A proud moment for Magpie Jordan Vitler making his First Grade debut against the Sharks. A very proud grandfather and Life Member of the Magpies club Paul Nugget Vitlerpresented him with his jersey. Jordan’s Dad Anthony Vitler was present also.  Photo Yass Magpies

After three weeks out of action, the Yass Magpies first grade side returned to Walker Park on Saturday, however, went down to the Belconnen Sharks 28-16 which keeps the men in black and white cemented to the bottom of the ladder. 

The Round 15 Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade clash was always going to be a challenging proposition coming up against the third-placed Sharks, but the Magpies believed they were prime for the picking. 

Tries to Richard Maher, Liam Grame and Varcon Ratima, with two converted by Waisale Nayavucere weren’t enough to see the hosts over the line. 

Magpies First Grade Coach Adam Kyle said despite not getting the result they wanted, there were positives to take out of the game. 

“It wasn’t the desired result. We were down 10-nil early in the game and didn’t get to 14-nil until we scored a couple of late tries in the first half and only went in a couple points down at half time,” Kyle said. 

“It’s probably the first time in a good few months that we’ve stuck to the process and really believed in the game plan.

“I thought we were a little bit unlucky late, a couple of forward passes and a couple of other things on another day might have been called back but they weren’t. Sharks were just a little bit more consistent with their effort on the day.

“Our captain Sean Davis, again, was a big player for us. He’s coming into the back end of his career, he’s 32 and has transitioned from the second row to prop this year, which is a massive effort. He had 20 carries and 30-odd tackles on the weekend. He’s really leading the team from the front. 

“I know the boys really appreciate the work that he puts in. He was one of our standouts on the weekend. 

“It was just a good performance across the whole team. We had Jordan Vitler make his first-grade debut on the weekend, which was really special. It’s a third-generation Vitler to play first grade for the Club. 

“While we haven’t had a few of the results go our way this season, we’ve got some real positives across the club.”

This Saturday, the Magpies head to Canberra to take on the fifth-placed West Belconnen at Belconnen Raiders from 3pm in Round 15.

 

“There’s a lot of positives for us to take away before we head into another tough game against West Belconnen this weekend,” Kyle continued. 

“I think we’re going to play fairly similar to how we did against Sharks on the weekend. We really changed up some of our attacking structure and a couple of subtle changes to our defensive process as well.

“Considering we only had a week of training to go through it, I think the boys will be better for that this week. We’re going to attack West Belconnen this weekend, there’s no doubt about that.

“I saw they had a pretty close result against Queanbeyan on the weekend. They’ve still got a lot to play for but we’re still aiming to make sure that we don’t finish bottom of the ladder this season. We’ll be going there with a positive mindset to hopefully win. 

“We’ve spoken about the wooden spoon as a team. We think we’re better than that, but results are what they are and we’re sitting where we’re sitting. We certainly don’t want to be sitting at the bottom of the table for another season.

“It’s absolutely our goal to try and win three out of three to finish the season. We’ve got to win to make sure that we’re not finishing bottom of the table this season.”

In other results, the Yass Magpies Katrina Fanning Shield ladies tackle side lost 24-28 against West Belconnen Warriors at Walker Park on Saturday. 

Two tries to Lucy Prosser, and singles to Sophie Gaynor, Samara Afele and Jenna Cooke, with two successful conversions by Kaitlin Andrews weren’t enough to see the girls over the line. 

The KFS Magpies sit in second on the Tier 1 ladder on 19 points, behind the Gungahlin Bulls with three rounds to play. 

The KFS Magpies will take on the Goulburn City Bulldogs this Saturday in Round 4 at Workers Arena from 11:10am. 

 

Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade Ladder:

  • Queanbeyan Roos – 24 points – +321
  • Tuggeranong – 18 points – +39
  • Belconnen United – 18 points – +12
  • Woden – 16 points – +16
  • West Belconnen – 15 points – +32
  • Goulburn – 14 points – +70
  • Gungahlin – 6 points – -164
  • Queanbeyan Blues – 4 points – -126
  • YASS MAGPIES – 4 points – -200

 

Tim Warren