Tallon Smith

The Wagga Kangaroos ended a winless run stretching back to late May with a hard-fought 28-14 victory over the Southcity Bulls in a bruising cross-town derby at Harris Park on Sunday.

After a sequence featuring three losses and two draws, and having not picked up the full complement of points since their round five win over Tumut, the Kangaroos ended a “difficult” period to claim the inaugural Pauly Simpson Memorial Shield over a Bulls side still missing several key players including Kyle McCarthy and Nathan Rose.

Coach Zeik Foster said it was pleasing to return to the winners’ circle in a match that meant so much to both clubs as well as the make-up of the competition ladder as the top five race heats up.

“Playing for the Pauly Simpson Memorial Shield, there was plenty of feeling in the game,” Foster said.

“Pauly was at our club for the last three years while Nathan Rose was coaching, and then obviously he’s been a part of Southcity for most of his life I think, so there was plenty of feeling in the game.

“It was a really tough contest, but we are really happy to come away with the two points.”

It was the Kangaroos who opened the scoring after Joel Kelly cleaned up a spilled James Smart kick and found a rampaging Dakota Ruta, but the Bulls hit back five minutes later when a Rhys Weldon offload found its way out to winger Jaycee Gladman who raced in to score.

With the scores level, it was Roos back rower Hayden Jolliffe who proved the gamebreaker with a quick-fire double to open up a 16-4 half time lead, the first off a crash play, followed by his second off a cut-out pass from Brandan Purcell after a Smart kick was batted back by Foster.

The two sides then traded tries throughout the second half, with Saxon Gillies crossing to extend the Kangaroos’ lead to 18 points, before Cody Hodge capitalised on a Josh Siegwalt grubber for Southcity’s second.

A fifth try to the visitors through prop James Hay got the lead out to a match-high 20 points, but a late consolation effort to Bulls fullback Jumarne Little-Kearnes reduced the final margin to 14 points.

Following the side’s last victory against the Blues at Geohex Park on May 23, a defeat to Cootamundra, a pair of draws against Young and Gundagai, and two further losses to Junee and Albury saw the last year’s grand finalists slump to seventh, with all five games being decided by four points or less.

Foster said a return to the winners’ circle will give the side a boost in more than just competition points going forward.

“It has been a difficult month of footy, obviously having those two draws and a couple of close losses,” Foster said.

“It’s going to do a lot for the group, instill plenty of confidence in us leading towards Brothers next week.”

Along with Jolliffe, another of the Kangaroos’ best in the game was representative second rower John Downes, who returned to the side’s line-up after an extended period on the sidelines.

Foster said the pair’s strong contributions were critical to the side’s victory, along with Smart, who missed last week’s 20-16 home loss to Albury.

“[Hayden] played really well, he’s actually gone off with a niggle, so we are not too sure what’s going on with [him],” he said.

“Johnny, he was outstanding, we’ve missed him, he has had the last seven or eight weeks off, so he was a huge inclusion to our side today.

“Obviously Smarty missed last week, so it was great to have him back out on the park as well.”

As for the side’s finals ambitions, with a run home of Brothers (away), Temora (home), Tumut (away), Cootamundra (home), Young (away), the Kangaroos will face a number of the sides they are battling for the highly sought-after fourth and fifth positions on the ladder.

However, despite the congested nature of the table, Foster said the side’s focus is on the short-term heading into a second Wagga derby this Saturday.

“The old cliche, we’re just going to take it one week at a time, we don’t want to look too far ahead,” he said.

“We don’t want to sit there and watch the ladder.

“[We will] focus on what we are doing week to week, and making sure we are turning up with the right mindset and the ladder will look after itself.”

KANGAROOS 28 (H. Jolliffe 2, D. Ruta, S. Gillies, J. Hay tries; J. Smart 4 goals) DEFEATED SOUTHCITY 14 (J. Gladman, C. Hodge, J. Little-Kearnes tries; J. Siegwalt goal) at Harris Park, Sunday July 12.