Sport
11 July, 2025
Cometh the hour, cometh the Mallee Men
West Wyalong off bottom of ladder with emphatic win
By TALLON SMITH
THEY may have endured one of the toughest seasons in their 114-year history, but the spirit of the West Wyalong Mallee Men was on full display on Sunday as they rallied to an 18-16 upset win over the Leeton Greenies at Ron Crowe Oval.
Strengthened by the inclusion of former NRL star Chris Lewis, the son of 1989 premiership coach Mick, the Mallee Men overturned a 10-point second half deficit to secure their second victory of the season.
West Wyalong coach Braiden Jones said that the win was a big morale boost for not only the struggling side, but the whole town, on old boys day.
“It was an awesome win to get, especially on an old boys day,” he said.
“It was a big day for the whole club, but we had a few blokes come back to help us out to fill the side.
“We had the Lewis brothers and one of their mates come back, so that was a massive boost, and just the confidence that having them boys back and having a bench [gave] every other player was just unbelievable.
“It was a massive, massive win for us.”
With the Mallee Men entering the sheds trailing 16-6 at half time, Jones said his message was simple, especially given the lack of training the side has done together in recent seasons.
“We went into the sheds, obviously there weren’t many points in it, [and] the boys were all calm,” he said.
“We knew we could get the win, we just had to dig deep.
“Obviously, we didn’t really have many training runs with that side, which was a big loss for us in a way because it was very unstructured.
“I just said to the boys, we’ve got to dig deep, [and] we’ve just got to play simple, smart footy.
“Everyone gave 100 percent in that second half, and we turned it around and scored points through the middle with our forwards, which was really good.”
With the ship having long sailed in regards to finals football this season and the Mallee Men playing for pride, the club’s players have had the fort remarkably, winning two games in a season where many local pundits tipped the side to go without a single victory.
When asked about what is motivating the side to push through such a tough campaign, Jones said that despite all the challenges the squad has faced in 2025, the focus has been on keeping the team on the paddock and building for next season.
“We’re trying to sign some players for next year and just keep the younger boys’ spirits up,” he said.
“Every club goes through a hard time and it’s just our time.
“That’s what we’re working on at the moment, to try and keep our local boys here keen and eager to get there and play some first grade footy.
“We’ve still got a good young pack there, we just need a few more players around, probably a few more bigger bodies.
“I think we can go a long way, it’s just unfortunately our year this year to just struggle a little bit, but that’s our main focus, to try and build for next year.”
West Wyalong President Matt Goodwin said that the unlikely victory, which lifted the side off the bottom of the Group 20 ladder, has provided a much-needed morale boost for the club and the town overall after what has been a tough year.
“It was just phenomenal, the crowd went mad,” he said.
“[Doing it in front of] the Old Boys was good, because everyone came out on the field and clapped them on to start with and clapped them off when they came off.
“It was really a great day, it lifted the spirits of the whole town.
“I can’t explain it, the game was so exciting.”
Helping West Wyalong’s cause was the inclusion of a former NRL star and Canberra Raiders NSW Cup coach Lewis, along with his brother.
“We had Chris and Mark Lewis come back and play,” Goodwin said.
“Their father played for West Wyalong and took West Wyalong to three grand finals in a row and won the third one.
“Chris coaches the Canberra Raiders New South Wales Cup side, he finished playing with Melbourne a few years ago, but he heard about our plight [and said] I’ll come over and play when we have the bye.
“He brought his brother and he brought another bloke with him, a guy who came off the bench and played well.”
Goodwin said that the win is made all the more sweeter when placed in the context of the Mallee Men’s previous matchup against the Greenies this season, where they were outclassed 62-0 at the Leeton No.1 Oval.
“Playing them over there at Leeton, they called it off a three-quarter time and it was like 60-0,” he said.
“So to actually get up and beat them was fantastic.”
Moving to other games, and the Hay Magpies took home the points in all grades on a great day for the club at home on the Hay Park Oval against Yanco-Wamoon.
In a crucial first grade clash, the Magpies outlasted the Hawks 24-18 in a four tries to three shootout, with Hugh Crighton, Harley Hey and Ben Arandt all among the try scorers for Hay side.
The win sees Hay move to equal fifth with Yanco, aided by the four-point swing that came with defeating their main rivals in the race for the top five.
Speaking of the race to the finals, the Griffith Black and Whites’ hopes took another hit as they fell 26-14 to Darlington Point-Coleambally at home.
In a drama-filled match, the Roosters only managed to outscore the Griffith side by one try, but kicked well clear in the goalkicking department, with Josh Veivers landing four from four conversions and adding a penalty goal on a day where the Black and Whites went one from three.
On top of all that, DPC skipper Guy Thompson and Black and Whites prop Mason Payne were sent from the field in the 64th minute.
The Roosters’ win and Leeton’s shock loss sees DPC move into outright second on the ladder, though still six points adrift of runaway leaders Waratahs.
Speaking of Waratahs, they remain undefeated after yet another away victory, this time over rivals Yenda at Wade Park to the tune of 38-22.
The Tigers ran in seven tries to four in another display of their raw power, with star winger Ulu Akolo again leading all scorers with three tries and five goals for a personal haul of 22 points to match the Yenda side’s total.
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