Wagga High will return to the semi-finals after being on the right side of a thrilling draw against Kooringal High School last week.

While excited, Wagga High now face a semi-final showdown with reigning champions Kildare Catholic College in the first of two qualifiers at 6pm.

Russell acknowledges the challenge in front of his team but does not believe the semi-final is mission impossible.

“We’re aware that we will go in as underdogs and they thoroughly deserve to be favourites but I’m not going to say it’s mission impossible,” Russell said.

“We’ll need all our guys at our best and playing well but anything is possible.”

Wagga High opened their Carroll Cup campaign with 141-point win over Mount Austin High School, then snuck through to the semi-finals with a draw against Kooringal High.

Kildare, meantime, started with a 35-point win over The Riverina Anglican College (TRAC) before suffering a nine-point loss to Mater Dei Catholic College last week.

Russell will keep things simple against Kildare as Wagga High look to qualify for their first Carroll Cup grand final appearance since 1995.

“I’ve caught little bits of (Kildare) and they’re obviously extremely skilful and move the ball really quickly,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re hard in the contest to win the footy and when they’ve got the ball, pressure them.

“The conditions have been fairly wet which might help us put a little bit more pressure on.”

Jordan Prestage has been in great touch for Wagga High, who will also look to captain Sam McGowan, James Pope and Harry Radley for big games.

Russell said Wagga High are looking forward to the occasion.

“They’re a great bunch of kids to coach,” he said.

“They’re really excited for the challenge this week and we could pull off the upset then it would be unreal.”

KIldare will go in with key forward Riley Corbett due to representative commitments.

Mater Dei will face TRAC in the second semi-final at 7.30pm. 

TRAC face a big task after going down by 13 goals to Mater Dei a fortnight ago.

Talented full-forward Nathanel Mooney comes into the Mater Dei team for his first game of the competition, while TRAC will be boosted by the return of Ed Perryman.

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6pm: Kildare Catholic College v Wagga High School

Kildare

B: B Robertson, J Weideman, M Ivey

HB: X Lyons, J Sase (c), A King

C: K Flood, W Reinhold, T Lawler

HF: F Yates, J Buchanan, R Green

F: N Buchanan, B Ashcroft, M Bloomfield

Foll: J Forwood, R Allen, H Gaynor

Inter: (from) J Mason, B Schirmer, F Jenkins, A Whyte, C Linsell

Wagga High

B: T Meriton, J Collingridge, J Edwards

HB: B Carey, J Pope, H Radley

C: Z Delaney, S McGowan (c), C Dunne-Argus

HF: T Richards, M Bryon, J Prestage

F: Z Whyte, M Bergmeier, B Weeden

Foll: M Pope, B Richards, J Ochieng

Inter: (from) B Walker, C McDonald,  S Bailey, I Schofield, H McLachlan, J Mattingly

7.30pm: Mater Dei Catholic College v The Riverina Anglican College

Mater Dei

B: Ellis, Johnson, Smythe

HB: Seymour, Chandler, Shaw

C: Currie, Rosengren, Lewis

HF: Winter, R Mooney, Templeton

F: Toole, N Mooney, Quade

Foll: Coates, Carey, Hoffman

Inter: De Jong, Leddin, Bowyer, Connellan

TRAC

Squad: C  Krebser, N Fitzgerald-Holmes, T Wallace, C Fuller, T Lindsay, E Perryman, M Inglis, S Mamo, X Mamo, A Malmo, M Hamblin, W de Jong, L Maslin, B Lewington, C Burns, L Nicholas, A Howard, R Hunter, W Alchin, G Okerenyang, S Vennell, B Glyde 

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