Wagga City winger John Sutcliffe believes his side has come a long way since their round one thrashing at the hands of the Waratahs and is more than ready to face the traditionally dominant side in Saturday’s preliminary final.
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City’s opening round loss followed last year’s heartbreaking grand final defeat to the Tahs, but Sutcliffe says his side has what it takes to turn the tables.
“It was a bit of a rocky start this year, but these things happen when you come back from a grand final appearance with some new faces in the side,” he said.
“Our skills have really developed since last year and the team culture is something that’s holding us in good stead.
“It’s the old rivalry against the Waratahs and they’ve got the better of us the last couple of years.
“But finals footy is a different game and we don't have anything to lose, so we’ll go out all guns blazing.”
Sutcliffe said that while the pain of last year’s grand final would fuel his side to some extent, he wanted to avoid looking into the past in favour of surging into the future.
“You keep that in back of your mind and use it as a bit of motivation, but having said that, it's a different year and a different team and we’re focusing on Saturday,” he said.
“There’s no point dwelling on last year.
“That was the club’s first first-grade grand final in many years, so you take the positives from it and don’t worry about the negatives.”
City’s looming clash with Waratahs follows their 37-21 loss to their crosstown rivals in the qualifying final at Conolly Rugby Complex two weeks ago.
The club then bounced back with a confidence-boosting 31-21 semi-final win over Tumut at Leeton No.1 Oval, a contest which was ultimately decided by a devastating performance from Monson Tuvale.
It was a win which ensured the Wagga-based rivals would meet again.
But this time City are every chance of pulling off the victory, according to Sutcliffe, providing they make a series of specific improvements.
“The thing we were happiest about (against Tumut on Saturday) was our decision making,” he said.
“They were the right decisions at the time, but our execution wasn’t quite there.
“We’ve been working really hard on that this week and will continue to do until Saturday.”
But Sutcliffe’s identification of potential improvements did not stop there.
“Our completion and structure will be key on the weekend,” he said.
“In times gone past, we’ve got a bit excited about the occasion and lost sight of some of those things.
“But now is the time to play with purpose.
“If we get that right, we’ll be good to go.”
