Cover Photo: Kate Johnson

Tallon Smith

The Southcity Bulls have roared back into finals contention with one round to play with a for-and-against boosting 72-6 victory over the Wagga Brothers in a local derby at Geohex Park on Sunday.

Centre pairing Mat Lyons and Cody Hodge proved hard to handle, crossing for three tries apiece as the Bulls piled on 14 four-pointers in their most dominant performance this season to draw level with fifth-placed Wagga Kangaroos and Cootamundra on 14 competition points.

Cleve McGhie’s try 48 minutes into the contest was the only respite for Brothers from the onslaught that equalled Temora’s 70-4 win over Kangaroos in round 4 for the biggest victory of the season.

Southcity coach Luke McBeath said he was happy with the side’s performance, as the Bulls look to make a late charge with several of their key players including off-season signings Nathan Rose and Mat Lyons back on deck after missing large parts of the year with injury.

“It was very pleasing, we are in a position now where we have to win, and the points differential wasn’t something that I looked into too much, I just wanted to put a good performance together and I think we did that,” he said.

“[The] things we did well were things that we have been working on the last few weeks and it probably just hasn’t come together, so it was nice to see it come together, and hopefully we can take that momentum into next week as well.”

The 66-point victory brings the Bulls right back into finals calculations ahead of a nail-biting final weekend where three teams are all vying for fifth position.

The Bulls will square off with one of those sides in the form of Cootamundra at Harris Park on Sunday, with the victor moving to 16 competition points.

However, the Wagga Kangaroos will have the opportunity to move to the same tally a day earlier on Saturday when they face Young, and hold a superior points differential over both the Bulls and the Bulldogs.

Despite Kangaroos being in the box seat should they win, Southcity and Cootamundra still have their fate in their own hands if they can make up the for-and-against deficit.

Should Kangaroos lose, Sunday’s match becomes a virtual playoff for fifth.

With all those variables in mind, McBeath said he is more concerned with his side putting in the best performance it can, and letting the rest work itself out.

“The focus for us is to play the most complete footy we can, which to us, that’s completing and just looking after what we can do,” he said.

“The last few weeks I’ve felt as though we probably were outplayed, but we also did a lot of things to hamper ourselves, so if we can just get our own backyard right, I think the result should look after itself.

“I know the last probably two months we haven’t won many games, but I definitely think now that we have got a few boys back that the confidence is building around the group, and if we do manage to find a way into it I’m pretty excited about the things we can do.

“I’m not really looking into the big win for us, it’s just go out there, play our best footy and the rest will look after itself I think.”

As for the clash with the Bulldogs, while the Bulls did lose the teams’ last meeting 34-30 after a try on the bell to Nikola Sovatabua, McBeath said the match showed the Southcity pack can stand up against Cootamundra’s big forwards.

“We know we can match it with them, I think it’s just about us doing that for 80 minutes,” he said.

“Coota have got a really handy side with a great forward pack, so there’s going to be a big emphasis on us to really nullify the damage that their forward pack does, and we have got a bit of strike out wide, so hopefully we can use that as well.”

Meanwhile, Brothers will have plenty to play for in the final round after being handed a +30.5 start against third-placed Junee in the final Challenge Cup clash for the year.

That match will kick off at 2:35pm at Geohex Park on Saturday.

The ladder is: Temora (22 points, +237 differential), Gundagai (22, +195), Junee (20), Young (17), Wagga Kangaroos (14, +16), Southcity (14, -12), Cootamundra (14, -20), Albury (10), Tumut (8), Brothers (5).

SOUTHCITY 72 (Mathew Lyons 3, Cody Hodge 3, Jesse Fitzhenry 2, Josh Siegwalt, Nathan Rose, Deegan Lesniak, Mitchell Bennett, Jaycee Gladman, Rhys Weldon tries; Josh Siegwalt 8 goals) DEFEATED WAGGA BROTHERS 6 (Cleveland McGhie try; Cohen Benson goal) at Geohex Park, Sunday August 16.