After a tough streak of six consecutive losses, the Yass Magpies are back on the winner’s list following a come-from-behind win over the Queanbeyan Blues at Walker Park on Sunday.
The Magpies recorded a 36-20 win over the Blues in Round 11 of the 2023 Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade competition, which is just their second of the season.
Yass overcame a 12-6 deficit at half-time to run riot over the Blues in the second half which will be a great momentum builder for the young side going forward.
Magpies Coach Adam Kyle said the team morale was high following the side’s first win since Round 3.
“The morale around the Club is really high following the win. Obviously, Queanbeyan Blues are traditionally one of the powerhouses of the competition and one of our main rivals, so to come away with a victory and a pretty decent one on Sunday was massive for first grade, but also for the Club as well,” Kyle said.
“There was a real buzz around the place on Sunday which was fantastic and long overdue for a lot of the players as well.
“Queanbeyan took a 12-nil lead midway through the first half. We had a pretty good first half actually, we were running up the hill at Walker Park, which is traditionally really difficult to do. I thought we stayed in the contest really well in the first half.
“We completed high and turned them around, but they put together a couple of really good plays that put two tries on the board.
“It was 12-0 after about 20 minutes, then about 10 minutes from half-time we scored our first try to make it 12-6 at half-time. For us, we felt like that was a good score at half-time, we felt like that was a huge positive going into the break, knowing how big the hill is in the second half and a big home crowd backing us as well.”
The Magpies had six individual try scorers on Saturday, coming through Aublix Tawha (35th min), David Barrie (45th min), Brandon Thompson (49th min), Dylan Perceval (53rd min), Waisale Nayavucere (60th min), and Bayley Maher (65th min).
Waisale Nayavucere was instrumental with the boot, nailing five out of the six conversions, as well as a penalty goal in the 57th minute.
Jayden Ford, a current Junior Raiders player, made his first-grade debut for the Magpies, who was supported by his father Matt Ford – a former captain/coach of the Magpies and was successful in winning the comp in 2006 with Yass.
“Jayden integrated really well with the Club on the weekend. He was a Gungahlin Bulls junior and is in the Canberra Raiders Jersey Flegg squad too. We were very fortunate that Jayden transferred across to us this week and will be with us for the rest of the season,” Kyle continued.
“He played very well, he’s only 19 years old and was up against a big, strong forward pack who is very experienced, including John Papalli, and he absolutely held his own.
“He has a really strong link to the Club as well. His dad, Matt Ford, who is the Canberra Raiders Football Manager and is the last premiership-winning coach for the Yass Magpies in first grade, was in attendance too.
“We had a really strong performance across the board on the weekend. I thought our young halfback Brandon Thompson had a really strong game setting up a couple of tries and scoring a really good one himself.
“I felt like our middles were also fantastic on Sunday. We talked a lot during the week about the last time we played Queanbeyan Blues and they really got over the top of our middle, so I set a challenge during the week to make sure that we competed through there and I thought they did a brilliant job through the middle.
“Like I said, young Jayden [Ford] was fantastic, but experienced players in Kyle Danilczak and Shaun Davis were awesome as well.”
The 16-point win for the Magpies still leaves them ninth on the ladder in last position, however, a win over the eighth-placed Gungahlin Bulls this weekend at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval will mean they will leapfrog them.
“It’s something that we talked about after the game, about now trying to get a little bit of consistency and trying to back up a really strong win against Queanbeyan with another one against Gungahlin.
“Our only win so far, prior to Sunday, was against Gungahlin. They’re a quality side and on their day, they can put plenty of points on. They played West Belconnen on the weekend, and again, were only just out of it.
“It’s going to be a really close game. But we’ve talked the last couple of weeks as a team, we don’t want to be on the bottom of the ladder. We’ve been there for a couple of years and it’s a bit of a changing of the guard this year. We’re really determined to make sure that we’re not going to be finishing there this year.”
Saturday’s clash against Gungahlin will kick off at 4pm in Round 12.
In other Magpies grades over the weekend, the Katrina Fanning Shield side defeated the Blues 40-6, while Queanbeyan beat the Under 19s side 36-16.
Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade Ladder:
- Queanbeyan Roos – 18 points – +238
- Woden – 12 points – +30
- Belconnen United – 12 points – +8
- Tuggeranong – 11 points – +6
- Goulburn – 10 points – +20
- West Belconnen – 8 points – +16
- Queanbeyan Blues – 5 points – -118
- Gungahlin – 4 points – -82
- YASS MAGPIES – 4 points – -118
Tim Warren
