Tallon Smith
A shock result at Leeton may have kept it outside the top five for now, but West Wyalong remains well in the frame for a finals berth after a for-and-against boosting 52-10 victory over Yenda at a wet and gloomy Ron Crowe Oval on Sunday.
Needing to make the most of their two fixtures following the general bye, the Mallee Men ran in 10 tries to two on the club’s joint Heritage Round, Sponsors’ Day and Old Boys’ Day, only to remain in sixth position after the Griffith Black and Whites upset the Greenies 26-20 at the Leeton No.1 Oval.
Despite the shake-up to the top five race, West Wyalong coach Luke Clarke was glad to see his side put on a strong attacking display, albeit against a depleted Yenda side with many players backing up from reserve grade.
“It was a good win by the boys, obviously there [were] a few tries scored, a bit of wet weather, which cost us a few errors early, but it was nice to see the boys get some points on the board and have a bit of fun,” he said.
“It was good to see some of the boys that have just come into the team that haven’t played much first grade do well, and hopefully they can keep us going well into the last round [and] into the semis.”
The Mallee Men shot out of the blocks, scoring the first four tries of the match, with Jaxon Lemon crossing first before two tries to Myles Harland and another to Oscar Wood opened up a 20-0 lead.
Dane O’Connor hit back for Yenda to briefly stem the flow of points, but it resumed before the break when David White sent Wood over for his second to give West Wyalong a 26-4 advantage at half time.
Upon the resumption, the Blueheelers lifted in defence and held the Mallee Men scoreless for the opening 15 minutes of the second stanza, but once Dylan McCartney raced in off a short ball from Simon Clarke, the floodgates opened, with Noah Nash, Andrew Preston and Braiden Jones all crossing in quick succession.
Nash then completed his double, before Tim Davies crossed for a late consolation try for Yenda to leave the final margin at 42 points.
Amongst a number of strong contributions, the performances of back rowers McCartney and White were key to the result, with both edge forwards making several damaging runs to create momentum for the home side.
Clarke said the pair have been consistently within West Wyalong’s best this season, with McCartney emerging further as a leader, both in the first grade team and as coach of the club’s league tag side.
“They’ve been awesome all year, Dyl has been one of our most consistent players, and Whitey, when he’s on, he sets up a lot of points for us,” he said.
“Dyl has been a leader from the get-go, he hasn’t missed a training [session], he is one of the fittest in the club, he is strong as an ox.
“They call him ‘little pretty Dyl’, but he plays football tough as nails, he’s an absolute leader of the club, and everyone looks up to him.”
Meanwhile, with an easier run home on paper, the Mallee Men were seen to be in the box seat for a finals berth until the Black and Whites’ surprise victory.
Set to pick up two points from a bye next weekend, West Wyalong still remains in a good position.
However, should Griffith win one of its remaining games against cross-town rivals Waratahs and DPC, that would make the Mallee Men’s last round clash with Leeton a must-win match, and if the Black and Whites win both, it would almost certainly end West Wyalong’s season given the 50-point gap in points differential.
Despite admitting he was as stunned as most by Sunday’s outcome, and with his side still likely needing to rely on other results, Clarke said he expects Waratahs to get the job done in the Griffith derby and put West Wyalong’s fate back in its own hands.
“That was a bit of a surprise, I didn’t have that in the plans, but good on Black and Whites,” he said.
“[We’ll] get the two points next week and skip to outright fifth, and then Black and Whites showed they can beat Leeton at Leeton so we can definitely do the same.”
Yenda’s next assignment is a home clash with Leeton on Saturday.
The ladder currently reads: Griffith Waratahs (28 points), Yanco-Wamoon (27), Tullibigeal-Lakes United (24), Leeton (21), Griffith Black & Whites (16: -12 differential), West Wyalong (16: -62), DPC (12), Hay (8), Yenda (8).
WEST WYALONG 52 (Myles Harland 2, Oscar Wood 2, Noah Nash 2, Jaxon Lemon, Dylan McCartney, Braiden Jones, Andrew Preston tries; McCartney 5, Joseph Silas goals) DEFEATED YENDA 10 (Dane O’Connor, Tim Davies tries; Trey Eldridge goal) at Ron Crowe Oval, Sunday August 9.
