Tallon Smith
The Junee Diesels’ title hopes are set to receive an almighty boost in the coming weeks with coaches Ben Shea and Chase Bernard set to return to Australia following their French title win on the weekend.
The pair will join the club after their triumph with the Albi Tigers, who beat Carcassonne 26-6 in the French Super XIII Grand Final on Sunday.
Diesels President David Holt said that the club is eagerly awaiting the addition of their new champion coaches, with the team primed to make a push for the top five.
“We’ll finish the season off very strong,” he said.
“With Ben and Chase coming in, that will give us the opportunity to have like for likes on the bench, when we’re making interchanges there’s not that big of an impact on what’s happening out on field.
“We’ve got a fairly deep player base, but the amount of injuries we’ve had, when you lose four or five players each week through injury, that depth soon disappears.”
The pair’s impending arrival comes after Junee pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Group 9 history with a 30-28 win over the Young Cherrypickers at Laurie Daley Oval on Saturday.
After losing their three previous matches against Temora, Wagga Kangaroos and Tumut by a combined margin of 116 points, the Diesels turned it all around to lead the Pickers 24-6 at half time in their clash.
Young mounted a late challenge and looked to steal the lead in the dying stages, but a Quaider Kea try sealed the deal for the Junee side, just their second of a tough campaign.
The win was such a shock to many Group 9 pundits that the Junee Independent labelled it the ‘upset of the decade’.
Holt said it was exactly what the club needed after a difficult past few games due to issues with injury and player availability.
“We did it tough the past few weeks with injuries and Damian Willis having a heart attack, but we’ve bounced back, and had good preparation throughout the week.
“There was no talk about being victors of [that] game, that’s for sure, but in saying that, [getting] a couple of players back off injury [was] a bit of a boost to the side.
“It was an unexpected win, but very sweet, that’s for sure.”
The Diesels will face Albury away at Greenfield Park this Saturday.
Meanwhile, Temora have been handed the favourites tag ahead of their next Challenge Cup defence against defending competition premiers Young Cherrypickers.
Despite being branded underdogs away at Tumut on Sunday, the Dragons will enter the match favourites after their 32-22 win over the Blues, which came on the same weekend as Young’s second defeat in three games at the hands of Junee.
The Challenge Cup tie at Nixon Park will kick off at 2:35pm on Saturday, broadcast live on BarTV.
Full Group 9 Round 7 draw:
Temora v Young, Nixon Park (Saturday)
Tumut v Kangaroos, Twickenham Oval (Saturday)
Brothers v Gundagai, Geohex Park (Sunday)
Albury v Junee, Greenfield Park (Sunday)
Cootamundra v South City, Les Boyd Oval (Sunday)
Battlers For Bush Footy 