Group 9: Bulls building after winning streak extends to five games

By Tallon Smith

They may have endured one of the toughest seasons in their 19-year history last year, but the South City Bulls have emerged as one of the teams to beat in the Group 9 competition in 2024.

Through nine rounds of play, the Bulls sit in third place, going on a five game win streak after a draw with Young and two losses to Albury and Junee in the opening three rounds.

The turnaround in the South Wagga outfit’s performances is due in part to the influence of captain-coach Cleveland McGhie, with the Bulls’ mentor saying that despite the tough start, the team is building as the season goes on.

“We [have] obviously started to find our stride a little bit,” he said.

“I still think our squad [are still at] probably 60%, 70% of where we actually should be at I guess, knowing how good we can be.

“So for me, I hope we just continue to build and really we’re peaking the last couple rounds of the season as we head into semi-finals.”

McGhie runs with the ball in South City’s clash with Wagga Brothers (supplied)

After an 18-12 win over perennial powerhouse the Gundagai Tigers on the weekend that extended their winning run to five games, McGhie said that the Bulls still have a lot of improvement.

“[The] scoreboard didn’t necessarily reflect the dominance we did have,” he said.

“There were some moments where we didn’t capitalize, there was a forward pass from me, there were a few moments where we didn’t convert.

“Being better [in] our execution will make us a stronger squad and put us into the picture of actually closing out games.”

McGhie has crossed for 6 tries so far in 2024 (supplied)

After playing in various higher level competitions in metropolitan areas, including Sydney’s top local competition in the Ron Massey Cup, McGhie said that despite the lack of big name stars, the standard of the Group 9 competition is impressive.

“It’s a really difficult one to say because there’s not the names of a Ron Massey Cup or even a Camden/Macarthur region [competition] where you’ve got a lot of boys there that play [Under] 20s [pathways] football, might play some [NSW] Cup football and then come home,” he said.

“There’s not much of that out in this group, because a lot of the boys don’t necessarily get the opportunities to play football at a higher level.

“It’s a little bit hard to say that there’s not the same quality of names, there’s some really talented footballers out here, so it’s not for me that it’s an easy game any week.

“Certainly by all means I still wake up on a Monday morning, sore, regardless of who we’re playing.

“It’s a good competition, I’ve enjoyed playing out here, it’s a strong competition.”