Tallon Smith
The Griffith Black and Whites made the most of a four-point game in the Group 20 finals race in clinching an 18-12 victory over West Wyalong at Solar Mad Stadium on Sunday.
The victory elevates the Black and Whites above the Mallee Men into fifth position on the competition table on points differential with three rounds remaining until finals, although West Wyalong has a bye in hand.
The home side opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Isaiah Buerckner-Little, before fullback Mekhi Simpson drifted wide to receive a pass on a right side raid and cross the tryline for a 10-0 lead.
Barnstorming back rower Dylan McCartney hit back for the Mallee Men to close the gap to six soon after, but a late try to Matty Adams from dummy half re-established the Black and Whites’ 10-point advantage heading into the sheds at 14-4.
An 18-minute deadlock followed to start the second half, until it was emphatically broken by a quick-fire double to veteran West Wyalong winger Andrew Preston in the 58th and 65th minute to reduce the difference to two.
The Mallee Men had further chances after that, the best following a break down the right hand touchline by centre Max Lawson, but they ultimately could not make the most of them, and a late try to prop William Charles sealed a crucial six-point victory for Griffith.
Black and Whites coach Kodie Charles said the victory followed a strong and focused preparation.
“Leading up to it on Tuesday and Thursday [and] on the Sunday with the warm-up, the preparation was unreal,” he said.
“I just pulled them all in before we went out, and I just said ‘boys, this is our semi finals riding on the line, don’t forget we haven’t made it last year, and this year we have got the opportunity’.
“The boys went out there and worked hard for it, a few calls didn’t go our way, but I got them back in the sheds at half time and said, ‘boys, that’s just footy, [we’re] not always going to get the calls, we have just got to deal with it and move on’.
“In the second half, that’s what they did and I was proud of them.”
A number of the Griffith club’s key men again made solid contributions to the win, with skipper William Charles, Buerckner-Little and Simpson all finding their way onto the scoresheet.
However, it was the performance of back rower Sam Scott in his first game in the starting line-up that impressed Charles the most, with the coach full of praise for the manner in which the emerging talent approached all facets of the game.
“He went in the back row, and I said ‘this is your opportunity to shine’ and he ran the ball all day, found his front, tackled anything that moved,” Charles said.
“I think the [rest of the team] fed off his energy, [the] energy he was putting out was just all positive.
“He’s only a young kid, a couple of years ago he was [in the under] 18s, but he’s been playing a lot of reserve grade.
“He’s got the want to be there, he pushes to be there, attitude is everything when it comes to first grade footy and he’s got it.
“Once you have got a couple of good players that are going forward and thriving, naturally blokes feed off that energy.”
With a run home of Leeton, cross-town rivals Waratahs and DPC following next weekend’s general bye, the Black and Whites still face an upward battle to outpace the Mallee Men and Roosters in the battle for fifth.
Despite the challenge that is in front of his side, Charles said the focus is now on treating every remaining match like a sequence of grand finals.
“The mindset is, we’ve got to treat [every game] like it’s our last game, like a grand final, that’s how it is,” he said.
“[I said] to the boys, ‘get to training, show up, put our best foot forward, and anything can pay off’.
“We can beat any team in the comp on our day, but we have got to be all one.”
West Wyalong will face Yenda on the other side of the general bye.
GRIFFITH BLACK & WHITES 18 (Isaiah Buerckner-Little, Mekhi Simpson, Matty Adams, William Charles tries; Buerckner-Little goal) DEFEATED WEST WYALONG 12 (Andrew Preston 2, Dylan McCartney tries) at Solar Mad Stadium, Sunday July 26.
