Geppert and Hull dominate in East Wagga-Kooringal's nine-goal win over arch-rivals The Rock-Yerong Creek

Full-forward Marc Geppert and ruckman Nick Hull combined for 14 goals between them as the Hawks turned the game on its head after half-time. 

The Pies led by seven points at the main break but were run off their feet in the second half as EWK kicked 12 goals to two for a 21.11 (137) to 12.9 (81) victory. 

Eight-goal Geppert and half-a-dozen Hull were dominant in their roles as EWK recorded their first win over the Magpies in four meetings and blew open their closely-contested rivalry of the last 18 months.

“I’m pretty proud of the group,” EWK coach Gavin McMahon said.

“We thought a couple of weeks ago after the Temora game that we really found some collective trust in the group, everyone trusting each other to do their role even though last week was a bit of a hiccup.”

TRYC were without ruckman Josh Meiselbach for the second week in a row and Hull was unbeatable in the ruck. Still, the Magpies midfielders dominated the clearances early and Mitch Stephenson and Justin Driscoll enjoyed the spoils, looking particularly dangerous in the first half.

The Hawks led by 13 points at the first break though, helped by a handful of 50-metre penalties and Hull and Geppert sharing the last four goals of the term. 

With all the run in the second quarter, the Magpies kicked seven goals, including a 55-metre effort from defender-turned-ruckman Andrew Clarke, to lead by 12. 

But there were danger signs – three Geppert goals limited the damage, Ben Absolum was getting into the game and a Chris Gordon goal on half-time kept it tight.

Then the momentum swung after the break, particularly after Magpie Andrew Saddler was yellow-carded just five minutes into the third quarter when he reacted to a tackle.

The Hawks kicked six straight goals to seize control. Before three-quarter-time 18 of the game’s 26 goals had come at the southern end but they reversed the order of things in the last, kicking another six goals to one. 

“It’s just a bit of confidence,” McMahon said of the second half turnaround. 

“We know that Coleambally and The Rock are probably a bit better skilled than we are, generally, and we know we’ve got to be clean and give our boys first option.”

After an at-times spiteful encounter the Hawks weren’t getting carried away while the Pies recognised the game got away from them in a five-minute lapse.

“Full credit to them, they played the game we wanted to in the second half and if they get to the contest first they’re going to be hard to stop” co-coach Clarke said.