Macquarie captain Kurt Fuller has declared his side is still firmly in the Group 11 premiership race after a stirring come-from-behind win on Perry Meredith Memorial Day.
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A number of Meredith’s extended family and former Raiders teammates were at Apex Oval on Sunday afternoon to watch the current Macquarie side attempt to keep its season alive.
It didn’t look good when the Nyngan Tigers scored the first three tries of the game but for the second week running a gutsy second half effort saw the Raiders claim victory.
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The hard-earned result sees the Raiders leapfrog the Tigers into the all-important fifth spot and with both facing top four sides in the final two rounds, the men in blue are now the better-placed to make finals.
“We seem to start very slow the last few weeks and we’ve let teams puts 18 or 20 points on us before we decide to play footy,” Fuller said after the 36-26 win.
“But we’ve got a lot to play for and our season has been on the line each week and if we can get in the five we’ll have a big crack at it.
“We’re not worried about who we’ve got next week or the week after, we’ve just got to work on starting well in that first 40 minutes and hopefully we can still turn the season around and give it a good crack.”
It was Nyngan, led by former Raider Josh Merritt, who gave it a good crack early in the game.
After the sides ran out past the jersey of former hard-as-nails Raiders back-rower Meredith, the Tigers shot to an 14-0 lead.
Merritt was heavily involved in all three tries, two of those to centre Crete Waaka, and only a forward pass on 23 minutes stopped the Tigers from scoring again.
Instead, the Raiders worked downfield and scored through Bobby Jo Gordon but it was Nyngan who went into the sheds with momentum after Merritt sliced through some soft defence to set up an 18-6 lead.
Much like last week against Westside, Macquarie looked a far better side in the second stanza and Lewis Stanley scored within three minutes of the restart before the five-eighth put winger Api Lomani over with a lovely cut-out ball.
The score wasn’t locked at 18 all for long as Merritt put the hard-running Waaka over for his hat-trick but the talented half again missed the kick, finishing with just one from five attempts for the day.
On an afternoon where momentum swung back and forth for much of the match, it only seemed right for the Raiders to hit back.
They did so through Lomani and John Ciappara and while Nyngan set-up a grandstand finish when Matt Sheather with three minutes to go, Sam Thorpe scored on the bell to seal a 36-26 victory.
“Everyone dug in and didn’t give up and we played that last 40 minutes like it was do-or-die, that’s what I’m proud of and I’m sure (coach) Dylan (Hill) would be too,” Fuller said, the coach missing the game due to university commitments.
“There was a good crowd here for the day it was and everyone gave it a good crack.”
The Macquarie forwards set the platform for the win, with back-rower Jayden Merritt particularly impressive.
They got the better of their Nyngan counterparts, with the Tigers relaying on Merritt and captain-coach Jacob Neill for the most part.
“We won’t give up yet,” Neill said post-game.
“We’ve got a lot of high-calibre players. We’re very lucky to have Josh and he’s trying his guts out for us, he’s trying so hard and the form he’s been in the last month is probably the best he’s been in Group 11 since back when he was in the under 20s.
“We won’t go anywhere. We’ll keep working hard and we’ll give it everything we’ve got because you never know what can happen.”
Following next weekend’s general bye the Tigers face Forbes and CYMS in the final two rounds while the Raiders will meet CYMS and then Wellington.
- MACQUARIE RAIDERS 36 (Apisai Lomani 2, Bobby Jo Gordon, Lewis Stanley, John Ciappara, Sam Coe tries; Stanley 6/6 goals) def NYNGAN TIGERS 26 (Crete Waaka 3, Matt Sheather 2, Josh Merritt tries; Merritt 1/5, Sheather 0/1 goals)