Lynch lashes out at a lacking Southcity

SOUTHCITY captain-coach Greg Lynch yesterday took a blowtorch to the Bulls, declaring the team either changed its attitude to football or forgot about playing in the Group Nine finals.In the strongest terms possible, Lynch yesterday lashed Southcity for its "lackadaisical" approach over the past month."I think it's 90 per cent to do with attitude," Lynch said yesterday."By that I mean we haven't been rising to the occasion -we've dug ourselves into a hole."Coming two days before Southcity plays Junee in a critical game in Wagga, Lynch's harsh criticism seems certain to hit the target.Five games out from the Group Nine finals in September, Southcity is in serious danger of spiraling out of contention for the final six.Currently sixth on the table, Southcity must beat Junee at Harris Park tomorrow to keep its tentative foothold.At best a loss tomorrow will relegate Southcity to seventh, but there is an even worse scenario.The combination of a Bulls defeat, and the expected victory of Gundagai over Young at Alfred Oval on Sunday, would shunt the Wagga team to eighth.Aware this could be the Bulls defining moment in 2010, Lynch yesterday was not backing away from the issue."We talked about it at training (on Tuesday) ... we know what we have to do," he said."Our completion rate has been terrible. We need to do the simple things."We can't let the hole get any deeper."After emerging as a genuine premiership threat in the opening months of the season, Southcity has nose-dived in recent times.Last year's fairytale finals team, the Bulls campaign is stalled on the back of successive losses to Kangaroos (24-14), Tumut (46-4) and Cootamundra (28-10).Lynch yesterday admitted the return of dynamic fullback Kyle McCarthy from Country representative duty would give the team a motivational lift tomorrow."Doc's (McCarthy) a fantastic player and I think everyone feeds off him," Lynch said."He's got a terrific attitude, he's so enthusiastic."We missed him last week (against Cootamundra).Despite the glowing praise, Lynch is adamant the Bulls cannot afford to rely on McCarthy to turn around the team."He's (McCarthy) one player and one player can't do it all," Lynch said.Searching for redemption tomorrow, Southcity will have close to its top team for the vital showdown.Former Cronulla prop Nathan Vagg will lead the way in the forwards after shaking off a nagging foot injury."He (Vagg) wanted to play," Lynch said."He said he was sick of being on the sidelines. He gives us go forward."Vagg's duel with the Junee pack will take centre stage tomorrow.The Diesels forwards were dominant in the first half against Tumut a week ago, but faded miserably in the second half.Ultimately the Diesels blew a 24-0 lead to be overrun 32-30 by the Blues.