There is no denying the revamped Cowboys mean business as they continue their charge into the 2018 season with two significant wins to their credit.
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Wellington ruffled feathers on Saturday as they returned an impressive 38-nil win over the visiting Forbes Magpies in front of a home crowd at Kennard Park.
Brock Naden shone for the seniors as he stepped up from 18s to score himself a double, alongside signing Carl Ralph, Richard Peckham and Lewis Stanley who also packed a punch.
Cowboys were first to put points on the board through Naden around the 10 minute mark after a competitive start by both teams.
Forbes responded by applying pressure but it was no match for the boys in maroon who stood up in defense and forced errors from the Magpies to earn good yardage and score another three tries before half time.
Wellington came out with the same determined mindset and continued to complete and get to the kick which resulted in a spectacular long-range try to Ralph following a good hit-up by Stanley.
Captain-coach Aidan Ryan was full of praise for the team which has dominated trial games over the last two weekends, most notably a 60-14 win over Dubbo Westside on February 6.
He said the results are a positive sign for the club.
“We still had five first graders that sat out on the weekend and the fellas that stepped up I’m really impressed with as it shows we will have a lot of depth in case we were to get injuries throughout the season,” he said.
Ryan said his team is determined to be one of Group 11’s most competitive sides in 2018, a goal which is being complimented by club ambitions and signings Justin Toomey-White and Adrian Davis.
“They have played at high levels of footy so they bring that experience to the side and they’re showing us how to improve on the little things that can help you win games,” he said. “They’re a great asset to the team and also great role models to the community.”
“[We want to] get the passion and pride back into the club and the town.
“Our biggest goal is getting the fortress back at Kennard Park so when teams come there they know they’ve got a hard game on their hands for the whole 80 minutes.”
Other grades also had success on Saturday, league tag winning 22-10 and juniors coming out on top 34-28.
“Juniors had a pretty impressive comeback, they were down 22-10 with about 15 minutes to go and they scored three times in four minutes to get themselves in the lead, they dug deep from there to get the win,” Ryan said.
Ryan will join Toomey-White and Will Lousick on Saturday in the Group 11 rep side at Bathurst. Round 1 will fall the following weekend as Cowboys take on Nyngan at Nyngan.
“We know it will be a massive test since we haven’t beat them out there since 2014, we are looking forward to it as it will give us an ideal picture as to where we are in the competition.”