Hawks get home in tough one, CSU remain undefeated and Jets win ugly

The Kangaroos produced arguably their best effort of the season to date, pushing the Hawks all the way to an eventual 11.11 (77) to 8.11 (59) victory at Nixon Park.

Only a goal separated the two teams at half-time, however it was a familiar story for the Hawks who'd had six more scoring shots.

Ruck recruit Mason Dryburgh produced his best game in Hawks colours, while Dylan Morton continued his strong start to the year with another polished display.

EWK co-coach Luke Gerhard was pleased to see a response from the Hawks after last week's two-goal loss to Marrar.

"I think we did. The boys you could see in their eyes that we needed that response and we played some good footy at times but there's still room for improvement there that's for sure," Gerhard said.

Gerhard paid tribute to his old club Temora, who stayed in the contest throughout.

"It was an arm wrestle all day. Temora kept coming and coming," he said.

"There wasn't an easy ball all day. I think we missed a few goals early, same old scenario, but it was just an arm wrestle all day and to Temora's credit they just kept coming at us."

Temora co-coach Will Reinhold was again the home team's best player, while Jock Cornell also had a big influence for the Kangaroos.

Jerry Maslin was a late withdrawal for the Hawks with a bad cork.

Full-time

EWK Hawks - 3.8 - 11.11 (77)

Temora Kangaroos - 3.2 - 8.11 (59)

GOALS: EWK Hawks: D.Morton 2, J.Piercy 2, J.Boumann 2, J.Turner 2, B.Argus 1, M.Dryburgh 1, C.McPherson 1; Temora Kangaroos: J.Cornell 1, B.Ruskin 1, B.Blackwell 1, W.Reinhold 1, H.Dew 1, W.McMartin 1, M.Krause 1, J.Morton 1

BEST: EWK Hawks: M.Dryburgh, D.Morton, J.Piercy, J.Turner, B.McPherson, R.Bourne; Temora Kangaroos: J.Cullen, J.Kennedy, J.Cornell, A.McRae, Z.Oliver, W.Reinhold.

CHARLES Sturt University continued their unbeaten start to the Farrer League season with a 52-point win over North Wagga on Saturday.

A big performance from key defender Nick Myers kept the Bushpigs in front early, before the home team got their game into gear to run out big winners 12.7 (79) to 3.9 (27) at Peter Hastie Oval.

The Saints were kept goalless in the opening half and trailed by 22 points at the main break despite having more inside 50 entries than CSU.

CSU co-coach Trent Cohalan said it was a real battle early on for the Bushpigs.

"In the end, it was a slog," Cohalan said.

"At half-time, they were beating us in pretty well most of our KPIs, which was disappointing.

"We were lucky we had Nick Myers in the first half. He was enormous in the first half, he and Jack Mason at centre-half-back, just held us there.

"We were obviously a little bit better going forward obviously and that's how we managed to convert. They had more inside 50s, more nearly everything at half-time, they threw everything at us."

Cohalan said it was just a matter of being smarter with ball in hand.

"We were probably just a little bit silly with the footy to be fair. Trying to rush things when it wasn't time to rush and then probably being too slow when we probably should have been going," he explained.

"I guess we're still trying to work out the cues of the game and that's where we were lacking in the first half and to North Wagga's credit, they probably should have been leading at half-time with the amount of footy that they had but we obviously managed to stand firm and run out with a pretty good win in the end."

Myers was CSU's best, while Harry Wakefield and Wayde Archibald, in his 100^th game for the club, were also good in defence.

Hugh Wakefield enjoyed his best return yet in CSU colours, kicking four goals, while Hamish Warwick and Paddy Inglis also booted three.

Matt Thomas and Luke Mauger were best for the Saints.

CSU sit second on the Farrer League ladder after their unblemished start to the season and Cohalan is rapt with the way the Bushpigs have started.

"For sure. Obviously Barellan in round one with a pretty new side, to have a good win there," he said.

"The Jets win showed really good character. It was uni holidays and we had half of our team on tractors for two weeks on the family farms so for us to grind out a really strong win against a pretty good side last week was really pleasing.

"North Wagga are obviously a lot better side this year than they were last year, they've picked up some really good players from the RFL and to obviously get another good solid win today, I think any coach would take three in a row at the start of the season for sure."

Full-time

CSU Bushpigs 2.1 4.4 7.6 12.7 (79)

North Wagga Saints 0.2 0.6 1.7 3.9 (27)

GOALS: CSU Bushpigs: H.Wakefield 4, H.Warwick 3, P.Inglis 3, H.Wooden 1, M.Findlay 1; North Wagga Saints: B.Clark 2, Z.Whyte 1

BEST: CSU Bushpigs: N.Myers, W.Archibald, H.Wakefield, H.Warwick, J.Turner, H.Wakefield; North Wagga Saints: M.Thomas, L.Mauger, W.Mcgowan, T.Hopkins, J.Kerr, A.Cornell.

NORTHERN Jets coach Jack Harper believes the bye has come at the right time for his team after winning 'ugly' at Coleambally on Saturday.

The Jets' 22-point win over Coleambally featured a goalless quarter as the visitors prevailed 6.10 (46) to 3.6 (24) at Coleambally Sportsground.

The Blues were kept goalless in the opening half but the Jets could only manage two and it was enough to take a 10-point lead at the main break.

The Jets only managed four goals to Coleambally's three in the second half but it proved enough in a game Harper described as 'strange'.

"It was ugly, really ugly," Harper said.

"It's obviously never easy going out to Coleambally and playing them on their home deck but we got the four points in the end.

"It was a pretty ugly sort of win, there was nothing special in the way we played footy by any means, and we've got a lot to work on, but at the end of the day we got the four points and that's the main thing."

Harper was looking for a response after last week's loss to Charles Sturt University but he isn't convinced he got it.

"To be honest, not really," he said.

"We've been in a bit of a rut for the last couple of weeks and I think it's something we've got to snap out of.

"The bye's come at a good time for us. There's a lot of guys pretty tired, everyone's flat out sewing at the moment so coming back after the bye we should be a bit freshened up, guys should be a bit more ready to play footy, I guess you could say.

"I think we'll probably get a bit more of a response after the bye."

Harper had strong praise for the Jets' back six for keeping them in front. Former coach Josh Avis, Max Tidd, Jim Griffin and Mitch Doyle were all rock solid in defence.

Jack Fisher and Harper got them going through the midfield and had strong games.

Dean Bennett was Coleambally's best, while ruck Darcy Mader and key defender Blake Argus also enjoyed big games.

Full-time

Northern Jets 2.2 2.4 5.7 6.10 (46)

Coleambally Blues 0.2 0.6 2.6 3.6 (24)

GOALS: Northern Jets: C.Mccormack 2, J.Fisher 2, B.McKinnon 1, J.Harper 1; Coleambally Blues: D.Bennett 1, J.Lyell 1, J.Buchanan 1

BEST: Northern Jets: J.Fisher, J.Harper, J.Avis, B.McLean, J.Griffin, M.Tidd; Coleambally Blues: D.Mader, B.Argus, C.Hayes, K.Bennett, D.Bennett, J.Buchanan