Chelsea Crowder runs down the wing to score one of her three tries.
The Junee Diesels as a Club may have endured a tough weekend for the most part heading into Wagga on Sunday, with the league tag side the only one to take points home after 80 minutes against the Kangaroos.
The ladies were dominant against a hapless ‘Roos side, securing a comfortable 66-0 win.
President of the Diesels, David Holt, thought the girls were the lone shining light of the day.
“It’s sensational to see the ladies league tag in that position. Kangaroos have been a very good
side for a very long time, and that scoreline, well, it wasn’t that long ago that the Diesels league tag
side were getting beaten by Kangaroos by that much,” Holt said.
“It’s good to see what turns around and goes around.
“It was good to see the girls come up with that, they played very well.
“They had some good passages of play in both attack and defence, with the scoreline being zero from Kangaroos, really showcasing just how dominant they were.
“The girls beat Southcity to get their first win, and then Brothers and Temora got over the top
of them, so it’s good to have things back on an even keel.”
Holt is hopeful the women can make the finals.
“I’d say the girls will be looking to make the finals this year. They’d be hoping for a better position than what they were last year, and they made the finals,” he continued.
“The girls just played well as a team, but Abbey Field, Georgia Carroll, and Anabelle Willis all had very good games.
“The outside backs, just the way they moved the ball, were pretty to watch.”
Group 9 League Tag Ladder.
1. Wagga Brothers, 8pts, 144.
2. Tumut Blues, 8pts, 84.
3. Cootamundra Bullettes, 6pts, 106.
4. Temora Dragons, 6pts, 98.
5. Junee Diesels, 4pts, 44.
6. Gundagai Tigerettes, 4pts, -6.
7. South City Bulls, 2pts, -68.
8. Albury Thunder, 2pts, – 98.
9. Young Cherrypickers, 0pts, -118.
10. Wagga Kangaroos, 0pts, -186.
Group 9 League Tag Draw
Saturday, May 17 – Sunday, May 18.
Wagga Brothers vs Cootamundra Bullettes.
Temora Dragons vs Wagga Kangaroos.
Tumut Blues vs Junee Diesels Saturday 10:00 am at Twickenham Oval, Tumut.
Young Cherrypickers vs South City Bulls.
Albury Thunder vs Gundagai Tigerettes.
Roos too strong for injury-riddled Diesels
The Wagga Kangaroos claimed top of the Group 9 ladder heading into round five off the heels of a 58-0 flogging of the Junee Diesels.
The Diesels were valiant in defeat, with many of their players backing up from reserve grade and under-18s to fill the holes of their injured players. Holt is optimistic that the Diesels will have more players on deck this week.
“We started the season with plenty of depth in our senior ranks, and when you are losing four or five blokes each week through injury, it gets used up pretty quickly,” he said.
“One of the players that took the field in First Grade, they’d already had a game, whether it be 18’s or Reserve Grade, and unfortunately, that is where we are at. Where we had a fair bit of depth, now that depth is gone. We are relying on blokes backing up.”
“Hopefully, James Croyden comes back in, Jacob Holt, there are a few blokes that have one or two weeks off with their injuries, and they will come back into it.
“Tumut won 28-26 against South City.
“Based on our previous games against them, we are in with a good shot against Tumut. If we get these players back, things could turn around this weekend.
“The Southcity match, we were just a bit unlucky in the later stages, there was just a 20-minute period where the game got away from the boys.
“I think they are up to the task of giving it a pretty good crack this week against Tumut.
“They haven’t played Kangaroos, Young or Temora yet, whereas we’ve played Wagga and Temora, so we’re hopeful we can give them a great go.”
The Diesels will look tobe stronger defensively after conceding such a big score.
“We just tighten up a few little things in defence.You really can’t put a negative into it. There were a lot of players who were fairly gassed because they had played a couple of games,” Holt continued.
“There are a couple of young blokes coming up through the ranks that over the last couple of years have worked through the Junee system – Sammy Sainsbury, a second rower, is always solid out wide in both attack and defence week in, week out.
“Another young bloke that has come up out of last year’s 18’s is Jhye Williams. He is only going to get better. He’s had a few solid games already.
“It’s something that we’ve concentrated on. Player development is a big part of the Diesel’s strategic plan going forward, starting back in 2022 and looking long-term future rather than a band-aid on top of a band-aid solution.
“We’ve still got that mixture of players that we’ve bought in from outside, just to fill in a couple of key positions, just as that player development progresses.”
Holt looks forward to welcoming Chase Bernard and Ben Shea into the Diesels system in just over a month.
“They bring a lot of leadership and their experience at that top level of rugby league, you can’t put a price on that, what they will teach those young fellas and the way they encourage the players around them as well. They have got a good rapport,” he said.
“Chase had a good rapport with the players around him last year, and you could see the impact that he had straight away. They are the players who give it that extra effort.
“Rebuilding the Club is one of Chase’s goals. He is definitely with us through until after the end of the 2027 season, as he signed on long term, and hopefully Ben is the same.
“We hope they keep going for years and years with the Diesels and we get back up where we should be.
“With the Huddle set up, they can viewevery game that is being played. They watch the 18s and the league tag as well, and then their advice comes back.
“Jordan Walker and Daniel Foley have stood up and have implemented what Ben and Chase have recommended. They are running the training sessions and incorporating all the advice that is given.
“Jordy Walker is the Reserve Grade coach, and he was hoping to stay in that role as he would like to help develop players. That is a bridge we are going to have to cross once Chase and Ben get here, and we get a few players back, and they will sit down and work out what is best for all.”
Elsewhere in Group 9, the Young Cherrypickers suffered their first defeat of the year, with the Gundagai Tigers making Anzac Park a fortress against the reigning premiers, The Albury Thunder did more good for their plus/minus with another big win this week against the Cootamundra Bulldogs, the Tumut Blues used more black magic to take yet another close win against the SouthCity Bulls and the Wagga Brothers were once again dominated this time by the Temora Dragons.
Group 9 Ladder
1. Wagga Kangaroos, 8pts, 116.
2. Tumut Blues, 7pts, 14.
3. Temora Dragons, 6pts, 112.
4. Young Cherrypickers, 6pts, 108.
5. Albury Thunder, 5pts, 58.
6. Gundagai Tigers, 4pts, 10.
7. South City Bulls, 2pts, -24
8. Junee Diesels, -62.
9. Cootamundra Bulldogs, 0pts, -108.
10. Wagga Brothers, 0pts, -224.
Group 9 Draw Saturday, May 17 – Sunday, May 18.
Wagga Brothers vs Cootamundra Bulldogs.
Temora Dragons vs Wagga Kangaroos.
Tumut Blues vs Junee Diesels Saturday 2:35 pm Twickenham Oval Tumut.
Young Cherrypickers vs South City Bulls.
Albury Thunder vs Gundagai Tigers.
-Tully Potts
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