It might only be Round Four of the 2024 Group 9 competition, but the Junee Diesels will trek to Tumut on Saturday with a must-win attitude.
Taking on the winless reigning premiers at Twickenham, Junee will want to make a statement against the Blues following a stop-start beginning to their own campaign.
Junee fell to Temora 38-20 at Laurie Daley Oval in Round One before a 24-4 loss to the Young Cherrypickers, again at Laurie Daley Oval, in Round Two.
The Diesels kicked off their campaign at home on Sunday, recording a gusty 28-20 win over the South City Bulls at Laurie Daley Oval.
With their engine room ready the Diesels take on a Tumut side that was well-beaten by the Wagga Kangaroos, Temora Dragons, and Young Cherrypickers in the opening three rounds.
“It’s a massive game for us,” Diesels captain-coach Daniel Foley said.
“For the first couple of weeks, we had a lot of guys out, and some troops came back last week. Again, this week, we’ve got Damian Willis back, and Cade Price plays his first game for us.
“We won last week and with Brothers coming up next week, it’s a good chance for us to build momentum ahead of games against Albury and Gundagai.”
While Tumut has struggled to fire following their premiership success - with the Blues losing 13 players across first and reserve grades - Foley said his side still wouldn’t take them lightly.
“I think with the whole comp, you can’t go into any game taking it lightly,” Foley said.
“They have some quality middles that we’ve got to contain - that will be the first job. If we can do that, it will go a long way toward us winning the footy game.”
Junee’s return to the Group 9 first grade competition has been well-documented.
The Diesels couldn’t field a first-grade team in 2021 and 2022 but returned in 2023 to win two games.
Having recruited strongly during the off-season and with promising local juniors progressing to first grade, Junee is in a position where they are expected to be highly competitive in 2024.
“We’ve got the goal of playing finals footy this year, and within the playing group, we believe we can do that,” Foley said.
“Everything is positive. We’re moving in the right direction, and we’re now in a position to see how far we can go instead of trying to survive.
“We’re in a great position as a club, and we want to keep improving every week and driving towards finals.”
In other Group 9 first grade games, two big matches will involve competition heavyweights.
The top-of-the-table Wagga Kangaroos face a tough trip to Albury’s Greenfield Park on Sunday, while on Saturday, the unbeaten Temora Dragons host an improved Gundagai Tigers.
Also, Wagga Brothers will be looking for another improvement effort against the red-hot Young Cherrypickers at McDonald’s Park on Saturday.
Click here for Group 9 results, ladder.
