Pressure, a promising return by forward Daniel Jordan and a powerful second quarter paved the way for North Wagga’s impressive win against Temora on Saturday.
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The 9.16 (70) to 5.3 (33) victory at Nixon Park was far from perfect but it moved the Saints into outright second, one win ahead of the Kangaroos.
It had all the signs of a team starting to come together, as the visitors withstood a torrid and goalless opening 10 minutes to enjoy the best of the first quarter, before getting right on top in the second.
“I thought our mids played well, the defence was unreal and the forwards worked really hard to keep the ball in there so it was a good all-round performance,” North Wagga coach Kirk Hamblin said.
“I’m stoked with how we’re travelling. We’ve probably had a couple of injuries but the blokes we’ve brought in have always performed and the few new recruits are starting to find their feet and we’re gelling together as a team which is pleasing.”
The only downside for North Wagga was assistant coach Lachlan Steward reported after the game for a sling tackle in the fourth quarter on Sam Jensen. It drew the ire of Temora supporters, but not a free kick. Jensen bounced back and appealed for one but when teammates joined in, it cost the Roos as North Wagga enjoyed three successive 50 metre penalties and Troy Curtis kicked the last goal of the game.
Jordan had kicked the first two, in the 10th and 13th minutes, and nailed his third after the quarter-time siren, following an excellent contested mark, to give the Saints an 11-point lead.
Despite a plea for improvement from Jake Wooden at quarter-time it was about to get worse for Temora, as North Wagga upped the intensity and were rewarded with opportunity.
The didn’t take many, kicking only 3.9 in a dominant second term. While the Roos were rarely able to go forward with intent they still found two good goals to Jake Wooden and Matt Wallis to keep the margin to 26 points at half-time.
Their effort improved in the second half and they kept North Wagga to only one goal in the third quarter but went scoreless themselves due to a couple of miskicks and more North Wagga pressure at the back.
The final quarter wasn’t all one-way traffic either but North Wagga did miss another four shots on goal. The most telling score was 25 scoring shots to eight.
Jordan kicked five goals all in the first half and finished with 5.4. Corey Watt, also returning from injury, was excellent in the midfield, along with Jake May, and Ned Mortimer led a superb defence.
“We definitely had been talking about pressure acts all week,” Hamblin said.
“We had two weeks off with the double bye and our biggest issue was always going to be a bit flat in the first quarter. So we talked about a fast start and harping on our pressure acts. They were up around 140 today and our barometer is 120.”
Temora missed Mark Breust up forward but Isaac Reardon and Sam Jensen got through a power of work in the middle and Lachie Pellow did all he could to limit the damage at the back.
Hamblin wasn’t about to get carried away with the result and expects to see a different Temora next time they meet too.
“We were a bit flat after the first half and a good quality team’s going to keep coming at you and keep coming at you,” he said.
“And they might have had a bit of an off day – we know they’re going to be back bigger and better next time.”
Temora travel to Barellan next week while North Wagga host The Rock-Yerong Creek. The Saints then round out the first half of the season with the much-anticipated match against Marrar at McPherson Oval in round nine.