The Queanbeyan Kangaroos never want to sit through another "horror film" starring themselves, and they won't have to if they keep playing like this.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Kangaroos returned to the winner's list with an emphatic 44-12 win over the Goulburn Bulldogs in the Canberra Raiders Cup at Freebody Oval on Saturday.
The Kangaroos had not tasted success since round one after being trounced by Woden Valley and sitting through an agonising bye week over the past fortnight.
Kangaroos coach Aaron Gorrell forced his players to sit through the "Woden horror film" in a bid to avoid another poor start - and he got just the response he wanted.
"Our attitude was poor against Woden and it showed through everything we did," Gorrell said.
"Having a bye after that, we’ve spoken about our attitude and our commitment for those two weeks and worked pretty hard.
"We went through the first half of the Woden horror film and spoke about where we went wrong, and to the boys’ credit they turned it around in the first half [against Goulburn].
"It’s always a long two weeks between games after a loss, but it was probably a blessing for us. We got to work on a few things that we were pretty poor with and I think they turned it around pretty well."
The Kangaroos sliced Goulburn's left edge to pieces and scored three tries in the first 10 minutes. Centre Rowan Orcher had chalked up a hat-trick by half-time as the scoreline blew out to 32-0.
Queanbeyan were without Brent Crisp (head knock) and Troy Whiley (cork) in the second half and the Bulldogs took advantage in the early going.
The Bulldogs bit first through Jake Whittaker and moments later the hosts were reduced to 12 men for 10 minutes after veteran forward Jeff Lima was sent to the sin bin for repeated penalties.
But ultimately the deficit was too large to climb and Queanbeyan put the exclamation mark on the victory with a try in the final three minutes, although Goulburn managed a last-ditch consolation try through Fabien Paletua-Kiri.
"We lost Crispy and Troy Whiley in the first half, so the boys’ effort to defend their line and to come up with some big minutes, which most of the blokes hadn’t played before, was pretty pleasing," Gorrell said.
"I didn’t really see it but [Crisp] came off pretty dusty and Troy had a pretty bad cork, so at 32-0 you weren’t going to risk it. We just put them in the sheds.
"It’s a credit to the boys on the bench who hadn’t been playing many minutes, they had to push out 40 to 50 minutes, to their credit they were still going pretty well at the end."
The West Belconnen Warriors continued their winning ways with a 32-22 victory against the Woden Valley Rams at Kippax Oval.
The Tuggeranong Bushrangers continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 20-14 win over the Yass Magpies at Walker Park.
The round wraps up when the Gungahlin Bulls hunt for their first win of the season when they meet the Queanbeyan Blues at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval on Sunday.
AT A GLANCE
Canberra Raiders Cup round four: WEST BELCONNEN WARRIORS 32 (R McQueen, T Aroha-Tuinauvai, M Campbell, J Graham, D Litster tries; M Campbell 6 goals) bt WODEN VALLEY RAMS 22
QUEANBEYAN KANGAROOS 44 (R Orcher 3, S Meke 2, N Ngere, L Jones, J Kiely tries; B Crisp 4, N Grant 2 goals) bt GOULBURN BULLDOGS 12 (J Whittaker, F Paletua-Kiri tries; C Hart 2 goals)
TUGGERANONG BUSHRANGERS 20 (D Faaeteete 2, N Smith, A Tupou tries; J Mitchell, L Oakley goals) bt YASS MAGPIES 14 (Tries: J Vatikani 2, J Collins; Goals: J Toppin)
