Temora coach Jake Wooden conceded they have plenty to work on in the wake of Saturday’s hammering at the hands of North Wagga.
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Wooden, who was a late withdrawal due to a calf problem, admitted they were no match for North Wagga despite a promising start.
“Their work-rate off the contest was a lot better than ours. I thought we started okay… but after half-time they just blew us out of the park,” Wooden said.
“Their run-and-carry. They made the most of their opportunities. We were second to the footy. They just wanted it more, in every aspect. We tried mixing a few things up but still couldn’t get on top. They dominated the clearances and stoppages around the ground so that’s something we’ll have to work on this week. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
The loss of Jack Irvine to a hamstring injury in the second quarter was a blow, after he’d kicked three goals in the first term.
Without him, Temora struggled to take the right options going forward, often finding key forward Matt Wallis under extreme pressure.
Wooden isn’t ruling Irvine out for next week until he goes for scans on his injured hamstring, despite the forward heading to the showers at half-time.
He also remains confident the Roos can pick themselves up from the loss for next Sunday’s sudden death semi-final at the same venue – against the winner of tomorrow’s elimination final between East Wagga-Kooringal and Charles Sturt University.
“Definitely, I think so, I think we’ve done that time and time again this year, come back after a few big losses,” Wooden said.
“Look, it’s a hard lesson but it is a lesson and as long as we learn from it, don’t make the same mistakes twice… it’s not the ideal way to start a finals campaign but we do have next week.
“We’ll address a few things on Tuesday but we’ve got to move on and look forward. We can’t dwell on it too much but we’ll definitely pick the game apart and where we need to improve.”
North Wagga’s dominance at the clearances was Wooden’s main concern, and their inability to put a stop to the Saints’ momentum.
“Around the stoppages really hurt us – they got it on the outside and you just can’t allow that with North Wagga. They’ve got some quick players. You let them on the outside, the’re going to hurt you every single time, which they did.”