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Southern Inland Rugby 2025

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
You're right the next 3 Matches are City (away), Waratahs (away) and then Tumut (away) with a Bye in Round 5 (so you can have a well earned rest )
I presume everyone signed off on the Draw but for a Club to have 3 away games in a row with a lot of travelling seems very strange - I realise you will get 3 Home games in a row in the 2nd half of the Comp but the damage may have been done earlier in the season.
I understand Clubs getting 2 away & home matches in a row sometimes but 3 in a row is pretty rare.
Maybe one of the four Wagga Clubs should have been the club to do what you guys are being asked to do (obviously a lot less travel involved compared to your kilometres)
Anyways - good luck for the year and I hope your players are committed to the early season travel you face on the next 3 weekends
 
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Maulalltheway

Johnnie Wallace (23)
last season Wagga city travelled to Tumut Griffith and Albury in 3 of the first 4 weeks.

Griffith looked the goods on saturday. Lots to like
 

paul bristow

Charlie Fox (21)
You missed the point Mauler. Last year Tumut was a formidable opposition. Griffith and Albury were basket cases. This season Griffith not only travel to Tumut, they also travel to City and Waratahs consecutively. Tough draw for a regrouping club like Blacks in anybody’s language.
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
last season Wagga city travelled to Tumut Griffith and Albury in 3 of the first 4 weeks.

Griffith looked the goods on saturday. Lots to like
Well done to City for doing that but it's a lot harder for the outside Wagga Clubs to do. Travel is a big part of Home & Away Competitions but unfortunately over the years Griffith has struggled in that department , for their sake I hope all their players are keen to 'hit the road' in 2025 and make a run for the Finals later on in the season.
Two excellent matches coming up this Saturday - Tumut v Waraths and City v Griffith
 

Maulalltheway

Johnnie Wallace (23)
You missed the point Mauler. Last year Tumut was a formidable opposition. Griffith and Albury were basket cases. This season Griffith not only travel to Tumut, they also travel to City and Waratahs consecutively. Tough draw for a regrouping club like Blacks in anybody’s language.
what is the point then? are you asking for draw manipulation to "help" a club? an equalisation of sorts.
(ps absolutely not having a crack at you here)

I was simply answering Up the jumpers comment about a Wagga team doing it.

i get its a tough run. looks like they'll be able to cope this season though. very complete performance
 
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Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
I'm happy as I said in my earlier post to accept the Umpire's call on the Draw because Griffith were obviously aware of it before the Draw was released.
Let's move on this season with Positive Comments on this Forum. If you aren't happy with things that's OK but make sure you have got a possible solution before you post your Gripe.
Already it looks like Albury & Reddies may struggle this year with the Blacks possibly the big improvers which is fantastic for the Competition.
I've got Waratahs favourites to win the Comp but have no idea who their main challenger will be at this stage out of City, Tumut, Aggies and even Griffith.
 

paul bristow

Charlie Fox (21)
I suppose we just have to wait for this period of time to be over to see how Griffith survives. This weekend will be a litmus test for the Blacks as far as travelling is concerned. A good team took the paddock last Saturday. I’m hopeful but wary about the quality and quantity of players this Saturday. Interested to see how the Tahs v Bulls game goes.
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
All three matches tomorrow should be keenly fought by the rival teams.
Reddies v Albury - this encounter sees the Reddies and the Steamers rebound from losses last Saturday with the Reddies having more than 70 points scored against them. At home I expect them to grab the Competition points against the Steamers who didn't win a match last season and were at bit disappointing at home against the Tumut Bulls last Saturday.

Tumut v Waratahs- Tumut were too strong for Albury last weekend and from all accounts have had a solid pre season and shouldn't be a push over for the defending premiers tomorrow at Tumut. Waratahs had the Bye last Saturday but have some very handy players in their squad and see the return of prolific pointscorer Lachie Day who missed the 2024 season due to playing committments in Canberra.

City v Griffith - Two winning teams from Round 1 clash at Conolly Rugby Park tomorrow. The IF factor is will the Griffith Blacks travel to Wagga with their strongest team? and if they do they should provide City with a very worthy contest.
City had trouble with Cards (Red & Yellow) last Saturday against Ag College and if that sort of ill discipline rears its ugly head again tomorrow Griffith could be quite capable of taking advantage on the scoreboard.

My Winners:- Reddies. Waratahs & City
 
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Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)


Tom Murphy will bring six years of Shute Shield experience to Waratahs as he returns to the game for their Southern Inland title defence. Picture by Courtney Rees


One of the handy players I was talking about in yesterday's post who has joined Wagga Waratahs this season.​



Tom Murphy will bring six years of Shute Shield experience to Waratahs as he returns to the game for their Southern Inland title defence. Picture by Courtney Rees
Tom Murphy has led a side to the Shute Shield final and now he's ready to make his return to the game in Southern Inland.
Murphy is among the new faces at Waratahs this season, who will get their title defence under way against Tumut at Jarrah Oval on Saturday.
Murphy spent six seasons in first grade with Eastwood, including captaining the club in the 2020 grand final, and then played at a semi-professional level in Ireland before stepping away from the game in 2022.
However, as he will spend the next two years of his medical degree at Wagga Base Hospital, he thought it was the right time to return to the field.
"As is the story with anyone who moves to a new place it's a good way to meet new people and branch out from outside the hospital," Murphy said.

"I've had a few friends who have played at 'Tahs previously and they said it was a good club with a good social environment and they're pretty successful, so I thought I'd lob up to training."
It was a hard initiation for Murphy, who fractured his eye socket in his first training run with his new club.
However, the later start to the Southern Inland season has enabled him to recover in time for their first game.
"I copped a bit of an innocuous knock at training in pre-season that set me back a bit, but fortunately the late start to the season meant I didn't miss any comp games, which is good," Murphy said.
"It wasn't even a contact drill, which is the most embarrassing thing, I may have well been playing touch, but someone's head just dropped at the wrong time and copped me on the sweet spot."
Murphy will start at flanker to take on the Bulls in a rematch of last year's preliminary final.


The 30-year-old is unsure what to expect heading into the new competition.
"I don't know many other people playing in other teams, which is strange as when I was playing in Sydney I was playing against, you'd watch a lot of video and that kind of thing so maybe it's a bit of ignorance is bliss," Murphy said.
Start the conversation


"I don't know anything, I'm going into it a bit blindly but that's alright and I'm looking forward to that aspect of it to but from what I've seen the standard is good, there's some big fellas running around and if the rest of the teams are coached as well as Nick (McCarthy) has been coaching us then it will be a good competition."
Despite a tough start to the pre-season, McCarthy has been impressed by what Murphy has brought to the club.
He expects that will only continue as the season progresses.
"He's a quality guy first and foremost, he's fitted into the club really, and we're all aware of his ability and the level of footy he's played, so I expect him to just hit the ground running this weekend," McCarthy said.
"From all reports, and everything we've seen so far, there's no reason why that won't happen."
Tumut comes into the clash after a 47-15 win over Albury in round one.

With a much more similar line up to last year's side, McCarthy expects a tough test to start another title defence.
"It's a tough one first up, and we expect them to be big and strong and physical and have a raucous crowd supporting them, so we're just going in focusing on trying to kick off some KPIs for our first game around defence and set piece and just take our opportunities when they come," he said.
"We're also aware we're starting off behind the eight ball after a week off last week, it's been a long time since our last trial so we're fully expecting things to not be as clean as we would like but it's just a matter of staying in the fight for as long as we can and hopefully some of the structures we've embedded can shine through."
Murphy will be a part of a new-look forward pack with only Ben Frampton and Tom Menzies still in the side from last year's grand final as Luke Turner is out suspended.
He received a three-game ban after being found guilty of leading with a forearm in the trial win over Goulburn in April.
He will also miss next week's clash with Griffith but will be free to play former club Ag College on for the COL Cup on May 24.
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
Results from Round 2

Interestingly enough both Tumut & Griffith led at half time against Waratahs & City respectively.
Early favourites to win their respective Competitions at this stage look to be Waratahs (Mens) and Griffith (Womens) but still plenty of Rugby to be played in this year's Competition.
It was good to see all the losing Mens teams being very competitive against their opponents yesterday. Plenty of tries being scored is great to see.


1st Grade Mens

Reddies
44 d Albury 31
Wagga City 45 d Griffith 41
Waratahs 47 d Tumut 26

Women's​

Griffith 51 d Wagga City 5
Waratahs 31 d Tumut 10
Reddies 34 d Albury 17
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
Southern Inland Rep. Program update

I reckon they will field a pretty handy team come the June Long Weekend in Bungendore

Round 3 Draw for this Saturday

Wagga Waratahs v Griffith Blacks

Wagga Reddies v Tumut Bulls

Albury Steamers v WAC (Aggies)

Southern Inland has called on a familiar face to lead its representation program again.
Following seven successful campaigns between 2016 and 2022, Nick McCarthy is back coaching the men's team this season.
He stepped down in 2023, looking to focus on his return to clubland after taking over the coaching role at Waratahs.
However, he now feels the time is right to juggle both roles.
"I stepped away from rep a couple of years ago just to get my head back into club coaching again," McCarthy said.
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"I feel like I've embedded what I need to, and now I can have that weekend back in with the rep program, and I'm really looking forward to it."
Southern Inland lost the Brumbies Provincial Championship after 11 straight wins in 2023 but was again to win back the title last year.
McCarthy wants to ensure the region maintains its strong standing in the representative arena on June 7.
"Last year's program did a great job, had a great win, and we're just looking to continue on with that," he said.
"I think there will be a bit of turnover of players, but the style of footy we play in the zone is pretty attractive and we'll just be getting out there and try to find plenty of points."



There's already been strong interest in the side this year, although the nomination process is still ongoing.
McCarthy expects to be able to name a strong squad to head to Bungendore for this year's titles over the June long weekend.
Start the conversation

"We've had a big response to the nomination process this year, I think we've got about 70 nominations in at this stage," he said.
"There are a couple of players we have tapped on the shoulder in the process, just some key positions and the like, to make sure they were involved, as I think we can build some good stuff around those players.
"I'm very excited about the team we're going to be able to put together."
The high amount of interest is testament to the standing of Southern Inland's representative program.
There is no senior representative Australian Rules in the region, while Riverina's rugby league Country Championships campaign hasn't progressed past the first game in the last two years.
McCarthy feels the opportunities open to players in the zone helps boost interest.
"I'll give them the chance to play attractive footy and show what their abilities are and give them the chance to be seen by the Canberra coaches and the rep pathways," he said.
"I think when you see guys like Lachie Day, Mitch Ivill and Jack Ketteringham that have gone through our programs here and then into the Griffins program and either gone onto play against the Brumbies in trial games or headed off to the Australian Rugby Shield, and followed through with going to play in Canberra, it shows the pathways are there and I think that really excites a lot of players in the region.

"It's also an opportunity to play some rugby with players from other clubs, break down some of those barriers and have a mini tour in the middle of the season."
Southern Inland is still searching for the right assistant coach, but Tom Martin has come on board as manager.
Already with an interest in the technical side of managing, he jumped at the chance to help the side.
He is confident working alongside McCarthy will broaden his understanding of the game.
"I've coached a fair bit of juniors and rep, and my approach has changed several times over the years, so it will be good to see that more professional approach and see if I can that into the future," Martin said.
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
Selections for Round 3 Tomorrow-

(Match of the Round)

Waratahs v Griffith
- The Griffith Blacks hit the road again to Wagga tomorrow to take on the defending premiers. Griffith led Wagga City 22-12 at half time last Saturday but let in too many tries in the 2nd half to maintain that advantage. Hopefully they have all their troops available for this big clash.
The 'Tahs got the job done against Tumut last Saturday in their 1st match of the season.
They trailed Tumut at half time but slowly but surely their precision and fitness came into play in the last 40 minutes which Tumut couldn't keep up with.
They have a 1st Grade side stack full of very handy players and once they find their rhythm and create fast ball for their backline they are extremely hard to defend against.
Griffith need to make their first up tackles tomorrow in a dominant manner because if they don't it's going to be a long drive back to the MIA - Waratahs to win


Wagga Reddies v Tumut -
Whilst Reddies gained their 1st win of the season last weekend they leaked quite a few points to the Steamers (Albury) which is a concern heading into tomorrow's clash at CSU against the Tumut Bulls.
Tumut beat Albury decisively in Round 1 at Albury and led Waratahs at half time last Saturday before fading away in the 2nd half. The Tumut forward pack will put the Reddies forwards under a lot of pressure tomorrow- Tumut to win

Albury v WAC
- Albury were competitive against the Reddies last Weekend and will enjoy returning to their home ground tomorrow.
Aggies had the Bye last weekend but were very competitive against the undefeated Wagga City in Round 1 - they should have too much speed and fitness on Albury tomorrow- WAC to win
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)

Southern Inland Rugby Union​

Round 3 Results

Men's​

Griffith 40 d Waratahs 39
Tumut 37 d Reddies 17
WAC 60 d Albury 19

Women's​

WAC 41 d Albury 0
Waratahs 59 d Griffith 20
Tumut 49 d Reddies 0

Well done to the Griffith Blacks - apparently down 7-20 at half time against Waratahs and fought back bravely for victory with a side line conversion after full time clinching victory.
Albury & Reddies look set for a long season with City, Waratahs, Griffith, Tumut & WAC engaged in a battle to make the Top 4.
Griffith's win yesterday is a positive for the Competition and the travel out west to the MIA this season for the likes of City, Waratahs, Tumut & WAC will now be a major challenge for those clubs unlike the past couple of seasons.

Next Week (Round 4)

WAC v Waratahs (Col Cup)
Tumut v Griffith
City v Albury
 

yourmatesam

Desmond Connor (43)
Great hitout up at CRP yesterday.

Solid form from both teams, Tahs seem to be a more agile outfit than the Blacks and made the most of their chances early in the game.

Griffith are housing some big boppers in that outfit with some thicc bois across the pitch.

Early stages yet, but to see these two battle it out on GF day would be awesome.

Did someone say that the Blacks have a rough draw to kick off with too? On the road to Wagga, Wagga, then Tumut over three rounds? If that's the case, they'll be there when the whips are cracking for sure.
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
Selections for Round 4 Tomorrow-

(Match of the Round)

Wagga Ag College (WAC) v Wagga Waratahs


These 2 teams will be playing for the annual ' Col Cup' in memory of former Ag College and Waratahs player Andrew (Col) Stanham who passed away in 2018.
Ag College come into this match up with a strong win over Albury last weekend (60-19) and this victory followed a 1st round loss to Wagga City and then a Bye. This is the Home Club's biggest day of the season and the rivalry between this two clubs has only got more intense since the introduction of the 'Col Cup'.
Waratahs enter this match after suffering a 40-41 loss to Griffith last Saturday on their home ground at Conolly Rugby Park, Wagga.A successful conversion from the sideline by Griffith after full time saw the Waratah's players heads drop as they came to the reality that they had let a 20-7 lead at half time slip away badly.
The word is that the players copped a big spray from their coach after the game and expect the defending premiers to come out breathing fire tomorrow against their younger opponents with unrelenting defence to be their focus.
Expecting a tight encounter tomorrow but just have the feeling that Waratahs won't be dropping 2 games in succession tomorrow and their forward pack will lay the platform for a narrow win.

Tumut Bulls v Griffith Blacks

The Griffith Blacks hit the road for the 3rd successive Saturday when they take on the Tumut Bulls at Jarrah Park.
The Black's memorable victory against Waratahs last Saturday will be a big incentive for them to make it 2 wins out of 3 during their 'away travel'
The Tumut Bulls come off a loss to Waratahs in Round 1 and consecutive wins over the lowly Reddies and Albury in the past fortnight.
Tumut with a bit of rain and mud about are usually very hard to beat on their stomping ground and Griffith may struggle to maintain the intensity they obviously took into their 2nd half against Waratahs last weekend.
I'll lean to Tumut to win this encounter with their big forward pack to lead the way.

Wagga City Boiled Lollies v Albury Steamers

This match will most certainly allow City to maintain their undefeated record so far this season.
The Steamers are winless after 3 rounds and one of their players received a 15 week suspension for an indiscretion (obviously a big one) against Ag College last Saturday.
City will win this match very easily tomorrow and we might see our first century of the season if City turn up to play at their best and Albury don't play with plenty of pride and passion
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)

Southern Inland Rugby Union- Round 4 Results​

1st Grade - MENS

Wagga City 146
d Albury 0
Tumut 19 d Griffith 12
Waratahs 39 d Ag College 12

Women's

Wagga City 42 d Albury 7
Griffith 32 d Tumut 27
Waratahs 19 d Ag College 17

The City v Albury score line is a big concern - firstly what do either team get out of a result like that ? - I actually think it is an embarrassing score line for the code but understand that there is nothing you can do about it. Except ----------------
Could something have been done to make the match a fairer contest yesterday ? - did they play the full 80 minutes ? - how many players did Albury bring to Wagga for 1st & 2nd Grade ( City won 2s by over 100 pts as well) ? Was the result reflective of the 15 week suspension handed out to an Albury player last weekend against Ag College ?- Final Question ----- is it the end of Albury for 2025 ? because they are drawn to play Waratahs in Wagga next Saturday and there will definitely be a repeat of yesterday's scorelines and that will achieve NOTHING - Some Big Discussions between SIRU and the Albury Steamers to be held this week no doubt.

If someone from Albury looks at this Forum it would be good to hear your thoughts

Tumut did well to beat Griffith yesterday but the Blacks will be happy to end their big travel committment for 2025. Out of a possible 15 points they could have picked up in their 3 consecutive away games to Wagga, Wagga & Tumut they picked up 2 against City, 5 against Waratahs and 1 competition point against Tumut ( Total=8) which is a pretty good return - they will be hard to keep out of this years Finals.
 
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paul bristow

Charlie Fox (21)
Given the Blacks performances last year and this season’s draw I thought Griffith might be in Alburys position right now. I don’t understand how Griffith has turned the club around like they have. I’ll probably get shot down for saying this but couldn’t the draw be managed so that Steamers weren’t playing last year’s grand finalists back to back at this stage of the season.
 

Up the Jumper

Herbert Moran (7)
Given the Blacks performances last year and this season’s draw I thought Griffith might be in Alburys position right now. I don’t understand how Griffith has turned the club around like they have. I’ll probably get shot down for saying this but couldn’t the draw be managed so that Steamers weren’t playing last year’s grand finalists back to back at this stage of the season.
Fair point PB - maybe Waratahs could offer to travel to Albury next Saturday to help things - then Albury travel to Wagga later in the season if they still Exist
 
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