Junee have just celebrated their 40 anniversary with a centenary dinner and a strong attendance of over 240 people.
Some pundits including this writer aren’t about to go the early crow that Junee will have the fairytale 40 year reunion and back it up with a premiership, but something is brewing, stirring, and there is a change at Junee that might just see them continue up the ladder in 2026.
David Holt has been leading the Diesels as President since the start of this decade and he understands how hard it can be in Group 9. He extends his home to players and really is a godsend for the club.
He is being capably helped in 2026 from a coaching point of view by veteran Damian Willis who if he didn’t suffer a life threatening issue last year in April would probably be on the field at the ripe old age of 42, leading the charge.
Willis has been a phenomenal player, debuting at 16 as a teenager in the top grade. He is being cautious and taking each week as it comes but is happy with the progress.
“I made my first grade debut at 16 and I will be 42 in September.” He said.
I’m super excited about the way the side’s been playing. We haven’t put together an 80 minute performance just yet, but I feel as though that we are building for something, but I try and keep a pretty level head and try and keep the players pretty level headed as well in terms of what’s next and what job’s next and we sort of take it week by week and only focus on ourselves the first half of the week and then we have a little bit of a chat about the opposition and what we want to do and how we want to play our footy for the weekend. I don’t get too far ahead of myself either and knowing what it takes to win grand finals five weeks out from a semi, I feel as though that we’re close, but our results the last four games of the season will really depend on where we sit and if we don’t fire in those four games, then we will miss out altogether. We just take it week by week at Junee and just focus on the things that we can control and if we do that well enough, then it gives us every opportunity on the weekend.”
It’s a big cliche, but on a footy field, It’s the moments, the few seconds where someone puts that hit on that’s a bit harder or makes that tackle that they might have missed, that can turn a game. You need those moments to go in your favour and get into that grind. Junee looks to have that side where players can really rise to the occasion.
“Our forward pack has been unbelievable this year. You’ve got Jaydyn Hoeta, and Tommy Carroll in the front row and then you’ve got Neti Latu and and Quaider Kea who come off the bench and Jordan Walker as well, he’s been fantastic, the old veteran.”
“Our forward pack is really, really good at the moment. We’ve got a couple of guys waiting in the wings that are playing reserve grade, that’d be more than likely playing first grade at any other club, and the depth is really good, and our two bookends, Jaiden and Tommy, they’re doing a fantastic job for us, and they’ve picked up from where they left off last year.
Harden’s Ben Shea has suffered a neck injury and it’s unlikely he will be back for Junee in 2026.
“He had an injury a few years ago and it has resurfaced again after we played Temora at Temora.”
Junee’s pack has been bolstered by some first class talent.
“Our halves are good too, they’re first class, you’ve got Tom Garritty and Stu Dunbar steering the ship around. Daniel Foley made a return a few weeks ago as well. He’s quite an inspirational player for us and he’s a veteran of the Diesels and he plays his 200th club game for Junee this weekend.”
“We picked up Tevita Toloi from Queensland and he’s been great for us as well, and then Jakeem Morgan, who was over here with his girlfriend from Narrandera, and we picked him up and he’s been good for us as well. So our backline has been turned on its head a couple of times, but other than that, they’ve been really good.”
Like any side at this time of year the injury niggles God decides to get involved.
“We’ve got a couple of niggles from the weekends’ game. Plus Jesse Waininbuli broke his arm and had surgery this week. He was the winger, so he will be replaced by Nick Hogarth, but other than that, we’ve been pretty lucky, one week here and one week there, except for Fol, obviously Fol’s was a big injury, but he has since recovered and back on the footy field.”
“You need a fair bit of luck when it comes to winning these type of things and if you can stay relatively injury free, that goes a long way in making that dream possible.”
Willis is feeling better after suffering a Heart attack in April in 2025 whilst playing for the Diesels. He is now feeling better are keeping himself in the care of Doctors.
“It plays on my mind a little bit obviously, but I’m a lot better than what I was, probably about three months ago. Just a little bit over cautious, but now I’ve got some good results from the Doctor and he’s pretty happy with my progression, so just moving forward and trying to live the best life I can, I guess and just keep busy with work and footy and the kids and all that sort of stuff and it keeps me occupied, which is good.
“My wife, Emma, and four kids keep me busy.”
With four grand final wins under his belt from time spent with Gundagai, Willis will be hoping to get Junee as close as they can alongside the tight-knit committee and wider rugby league supporters in the town.
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
