Tallon Smith
After 21 years out of the competition, the Narrandera Lizards have made a successful return to Group 20 reserve grade, opening their account with a 36-12 win over Leeton at the league’s Magic Round in Leeton on Saturday.
The Lizards ran in seven tries to two, with doubles to Jamain Morgan and Petero Taitusi, and tries to D’Andre Williams, Jahrel Tereva and debutant Matari Johnson helping to secure the 24-point win.
Narrandera co-coach John Ingram said that the strong performance was an impressive result for the squad, with the effort of a tough pre-season paying off.
“It’s a great way to start,” he said.
“This is what we were building on starting pre-season pretty early, before Christmas.
“The boys have worked really hard in the off-season to get as fit as we could and get a good core group together that could really gel first game in and it’s paid dividends.”
After a rollercoaster past 21 years following the club’s withdrawal from Group 20 following the 2004 season, the Lizards have survived 10 years without football, an ill-fated merger with Yanco-Wamoon and enjoyed a period of success and revival in the ProTen Community Cup.
Now, with the club finally having made the jump back to the Western Riverina’s premier competition, Ingram said the town is full of excitement and expectation, which has only grown after Saturday’s result.
“The Narrandera community is buzzing at the moment with Narrandera being back in Group 20,” he said.
“Footy in Group 20, you can’t beat it, that’s where we were years ago and it’s just one of those things, we love being at the top level, we’ve got some great players, and we’ll look to aim and build from now to the next three years.”
That excitement translated to a strong turnout of supporters on the day, with a large Narrandera contingent among the large crowd which attended the season opening event at Leeton.
Ingram said that the support from the Narrandera community, as well as other people and clubs within the competition, has been critical to ensuring a smooth jump back to the competition.
“The following we have is huge, especially for our first game,” he said.
“It was evident in the ProTen as well, we always had a really good following and great community support, and up on the hill there at Leeton, I think we filled nearly that first half of it, which was really to see, especially first game back.
“The other thing that was really positive that I took away from the day was that the other teams were very supportive of us, and as I spoke to different people that I ran into, Greg DePaoli, Shan Bradbrook, everyone was really welcoming of Narrandera being back in Group 20.
“Going to a game like that and having people really backing us as well, especially from other clubs was really supportive and it’s great to see in country footy.”
Blueheelers pull off huge upset
In first grade action, it was the Yenda Blueheelers who stole the show, taking down two-time defending premiers Darlington Point-Coleambally 38-32 in a high-scoring shootout.
A hat-trick to second rower Dane O’Connor proved decisive, with the Yenda side outsourcing the Roosters seven tries to six.
After leaving DPC for Yenda over the off-season, Joey Peato was also among the tryscorers, as were Saul Railo, coach Tre Holten-Williams and powerhouse forward Chris Latu.
Meanwhile, Yenda’s next opponents and last year’s other Grand Finalists Hay suffered a shock 30-12 loss to the TLU Sharks side missing star playmaker Jaden Kelly.
After taking a slender 12-10 lead into the break following tries to Rex Rokosusu and Ben Taylor, the Magpies’ poor handling gave the Sharks a mountain of possession, which they took advantage of by scoring four tries to seal a comfortable first up victory for new coaching pair Craig Morriss and Cody Collins.
In the opening match, the Griffith Waratah Tigers proved they will again be among the sides to watch this season, breezing past West Wyalong 38-6.
Doubles to Pou Uhi and Ulu Akolo helped the Waratahs to secure the two points, while for the Mallee Men it was the first competition game together for several of the club’s new signings, with plenty of room for improvement as the season progresses.
Finally, the Yanco-Wamoon Hawks made a huge statement to close out the evening with a 42-14 demolition of Griffith Black and Whites.
New recrcuit John Wharepapa-Rawiri was the star of the show, crossing for four tries in an incredible debut for the Yanco side.
Group 20 and Riverina representative William Charles was among the top performers in a losing Black and Whites side, scoring two of his side’s three four-pointers.
