Tallon Smith
They may be out of finals contention, but the Tumut Blues still have something to play for after wrestling the Challenge Cup off the Wagga Kangaroos with a 12-10 victory at a muddy Twickenham Oval on Sunday.
In conditions where the Roos were never realistically going to overcome the +19.5 start handed to the Blues, a 36th minute penalty goal to Eli Williams was all that separated the two sides at full time after they each scored two tries.
After a frustrating year where the side has drawn two matches and lost four games by 10 points or less, Tumut coach Dean Bristow was pleased to finally see a close result fall in his side’s favour.
“We haven’t had a lot of results go our way this year, although we’ve been in a lot of contests, so to come out the other side of one in what were very testing conditions, with our season of playing finals done, for the boys to still find plenty of spirit and passion to play for and to get [that] result was very pleasing,” he said.
The Blues opened the scoring within two minutes after Malik Aitken grounded a Callum Rossiter grubber, holding that 6-0 lead until Brandan Purcell hit back for the Kangaroos near the half-hour mark to level the game.
Williams then added his aforementioned penalty goal for an 8-6 advantage at the break, before his brother Angus crossed to extend the scoreline to 12-6 midway through the second half.
The Kangaroos again found a reply through Dakota Ruta to reduce the deficit to two, and had multiple sets in Blues territory to try and find a matchwinner, but in the end, Tumut withstood the pressure to secure its fourth victory of the season.
Reflecting on the ultimately critical decision to give Williams a shot at penalty goal leading into the break, Bristow said he didn’t have to think twice given the conditions.
“As soon as we got the chance there [were] no second thoughts in my mind, the way the rain was coming down,” he said.
“The ground held up pretty well, but by the time we got there, we were the fourth game on it, and then [due to] the constant [rain throughout] the game, it deteriorated pretty quickly from there and it turned into a real slogfest, where there was limited traction, limited footy being played.
“It was just a bit of a bash and barge game, so any points you could get were valuable.”
Another major reason for the victory according to Bristow was the performance of captain Jordan Anderson, who moved from lock to hooker for the clash, with his teammates agreeing with the coach.
“Jordy Anderson, I think he got all bar one players’ player vote, and he obviously can’t vote for himself,” Bristow said.
“He was unreal yesterday, he shut down a lot of chances and really put his body on the line.
“Obviously you’ve got the usual contributors, but Jordy was a standout by far yesterday.”
As for the remainder of the season, Bristow said having possession of the Challenge Cup has given the side a new motivation for its final two games against Junee and Albury now it has skipped five points clear of last-placed Wagga Brothers and avoided the wooden spoon.
“I still feel we have got something to play for,” he said.
“One we didn’t want to finish down the bottom, and two now we’ve ended up playing for a Challenge Cup.
“I know it’s not like you play footy for the Challenge Cup, but for us to be able to potentially hold that at the end of the year, it would give us a small reward for what has been a challenging year.”
Tumut has been handed a +5.5 start for its clash with the Diesels at Laurie Daley Oval this Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Kangaroos will face Cootamundra in a must-win clash for their finals hopes at Geohex Park on Saturday.
TUMUT 12 (Malik Aitken, Angus Williams tries; Eli Williams 2 goals) DEFEATED WAGGA KANGAROOS 10 (Brandan Purcell, Dakota Ruta tries; James Smart goal) at Twickenham Oval, Sunday August 9.
