Group 9 Rugby League: Wagga Kangaroos move back into top five with crucial victory over Cootamundra

A flurry of points either side of half time proved the difference as the Wagga Kangaroos moved back inside the Group 9 top five with a 28-12 victory over fellow finals contender Cootamundra at Geohex Park on Saturday.

After Chantz Carey crossed for the first try 35 minutes in, two further tries either side of the break to Hayden Jolliffe and Joel Kelly opened up a 20-0 lead, which proved too large for the Bulldogs to run down, setting up a must-win clash for the Kangaroos against Young next weekend.

Kangaroos coach Zeik Foster said he was pleased with the opening 40 minutes, but was not getting carried away by the result given his side’s inconsistency throughout the year.

“[I’m] really happy with today, [but] we have been disappointing with our consistency, so we’re not looking too far ahead,” he said.

“The first half, I was really proud of, [but in the] second half we gave away too many penalties, made ourselves tackle more than we needed to, which was disappointing, but to keep fighting, find our way back in the grind and score a couple late was pleasing.

“I know we’re in the five at the moment, but that can change quickly, so we have just got to do what we can this week at training to put our best foot forward against Young.”

After neither side was able to cross in a ferocious opening 25 minutes, it was a James Smart penalty goal which broke the deadlock.

That seemed to kickstart the Kangaroos, with Carey crossing against the run of play nine minutes later, before a brilliant ball from Foster sent back rower Jolliffe over for a 14-0 half time advantage.

Not done with one try assist, Foster doubled up on the other side of the break, dabbling a delicate kick for Kelly to pounce upon and extend the home side’s lead to 20 points.

The Bulldogs struck back to open their account soon after, with Sam Bragg crossing for the side’s first, followed by an aerial effort from Ned Murray off an Ollie Hall kick, with the centre taking a pack mark that wouldn’t have looked out of place down the road at Robertson Oval to cut the margin to eight.

However, the status quo resumed soon after, with dynamic dummy half Wil Hurst being rewarded for his energetic contribution with a try off a break from Smart, before Kelly put the icing on the Kangaroo cake in the corner to seal the 16-point win.

Aside from those who had an impact on the scoresheet, another major contributor to the victory was Kangaroos prop James Hay, who more than held his own against the big Cootamundra front row combination of Nikola Sovatabua and Tai Vaavale.

Foster had plenty of praise for Hay’s efforts, which saw him take out the side’s players’ player award, as well as the performance of lock Shane Hannam.

“Coota have a really good pack, they’re very physical, we spoke about that leading into the game, and I thought Jimmy Hay was really good there, along with Shane Hannam as well in the middle,” Foster said.

“[I was] really pleased with those two boys’ games.”

The win also gives the Kangaroos a fairly simple equation to qualify for the finals, with their superior for-and-against compared to the Bulldogs and fellow contenders Southcity meaning a victory against Young at Alfred Oval on Saturday will put the side in the box seat to play finals, though their fate is not completely in their own hands.

Despite the Cherrypickers being on the wrong end of a 56-10 result against Gundagai heading into the clash, Foster said he is more focused on ensuring the Kangaroos bring their A-game for what is traditionally one of the competition’s toughest road trips.

“[We’re] not looking too much into Young and their results, we just need to focus on what we are doing,” he said.

“I think we have been guilty this year of looking too far ahead and not worrying about what our job is at hand first, so we will just be focusing on ourselves and our preparation.”

Meanwhile, the result means Cootamundra’s finals destiny is also no longer in its own hands, with the side needing to await the outcome of the Kangaroos’ trip to Young to fully understand the equation heading into its final round clash with another Wagga side in Southcity.

Bulldogs coach Luke Berkrey said he hadn’t looked too far into different scenarios, whilst also conceding that a stronger first half from the Kangaroos put his side on the back foot in what was a golden opportunity to seal a finals spot.

“[I] probably haven’t given it too much thought just yet, I just focused in on today’s game, but obviously we know now the equation in front of us,” he said.

“I guess we sit and watch Saturday with everything crossed that Young can do a job for us and keep us alive.

“We had the opportunity there, but I felt like Roos were the better team today actually, so they probably deserved to beat us, they just had a heap more energy in that first half.

“We really gave ourselves a chance, pulled ourselves back into it, but in the end they probably ran us off our legs to be honest.”In other round 15 results, Southcity brought itself right back into top five calculations with a massive points differential-boosting 72-6 win over cross-town rivals Wagga Brothers, while Junee sealed third spot with an 18-4 triumph over Tumut, and Temora secured a big result of its own heading into next week’s minor premiership showdown against the Tigers with a 64-10 victory over Albury.

The Group 9 ladder is: Temora (22 points, +237 differential), Gundagai (22, +195), Junee (20), Young (17), Wagga Kangaroos (14, +16), Southcity (14, -12), Cootamundra (14, -20), Albury (10), Tumut (8), Brothers (5).

Illawarra & South Coast scores

Looking locally in South Coast Group 7, Albion Park-Oak Flats returned to winning form against with a 34-6 victory over Shellharbour Sharks, while Kiama downed Nowra-Bomaderry 50-6, Gerringong defeated Milton-Ulladulla 62-0, Jamberoo Superoos beat Warilla-Lake South 48-16 and Stingrays Shellharbour powered past Berry-Shoalhaven Heads 72-18.Illawarra action saw wins to Collegians against Corrimal 18-16, Sutherland-Loftus over Wests 40-10, and ladder leader Thirroul, which downed Dapto 32-30.

Editor’s Note: You can find more sports coverage by Tallon Smith on battlersforbushfooty.com