Tallon Smith

A fifth-straight victory brought with it a valuable reward as Junee secured an all-important top three finish with an 18-4 win over Tumut at Laurie Daley Oval on Sunday. 

After conceding the first try, the Diesels lifted in a physical, grinding clash to score 18 unanswered points and collect the Challenge Cup alongside locking in a double-chance for the club’s first finals series since 2018.

Junee co-coach Damian Willis said the result was the latest in a number of hard-fought wins for the side, with its five consecutive victories only decided by an average margin of 10.4 points.

“We’ve played the last handful of games and we have done some really good things, but we’ve played ugly, and at the end of the day for us, two points is two points,” he said. 

“It was a very grinding game, we kicked to corners very well, I think our completion rate was better than what it was last week and that’s probably the reason why we got the victory today.

“Tumut are tough, it doesn’t matter where they are coming on the ladder, they’re tough, they’re uncompromising, and they’re a good side.

“We are happy with where we are at, there is a lot of improvement in our team, and we know that.”

It was Blues centre Angus Williams who opened the scoring after 16 minutes, only for Quaider Kea to strike back nine minutes later to give the hosts a 6-4 lead.

A skilful flick pass from centre Cooper Wright in the shadows of half time sent Jack Walker over to double the Diesels’ tally to 12, with Daniel Foley’s late try off a break from Eli Crozier the only time the scorers were troubled in the second stanza.

Having now locked in a qualifying final berth against the loser of Saturday’s minor premiership showdown between Gundagai and Temora, Junee has surged into contention late after starting the season with one win from its first four games.

Willis said the Diesels have exceeded even their own expectations, though the success has come from hard work within the club’s pathways as well as good recruitment.

“I don’t think we have overachieved, but we have probably achieved things that we didn’t set out to do early in the season,” he said.

“We’ve worked really hard over the last handful of seasons, and now we’ve got the right mix of people in our footy club and they’re doing a good job for us.

“A lot of the guys have worked extremely hard to be first graders that weren’t really first graders over the last couple of years, and that’s paid dividends, and we’ve definitely recruited very well.

“We had four really good first graders out this week, and we had them out last week as well.

“The depth we have got in our footy club at the moment and the belief is second to none, so very pleased with what we have been able to achieve so far.”

With a three point lead over fourth-placed Young and no chance of catching the two sides above them, the last round will have no bearing on the Diesels’ finishing position, giving them the opportunity to rest players.

However, despite Brothers’ last start 72-6 loss to Southcity, Willis remains wary of giving too many of his key players a week off against the wooden spooners, who have already claimed the scalps of top five contenders Cootamundra and Albury.

“That’s their [Brothers’] last game of footy, they have got nothing to lose, and I guarantee they will want to get a win in their final game of the year,” he said.

“Blake Dunn is such a good coach, and I guess he will more likely look at the future and what he can bring next season.

“I don’t want to take them too lightly, regardless of what the scores have been over the weekend. 

“For us, we will play it by ear, we’ll look at the guys and see what their injuries look like.

“Obviously we don’t really want to risk too many blokes and we’ll wait and see what we have got to work with.

“We’re just focused on just ourselves at the moment and getting the things we need to get done right, and if we can do that, we put our best foot forward and go from there.”

The Blues will travel to Albury’s Greenfield Park for a final round clash with the Thunder on Sunday.

JUNEE 18 (Quaider Kea, Jack Walker, Daniel Foley tries; Stu Dunbar 3 goals) DEFEATED TUMUT 4 (Angus Williams try) at Laurie Daley Oval, Sunday August 16.