Coach Mick Small praised the efforts of his forward pack, who went toe-to-toe with a bigger the Phantoms.

The Boiled Lollies were without forwards Kane Doyle, Brenden Maxwell and captain Jock Crockatt as well as outside centre Wade Palframann, but Tom Jennings‘s late try and the cool boot of James Curgenven was enough to share the points.

Wagga City trailed by one point at half time before the Phantoms struck first in the second half.

Still the Boiled Lollies kept fighting to ensure they left Murrumbidgee College Ovals with something to show for.

“We had four first graders unavailable from last week to go over there with the guys we put in was absolutely fantastic,” Small said.

“Our young guys are really standing up.

“The guys just hung in there and all I asked for them to do before the game was to compete at every point and never be out of the game and they did that from kick off to full time.”

Rhys Blackburn returned from a year off due to a knee reconstruction and was just one of the forwards making inroads.

“Our forwards were far oversized, their pack was a lot bigger than ours, but the heart and courage our guys showed to keep competing and stick it to them for 80 minutes was just unbelievable,” Small said.