The Rock-Yerong Creek co-coach Brad Aiken could not praise his group enough after they showed enormous character to see off the challenge of Northern Jets on Saturday.
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The Magpies overcame injuries to some of their most important players to down the Jets by 40 points in front of a big crowd at Ariah Park Sportsground, 17.12 (114) to 11.8 (74).
TRYC were momentarily down to just 17 fit players as the Jets closed within one point midway through the third quarter.
But the reigning premiers dug deep and responded with eight of the final 10 goals of the game to run out resounding victors on a big day for the Jets with their 20-year celebrations.
Curtis Steele (hamstring), Matt Parks (knee) and Jake Hindmarsh (knee) all played no further part in the game, while Dean Biermann (shoulder) went back on and saw the game out.
Aiken was full of praise for the Magpies in the way they responded to adversity.
"We had some casualties, which is not ideal but our boys showed some serious, serious resilience today," Aiken said.
"A lot of our blokes really stood up. At one stage there we had 17 on the park.
"That's probably the most resilient, growth, I've seen out of our boys since I've been at the club, just the way they stood up for each other. We had some blokes really step up, just exceptional.
"We showed so much resilience. We showed you can have blokes down and playing under adversity but as long as you're playing for yourself and your team, that's all that matters.
"They closed within a point and to end up winning by 40, if you told me that was going to happen, I would have been surprised. It was very rewarding for them, the effort they had to put in, especially the blokes that were left on the park and the boys who didn't end up finishing the game."
Aiken said it was one of the best wins he's been apart of at the club.
"One hundred per cent. Under adversity and what we had to endure a long the way," he said.
"We didn't ask anything out of the ordinary of blokes, they just took it on themselves. We just stood up."
Cody Cool was one of The Rock-Yerong Creek's best, playing one of his finest games for the club across half-back.
Riley Budd had an enormous second half to help lift the Magpies over the line, while Aiden Ridley shone in his 250th game for the club.
Tom Yates, James Roberts, with four goals, and Noah Budd also played significant roles in the win.
Aiken said they didn't just limp over the line either.
"They actually played some really smart footy," he said.
"We slowed it down, we changed direction, we played like The Rock of old.
"We held the footy, we brought each other into the game, we had to make them defend and shift and our entries going into our front half were a lot cleaner and our competitiveness to win it in our front half and not let it out as easy as we have lately was the most pleasing thing. It was so good."
It was an important win for the Magpies, as it keeps them a game clear on top of the Farrer League ladder.
The Jets are now up against it, sitting two games plus percentage outside the top five.
Jets coach Jack Harper was among his team's best, while Sam Clemson continued his good year. The returning Alex Rogers also proved his worth with a big game.
A concerning development for the Jets was a shoulder injury to key forward Charlie McCormack late in the game.
Full-time
TRYC Magpies 4.6 9.8 13.10 17.12 (114)
Northern Jets 2.2 6.7 9.8 11.8 (74)
GOALS: TRYC Magpies: J.Roberts 4, D.Biermann 3, R.Budd 3, D.Roberts 2, T.post 2, J.Kemp 2, T.Yates 1; Northern Jets: P.Bray 3, J.Fisher 2, R.Cox 1, C.McCormack 1, J.Harper 1, A.Rogers 1, C.Bell 1, B.McLean 1 BEST: TRYC Magpies: J.Brooks, D.Roberts, T.Yates, R.Budd, C.Cool, A.Ridley; Northern Jets: J.Harper, P.Bray, A.Rogers, J.Avis, L.Jones, T.Roscarel.
Coleambally earn high praise after making Hawks work hard for win
East Wagga-Kooringal coach Jake Barrett was full of praise for Coleambally after they were forced to work overtime for the four points on Saturday.
The Blues led for the best part of three quarters before the Hawks stepped up a notch in the 13.5 (83) to 10.5 (65) win at Coleambally Sportsground.
It wasn't until late in the third quarter where EWK hit the front and ran away with a hard-fought win.
Bryce McPherson was the man that kick-started the revival for the Hawks, continuing his good form with another influential display.
After that, it was the usual suspects - Dylan Morton, Jerry Maslin and Mason Dryburgh - that got the job done for EWK.
Hawks coach Jake Barrett said it was an absorbing contest.
"That was one of the most physical games I've seen all year. It was good. It was a good contest," Barrett said.
"Coleambally, their game plan from the word go was really good. They set up well behind the football, they were first to the footy a lot of the time so credit to them, they definitely put it to us and we had to really step up.
"It was just a hard-fought win in the end. It was a quality game and both teams had to fight hard.
"At the end there, I think our composure and experience probably got us over the line. Some blokes managed to get a bit more control of the ball in the second half. In the first half, I thought Coleambally dominated."
Jeremy Piercy and Luke Gerhard were dangerous up forward, combining for seven goals.
Tom McInneny played his best game for Coleambally, kicking four goals, while Kyle Pete and Ryan Best were others to shine in a strong display from the home team.
Full-time
EWK Hawks 3.0 6.0 9.4 13.5 (83)
Coleambally Blues 3.2 7.3 8.4 10.5 (65)
GOALS: EWK Hawks: J.Piercy 4, L.Gerhard 3, J.Maslin 2, D.Morton 1, B.Argus 1, H.Leddin 1, J.Turner 1; Coleambally Blues: T.McInneny 4, D.Bennett 3, B.Hardy 1, B.Potts 1, J.Lyell 1
BEST: EWK Hawks: D.Morton, M.Dryburgh, B.McPherson, J.Maslin, J.Piercy, L.Gerhard; Coleambally Blues: T.McInneny, K.Pete, J.Buchanan, D.Mader, R.Best, B.Argus.
Wakefield kicks a bag in CSU's big victory over Barellan
CHARLES Sturt University forward Hugh Wakefield enjoyed a career-best seven goals in the Bushpigs' big win over Barellan on Saturday.
The Bushpigs enjoyed one of their biggest wins in recent seasons, putting the Two Blues to the sword 20.12 (132) to 2.4 (16) at Peter Hastie Oval.
Wakefield booted five goals to half-time and ended up with seven of CSU's 20 in a best-on-ground display.
CSU president Riley McNab made the most of the call-up into the first grade team, kicking four goals, while Jake Turner and Lachie Holmes dominated through the middle of the ground.
Coming into the game on the back of consecutive heavy defeats, CSU co-coach Trent Cohalan thought there were positive signs.
"There were some pleasing signs," Cohalan said.
"We identified that the last two weeks we weren't ourselves, and obviously full credit to the two sides we played, they're the two best sides in the comp and they put us to the sword but our energy and effort isn't where it usually is for the style of footy that we want to be playing but that was certainly back today.
"Overall, our first quarter was really good, we were pretty happy with our last quarter. We were probably a bit wasteful in front of goal in the last but in the middle two we were probably a bit sloppy with our ball use and some stage decisions but that connectivity will hopefully come fairly soon."
Cohalan thought the inclusion of McNab 'straightened' them up in attack. It also allowed Paddy Inglis to move to half-back, where he used the footy well.
Barellan captain Riley Irvin was again a standout for the Two Blues, who lost a player early and had to be stretchered off the ground with a bad knee injury.
Full-time
CSU Bushpigs 7.3 10.5 14.9 20.12 (132)
Barellan Two Blues 0.2 1.3 2.3 2.4 (16)
GOALS: CSU Bushpigs: Hugh Wakefield 7, R.McNab 4, J.Turner 2, D.Rogers 1, A.Harwood 1, B.Browning 1, H.Wooden 1, H.Warwick 1, S.Barrow 1, M.Findlay 1; Barellan Two Blues: R.Irvin 1, J.Hillman 1
BEST: CSU Bushpigs: Hugh Wakefield, J.Turner, L.Holmes, T.Cohalan, Harry Wakefield, P.Inglis; Barellan Two Blues: B.Radovanovic, M.Irvin, M.Irvin, J.Lawton, R.Irvin, D.Campbell.
