Denton Cup: Wyong bounces back with victory over Northern Hawks

After two narrow losses Wyong are back in the winner’s circle in the Denton Cup. Read how they’re planning a charge up the ladder.

Wyong chalked up its second win of the year against the Northern Hawks. Picture: Sue Graham

Wyong captain-coach Mitch Williams has urged his side to take advantage of the tight nature of the Denton Engineering Cup and build momentum with back-to-back wins after the Roos recorded a 22-12 victory over the Northern Hawks in round four over the weekend.

A double to winger Malie-J Townsend and tries to Levi Kasun and Sione Vaenuku was enough for Wyong to knock over the winless Hawks for the team’s second victory of the season at a wet Morry Breen Oval.

“I was happy with the win. We just about always led on the weekend but probably struggled to get away from the Hawks as far as we would have liked to, which is credit to how they played but also probably our ball-handling, especially in that second half,” said Williams.

“Coming from a really dry pre-season where the ball was getting thrown around a lot at training and then getting to the season where it’s colder, it’s windy and rainy, that’s a change and that’s probably something that we haven’t adapted to as fast as we’ve needed to. We’ve been trying to play some footy but at the start of the year that’s very hard to do.”

After early tries to Townsend and Hawks winger Ethan Ferguson left things square at 6-all, Wyong took control of the contest, with an excellent 50m effort finished off by winger Levi Kasun giving the Roos a 10-6 lead at the break.

The Roos were too strong for the Hawks. Picture: Sue Graham

Wyong extended its lead just two minutes into the second half when new recruit Max Buderus put back-rower Sione Vaenuku through half a gap to charge over, before a penalty goal and late try to Townsend set up the 10-point win.

The victory comes after a string of close results for the Roos, who edged out Kurri 25-24 in a round one thriller before going down to The Entrance (6-0) and Lakes United (20-14), to leave the team with a record of two wins and two losses in what has been a mixed start to season.

“We’re happy with some things. We’ve lost two games only by six points, so we know we’re very close, but it’s about what we need to do to turn those close losses into wins, which is how you develop into the season,” said Williams.

In particular, the skipper said the key is putting points on the scoreboard when the team is dominating possession and field position.

“Learning how to take advantage of when we’re on top in games and with the momentum is probably the biggest struggle at the moment,” he said. “It’s something we did slightly better on the weekend against the Hawks, but I still feel like we could have laid on one or two more tries but we let those chances go.”

The Ros went down to The Entrance in a tight round two clash. Picture: Sue Graham

In a blow for the team, centre Isaac Blackhall (ribs) and forward Jye Boyle (ankle) are expected to miss some football with injuries, joining the likes of five-eighth Kyle Tukupua on the sidelines.

However in a boost to cover Tukupua’s absence, the squad has been bolstered by the signing of playmaker Max Buderus, who made his debut in green and gold after joining the club from Western Suburbs in a mid-season switch just last week.

“We kind of had Max on the radar for a little while,” said Williams. “I knew he wasn’t getting a game at Wests with their signings of Luke Walsh and Will Smith. Great young kid, only 23, really good team player.

Luke Sharpe in action for the Roos. Picture: Sue Graham

“I’ve played against him a couple of times previously and knew what he could do. I think he can really open up the field on the right-hand side for us. He was great during the week at training, I think he played really well after only having two sessions with us, so we’re just looking to build that partnership in the spine there and just give us some more depth throughout the club in those vital positions.”

While the team is currently sitting eighth in the 11-team competition, the tight nature of the Denton Cup means that just one win separates first and seventh, with the Roos just three points from the top.

The team will look to chalk up back-to-back wins against last year’s beaten grand finalists South Newcastle, who have kicked off the season with two wins from two.

“It’s so close that I feel like two losses in a row really hurts you and then three wins in a row has got you near the top of the table, so for us it’s just looking to find that consistency,” said Williams.

“I was really happy with the weekend and now we’ve got Souths into a bye. I don’t like to put too much more importance on one game than another, but you want to start heading in the direction of building the momentum, doing the right things every week and getting those results.”