Photo: Tahlia Crane Photography
Tallon Smith
The Temora Dragons have taken top spot on the ladder and retained the Group 9 Challenge Cup heading into Saturday’s clash with the Wagga Kangaroos after seeing off Southcity 32-12 at Nixon Park on Sunday.
Staring down a -16.5 start at the line, the Dragons turned an 8-6 half time lead into a 20 point victory, outscoring the Bulls four tries to one in the second stanza to move into first place after Gundagai’s loss to Albury.
Despite the club flying high atop the table riding a wave of momentum, Temora coach Jordon Burley said the side has only achieved better consistency in recent weeks.
“The last few weeks we are just starting to get a bit better footy consistency, the few before that we weren’t playing great but still winning, which also is a good thing,” he said.
“I think we are just starting to pick it up a little bit now, we have had a few injuries at the moment as well, so it just shows our squad depth is really coming through for us, which is good.
“In terms of ladder position, I don’t buy too much into it, obviously it’s nice, but there’s still a long way to go, and top three is our goal, so we have just got our eyes on that at the moment.”
After a number of early chances failed to yield any points, the Dragons opened the scoring through Drew Robinson in the 31st minute and added a penalty goal to Jake McGovern three minutes later, only for the Bulls to strike back through Cody Hodge to cut the home side’s lead to two at the break.
Temora struck quickly after half time through back rower Billy Reardon off a McGovern grubber, only for Southcity to return serve again through Lewis Marley out of dummy half.
However, the Dragons clicked into gear soon after, crossing for three tries in eleven minutes to reigning Weissel Medallist Hayden Philp, centre Khaileb Cameron-Pani and winger Lachie Cole to extend their winning run for another week.
After dropping two of its opening three games in a patchy start to the year, Temora has lost just once since, to Gundagai in round seven.
Those winning ways have been a source of satisfaction for first-year mentor Burley, though he remains wary of the need to take each game and opponent on its merits in the run home.
“I think it’s good, but in saying that we have still got four really tough games to go, and if we don’t win those or we drop off at all, it’s not really good,” he said.
“We just need to keep playing well, keep sticking to our structures and our systems which have worked well for us all year [and] just keep improving each week.”
Tougher battle expected this time around
The first of the Dragons’ remaining games is a clash with the Wagga Kangaroos at Geohex Park on Saturday for the Challenge Cup, with the home side being handed a +6.5 start.
After thumping a Kangaroos side missing several key players including halfback James Smart 70-4 in their clash at Nixon Park in round four, Burley said he expects a much greater challenge this time around against last year’s runners-up, which won consecutive games for the first time this season over the past fortnight.
“I’d be very surprised if it was a repeat of last time, I think it’s going to be a really good game,” he said.
“It’s going to be tough, Roos have started to find some really good form and they have got a few blokes back now.
“Like I said, we back our systems in, and if we can execute them and stay patient, it will go a long way to winning the game, so that’s our main focus.”
Seventh-placed Southcity will look to regain a place in the top five when it travels to Junee to face the Diesels on Sunday.
TEMORA 32 (Drew Robinson, Billy Reardon, Hayden Philp, Khaileb Cameron-Pani, Lachie Cole tries; McGovern 6 goals) DEFEATED SOUTHCITY 12 (Cody Hodge, Lewis Marley tries; Josh Siegwalt 2 goals) at Nixon Park, Sunday July 19.
An earlier version of this story stated that Temora “reclaimed” top spot on the ladder, which was incorrect.
