Four injuries in 10 minutes contributed to a 65-21 loss for the Deniliquin Drovers against reigning premiers Wagga City on Saturday.
Drovers coach Joe Gogarty said his team just wasn’t prepared enough on the day.
“We went in as an understrength team, taking on Wagga who haven’t been beaten for two years,” he said.
“We started pretty poorly and our defence let us down, which is unusual for us.
“We’ve been pretty strong in that area in the last few games.”
Wagga scored three quick tries in the opening minutes of the game, however the Drovers came back near half time to trail 22-7.
Gogarty told the players during the break they needed to correct a few things, especially their own territory kicking which gave Wagga opportunities to attack in the first half.
“If you make errors against them, they will bounce,” he said.
The Drovers however took to the field after the break with a strong attacking play, thanks to Tomasi Mari who scored two tries.
“Ambosh Ratu made a huge difference to our defence and gave us some stability. We were back in the game,” Gogarty said.
Wagga’s lead narrowed to 35-21 before four Drovers were injured in 10 minutes.
“We had to chop and change the team around to account for the injuries,” he said.
“Unfortunately Wagga was just too strong and they came away 65-21 winners.”
The injury plagued Drovers will have eight players out this weekend when they take on the Albury Steamers at home at Deniliquin Rotary Park.
“We will have to rely on some players that don’t have a lot of game time,” Gogarty said.
The Steamers play in three grades of the Southern Inland Rugby Union (SIRU) competition so will have a large group to select from.
Albury’s second grade team will play Leeton in Deniliquin, kicking off at 1.20pm Saturday.
In his request to SIRU to play this ‘home’ match in Deniliquin, Leeton Phantoms president Ian Pascoe said “this is to fulfil our commitment to thank Deni for their support in 2022”.
In 2022, when the Drovers could not field a side, players who were able to commit to continue playing did so in Phantoms colours.
Current Drovers’ prop Erasmus Botham was given the honour to captain Leeton’s second grade team last season.
The first grade match will see the Drovers and Leeton kick off at 3.15pm.
Drovers president Paul Marshall said the club was expecting a cracking day at Rotary Park.
“We look forward to seeing our valued sponsors there, and we thank them for their support this season.”
Marshall said the club was also offering VIP supporter hospitality packages for $50, which can be secured by contacting him on 0429 815 360.
“We are so fortunate to have major club sponsors B. Green Constructions, the Deniliquin RSL Club and Greenhams onside,” Gogarty said.
“We couldn’t put on home games like this weekend in particular without their support.”
Catering and bar (strictly no BYO) will be available at the ground for all spectators, with post match presentations from 6pm at the Deni RSL Club.