Lachie Day scored all 26 points as Waratahs ended Wagga City's domination of Southern Inland.
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After losing just once in the past three seasons, Wagga City had a much bigger challenge on their hands in 2023.
In the end they couldn't maintain the standard as Day inspired Waratahs to a 26-10 grand final victory at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday.
Wagga City had the upper hand early but struggled to stem the tide as Waratahs were able to change the momentum.
![Waratahs celebrate their Southern Inland premiership after a 26-10 win over Wagga Cit at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday. Picture by Madeline Begley Waratahs celebrate their Southern Inland premiership after a 26-10 win over Wagga Cit at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday. Picture by Madeline Begley](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/J7tLankfguv74QY82b3G7h/4992ab58-d24c-4816-9d88-8d159ddcdaae.jpg/r0_280_5472_3369_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Coach Nick McCarthy was impressed with how his side kept themselves in the contest before being able to dictate in the second stanza.
"We expected them to get out of the blocks, and knew we had to absorb a lot of pressure and if we got it right we knew our fitness would show," McCarthy said.
"The fact they were only 10-3 up and we got a bit of a shift in momentum, scored a try from a cross-field kick and when we went into the sheds I was really comfortable with where we were sitting.
"I thought we would have more run in the legs in the second half, the boys stuck to the game plan, probably bored a lot of people with our kicking but it was all about getting to the right part of the field to really utilise our strengths."
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Wagga City opened the scoring after 12 minutes after a mistake from 'Tahs saw Jone Kurusiga swoop on a loose ball and go 30 metres to score.
The two teams then traded penalty goals before Waratahs started to really settle into the game.
A try to Day, who was an obvious Rivcoll Olds Boy Medal winner, off a precise Lachlan Condon kick saw the two teams head into the break locked at 10-all.
Day put Waratahs in front for the first time when he scored, after putting his side in a great position with a big kick for touch.
With Wagga City down a man after Monson Tuvale's yellow card, Steven Tracey then missed a penalty goal attempt.
Day on the other hand struck his next shot truly.
While he did miss his next attempt from halfway he slotted two more to put the result out of reach.
McCarthy was thrilled with his performance.
"It makes life easy to build a game plan around a guy like Lachie, who despite the abuse he cops from the crowd week-in, week-out, backs his skills, backs his ability and he came up trumps,"
"I thought he was clearly the best player on the field."
Waratahs also had to overcome some adversity.
They lost captain Harry Tyson in the preliminary final forcing a change in their back line and their depth was further tested when Harrison Darley hobbled off with a hamstring injury with 13 minutes left in the first half.
They also played their last two games without Calum Marr and Josh Allen but barely skipped a beat to respond from a narrow loss to Wagga City in the major semi-final.
How they responded to some early pressure really pleased McCarthy.
"We were under a lot of pressure, probably made a few decisions that weren't the greatest but once we got our heads clear and realised we could defend them pretty well a lot of the better decisions rolled in pretty quickly," he said.
The 26-10 win capped off a big day for the club who also won their maiden women's title after an extra-time thriller.
McCarthy thought it was the perfect finish to 65th anniversary season.
"I'm really happy for the club and the fact that we got our girls side up and first grade in our 65th anniversary is the cherry on top," he said.
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