Waratah coach Ryan Ayres says claiming a finals berth is his side’s first priority ahead of grand finals

Premier League club Waratah has played down suggestions of a breakthrough flag after its masterclass against Wanderers

Abe Ankers shows plenty of run in Waratah’s big win over Wanderers. Picture: Che Chorley

WARATAH’S 52-point win over the highly rated Wanderers on Saturday night has many pundits declaring the Gardens Oval club premiership contenders.

But not coach Ryan Ayres, who is shaking his head at claims Tahs have the momentum and playing depth to go right through to the March 20 grand final.

“We’ve won one game against the side that was on top of the ladder, that’s basically all there is to it,’’ Ayres said.

“Remember we’re still fifth on the ladder and we’ve got a game against Districts who are fighting for that top five spot as well as us.

“That’s why we’re more focused on trying to cement our spot in the finals rather than looking that far ahead.

“We’re only at the halfway mark of the season, so there’s a lot of footy left to play.’’

The red and white jumpers again impressed with their clean ball use out of defence and a midfield of Abe Ankers and Rob Turnbull that created several scoring chances.

For Ayres the ability to transfer the football through accurate foot and handpassing comes through every player working for each other.

“That happens when you work for each other, it flows on and as a result our ball use was very good,’’ he said.

“Our intensity around the ball was proof of that and every player contributing made it a pretty good team performance all round.’’

Waratah’s ability to close down the Wanderers speedsters was a highlight of the match, forcing the Eagles into second and third options in terms of disposal that often came undone.

‘‘We put a lot of focus into that, where they have a lot of quicks and our ball movement was on the back of the way we wanted to defend,’’ Ayres said.

“We were able to prevent Wanderers moving the ball as quickly as they would like and that allowed us into the game.

“I couldn’t find any passengers in the side we had out there, bearing in mind we only had three players on the bench with Nathan Oakes unable to take his place in the side.’’

Waratah’s six-goal to one last quarter surprised a lot of people with Wanderers coming off a big third term.

Ayres said it was all about an unusual wind shift, that saw the side kicking towards the Mindil Beach end of the ground with an advantage.

“The wind normally blows the other way (city end) so we were pretty happy with it behind our backs,’’ he said.

Tahs are back at Gardens on Saturday night when they meet Southern Districts.