The Yass Rams competition standing has been greatly approved after the Taralga Tigers were unable to field a team in the side’s two scheduled fixtures on Saturday and Wednesday.
The Rams only found out about the Tigers forfeiting after they arrived in Taralga, still completing the three-hour-long trip, “We went to Taralga and they only had about five players, so we went to the pub instead. I think they were expecting a few more to turn up, but I don’t know if work got in the way or something,” Rams coach Bronson Sainsbury said.
“They were always going to be a little bit short. I thought they were going to have about 12 or 13 players, but they had five in the end, so we called it a forfeit. “It wasn’t ideal. We got there, the boys got changed, got straps, went out sort of warming up, waiting for them to turn up and then they didn’t show.
“Their coach was there and their manager was there and five players there, but the rest of the boys didn’t turn up. “I think that is Taralga done for the season now.
“We are just out of finals contention now. Looks like we are going to finish fifth, just one spot out of that top four. You want to play the game on the day and it doesn’t help us going into Cooma on the weekend, but I guess on the flip side we have avoided any injuries or anything that was going to hurt us going into that game.”
Bronson anticipates a big crowd for the season’s finale, “I think last game of the season, last home game of the season, we’ve got the Gordon Litchfield boot on the line. I think it should be a good day.
“The Gordon Litchfield trophy has been around for a while. Gordon Litchfield is a wool broker and he had a place in Cooma he put the trophy up for when the two teams play each other.
“It is essentially an old boot on a piece of timber. We usually play each other twice, so it’s easy to hold it because you’ve only got to win one game, but to take it back you need to win the two, and Yass has held it for the last few years now.
“It’s a seasonal thing and because we played them last, we’ve held it.
“They are travelling well. They are definitely in the finals. Not quite sure where they’re going to finish at the moment, but they’ve been going well. We only lost to them by a couple of points the first time we played them in Cooma, so I wouldn’t say the boys are confident, but they are definitely in there with a shot.
“I think that will spur them on a little bit. Having the ex-players there cheering them on. We’ve got nothing to lose. Cooma will be playing for points to help their chances in the finals.
“If they beat us, they’ll finish a little bit higher up, which might make it a little bit easier. But for us, we just need to win the game. We’ve got nothing to lose.
“They lost to Crookwell last weekend, looks like all their tries were scored out wide and that looks like the weak point out there somewhere. I think they were all scored by a winger and a fullback.“There’s a fair bit of rivalry with our teams as well. Our fly-half and their fly-half are brothers so that adds a bit of spice to the competition as well.”
Kick-off Saturday 2:30 pm.
-Tully Potts
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.