By TALLON SMITH
FRESH off the high of their recent upset win over Leeton, the Mallee Men endured a tough afternoon on Sunday as premiership favourites Griffith Waratahs cruised to a 62-0 victory over an undermanned West Wyalong outfit at the Griffith Exies Oval.
Waratahs winger Ulu Akolo and centre Shorne Ngu each picked up hat-tricks in the eleven tries to nil victory, while debutant winger Solomoni Nabete also crossed for a double to mark the memorable occasion.
The Tigers burst out of the blocks early to lead 18-0, before errors invited West Wyalong into their territory through the middle period of the first half.
The Mallee Men went close to scoring again later in the half with the score at 28-0, before normal transmission resumed to see Waratahs holding a 46-0 lead at the break.
That advantage was extended to 62 in the 52nd minute, at which point the game was called off due to the mercy rule.
West Wyalong coach Braiden Jones said that despite the big loss, his side are in it for the long haul, upholding the honour of the oldest rugby league club in the Riverina.
“It was a tough battle today, but we didn’t give up,” he said.
“That’s the spirit everyone’s got at the moment, not to give up and keep working and pushing through.”
After the Waratahs burst out of the blocks to open the match, the Mallee Men responded through the middle of the first half, even going close to scoring a try which was disallowed due to the player being offside.
Jones said that the turnaround during that period was a small positive to take out of the match, despite the team conceding points quickly later in the match as they fought on without a bench.
“We just didn’t really leave the sheds, everyone was probably a bit flat when we went out there at the start, but a couple of solid tackles and a good set of defence sort of turned it around in the middle a bit,” he said.
The standout performer for West Wyalong at the back was Logan Collins, who put his body on the line time and time again to try and stem the flow of points, with the Mallee Men’s custodian reeling off one of the best try-savers of the season late in the first half.
Jones said that Collins has been one of the best for his side over the course of an inconsistent campaign.
“He’s always been good like that, he’s always reliable,” Jones said.
“A pat on the back to Loges, he always does a good job week in, week out.”
As for where this leaves the struggling side with a third of the season left to play, Jones said that they aren’t about to throw the towel in anytime soon.
“There’s no point giving up now, we’re in this for the long haul,” he said.
“It’s the character of this club, we’re not going to give up, we’ve still got the rest of the year to play out and we won’t give up.”
Meanwhile, the Mallee Chicks proved the bright spot once again as the side picked up yet another victory with a 34-8 defeat of a determined Waratahs side. Bree Franklin and Olivia Downey each scored doubles as the West Wyalong side piled on the points in the second half to record a comfortable victory. The win sees the Mallee Chicks maintain pace with Leeton in equal second, half a game behind leaders Griffith Black and Whites.
The West Wyalong Under 18s also put in a strong performance, but ultimately fell to the Waratah Tigers 34-12 in a physical game of footy. Callan Blackstock and Aiden Phillips both crossed for four pointers for the Mallee Men, but it was Waratahs forward Ben Williment who dominated the clash, scoring three tries to secure victory for his side.
TALLON SMITH
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