Jake Mascini produced some magic to help Kangaroos secure acrucial win over Brothers and move back to the cusp of the top five.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mascini had a big role in the Wagga side's first three tries of their 22-14 win at Equex Centre on Saturday.
First he made a break to set up a Ben Pembleton try to open the scoring after nine minutes.
After Kangaroos failed to take advantage of a couple of good chances Brothers closed the gap to two points with seven minutes left in the first half as James Morgan provided Caleb Atkinson with a long ball to score.
However Mascini ensured Kangaroos went into the break with a six-point buffer as he got to the outside of the Brothers defence before racing 90 metres down field to score.
Captain-coach James Smart thought his long-range effort gave Kangaroos plenty of momentum heading into the second half.
"Chook (Mascini) just does some special things," Smart said.
"He's certainly a talent and he got us out of some trouble.
"We were in a bit of a whole just before half-time and he was outstanding."
READ MORE
However it was Brothers who hit back nine minutes into the second half when Bas Blackett proved too hard to stop close to the line.
Kangaroos thought they had hit back a couple of times, only to be denied, before Mascini once again took matters into his own hands by darting down the short side from dummy half before somehow managing to get a flick pass away for Charlie Barton to score midway through the second half.
Brothers closed the gap once more when Morgan went over from close range with 11 to play.
Wheeler was one of three debutants for Kangaroos, alongside Jared Cochrane and Jamie Brunton, and Smart, who played limited minutes to start the clash, was impressed with their contributions.
Craig Field also got through plenty of work after playing 80 minutes in the front row while Daniel Foley and Will Herring helped provide attacking opportunities.
Coming off a disappointing performance against Albury before the general bye, Smart was pleased with how they were able to bounce back to record their second win of the season.
"I thought we had a bit more consistency," he said.
"There's still obviously a few errors, but that happens, and all-in-all it was a good bounce back. I thought the boys just kept turning up for each other all game, which was really pleasing."
Now they've just got to back it up when they face Tumut, who are level on points with both Kangaroos and Brothers, at Twickenham on Saturday.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters