An improved defensive performance saw Junee end its run of three straight losses with a 30-10 victory over the Albury Thunder at Laurie Daley Oval on Sunday.
Fijian international Tevita Toloi starred with a hat-trick in the five tries to two win, which saw the Diesels retain the Group 9 Challenge Cup and bounce back from consecutive defeats against Cootamundra, Young and Southcity.
Junee interim coach Damian Willis said that the key to his side’s victory was its physicality, with the Diesels competing hard on both sides of the ball to outmuscle the Thunder.
“We were very physical in defence, we ran hard, we tackled hard, and we pinned them down in their corners a lot more than what we have in the last couple of weeks and I guess the 30-10 scoreline was indicative of that,” he said.
“The first set [of the second half] we drove one of their boys back and we forced an error.
“We didn’t complete that set of six after that error, but the intent was there.
“We defended really well [and] we scrambled really well as well, which is a lot of stuff that we work on week to week at training, so [I was] very impressed with the boys.”
After a period of back and forth football, it was Albury which opened the scoring, when Nate Broekman batted a Jacob Tobok kick back to centre Christian Sifakula, who dived over to score.
Junee hit back eight minutes later through Toloi, who took a slips catch off a kick from Thunder fullback Vili Cerei and raced 80 metres to score, before Michael Diggins crossed from dummy half a minute before half time for a 12-4 lead.
The Diesel domination continued on the other side of the break with Toloi collecting a Jordan Walker kick to score his second, before completing his hat-trick off a shift following a 90 metre run from Jakeem Morgan who scooped up a Tobok kick to race away.
Junee added a penalty goal to go out beyond a three score margin at 26-4, before Albury struck back through Hugh Duncan, who crashed over off an offload from Jordan Uinipaulo.
However, the Diesels were never really challenged, with Walker scoring late to extend the margin to 20 points at full time.
After starting the season with an upset victory over defending premiers Gundagai on their home turf, Willis said there was “a lot of pressure” on the Diesels to turn things around at home following three straight losses by 10 points or less, and the side responded.
“The last couple of weeks we have been there or thereabouts, and we have just let ourselves down with some crucial [errors] at crucial times,” he said.
“We dropped off a little bit last week, we had six blokes out, and this week we had a lot of those guys come back.
“Today the emphasis was, complete high, get to our kick, turn the big boys around, and basically build from that.
“[I was] very pleased with the effort and the scramble that we had, especially in defence, guys coming out of the line and producing some really good defensive efforts which ultimately won us the game.”
Among a number of solid performers, the standouts for the Diesels were centre pairing Toloi and Morgan, with the former having an impact on the scoresheet while the latter came up with a number of crucial plays throughout the match.
Willis said both he and the pair’s teammates were impressed with the influence they had on the result, which was reflected in the club’s end of match awards.
“Both the boys got our players’ player and coaches award,” he said.
“Obviously Tevita scored three tries and probably should have scored a few more, I guess for us [it is about] trying to get him early footy.
“Jakeem is playing out of his skin at the moment and we are very fortunate to have him.
“He was an unexpected pick-up for us, and he has definitely proven his worth over the last couple of weeks.
“He has been fantastic and once he gets a little bit of space he is so fast and agile and strong.
“Seeing those guys do the things that they did today was really good, they laid the platform for us.”
Meanwhile, Albury coach Etu Uaisele was understandably disappointed with the result after his side’s strong performance a week ago against Cootamundra, with options late in the tackle count an area identified as needing improvement after two misplaced kicks led directly to Junee tries.
“Our finishes to our sets [in attack] was what let us down, those two tries they scored, we just kicked it straight [into] their hands,” he said.
“[I’m] disappointed, but I thought the boys defended well today.”
A shining light for the Thunder again was winger Broekman, who backed up from the under 18s match earlier in the day, combining strongly with Sifakula and playing a crucial role in the side’s opening try, something that impressed his coach.
“Nate is going to be a great player for the Thunder, and he showed it today,” Uaisele said.
“For him to play in the 18s and back up for first grade, he played well as well, it is a big credit to him.
“I thought him and Christian worked really well [together] today.”
Looking at other results around the competition, Saturday’s three games saw Gundagai outclass South City 42-12, Wagga Kangaroos score a 24-8 win over Tumut, and Young defeat Cootamundra 38-22, while the remaining Sunday match saw Temora leave Wagga with the two points after a 38-4 win over Brothers.
Tallon Smith
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