Cover Photo: Kate Johnson

Tallon Smith

Southcity’s remarkable run from fifth position will extend into the third week of the postseason after the Bulls secured a thrilling 22-18 victory over Junee in the minor semi final at Laurie Daley Oval on Saturday.

Faced with a 12-4 half time deficit, three tries in the space of 12 minutes in the second half turned the tide, before the Bulls’ goal line defence stood tall under pressure late to claim the first place in next week’s preliminary final.

Despite trailing at the break, Southcity coach Luke McBeath said both he and the team remained confident of turning the match around, and was pleased with the determination the side showed to achieve the final result.

“I think we showed that fight for the majority of the year, so it was nice to do it again in finals and get ourselves through to a prelim,” he said.

“That first half was a pretty big grind there and I had full confidence that after half time we could come out and hopefully run over the top of them, and I think we started to do that, but probably let them back in the game a little bit.

“The chat at half time was pretty positive from myself and everyone else as well.

“There was a pretty strong wind there that we were running into in that first half, and we felt as though we put the work into Junee that we still had them under fatigue, and with the wind behind us, that we could capitalise on that, and we managed to do that.”

It took just five minutes for Junee to open the scoring, with Cooper Wright and Jakeem Morgan combining on a left side raid, with the latter finding fullback Daniel Foley in support to finish off the play.

The Bulls responded 16 minutes later when Nathan Rose found Cody Hodge with a pinpoint kick to draw within two, only for Stu Dunbar to extend Junee’s advantage to 12-4 at the break with a darting run from close range.

That was where the tide turned, with two penalties to start the second half putting Southcity in good field position, allowing Kyle McCarthy to make the most of the opportunity and score under the posts, before Nathan Rose found Mat Lyons with a delicate grubber five minutes later to give the side its first lead at 16-12.

Rose then extended that advantage to 10 points soon after with a four-pointer of his own, stripping the ball from Jese Wainibuli and running in under the posts.

With the scoreline and the clock against them, the Diesels found their response with just over 10 minutes to play when Dunbar sent Ryan Crowder over off a brilliant short ball.

Junee had further chances on the Bulls’ line late in the match to steal it at the finish, but Southcity held firm, with prop Tim Hurst diving on a Connor Garrety kick to reclaim possession and allow the visitors to close out the game in the final minute.

The side’s courage to keep turning up on the goal line in the final minute impressed McBeath, with that area of the game being a focus for the Bulls this season.

“It’s pleasing [with] a minute to go there we hung on there and held them out,” he said.

“We’ve done a lot of work on that throughout the year and spoken about it a lot during the week that we just need to keep moving and keep showing up, and the boys did that.

“I think the first time we beat Junee it was close down to the very end, where we had to defend our line a bit as well, so we’ve put in the work and we know we can do it, and we’re going to have to keep showing up with that attitude to keep progressing and hopefully get ourselves into a grand final.”

Looking at the big picture, the fourth consecutive win is just the latest chapter in the side’s incredible late-season rise from seventh position with two rounds to play.

McBeath said while the stunning turnaround has provided a “crazy” finish to his first season at the helm, he remains focused on preparing for the next task of tackling Temora for a place in the final game of the year.

“I think our biggest priority at the moment is making sure that we’re doing everything we can to play our best footy, so we’ll continue to do that during the week, work on things we need to work on out of that game.

“I don’t put a whole lot of focus on to who we’ll be playing, it’s more just making sure we do the weekend well, and hopefully the rest looks after itself.”

‘Tough pill to swallow’ after promising campaign ends

For the Diesels, Saturday’s result brings with it the disappointment of a straight sets exit after the side worked to secure a top three finish in its centenary season.

Junee co-coach Damian Willis said while it is a bitter ending to what was such a promising campaign, the experience of playing high-pressure postseason football will only benefit the side heading into 2027.

“[It’s] a tough pill to swallow, the way that it went down,” he said.

“We’re better off for the run I think, trying to take the positives out of a negative, and I think that the footy club as a whole has definitely taken some massive strides forward and done a really good job in getting to where we got to and finishing third.

“Although it’s very disappointing finishing in straight sets, I think the boys will learn from that experience and be better for it next year.

“Hopefully we can retain the squad and move forward.

“I’m proud of the boys and proud of what we’ve achieved.

“Things obviously didn’t go our way today, and we couldn’t get the rub of the green.

“Even being at our own home ground, we just couldn’t quite match it with Southcity.

“They’re a good side and they’ve been in red-hot form over the last handful of weeks, and they capitalised on things that we didn’t quite get there.”

Despite the finish to the campaign, 2026 marks a major year of improvement for the Diesels, who returned to the finals for the first time since 2018 off the back of an 11-win season, compared to six victories last year and just three in 2024.

Willis said the on-field results reflect the work of volunteers behind the scenes, with the club rising up the table each year since returning to the first grade competition from two years in recess in 2023.

“I think after having a year out of the game for the football club, and coming back from 2023 through to now, the club has done a fantastic job and there’s a lot of people doing some really good things,” he said.

“We’ve only got a really small committee that [does] a lot of stuff behind the scenes, and it’s probably just rewards making the semi finals and having home final for that, and I’m sure that the hard work will continue next season.”

SOUTHCITY 22 (Cody Hodge, Kyle McCarthy, Mathew Lyons, Nathan Rose tries; Josh Siegwalt 3 goals) DEFEATED JUNEE 18 (Daniel Foley, Stuart Dunbar, Ryan Crowder tries; Dunbar 3 goals) at Laurie Daley Oval, Saturday September 5.