By Tallon Smith

The Yenda Blueheelers have caused a major boilover early in the Group 20 season, defeating the Griffith Black and Whites 30-18 in an enthralling contest at EW Moore Oval on Sunday afternoon.

In a round where there were local rivalries aplenty, the Blueheelers shocked their opponents from 15 minutes down the road, scoring six tries to three to hand the Griffith-based outfit their first loss of the season after five competition rounds.

Yenda Coach James Dole said that the win was a big one for the Blueheelers, who now sit in first position after five rounds.

“The boys were all really up for it this week and it was a big occasion,” he said.

“Obviously we come up against Black and Whites in our ‘Centenary Clash’ [later] this year, and we definitely didn’t want to go out there and let them walk all over us because that sets a pretty bad tone for that clash with them at home.

“So we put a pretty big focus on how important this game was to sort of set that platform.

“It was a really gutsy win, so I couldn’t be prouder of the boys today.”

When asked about who the standout players were, Dole was reluctant to name a standout performer given his side’s concerted effort across the park, but said that a couple of players did lead the way for the boys in blue and white.

“It’s a hard one, because every single bloke out there did their job today,” he said.

“If I had to say some standouts, I would say our five-eighth Isaiah Buerckner-Little, his kicking game was unreal today, he helped us a lot to put pressure on the Black and Whites [kicking for] territory.

“Also, Ryan Newman just keeps doing it every week, he’s just an absolute workhorse, comes off badly bruised every week, plays 80 minutes in the back row and just goes through a mountain of work.

“Sam Burley also had another ripping game, [as did] Elvis Nauer-Wood, who came off the bench [after] returning to Yenda from the Waratahs.”

As for his side’s goals for the upcoming season, the Yenda mentor said that the side’s first goal is to improve on their 2023 campaign, which ended with a Minor Semi Final loss to eventual premiers Leeton, but the overall dream of a premiership in their centenary season remains firmly in sight.

“I suppose the small goal for us is to improve on last year and go deeper into the finals, but I think [with] the playing group we’ve got this year and our depth and just the feel around the club, there’s a winning culture back at Yenda which is really good to see, and I genuinely think we have the talent to take it out,” Dole said.

“If we keep sticking to our plans and just keep improving every week, we’ve definitely got the playing group to do it.

“We’ve just got to sort of stay on this trajectory and not get complacent.”

Pivoting to other fixtures around the grounds, the Yanco-Wamoon Hawks have had a minor victory, scoring the first and last tries of the game against Leeton, but ultimately fell to the Greenies 66-10 in the local derby on Saturday.

The match drew a good crowd to the Yanco Sportsground, with the Greenies’ victory seeing them improve to a 3-1 record across the opening five rounds.

Meanwhile, in yet another local derby, this time in the north of the Group, the Tullibigeal-Lake Cargelligo Sharks caused a minor boilover to defeat West Wyalong 36-30 at Ron Crowe Oval on Sunday afternoon.

The evergreen Jaden Kelly starred with four tries and six goals to spearhead the Sharkies’ charge to a second victory of the season.

The win sees the TLU side hold 7th place on the ladder with the bye still in hand, with those in Tullibigeal and Lake Cargelligo beginning to dream of a potential return to finals football after a half a decade in the footballing wilderness.

Meanwhile, in the third Sunday game, the Waratahs collected their second consecutive win with a 48-14 defeat of the Hay Magpies at the Hay Park Oval.

Centre Anare Malanicagi scored all three tries for the Magpies as the Waratahs continued their momentum after last week’s win over DPC in the final edition of the Jack Carroll Memorial Cup.

Moving to Reserve Grade, Yenda took the double in both senior men’s matches with a 26-18 win over the Black and Whites, while West Wyalong reversed their first grade loss with a 32-20 victory against the TLU Sharks, as did Hay who scored an impressive 66-6 defeat of Waratahs.

League Tag action saw wins to Leeton (60-0), Hay (40-0), West Wyalong (16-0) and the Black and Whites (16-10), while in the only score available from Women’s Tackle action, the Black and Whites defeated Yenda 22-18.

Cover Photo Credit: Melissa Davies