Daniel Foley struts in for a Junee try.
The engines are up and running now for the Diesels after a second consecutive win, this time against one of Group 9’s powerhouses the Temora Dragons.
The Dragons sit third on the ladder and a win against the Diesels would’ve put them in second on the ladder, on equal points with the Tumut Blues.
Underestimate these Diesels at your peril though, as proven last week in Junee’s triumphed 22-21 victory over Temora.
The spine of Daniel Foley, Jordan Walker, James Strickland and Will McDermott played with the same chemistry as Thomas, Percy, James and Edward with coach Damion Fraser playing the role of Sir Topham Hatt orchestrating the perfect victory for our local men.
Haydn Cowled’s work in the trenches can not be overstated either, since moving from Cootamundra to Junee Haydn has played a number of positions and has been equally effective in all, but back in his favoured position of prop, Cowled shone eating metres against a big Temora forward pack.
Captain/Coach of the Diesels, Foley thought his men gave an excellent effort.
“It’s a massive win for us. We knew Temora was going to give us a tough game, their side is surrounded with quality and they’ve got a great coach.
In saying that we were close for most of the game against them in round one before we had a player sin-binned and the wheels sort of came off us a little bit. The same thing happened last week but the boys kept their heads up, dug in, and got a well-deserved victory,” Foley said.
“It shows the growth amongst the boys, we didn’t come out after half-time in our first game against them but after two training sessions this week and having Damion stress how important it was to play the full 80 minutes, we came out and did that and got the job done.
“The bye this week is good and bad for us. It’s good in the sense that we do have a few niggling injuries that hopefully will be resolved come next week but after getting two massive wins and feeling like our combinations are finally working and starting to gel it’s obviously not ideal, I don’t think it’ll hurt our momentum too much though.”
It has taken the Diesels a bit of chopping and changing to get to where they are now, but Foley says the side that played on the weekend is the group he and Fraser want to play moving forward.
“I think it’s safe to say we’ve found our core that we want to build around, the effort from the team last week was superhuman and everything went according to plan, if we can grow in the last two weeks we will be a tough team to beat.” Foley continued.
Damion Fraser thought the sides’ win was quality and says their newfound form was a long time coming.
“Playing at home everyone’s going to lift; it’s the strongest we’ve been all season and that’s reflecting on the field,” Fraser said.
“We’ve brought on a new wrestling coach who the boys have really responded well, after the big loss to Albury we’ve trained the boys really hard and rather than getting their head down about it they’ve come out and got back to back wins which speaks to our character.
“We’ve had trouble finding a rhythm throughout the season, now that we’ve found some we have a bye which is far from ideal but we will have to deal with it.” Junee Diesels (22) try-scorers, Jese Wainibuli (2), Aidan Sweeney and Daniel Foley, Haydn Cowled 2/4 on conversions, 1/1 penalty goal def Temora Dragons (21) try-scorers, Jared McKinnon (2) and Bradon Taylor (2), Jared McKinnon 2/4 on conversions, Josh McCrone FG. Results around Group 9. Junee Diesels (22) def Temora Dragons (21).
Wagga Kangaroos (50) def Gundagai Tigers (16). Tumut Blues (32) def Albury Thunder (22). Young Cherrypickers and South City Bulls had the bye.
Fixtures around Group 9. Albury Thunder vs Gundagai Tigers. Temora Dragons vs Tumut Blues. Wagga Kangaroos vs Young Cherrypickers. South City Bulls and Junee Diesels have the bye.
Group 9 ladder. 1st. Tumut Blues (16) + 99 2nd. Young Cherrypickers (16) + 54 3rd. Temora Dragons (14) + 57 4th. Wagga Kangaroos (12)) + 75 5th. Albury Thunder (12) + 28 6th. Gundagai Tigers (12) – 18 7th. South City Bulls (8) – 140 8th. Junee Diesels (8) – 155.
Diesels League Taggers Fall to Temora
The Junee Diesels league tag side endured a tough outing at home last weekend, going down to the second-placed Temora Dragons 22-4.
The loss keeps Junee in 7th on the ladder four points out of a finals spot. Unlike their male counterparts, the league tag side will have a game next week against the fourth-placed Wagga Brothers at McDonalds Park in Wagga.
Temora Dragons (22) try-scorers, Emily Perrot (3) and Zoe Bent, Emily Perrot 3/4 on conversions def Junee Diesels (4) try-scorer Kate Foley. Results around Tumblong Hills League Tag. Temora Dragons (22) def Junee Diesels (4).
Wagga Kangaroos (40) def Gundagai Tigers (0). Albury Thunder (14) def Tumut Blues (6). Wagga Brothers (14) def South City Bulls (6). Young Cherrypickers had the bye.
Fixtures around Tumbling Hills League Tag.
Wagga Brothers vs Junee Diesels at McDonalds Park 12:20 pm Saturday. Albury Thunder vs Gundagai Tigers. Temora Dragons vs Tumut Blues. Wagga Kangaroos vs Young Cherrypickers. South City Bulls have the bye.
Tumblong Hills League Tag ladder. 1st. Wagga Kangaroos (20) + 202 2nd. Temora Dragons (17) + 150 3rd. Albury Thunder (16) + 86 4th. Wagga Brothers (14)) + 36 5th. Young Cherrypickers (12) – 14 6th. Tumut Blues (8) – 40 7th. Junee Diesels (6) – 66 8th. South City Bulls (5) -76 9th. Gundagai Tigers (2) – 278.
Diesels Fail to Fire against Cootamundra.
The Cootamundra Bulldogs under 16’s showed how far they’ve come this season with an 18-0 shutout over the Junee Diesels. The result was a complete turnaround from the Sullivan Cup side, who lost their opening game of the season to Junee 22-16.
Cootamundra’s win improves them to third on the ladder and gives them a great chance at holding on to a finals spot.
The Diesels loss has them now sitting at 5th on the ladder. Cootamundra Bulldogs (18), try-scorers, Olly Hall, Toby Tanks, Josh Harris and Kristian Miller. Toby Tanks 1/4 on conversions. Results around the Sullivan Cup. Wagga Kangaroos (34) def Gundagai Tigers (6).
Cootamundra Bulldogs (18) def Junee Diesels (0). Young Cherrypickers, South City Bulls and Albury Thunder had the bye. Fixtures for this week in the Sullivan Cup. Albury Thunder vs Gundagai Tigers. Wagga Kangaroos vs Young Cherrypickers. South City Bulls, Junee Diesels and Cootamundra Bulldogs have the bye. Sullivan Cup ladder. 1st. Young Cherrypickers (20) +94 2nd. Wagga Kangaroos (15) +162 3rd. Cootamundra Bulldogs (14) +22 4th. South City Bulls (14) +2 5th. Junee Diesels (13) -78 6th. Albury Thunder (12) -48 7th. Gundagai Tigers (6) -154.
Tully Potts