Tallon Smith
The Griffith Waratah Tigers improved to 5-0 through the first six rounds of the Group 20 season with a 28-12 win over the DPC Roosters at the Exies Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The Waratah Tigers ran in five tries to two in yet another strong performance to hand the defending premier Roosters their third loss in five games to open their campaign.
Speaking to Battlers For Bush Footy after the win, Waratah Tigers co-coach Brett Goldspink said a late change up front made a huge impact as the Griffith side rolled through the middle of the Roosters to lay the platform for the win.
“The first 30 minutes of the game is probably the best I’ve seen the team perform while I’ve been co-coaching,” he said.
“We just started with our big three this week, we normally have one on the bench, but we actually started [them all].
“Elvis Nauer dropped back to second row and if you don’t know Elvis, he’s about six foot five and he’s probably 130 kilos.
“He was our second rower because the other front rowers were probably bigger, and it worked a treat, their go forward was immense.”
However, Goldspink said that the Waratahs coaching staff won’t read into it too much, with the Roosters missing a few players.
“To be fair, Darlington Point had a couple out, [a few] had a wedding commitment, [and] they probably had their strike forward out as well, so we’re not going to get carried away by it.
“In saying that, we had our halfback out, Moses Lolohea, and also Shorne Ngu was out, so we had some strike [players] out as well.”
With the team flying at 5-0 after the first six rounds, Goldspink said that one challenge from now on will be keeping the team grounded as they look to win the club’s first top grade title since 2018.
“We’re not getting carried away because as I said, there’s probably two competitions, first you’ve got to qualify, and then obviously the finals are different ball games,” he said.
“Looking at Black and Whites, they look like they’ve improved, Yanco’s probably improved a bit, Leeton will be better the second time around and obviously the Point will be at full strength.
“So we just take it week by week, and obviously, I’m aware that the more we win, the more the other sides will favour that underdog tone.”
Meanwhile, Yanco-Wamoon and Yenda split the points after finishing level at 18-all in their match at the Yanco Sportsground.
Led by a Caleb Atkinson hat-trick, the Hawks scored four tries to the Blueheelers’ three, but poor goalkicking let the Yanco side down, as Isaiah Buerckner nailed three conversions from three attempts to secure a draw for Yenda.
Leeton also continued their impressive form in round six, thrashing a gallant TLU side 60-10 in Lake Cargelligo.
The Greenies ran in 11 tries to two in the win, which sees them remain in third position behind the Waratah Tigers and their cross-town rivals the Hawks.
The two Leeton district sides will clash in round seven, headlining a massive round of footy, with three local derbies and a big match between Hay and Waratahs scheduled.
The fourth fixture of the weekend did not proceed as Hay defeated West Wyalong by forfeit.
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