Cover Photo: The Riverine Grazier

Tallon Smith

The Griffith Waratah Tigers’ winning run has finally come to an end after the Leeton Greenies ran out 31-14 winners at the Leeton No.1 Oval on Sunday to complete a day of upsets in Group 20 following TLU’s shock win over the Black and Whites.

Boasting a new-look backline after James Tafiti’s shift to fullback, the Greenies ran in five tries to three, led by a double to Jesse Watson, before skipper Shan Bradbrook added a field goal to finalise the 17-point upset victory.

Greenies President Jade Butler said the strong performance came off the back of some positional changes and a must-win attitude given the side’s hopes of a top three finish.

“After the last two weeks, we took a few losses, and the boys prepared really well for this game,” he said.

“We had a few positional changes which I think made a big difference.

“James Tafiti went to fullback, and I think that big inclusion as well as Bas Blackett, he played in the centres for us, and Rhys Wilesmith [who] came back from injury as well, [helped] a few combinations.

“[We were] getting close to dropping out of the three if we lost another game, so the boys just stepped up a gear and showed what they can offer in the comp.”

Leeton Manager Michael Thomas said that the win is a big one for the side, after they suffered uncharacteristic consecutive defeats leading into their bye last weekend.

“The last two games really go out the window now, [calling it a] confidence boost is absolutely right, we lost a bit of confidence,” he said.

“We were lucky to have the bye, [and we] went away, rejigged a few things, changed the team up a little bit.  

“Now we’re in for a second or third position, and that means everything when you come to finals time, especially getting the home ground advantage. 

“Waratahs, there’s probably not much chance of them losing the minor premiership right now, but if it goes that way, it goes that way, we’ll take what we can at this point in time.”

With one of the toughest runs home in the competition, Thomas said that the confidence gained from the victory will assist the Greenies immensely against two in-form teams in Darlington Point-Coleambally and Tullibigeal-Lakes United, as well as the local derby against Yanco.

“There’s a couple of big games to come,” he said.

“The confidence going into DPC at DPC goes a hell of a long way, [and you] can’t take anything away from the Lakes the game after, they’ve had a bit of success too.

“If we can get the win over Point, Lake and then Yanco, that’s where we want to really be.”

There was another case of an upset at Solar Mad Stadium after the Tullibigeal-Lakes United Sharks secured a last-gasp 26-22 win over the Griffith Black and Whites.

Cody Collins led the scorers for the visitors with two tries, while the evergreen Michael Mogliotti, Jaden Kelly and Warren Lloyd also crossed the stripe for the Sharkies.

Speaking after the game, Kelly said it was a case of hard work and luck that saw the TLU side emerge victorious against the Griffith club for the second time this season.

“It was good to get back on the winners list, that’s for sure,” he said.

“It was a tough day and they skipped out to a pretty good lead.

“We were lucky to draw it back towards the end, and just a lucky bounce right at the end got us the win.”

Sitting in eighth on 10 points, just two points outside the five, the TLU club has made serious ground in recent weeks, even though the three teams in front of them have a bye up their sleeve. 

Kelly said that despite their ladder position and talk of slim finals chances, the Sharks are ready to tackle some of the competition heavyweights in the run home, starting with Yenda this weekend.

“We were probably unlucky not to win a couple more games before, we’ve been in pretty good form for probably six weeks now,” he said. 

“We’ve found if we can stay in the grind with sides we’re a bit annoying, we don’t go away, but if sides skip off to a two or three try lead at some stage of the game, we can put our heads down.

“So if we’re within 10 points, we’re pretty confident, but once it gets out past there we’re usually in a bit of trouble.

“We like to stay in that grind and play really simple footy, complete highly, get to our kicks, and try and complete sets in defence without giving away silly penalties.

“That’s what we’ve been concentrating on lately and hopefully we can keep it up.”

Looking to other games, the Darlington Point-Coleambally Roosters secured an important two competition points with a 62-18 win over West Wyalong at Ron Crowe Oval.

Roosters coach Guy Thompson scored a hat-trick in the 11 tries to one win, which keeps DPC a game ahead of Leeton in second.

Finally, the Yenda Blueheelers celebrated veteran forward Chris Latu’s 200th Group 20 game with a hard-fought 28-24 win over the Hay Magpies.

Playing at fullback, Isaiah Buerckner crossed for a double for Yenda, while usual custodian Salesi Fatafehi also scored a try on the wing in front of a healthy Ladies Day crowd.