s a lot of love in this community.”

In the men’s exhibition game, the Barbs downed the Wanderers 43-17.

Dustin Everett and Cayden Brown had a pair of tries each while Tyler Colquhoun scored once and dished to Michael Gohl for another.

Bryson McNish connected on four converts.

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