By Tallon Smith

The South City Bulls have pulled off a massive upset in Group 9 First Grade, beating the Albury Thunder 30-22 at Greenfield Park on Saturday afternoon.

In front of a big crowd as the Thunder hosted NAIDOC Round, the Bulls shocked the Albury faithful to record a famous victory over their fierce rivals, moving the club further away from the dreaded wooden spoon, and effectively ending the Border club’s hopes of playing finals football in 2023.

After leading 20-16 at half time, many expected the Bulls to be overrun by the Thunder in the second half, who needed to win to keep their finals hopes alive.

But that was not to be the case, with the day going the way of the Bulls, with James Morgan and Campbell Lyons completing doubles in the match to spearhead a 30 points to 22 victory, which shocked not only the Albury side, but the whole of Group 9.

South City President Greg Wiscombe said the win was “uplifting” for the club, who have not endured much success in the First Grade competition this season.

“[It] gives us something to build on coming into the back end of the season, especially with our remaining games against competition heavyweights Temora, Tumut and Gundagai.”

“To be honest we wonder where that sort of effort has been all season, on the back of our effort against the Kangaroos with 12 men for 65 minutes.

“[That] gave us some real confidence, especially if we started well, which we did [on Saturday].”

Regarding standout players in the match, Wiscombe was quick to give praise to a few members of his backline, and was happy with the efforts of his forwards across the board.

“Travis Smith, James Morgan [and] Campbell Lyons along with Klayton Waikato all shone in the backline.”

“No real standouts in the forwards, they shared the workload, especially after losing hardened veteran Dana Ratu early with concussion.”

When asked where the rivalry between the two sides is alive and well in 2023, Wiscombe, whose nephews played for Albury, said it was still strong.

“[It] stems back to the years between 2012 and 2014,” he said.

“Both [are] clubs built around good club values, hard working committees and both teams had very similar playing rosters [at that time].

“It’s always hard to travel to Albury and win, and they had plenty to play for on the weekend.”

Around the Grounds

In the local derby at Twickenham Oval in Tumut, the Blues defeated their arch rivals Gundagai 50-26 to maintain leadership of the competition. In front of a packed hill, the Blues piled on the points for a famous victory to cap off a day that featured 28 matches between the two towns across grades starting from Under 6s. Lachlan Bristow starred for the Blues, with three tries and six goals for a personal tally of 24 points, whilst Brayden Draber and Adam Pearce also crossed for doubles. For the Tigers, Tristan Eldridge still managed a try and five goals in the losing effort, which has done no damage to their top five hopes after Albury’s loss to South City.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Temora Dragons kept pace with Tumut in equal first with a 34-12 win over the Young Cherrypickers. Hayden Lomax crossed for a double in the Red and Whites’ victory, which puts them in the box seat to host a home final in Week One, now two points clear of their opponents from Sunday in second position.

The Wagga Kangaroos took on the Wagga Brothers, with the top grade contested being Reserve Grade, which the Roos won 38-4.

Junee had the bye across all grades.

Cover Photo: The pre-game Smoking Ceremony prior to kick off in the Albury-South City First Grade match. (Supplied: Brett Harris)