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Baby Rhinos become giant killers
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Vanessa Lawandos
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In the beginning they were only little five and six-year-old kids wanting to play a game; they chose rugby league.
From learning how to tackle, they now won’t stop! From taking a step away instead of receiving the ball, they now fight over it!
The team started with Lee Ungaro and Michelle Butler - two fantastic female coaches as Under 6s in 2008. They also had two excellent trainers Darryl Lawandos and Sam Williams.
It was a cute team that had talented players. There was Charlie Sharp and Brody Howard, only aged four and five, showing talent and commitment in every game they played. Then and even up 'til today, they were known as ‘The Mighty Tackling Twins’!
While Joey Nohra, Sam Kanaan, and Daniel Besgrove were scoring like crazy, Sam Kanaan became the first ever Under 6 player to be awarded the Scott Gale Trophy for Mini Player of the Year.
 Huey Bell and Jayden Lawandos just kept running through people. Jayden was named 'The Bulldozer'!’ Other players were Jayden (Jay Jay) Petersen, Ewan Anderson, Marley Besgrove, Matty and Simon Dodd’s, Toby Kemp and Matty Simmons.  
After a year of excellence the team split due to the age differences between players. Jayden Lawandos, Daniel Besgrove, Marley Besgrove and Sam Kanaan went up to the under 7s, while the rest got to play another year in Under 6s with the Golds or Maroons.
The Under 7s became a little team of 10 but were still very mighty! As new and talented players joined the team, they dominated. The new players where Max Dominello, Jack Campbell, Jerome Kandalaft, Cameron Coros, Jayden Moujali and James Donnison. But the team ended up losing a committed, caring and football-loving Coach Michelle to the 6 Golds. 
Working hard at training paid off. The team won many games and enjoyed an exceptional season but unfortunately wasn't able to snatch a grand final title on Benny Elias day!
Luckily, the 2010 season came around quickly. The team lost their coach, Lee, and a couple of players. Not to worry, though, as always the Rhinos had a little back-up plan: enter not one but two new coaches in Sam Williams and Dee aka Darryl Lawandos. With more hard work and commitment under these two, the side learned skills, acquired a sense of accomplishment, got fit and mentally prepared. Finally, the boys were ready for the year of RHINOS!
As far as minis football goes, 2010 was possibly the best year for Holy Cross ever. On August 21, the U6s, U7s and U8s all won the title of 9th Annual Benny Elias Shield champion and, truly, every single boy played like a mini Benny on the day.
But for the U8s, there was one special performance from Henry O’Kane. With the pressure mounting on the Rhino’s against the more fancied Concord-Burwood
Gold, Gold, Gold         
Rhinos Claim Historic Trifecta
Holy Cross savoured a rare achievement in winning all three trophies at the 2010 Balmain DJRL Benny Elias Shield gala day.
In fact, the trifecta was unprecedented in the popular tournament’s 8-year history.
The Rhinos collected the Under 6, Under 7 and Under 8 titles in fine style from a record pool of more than 40 local teams.
As always, Tiger, Kangaroo and Rhino legend Ben Elias was himself on hand at Frank Street to present the spoils to each of the winning sides, as well as honour several of the young Rhinos players who took out individual awards on the day.
Pocket-dynamo Cooper Wheelhouse won Under 6 Player of the Series after his side downed Strathfield Raiders 7 tries to 5 in the final. His cover-defending cousin, Mason Wheelhouse, collected the same award in the Under 7s after the Rhinos edged the Raiders 1-0 in their decider. And outstanding Holy Cross Under 8 player Daniel Besgrove made it another three-in-a-row, when he also earned Player of the Series honours in his team’s tense 4-3 victory over Concord-Burwood.
Over the years, the Shield, in each of its age divisions, has been won by a total of nine clubs. Until this season, Holy Cross had been clinging to a narrow hold on the title of ‘most successful’ among this group. However, we now own nine of the 24 shields that have been contested to Concord-Burwood’s five.
Concord (2003) and the Rhinos (2005 and 2006) had both previously managed to win two shields in the same season but our 2010 clean sweep was a first.
Wolves and scores locked at 4 tries a piece and 10 seconds till full time, Henry called for the ball. With an angry look on his face, and a fierce will to win for his team and club, he grabbed the ball, gave the biggest Concord boy a don't-argue palm and crashed over to score the winning try. The full time siren sounded and the crowd went wild. Coach D jumped in the air like he was in the the 'Oh what a feeling, Toyota' ad, while the joy on Sam's face was priceless. The whole Holy Cross hill erupted as the boys sang out:
We are the RHINOS, We are the RHINOS, The mighty, mighty RHINOS
The mighty, mighty RHINOS. Get out of our way, Get out of our way
'Cause we're comin' for ya, 'Cause we're comin' for ya. RHINOS, RHINOS RHINOS ... GOOOO RHINOS!
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POSTSCRIPT 2011 | The Nine Golds, featuring many of the same boys, had a difficult start to their first season in Mod Footy. They struggled for numbers at times and found themselves in a competition that made it hard to build any sort of winning momentum. By mid-season, however, they were showing signs of coming back to their best. After a particulalrly stirring win, assistant coach Kevin O'Kane penned the boys an open letter of congratulations and encouragement: 
"Daz couldn’t contain himself and rang me straight after the game," Kevin wrote.
"I’m really proud of you guys. I hope you are all starting to realise that we are a great team, not a team of one or two champions. You didn’t need Henry, Max, Will and Harry for this game and you still beat one of the best teams in the comp. The improvement each week in your individual skills is a pleasure to be a part of. Daz tells me little Sam was in everything. Connor was on fire again and Daniel is starting to hit that rare Daniel form at the right time of the year. Tommy gets better with each game of league he plays. The big men are getting better each week. Its not just Jayden or Henry running over people, Josh is realizing he is a very tough hombre to tackle. Tristan is slowly learning is possibly the hardest guy to tackle in our team. Jamie is teaching the team that you can have all the skill in the world but he brings pure courage and heart to the field – he actually hates being tackled more than any human I’ve seen. Big Connor is starting to learn that his presence scares kids; add hard running to that and we have another weapon! George is a pure worker, just what the doctor ordered – a real Hindmarsh or a Hardwick (just for you diehard Tigers) – I like to think of him as more of a Dean Lance (restoring the Raiders balance).
Well done – cant wait for training so we can learn some new plays and keep the opposition guessing which one of our strike players is the one to mark. I’d hate to coach against you guys, because when you guys all show up and are ready to play you are hard to beat.
Remember the goals you set for yourselves that you committed to with me and Darryl and to your team mates."
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