Tallon Smith

Group 9 has retained the Kelly Cup for a fourteenth straight year after defeating a gallant Group 20 outfit 28-10 in a physical clash at Wade Park in Yenda on Saturday evening.

Playing in 31-degree heat, the Gladiators held the Razorbacks scoreless for the opening 72 minutes and took their opportunities when presented to retain the title and Riverina bragging rights for a 14th straight year.

After a ferocious softening up period, it was Group 9 who emerged the better of the two sides, opening the scoring in the 10th minute when Daniel Foley burst into space off a Paul Karaitiana pass to put Gabriel Gul over in the corner for a 4-0 lead.

After another hard fought period to end the first quarter, Group 9 put the foot down in the second, racing out to a 16-0 half time lead with back-to-back tries to Albury Thunder flyer Vili Cerei and Junee veteran Foley in quick succession.

Group 20 had its chances, spending long periods camped on the Group 9 line on either side of the break, but the Gladiators held firm, fending off wave after wave of attack from the Razorbacks to keep a clean sheet.

The moment of the match came late in the third quarter, when veteran Group 20 coach Ben Jeffery showed he still has plenty of pace, chasing down a runaway Dakota Ruta after the centre scooped up a loose ball and raced away downfield.

The effort wasn’t ultimately rewarded however, with Group 9 spreading the ball to Gul two plays later who scored a simple try in the corner for his double.

The Gladiators then put the result beyond doubt when Gundagai hooker Wilson Hamblin  finished off a short side raid he started, backing up in support and racing in under the posts to score off a pass from Dakota Ruta.

Not wanting to be held to nil on their home turf, Group 20 finally breached the Group 9 defence in the 72nd minute, running in two late consolation tries, with Beniel Dakunibubului and Sireli Vulaono scoring four pointers to leave the final margin at 18 points.

Following the Gladiators’ victory, fullback Foley and Razorbacks lock Ulai Oti-Lahood were awarded best on ground for their respective sides.

Speaking after the game, Group 9 captain Derek Hay said he was proud of his side for getting the job done in a match that was scrappy at times.

“Unfortunately it was pretty stop-start, I don’t think either side could get into their rhythm, I thought there were some strange calls out there,” he said.

“We did what we had to do, I think it’s always tough when you have to play at this time of the year, everyone is rusty, but I do think with the crowd that was here today, I think this is the best time of year to have it, I think it leads nicely into the Country Championships with Riverina.

“It was a tough, physical game, there are some big boys out here in Group 20 and obviously there’s some strong physical boys in Group 9.

“I think we went toe-to-toe for probably that first ten to fifteen and then we might have started to get the upper hand, but we probably kept them in it for a bit too long with errors and penalties.

“All in all, a pretty good performance.”

After the fixture was left off the schedule for the past three years following uncompetitive clashes in the past, fears grew that the Kelly Cup’s standing as a major representative rivalry may have waned.

However, Hay said that the Group 9 side placed huge importance on the match, a mindset which showed when they took to the field at Wade Park.

“We spoke about it for the last two weeks at training and spoke about it before we ran out, we’re representing Group 9, and we’re representing our individual clubs,” he said.

“It’s important to showcase the strength we have in our competition, obviously we fielded a fair side out there today and we still were still missing a few players through other commitments.

“I do think Group 9 is a much stronger competition, but there’s still some quality Group 20 players and there is obviously going to be a couple of those guys in the Riverina side.

“I think it’s important that the Kelly Cup is played every year and like I said before the crowd here today, it actually surprised me, so that was really good to see that people are still hungry for their footy and hungry to watch the Kelly Cup.”

Victorious Group 9 coach Blake Dunn echoed the sentiments of his skipper, speaking of the reverence and respect that the Gladiators approached the fixture with.

“We’re obviously very pleased, there’s a lot of prestige around the award, the Kelly family are obviously very important around this region and area, so we’re very happy to earn the right to keep it again,” he said.

After being forced to make several changes due to player unavailability, Group 9 showcased its depth, fielding a strong team despite the withdrawal of a number of stars.

When asked which of his players’ efforts he was most pleased with, Dunn said he was happy with the team across the board, but singled out a few who went above and beyond, including one of the late inclusions in Foley.

“I thought there were some really good contributions across the field, I don’t think we had any bad players today,” he said.

“I think Daniel Foley, who obviously was named man of the match and he was our players’ player as well, was a standout, I thought he did really well.

“In attack he created some opportunities for us, but in defence, he just looked like he had our whole line organised the whole time, [and] he came up with some really important defensive plays, he was definitely a standout.

“We had some really big efforts from blokes in our forward pack like Mitch Bennett, [who] got through a full game at lock, tackling his backside off, the same goes for John [Downes] in the back row, and Wilson Hamblin came up with some really big defensive plays.

“There [were] players that were unavailable, but I was very pleased with the side that we got together and were able to put on the field today.

“I’m not sure we could have done any better under the conditions that we were playing under today, really proud of the boys, I thought it was a good effort.”

One dampener on the match were injuries to Albury five-eighth Paul Karaitiana and Brothers star Cleve McGhie, with both limping from the field in the first half.

Despite obvious concern from clubs regarding timing of the match in regards to injury, Dunn said that it still makes the most sense to hold the Kelly Cup in February as a lead-in to and selection trial for Riverina’s Country Championships campaign.

“Injuries are a part of footy, you could get injured going for a jog on a Sunday [or] at training, unfortunately it’s just a part of footy,” he said.

“I don’t think it makes sense to have it anyother time of the year, if you’ve got Riverina coming up at the end of February, you’ve got to have it [before] that, to pick the best possible side to represent our area.”

On the other side of the ledger, while the 14-year drought continues for Group 20, an improved showing compared to the 52-6 demolition in 2022 will add weight to calls to re-instate the fixture as an annual event. 

Group 20 coach Ben Jeffery said that it was just errors at crucial times and some class from Group 9 that saw the Gladiators take the trophy home once again.

“The first half was really close, [but they] scored tries off the back of our errors, and we bombed a few tries,” he said.

“We’d get within inches of the line and just couldn’t get over.

“We made a lot of errors [on the] first and second tackle.

“We [only] had one ballwork session last night, [but] I thought everyone backed each other and we fought hard, but all credit to Group 9, we had a lot of sets on their line and they just kept turning us away.

“They stuck at it all game, their structure was good, they played their short sides really well.”

One big reason behind the push to bring back the Kelly Cup from Group 20’s side was to give players a chance to play in a full selection trial for the Riverina team after just three Group 20 players were picked last year.

When asked if he believed many of his teammates would earn a Bulls jumper, Jeffery said that he thought a few of them certainly increased their chances through their performance.

“You’d like to think so, a few of our guys went really well,” he said.

“Group 9, they’re a quality team, they won, they will no doubt have the majority, but I think a couple of our guys definitely deserve to push for a spot.”

The Riverina team will be selected in the coming days ahead of the region’s Country Championships opener against Monaro at Junee on March 1.